Telegraphic Despatch to Boston, June 6, 1856.
On the 3d of June, 1856, a resolution for the relief of Kansas failed in the Massachusetts Legislature, mainly, it was alleged, through the hostility of Governor Gardner. On the next day a message from the Governor was received by the Legislature, recommending the payment of the expense of the illness of Mr. Sumner. This was followed in the Senate by a resolution to the same effect. On learning these proceedings, Mr. Sumner dictated the following telegraphic despatch, which was signed by his immediate representative in Congress.
Washington, June 6, 1856.
MR. SUMNER has just learned the recommendation of Governor Gardner that the Commonwealth should assume the expense of his illness. He desires me to telegraph at once his hope that the recommendation will not be pressed. In no event can he accept the allowance proposed, and Mr. Sumner adds, “Whatever Massachusetts can give, let it all go to suffering Kansas.”
Anson Burlingame.
Letter to a Committee in Boston, June 13, 1856.
Immediately after the assault on Mr. Sumner a subscription was started for a testimonial to him. The terms of the paper were as follows.
“Being desirous of expressing to the Hon. Charles Sumner, in some permanent and appropriate form, our admiration of his spotless public and private character, of our lively gratitude for his dauntless courage in the defence of Freedom on the floor of Congress, and especially our unqualified approbation of his speech in behalf of Free Kansas, delivered in the Senate on the 20th of May last,—a speech characterized by comprehensive knowledge of the subject, by logical acuteness, and by Spartan intrepidity in the chastisement of iniquity, for which he has wellnigh lost his life at the brutal and cowardly hands of the creature for which (thanks to the rarity of its appearance) the English tongue has as yet no appropriate name,—we deem it alike a privilege and an honor to participate in offering him some suitable token of our sentiments. For this purpose we subscribe the sums set opposite our names.”
Among the early signers were the venerable Josiah Quincy, Henry W. Longfellow, Jared Sparks, F. D. Huntington, R. H. Dana, Jr., Edward Everett, Edwin P. Whipple, Alexander H. Rice, Charles Hudson, Charles Francis Adams, Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Charles A. Phelps, Amasa Walker, William Claflin, Eli Thayer, and George Bliss.
Mr. Sumner was on his bed when he heard of this purpose. He at once dictated the following letter.
Washington, June 13, 1856.
MY DEAR SIR,—The papers speak of a token planned by you, in approbation of my recent speech exposing the Crime against Kansas. Pardon me, if, in advance of any direct information, I say to you frankly that I cannot allow this flattering project to proceed further.
It is enough for me that you and your generous associates approve what I said. Such sympathy and support in the cause, of which I am a humble representative, is all that I ask for myself, or am willing to accept. But the cause itself has constant claims on us all. And I trust you will not deem me too bold, if I express a desire that the contributions intended for the testimonial to me may be applied at once, and without abatement of any kind, to the recovery and security of Freedom in Kansas.
For this I spoke in the Senate, and I shall be proud to regard these contributions thus applied as my words hardened into deeds.
Believe me, my dear Sir, with much regard,
Very faithfully yours,
Charles Sumner.
Carlos Pierce, Esq.
This letter was laid before a meeting of the subscribers in Mercantile Hall, with Rev. F. D. Huntington, afterwards Bishop of the Western Diocese of New York, in the chair. A contemporary newspaper records what ensued.
“A beautiful design of the testimonial which it had been proposed to offer Mr. Sumner was also submitted to the meeting. It was to have been a massive and elaborate silver vase, two feet in height, and was planned by Messrs. Bailey, Kettell, and Chapman. Upon its summit was a figure representing Charles Sumner holding his Kansas speech in his right hand. On either side were the figures of Justice and Freedom, crowning him with a wreath of laurels. A winged genius sits at his feet, and is inscribing his name on a tablet. Figures representing Victory are upon the arms of the vase, heralding the triumph of Freedom. Above the inscription to Mr. Sumner, and in the centre, was the coat of arms of Massachusetts. On the foot of the vase was the coat of arms of the nation, between masks and appropriate emblems of Liberty and Slavery.
“Although all were unwilling to abandon this favorite plan of expressing to Mr. Sumner by a substantial token their sympathy and their support, yet they were of the opinion that his letter left them no choice in the matter, and, after discussing many plans for the disposition of the funds already raised, the suggestion of Mr. Sumner was unanimously adopted by the following resolves.
“‘Resolved, That the Secretary of this meeting be instructed to subscribe the amount of funds in his hands to aid the cause of Freedom in Kansas, in the name of Hon. Charles Sumner.
“‘Resolved, That the subscribers be notified by the Secretary of the above vote, and have leave to withdraw their subscriptions.’
“The amount already subscribed is one thousand dollars, and by the action of the meeting Mr. Sumner’s noble and eloquent speech has ‘hardened into deeds,’ for which we hope many a poor sufferer in Kansas will long have occasion to bless his memory.”
The resolutions of the meeting were communicated to Mr. Sumner by the Chairman in the following letter.
“Cambridge, June 25, 1856.
“My dear Sir,—You have already been made acquainted with the earnest movement of some of your host of friends in this quarter to convey to you a tangible evidence of their profound esteem for your character, and their enthusiastic admiration of your conduct. The arrival of your generous letter stopped their proceedings. At your own request one thousand dollars will go to Kansas instead of to you.
“At the public meeting where this decision was taken, I was directed, as being Chairman, to acquaint you with the acquiescence of the subscribers to the testimonial in your wishes, and to assure you that all your motives in this act, and throughout the recent signal and portentous events, are by us fully appreciated and honored. I will not add to your fatigues, and to the crowd of communications which must be pouring in upon you, by a long communication. Your name is inseparably and nobly associated with the history of Freedom, in America and in the world, henceforth. We confide in you for the future. We thank you for the past. We supplicate, in your behalf, from the Almighty Source of Good a rapid restoration of your health and strength, and ever-increasing powers of will, of faith, of action, and of speech, in the infinite service of Humanity.
“You will believe, my dear Sir, that my personal feelings go undivided into these assurances of good-will.
“I beg you to account me, now as always,
“Your faithful friend and servant,
“F. D. Huntington.
“Hon. Charles Sumner.”
The following extract from a letter of Mrs. Lydia Maria Child, the much-loved and always popular author, shows how this act was regarded at the time.
“Your letter declining the testimonial proffered by your native Commonwealth pleased me more than anything you ever did. I had previously said, ‘I hope Massachusetts will express her gratitude toward him with princely magnificence, and I hope he will transfer the gift to Kansas: that would be morally grand on both sides.’ And Mr. Child answered: ‘Depend upon it, he will do it. Nothing could be more characteristic of the man.’ That letter and Mr. Wilson’s answer to the challenge have revived my early faith in human nature. It is impossible to calculate the salutary influence of such examples.”
[1] Resolutions of the Legislature of South Carolina, December 16, 1835. See also Resolutions of the Legislature of North Carolina, December 19, 1835; of Georgia, December 22, 1835; of Alabama, January 7, 1836; and of Virginia, February 16, 1836. Massachusetts Senate Documents, Sess. 1836, No. 56.
[2] “Ahi serva Italia, … bordello!”—Purgatorio, Canto VI. 76-78.
[3] Civil Code of the State of Louisiana, Art. 35.
[4] Statutes at Large of South Carolina, Vol. VII. p. 397, Act No. 670, sec. 1.
[5] Sketch of the Laws relating to Slavery in the several States, pp. 22, 23.
[6] Genesis, ix. 25-27.
[7] Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel, Part I. 301, 302.
[8] Encyclopædia Metropolitana, First Division, Pure Sciences, Vol. I. p. 32 (ed. 1829, 4to): Preliminary Treatise on Method, Sect. 2, Dark Ages.
[9] By the Rev. Thomas Thompson, Vicar of Reculver, in Kent, and printed at Canterbury in 1772. Boswell’s defence of the Slave-Trade was kindred in character. (Life of Johnson, ed. Croker, London, 1848, Vol. VII. pp. 23, 24, Sept. 23, 1777.) Nothing can be more melancholy than the effort of Capitein the African, who, surrendering to the Dutch influences about him, made himself the apologist of Slavery, in a Latin Dissertation, translated into Dutch, and reprinted four times, entitled “Dissertatio politico-theologica de Servitute Libertati Christianæ non contraria, quam sub Præside J. Van den Honert publicæ Disquisitioni subjicit J. E. J. Capitein, Afer, in 4to, Lugduni Batavorum, 1742.” In our own country, the Rev. John Beck, of Georgia, dared to preach and print, in 1801, two sermons entitled “The Doctrine of Perpetual Bondage reconcilable with the Infinite Justice of God, a Truth plainly asserted in the Jewish and Christian Scripture.” Good men must join in the thanks expressed to Colonel Humphreys by the philanthropist Grégoire, for his exposure of this baseness in his Valedictory Discourse before the Cincinnati of Connecticut. Grégoire, De la Littérature des Nègres, p. 232.
[10] Epistle to Philemon, 10-19.
[11] See Parliamentary Papers, 1852, Vol. XXXI.; 1852-53, Vol. LXII.; 1854-55, Vol. XXXVI.; 1856, Vol. LVII.; 1857, Vol. XL.; 1862, Vol. LVII. Also, Davy’s West Indies, pp. 65, 200, 245, 277, 412.
[12] Speech at Opening of Assembly, Oct. 30. 1838; Parliamentary Papers, Sess. 1839, Vol. XXXV., No. 107, p. 151.
[13] Despatch from Gov. Higginson to Earl Grey, April 5, 1849: Parliamentary Papers, Sess. 1849, Vol. XXXIV. [No. 1126], p. 219.
[14] Hansard, Parliamentary Debates, 3d Ser. Vol. XLV. col. 4, Feb. 5, 1839.
[15] Speech on American Taxation, April 19, 1774: Works (London, 1801), Vol. II. p. 413.
[16] Of Goodness, and Goodness of Nature.
[17] Exodus, xxxiii. 18,19.
[18] Marston, History of Antonio and Mellida, Act III. Sc. 1.
[19] Hansard, Parliamentary History, XXX. 659, April 11, 1793.
[20] Cowper, Sonnet to Wilberforce.
[21] De Bow’s Statistical View, pp. 94, 95.
[22] “Our Southern islands, for I call them ours.” Speech of Mr. Butler, of South Carolina, March 20, 1854: Congressional Globe, 33d Cong. 1st Sess., Vol. XXVIII. p. 690.
[23] Inferno, tr. Brooksbank, Canto III. 37-39.
[24] Case of Passmore Williamson, pp. 3-5, 9-11, 15, 73, 157-163.
[25] Notes on Party Principles: Life of Wilberforce by his Sons, Vol. II., Appendix, p. 456.
[26] Case of Passmore Williamson. See, ante, p. 52.
[27] Hon. Henry J. Gardner.
[28] “Tu vero, si quid in te artis est, ita compone domum meam, ut, quicquid agam, ab omnibus perspici possit.”—A saying of the tribune M. Livius Drusus, preserved by Velleius Paterculus, Historiæ Romanæ, Lib. II. c. 14.
[29] Of this Professor Agassiz is a brilliant instance.
[30] Madison’s Debates, July 5, 1787, p. 1024, note.
[31] Ibid., July 6, p. 1040.
[32] Ibid.
[33] Madison’s Debates, July 6, 1787, p. 1042.
[34] Ibid., p. 1043.
[35] Ibid., July 14, pp. 1096-1098.
[36] Madison’s Debates, August 8, 1787, pp. 1266, 1267.
[37] Madison’s Debates, July 6, 1787, p. 1044.
[38] Madison’s Debates, June 13, 1787, pp. 855, 856.
[39] Ibid., August 13, p. 1307.
[40] Ibid., July 6, p. 1041.
[41] Ibid., p. 1043.
[42] Elliot’s Debates, June 14, 1788, Vol. II. p. 283, ed. 1828.
[43] Journals of the House of Commons, Vol. IX. p. 509. May’s Law of Parliament, p. 407, ed. 1851.
[44] May’s Law of Parliament, pp. 415, 418.
[45] Ibid., p. 425.
[46] Hon. George P. Marsh.
[47] Webster’s Works, Vol. VI. pp. 406, 409.
[48] Wheaton, Elements of International Law (ed. Lawrence, 1863), note, pp. 334, 335, Part II. Ch. 4.
[49] Exec. Doc., 34th Cong. 1st Sess., 1855-56, No. 1, p. 9.
[50] Ibid., p. 30.
[51] Commentaries on the Constitution, § 1838.
[52] Foster et al. v. Neilson, 2 Peters, 314
[53] Ware v. Hylton et al., 3 Dallas, 284.
[54] Ibid., 261.
[55] 1 United States Statutes at Large, 578.
[56] Annals of Congress, 5th Cong., 1797-1799, col. 2120.
[57] Ibid., col. 2123.
[58] Ibid., col. 2126.
[59] Executive Documents, 29th Cong. 1st Sess., No. 2, p. 11.
[60] 9 United States Statutes at Large, pp. 109, 110.
[61] Executive Documents, 33d Cong. 1st Sess., 1853-54, No. 108, pp. 40, 42.
[62] United States Statutes at Large, Vol. XI. p. 720. Wheaton, Elements of International Law (ed. Lawrence, 1863), note, p. 335, Part II. Ch. 4.
[63] This illustration, deemed necessary to expose the hateful violence to a beautiful region for the sake of Slavery, was denounced by Mr. Cass, in the Senate, while Mr. Sumner was absent, as “an unpatriotic metaphor”, and the critical Senator added: “I believe that hundreds of thousands of copies of that production which contains this passage, and many others equally objectionable, were sent through the country during the last Presidential election.”—Congressional Globe, 34th Cong. 3d Sess., p. 90, December 11, 1856.
[64] Florus, Epitome Rerum Romanarum, Lib. IV. cap. 2, § 4. Five years later the fury of the propagandists broke forth in the war here foretold.
[65] Congressional Globe, 34th Cong. 1st Sess., Appendix, p. 107, February 28, 1856.
[66] Hildreth, History of the United States, Vol. VI. p. 713.
[67] Referring to this provision of the Missouri Bill, Mr. Niles italicizes “forever,” thus showing his construction of the word.—Niles’s Weekly Register, March 11, 1820.
[68] This letter, which the Columbian Centinel, of Boston, April 1, 1820, properly styles “tell-tale,” was addressed to the Editor of the Charleston City Gazette, under date of March 2, 1820.
[69] Act to organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas, Sec. 14: Statutes at Large, Vol. X. p. 283.
[70] Senator of Missouri at Washington from 1843 to 1855, and for several sessions President pro tempore of the Senate.
[71] Message relative to Affairs in the Territory of Kansas, January 24, 1856: Executive Documents, 34th Cong. 1st Sess., No. 28, p. 4.
[72] Hon. S. C. Pomeroy, afterwards for many years Senator of Kansas at Washington.
[73] Hon. Wilson Shannon.
[74] Burke, Speech in the Impeachment of Warren Hastings, February 16, 1788: Works (London, 1822), Vol. XIII. p. 202.
[75] Horatio Greenough, the earliest of our sculptors, and also excellent with his pen.
[76] Cicero, Oratio in Catilinam I. 12.
[77] This review Mr. Sumner was disabled from making, as will appear in the sequel.
[78] Statutes of the Territory of Kansas, passed at the First Session of the Legislative Assembly, 1855, and the Act of Congress organizing said Territory, and other Acts of Congress having immediate relation thereto, Shawnee M. L. School, 1855, Chap. 151, pp. 715-717. Mr. Sumner’s copy of this curious volume, which once belonged to Mr. Seward, is lettered on the back, “Laws of Kansas; Territorial Legislature, alias The Ruffians’ Legislature.”
[79] This story is told of Sir James Marriott, the Admiralty Judge. (Basil Montagu’s Essays: Barrister.) Something similar may be traced to Lord Mansfield, not usually pedantic or technical, in the Debate on the Right of Parliament to tax America, Feb. 10, 1766. (Hansard, Parliamentary History, XVI. 176.)
[80] Mr. Crampton, the British Minister at Washington, was dismissed. Lawrence’s Wheaton (ed. 1863), p. 438, note. See also Executive Documents, 34th Cong. 1st Sess., No. 107.
[81] Statutes at Large, Vol. I. p. 424.
[82] Ibid., Vol. II. p. 443.
[83] Mr. Douglas’s Report on the Affairs of Kansas: Senate Reports, 34th Cong. 1st Sess., No. 34, p. 29.
This is the verse of Longfellow on the artist Albert Dürer, buried at Nuremberg.
[85] Livy, XXXVII. 46. See, also, Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, art. Colonia.
[86] Massachusetts Special Laws, Vol. X. p. 282.
[87] Hon. John Carter Brown, of Providence, R. I.
[88] Hon. John M. S. Williams, of Cambridge, afterwards an earnest member of the Republican party, and for some time Chairman of its Republican State Committee, in Massachusetts.
[89] Hon. A. A. Lawrence, of Boston.
[90] Hon. Reuben A. Chapman, of Springfield, afterward Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts.
[91] Mr. Evans, of South Carolina, here interrupted Mr. Sumner to say that he did not know of any such address. Mr. Sumner replied, that “it was in a speech or letter of one of the gentlemen enlisted in obtaining emigrants in South Carolina.”—Congressional Globe, 34th Cong. 1st Sess., Appendix, p. 538.
[92] Mr. Douglas was born in Vermont.
[93] Mr. Butler, of South Carolina, in his two days’ speech reviewing and denouncing Mr. Sumner, while the latter was suffering at home, said of this passage: “The best part of his late speech is a periphrasis of Demosthenes, almost a servile imitation of the apostrophe of Demosthenes. I never saw such a remarkable resemblance.… I do not say it is a plagiarism; but it is a remarkable imitation, as far as one man incapable of comprehending the true spirit of Demosthenes could imitate him.”—Speech in the Senate, June 12th and 13th, 1856: Congressional Globe, 34th Cong. 1st Sess., Appendix, p. 634.
[94] At this point, Mr. Sumner, having spoken three hours, yielded for a motion to adjourn. On the next day, May 20th, he concluded.
[95] Hansard, Parliamentary History, XVIII. 33, 34.
[96] Speech in the Senate, March 6, 1856: Congressional Globe, 34th Cong. 1st Sess., p. 587.
[97] For an abstract of this bill, see Congressional Globe, 34th Cong. 1st Sess., p. 693, March 20, 1856. Printed by the Senate at the time, but, as it was never passed, will not be found in the Statutes.
[98] Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book I, 545-547.
[99] Journal of Congress, Vol. IX. p. 153.
[100] This was the ratio at the cession of Florida. At the cession of Louisiana it was 33,000.
[101] Memorial of the People of the Territory of Florida for Admission into the Union: Executive Documents, 27th Cong. 2d Sess., Vol. IV. No. 206, p. 3.
[102] Message relative to Affairs in the Territory of Kansas, Jan. 24, 1856: Executive Documents, 34th Cong. 1st Sess., Vol. VII. No. 28, p. 6.
[103] Congressional Globe, 24th Cong. 1st Sess., p. 140, Jan. 26, 1836.
[104] Ibid., Appendix, p. 307, April 1, 1836.
[105] Congressional Globe, 24th Cong. 1st Sess., Appendix, p. 331, April 1, 1836.
[106] Ibid., p. 308.
[107] Senate Journal, 24th Cong. 1st Sess., p. 262, April 1, 1836.
[108] Ibid., pp. 437, 439. Act of July 2, 1836: Statutes at Large, Vol. V. p. 113.
[109] Reports of Committees, 24th Cong. 1st Sess., Vol. II. No. 380, p. 18.
[110] Act of June 15th, 1836: Statutes at Large, Vol. V. p. 50.
[111] Senate Documents, 24th Cong. 2d Sess., Vol. I. No. 36, p. 2.
[112] Senate Journal, 24th Cong. 2d Sess., p. 72. Act of 26th January, 1837: Statutes at Large, Vol. V. p. 144.
[113] Senate Documents, 24th Cong. 2d Sess., Vol. I. No. 36, p. 5.
[114] Congressional Globe, 24th Cong. 2d Sess., pp. 60, 61.
[115] Debates in Congress, Vol. XIII. Part I. col. 233, 24th Cong. 2d Sess. This debate is not reported in the Congressional Globe.
[116] Ibid., col. 209.
[117] Ibid., col. 208.
[118] Ibid., col. 300.
[119] Ibid.
[120] Debates in Congress, Vol. XIII. Part I. col. 215, 24th Cong. 2d Sess.
[121] Dépêche Circulaire, Laybach, 12 Mai, 1821: Martens, Nouveau Recueil de Traités, Tom. V. p. 644.
[122] Speech of Mr. Corbin, June 7, 1788: Elliot’s Debates, Vol. II. p. 104.
[123] 1 Virginia Cases, 70, 71, Kamper v. Hawkins.
[124] The Federalist, No. 40.
[125] Debates in Congress, Vol. XIII. Part I. col. 313, 24th Cong. 2d Sess.
[126] An examination of the Globe shows, that, besides a regular speech, the Senator intervened, often irregularly and impatiently, no less than thirty-five times.
[127] Hon. James H. Lane, afterwards Senator of Kansas at Washington.
[128] Speech on Memorial of the Legislature of Kansas, April 7, 1856: Congressional Globe, 34th Cong. 1st Sess., p. 826.
[129] Art. I. § 6.
[130] The close of the Rebellion witnessed the fulfilment of this prophecy.
[131] Lowell, The Present Crisis.
[132] This was the case of Mrs. Douglas, which at the time caused sensation.
[133] Æneid, tr. Dryden, VI. 853 [1177].
[134] “Il gran rifiuto.” Dante, Inferno, III. 60.
[135] Deuteronomy, xxvii. 17.
[136] Ibid., xxviii. 16-19.
[137] Ezekiel, xiv. 8.
[138] American Archives, 4th Series, Vol. I. col. 446.
[139] Ante, Vol. III. p. 368.
[140] Ante, Vol. III. pp. 368-423.
[141] The second day of the delivery.
[142] The short-hand reporter of the Senate.
[143] House Journal, 34th Cong. 1st Sess., pp. 1199-1221, July 14, 15, 1856.
[144] Congressional Globe, 34th Cong. 1st Sess., Appendix, pp. 831-833, July 14, 1856.
[145] Congressional Globe, 34th Cong. 1st Sess., pp. 1304-1306, May 27, 1856.
[146] Congressional Globe, 34th Cong. 1st Sess., Appendix, p. 626, June 12, 1856.
[147] New York Independent, February 5, 1857. See also New York Herald, January 31, and February 2, 1857; New York Times, January 30, 1857. The effect of this on the House is described by correspondents at the time.
[148] January 29, 1857, p. 502, 34th Cong. 3d Sess.
[149] Ante, Vol. III. pp. 368-423.
[150] Congressional Globe, 34th Cong. 1st Sess., Appendix, p. 629, June 12, 1856.
[151] Ibid., p. 626.
[152] Congressional Globe, 34th Cong. 1st Sess., Appendix, p. 625, June 12, 1856.
[153] Congressional Globe, 34th Cong. 1st Sess., Appendix, p. 633, June 13, 1856.
[154] Congressional Globe, 34th Cong. 3d Sess., Appendix, p. 356, February 26, 1857.
[155] Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. LV. pp. 417-421, December 25, 1856.
[156] This letter was addressed to Hon. H. Wilson.