Although this gentleman--so prominent for more than half a century
among our American statesmen and scholars--was not a member of our
Antislavery Society, he rendered us and our cause, in one respect, a
most important service. And as I have some interesting recollections of
him, a few pages devoted to them will be german to my plan.
In January, 1835, a petition was committed to Mr. Adams, signed by more
than a hundred women of his congressional district, praying for the
abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. He presented it and
moved its reference to a select committee. Instantly several Southern
representatives sprang to their feet and vehemently opposed even the
reception of it. They insisted that Congress ought not to receive
such petitions, adapted as they were, if not intended, to create an
excitement, and wound the feelings of members from the slaveholding
States. Mr. Adams urged the reception of the petition with earnestness
and eloquence, reminding his opponents that the feelings of his
constituents, and of many of the people of the non-slaveholding States,
were deeply wounded by being held in any way responsible for the
continuance of such a system of oppression as they considered slavery.
No right of the people, he said, could be more vital, or should be held
as more sacred, than the _right of petition_,--the right to implore
their rulers to relieve them of any unnecessary burden, or to correct
what seemed to them a grievous wrong. He besought the representatives
of the American people to show their respect for the right of petition
by receiving the paper he now presented. If there were any expressions
in the language of this petition disrespectful or improper, let the
signers of it be reproved. It might be easy, he added, to show that
this prayer of his constituents ought not to be granted, but that was
no reason for refusing to hear their request. To petition is a right
guaranteed to every one by the Constitution, of our Republic,--yes,
a right inherent in the constitution of man, and Congress is not
authorized to deny it or to abridge it. Such was the effect of his
speech that the petition was received. But it was immediately laid on
the table.
Again in January, 1837, Mr. Adams offered a petition of the same tenor,
signed by a hundred and fifty women. Forthwith several Southern members
passionately objected to the reception of it. Mr. Adams planted himself
as firmly as before in defence of the _right of petition_. He charged
upon the opposers that they were violating most fearfully the federal
Constitution, which they had sworn to support. He besought the House
not to give its countenance, its sanction, to the violent assaults
which had been made in our country within the last eighteen months
upon the freedom of the press and the liberty of speech, by denying
the still more fundamental right,--the _right of petition_; and this
“to a class of citizens as virtuous and pure as the inhabitants of any
section of the United States.”
A violent debate ensued, in which Mr. Adams maintained his part with
so much fortitude, dignity, and force of argument that the petition
was received by a large majority. I am sorry to add that it was soon
after laid on the table by a majority almost as large. And a few days
afterwards, on the 18th of January, 1837, the House of Representatives
passed this infamous resolution: “That all petitions relating to
slavery, _without being printed or referred_, shall be laid on the
table, and no action shall be had thereon.” This resolution, intended
to shut the door of legislative justice and mercy against millions of
the most cruelly oppressed people on earth, was passed in the Congress
of these United States by a vote of 139 ayes to 96 nays.
Petitions for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia
had been sent to Mr. Adams and to other members of Congress, from
various parts of the country. For it was the feeling of Abolitionists
everywhere that we were all, in some measure, directly responsible for
the continuance of slavery in that District, over which Congress had
then, and has now, exclusive jurisdiction. Seeing how such petitions
were to be spurned, by the advice of the managers of the Antislavery
Society, I addressed a letter to Mr. Adams, proposing that thereafter
our petitions should be “for the removal of the national capital to
some place north of Mason and Dixon’s line.” He replied that nothing
would be gained by such a change. Petitions so worded, coming from
Abolitionists, would be treated with the same contempt. And he thought
it better to persist in demanding the abolition of slavery in the
District, and contend for the right of petition on that issue.
Nothing daunted by the high-handed measure of January 18th, Mr. Adams,
on the 6th of the following month, announced to the Speaker that he
held in his hand a petition which purported to come from a number of
slaves, without, however, stating what it prayed for. Before presenting
it, he wished to be informed by the Speaker whether such a paper would
come under the order of the 18th ult. Without waiting for the decision,
several slaveholders rose in quick succession and poured out their
astonishment, their indignation, their wrath at the effrontery of
the man who could propose to offer such a petition,--a petition from
slaves! One said it was so gross an insult to the House that the paper
ought to be taken and burnt. Another insisted that the representative
from Massachusetts deserved the severest censure, yes, that he ought
to be immediately brought to the bar of the House and reproved by the
Speaker. Others demanded that Mr. Adams should be forthwith expelled
from his seat with those he had so grossly insulted.
Amidst this storm Mr. Adams remained as little moved as “the house
that was founded upon a rock.” When it had spent its rage enough for a
human voice to be heard, the brave “old man eloquent” rose and said:
“Mr. Speaker, to prevent further consumption of the time of the House,
I deem it my duty to request the members to modify their several
resolutions so that they may be in accordance with the facts. I did not
present the petition. I only informed the Speaker that I held in my
hand a paper purporting to be a petition from slaves, and asked if such
a petition would come under the general order of January 18th. I stated
distinctly that I should not send the paper to the table until that
question was decided. This is one _fact_, and one of the resolutions
offered to the House should be amended to accord with it.
“Another gentleman alleged in his resolution that the paper I hold is
a petition from slaves, praying for the abolition of slavery. Now,
Mr. Speaker, that is not the fact. If the House should choose to hear
this paper read they would learn that it is a petition the reverse of
what the resolution states it to be. If, therefore, the gentleman from
Alabama still shall choose to call me to the bar of the House, he will
have to amend his resolution by stating in it that my crime has been
attempting to introduce a petition from slaves, praying that slavery
may _not_ be abolished,--precisely that which the gentleman desires.”
A variety of absurd and incoherent resolutions were proposed, and
as many abusive speeches were made, after which the following were
adopted: “_Resolved_, That this House cannot receive the said petition
without disregarding its own dignity, the rights of a large class of
citizens of the South and West, and the Constitution of the United
States.” Yeas, 160. Nays, 35. “_Resolved_, That slaves do not possess
the right of petition secured to the people of the United States by the
Constitution.” Yeas, 162. Nays, 18.
None of the Northern representatives interposed to aid Mr. Adams in the
conflict, excepting only Messrs. Lincoln and Cushing, of Massachusetts,
and Mr. Evans, of Maine. These gentlemen defended his positions with
distinguished ability. But the “old man eloquent” was a host in
himself,--a match for all who rose up against him. Through the whole of
the unparalleled excitement he behaved with exemplary equanimity and
admirable self-possession. “His speech, in vindication of his cause,”
said Mr. Garrison, “was the hewing of Agag in pieces by the hand of
Samuel.” His exposure of the vice and licentiousness of slaveholding
communities was unsparing. His sarcasms were as cutting as the
surgeon’s knife. His rebukes were terrible. He contended that there was
not a word, not an intimation in the Constitution, excluding petitions
from slaves. “The right of petition,” said he, “God gave to the whole
human race when he made them _men_,--the right of prayer,--the right of
those who need to ask a favor of those who can bestow it. It belongs
to humanity; it does not depend upon the condition of the petitioners.
It belongs to the wronged, the destitute, the wretched. Those who
most need relief of any kind have the best right to petition for it,
_enslaved men more than all others_. Did the gentleman from South
Carolina think he could frighten me by his threat of a grand jury? Let
me tell him _he mistook his man_; I am not to be frightened from the
discharge of a duty by his indignation, nor by all the grand juries in
the universe. Mr. Speaker, I never was more serious in any moment of my
life. I never acted under a more solemn sense of duty. What I have done
I should do again under the same circumstances if it were to be done
to-morrow.”
For this dignified, persistent, heroic defence of the right of petition
Mr. Adams deserved the gratitude of all the suffering, and those who
desired their relief,--of the enslaved and those who were laboring for
their redemption. But in the course of the debate he said, “It is well
known to all the members of this house that, from the day I entered
this hall to the present moment, I have invariably, here and elsewhere,
declared my opinion to be adverse to the prayer of petitions which
call for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. I have,
however, uniformly insisted, and do insist, that such petitions ought
to be respectfully received, duly considered, and our reasons given for
refusing to grant them.”
Such a declaration from the champion of our petitions, it will readily
be believed, disconcerted us Abolitionists not a little. Some denounced
him. Many thought he certainly ought not to be returned to Congress
again.
I was then one of his constituents, living about thirteen miles from
his residence. I was as much disconcerted as any were by Mr. Adams’s
opposition to the prayer of our petition, and could not rest without
hearing from himself his reasons for that opposition. Accordingly,
soon after his return to Quincy, in the summer of 1837, I called at
his house. He received me graciously, and, on being told what was the
object of my visit, he thanked me for coming to himself to learn what
were the principles by which he endeavored to govern his conduct as
a member of the National Legislature, and what the reasons for the
opinion he held respecting the abolition of slavery in the District
of Columbia by an act of Congress. “You cannot doubt,” said he, “that
I desire the abolition of slavery there, and everywhere, as much as
you or any Abolitionist desires it. I am ready to do all that I think
can be done legally to exterminate that great wrong, that alarming
evil, that dark shame from our country. I shall ever withstand any
plan for the extension of slavery in any direction an inch beyond
the limits within which unhappily it existed at the formation of our
Union. I have repeatedly declared myself at any time ready to go for
the most stringent prohibition of our interstate slave-trade, putting
it under the same ban with the foreign slave-trade.[J] But, sir, the
citizens of the District of Columbia are in an anomalous condition,--a
condition not to be reconciled with one of the fundamental principles
of our democratic institutions. They are governed by laws enacted by a
Legislature in which they have no representative, and to the enactment
of which they have given no consent. Whenever, therefore, I am called
upon to act as a legislator for the District of Columbia, I feel myself
to be all the more bound in honor to act as if I were a representative
chosen by the people of that District, that is, to act in accordance
with what I know to be the will of my quasi constituents. Therefore,
until I know that the people of that District generally desire the
abolition of slavery, I cannot vote for it consistently with my idea of
the duty of a representative.”
Of course I demurred at the sufficiency of this reason, and urged
several objections to it. But I need not add a stern old statesman was
not to be moved from his allegiance to a principle which he said had
governed him through his long political life.
I left him dissatisfied and doubting whether I could help by my vote
to re-elect him to Congress. I conferred much with some of the leading
Abolitionists in his district. They were troubled in like manner. But
we could think of no man who could be elected in his place that would
go further in opposition to slavery than Mr. Adams had gone, or could
utter such scathing condemnation of our American despotism. When, too,
we reviewed the course he had pursued in Congress in defence of the
right of petition, and considered his venerable age, his high official
and personal character, his intimate acquaintance with every part of
the history of our country, his unequalled adroitness in the conduct of
a legislative debate, the insults and abuse he had endured in Congress,
because of his words and acts bearing upon the subject of slavery, and
his perfect fearlessness in the midst of the angry, violent, bullying
slaveholders, we came to the conclusion that it would be most unjust,
ungrateful, and unwise in Abolitionists to withhold their support from
Mr. Adams. We determined rather to rally about him.
And first we thought it would be becoming in his constituents to
give some public and emphatic expression of their high and grateful
appreciation of his faithfulness and heroic courage, in advocating and
maintaining the sacred right of petition. Accordingly, we conferred
with the prominent members of the Whig party in his district, who,
after some hesitation, agreed to unite with us in calling a delegated
convention to consider the alarming assaults that had been made in
the Congress of the nation upon the right of petition, and the noble
defence of that right by the venerable and illustrious representative
of the twelfth Congressional District.
Such a convention was held in Quincy, on the 23d of August, 1837.
Seventeen towns were represented by delegates, and a large number of
other citizens were present.
Hon. Thomas Greenleaf, of Quincy, was chosen President. Hon. Cushing
Otis, of South Scituate, and Hon. John B. Turner, of Scituate,
Vice-Presidents. Hon. Gershom B. Weston, of Duxbury, and Orrin P.
Bacon, Esq., of Dorchester, Secretaries. The forenoon was spent in
listening to speeches upon the sacredness of the right of petition, the
assaults made upon that right in the Congress of our nation, and the
persistent, dauntless, noble defence of it by our representative. A
series of appropriate resolutions was passed and a committee appointed
to present a copy of them to Mr. Adams, and request him to favor the
convention with his presence in the afternoon.
We reassembled soon after 2 P. M., and were informed by the committee
that Mr. Adams would be with us at three o’clock. There was no other
business before the convention. Several topics were proposed by
resolutions or motions that were ruled out of order, as not german
to the purpose of the meeting. Members were getting impatient. I
had begun to fear that some of our ardent ones would break over the
agreement under which the convention had been called. Just at this
crisis our excellent friend, Francis Jackson, of Boston, came into
the hall. His face was radiant with his message of glad tidings. He
came straight towards me, and placed in my hand a paper covered with
lines, in the clear, beautiful handwriting of that true philanthropist,
John Pierpont, with which I was familiar. “A Word from a Petitioner.”
Nothing could have been more timely, nothing more appropriate. I seized
it, and commenced reading at once:--
“What! our petitions spurned! The prayer
Of thousands, tens of thousands, cast
Unheard beneath your Speaker’s chair!
But you _will_ hear us first or last.
The thousands that last year ye scorned
Are millions now. Be warned! Be warned!”
The reading of this first stanza brought down the house in rapturous
applause. It struck the key-note to which the feelings of all were
attuned. Every stanza was received with some response of approval or
delight. When the last line was read and I began to fold the paper,
“Encore! Encore!!” resounded from every part of the hall. So I read
the admirable poem again and better than the first time. And just as I
was reading the last stanza, Mr. Adams entered the convention escorted
by the committee. Now the applauses rose in deafening cheers. “Hurrah!
Hurrah!! Hurrah!!! the hero comes!!!!” Three times three and then
again. Mr. Adams tottered to his seat next the President, wellnigh
overcome with emotion. And when the uproar ceased and he rose to speak
he seemed for the moment no more “the old man eloquent.” He could not
utter a word. He stood trembling before us. But the moment passed, and
the orator was himself again. His first words were: “My friends, my
neighbors, my constituents, though I tremble before _you_, I hope, I
trust you know that I have never trembled before the enemies of your
liberties, your sacred rights.” Again was the assembly thrown into an
uproar of applause, which did not die away until his self-possession
had entirely revived. And then he addressed us for nearly an hour,
giving a very graphic account of his conflict with the slaveholders in
Congress, and making it evident, perhaps more evident to us than to
himself, that some of them were determined to rule or else to ruin our
Republic.
By order of the convention a memorial was sent to our fellow-citizens
of each congressional district in the Commonwealth, commending to their
just appreciation the conduct of Mr. Adams in defence of the right of
petition, and praying them to send representatives who would be equally
true, faithful, fearless in withstanding the enemies of freedom.