“I am ready to shoulder my musket and march to the Capitol,
and there sacrifice my life in defence of Free Speech and the
Right.”
Hon. M. F. Conway, then in Washington, and afterwards Representative in
Congress from Kansas, sent in to Mr. Sumner, while in his seat, this
warning and tender of service:--
“You are not safe to be alone at any time. I will be glad to
be with you all the time, if practicable. I ask the privilege
especially of being one of your companions at night. I will
accompany you from the Senate Chamber, when you leave this
evening.”
In reply to an inquiry from home, Hon. James Buffinton, of the House of
Representatives, wrote:--
“The Massachusetts delegation in Congress will stand by Mr.
Sumner and his late speech. There will be no backing down by
us, and I am in hopes our people at home will pursue the same
course.”
The Mayor of Washington invited Mr. Sumner to make affidavit of the
facts, or to lodge a complaint, which the latter declined to do,
saying that he and his friends had no inducement from the past to rely
upon Washington magistrates. At last the Mayor brought the original
offender, being a well-known Washington office-holder of Virginia, to
Mr. Sumner’s room, when he apologized for his conduct, and denied all
knowledge of the visitors later in the evening who left the brutal
message.
The friends of Mr. Sumner did not feel entirely relieved. Among these
was his private secretary, A. B. Johnson, Esq., afterwards chief clerk
of the Lighthouse Board, who, untiring in friendship and fidelity,
without consulting him, arranged protection for the night, and a
body-guard between his lodgings and the Senate. The latter service was
generously assumed by citizens of Kansas, who, under the captaincy of
Augustus Wattles, insisted upon testifying in this way their sense of
his efforts for them. Apprised of Mr. Sumner’s habit of walking to
and from the Capitol, they watched his door, and, as he came out, put
themselves at covering distance behind, with revolvers in hand, and
then, unknown to him, followed to the door of the Senate. In the same
way they followed him home. This body-guard, especially in connection
with the previous menace, illustrates the era of Slavery.
The personal incident just described was lost in the larger discussion
caused by the speech itself, in the press and in correspondence.