Chapter IX: Appendix (2)

“I have just finished reading _the_ speech. It is all that
I could wish for. It takes the dreadful question out of the
region of party and expediency, and holds it up in the clear
sun-blaze of truth and reason, in all its deformity, and with
the blackness of the pit clinging about it. In the light of
that speech the civilized world will now see American Slavery
as it is. There is something really awful in its Rhadamanthine
severity of justice; but it was needed.

“It especially rejoices thy personal friends to see in the
speech such confirmation of thy complete restoration to health
and strength of body and mind. It was the task of a giant.”

Frederick Douglass, once a slave, wrote from Rochester, New York:--

“I wish I could tell you how deeply grateful I am to you, and
to God, for the speech you have now been able to make in the
United States Senate. You spoke to the Senate and the nation,
but you have a nobler and a mightier audience. The civilized
world will hear you, and rejoice at the tremendous exposure of
the meanness, brutality, blood-guiltiness, hell-black iniquity,
and barbarism of American Slavery. As one who has felt the
horrors of this stupendous violation of all human rights, I
venture thus far to trespass upon your time and attention. My
heart is full, Sir, and I could pour out my feelings at length,
but I know how precious is your time. I shall print every word
of your speech.”

Hon. S. P. Chase, afterwards Chief Justice of the United States, wrote from Columbus, Ohio:--

“Your great speech came to me, under your frank, this morning.
I had read it all--in the _Bulletin_ of Philadelphia, in the
_Times_ of New York, and in the _Globe_--before I received the
pamphlet copy. It is gratifying to know that the _New York
Herald_ also prints it, and that, through various channels of
publication, it will reach every corner of the land, ‘_cogens
omnes ante thronum_.’ ‘_C’est presqu’un discours antique_,’
said a French gentleman to me last Saturday. I say, ‘_C’est
bien plus._’”

Hon. Francis Gillette, an Abolitionist, and formerly Senator of the United States from Connecticut, wrote from Hartford:--

“I cannot tell you how pleased I am with your late speech on
the ‘Barbarism of Slavery.’ It makes a lustrum in the Senate,
and an era in the history of the Antislavery cause. But I am
afraid the bloodthirsty barbarians are intent on assassinating
you. Look out for them, and when they apologize to you with the
pretension of drunkenness, understand them to mean they are
drunk with rage. Do not believe them.”

Hon. Carl Schurz, the German orator, afterwards Senator of the United States from Missouri, wrote from Milwaukee, Wisconsin:--

“Allow me to congratulate you on the success of your great
speech. It did me good to hear again the true ring of the moral
Antislavery sentiment. If we want to demolish the Slave Power,
we must educate the hearts of the people no less than their
heads.”

Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, so long a champion of Freedom in Congress, wrote from his home at Jefferson, Ohio:--

“Permit me to congratulate you. My heart swells with gratitude
to God that you are again permitted to stand in the Senate and
maintain the honor of a nation and of mankind. I dared not say
to you how much I feared the effect of that excitement which
I knew must attend you while speaking in the Senate. But now
you have passed the most trying point, I hope no evil effects
will result to your health; but, however health or life may be
affected, you have again spoken.”

Then again the veteran champion wrote:--

“Of all the subjects before you, no one was so well adapted
to the occasion as the ‘Barbarism of Slavery.’ And no man was
so well adapted to the subject as yourself. I was profoundly
grateful that you succeeded in pronouncing the speech,--and
still more so, when I read it. It is worthy of yourself. Thus
far my desires and prayers in regard to you have been fully
met. May your services to your country and mankind continue so
long as life continues!”

Hon. George W. Julian, another champion in Congress, wrote from his home at Centreville, Indiana:--

“I am exceedingly rejoiced that you have made your great
speech, and said just what I understand you have said about
the whole question of Slavery. But I grow sick, indignant, and
nervous, on reading the cowardly notices of the speech by windy
Republican journals.”

Hon. John Jay, afterwards Minister to Austria, wrote from New York:--

“I wrote you hastily my congratulations and thanks on your last
powerful effort, the effect of which I think will be stupendous
and permanent, giving a vigor to the cause, and a definiteness
to the opinion of the North, and an example of pluck more
powerful in its persuasive influence than a thousand essays.”

Hon. Gerrit Smith, always champion of the slave, wrote from his home at Peterborough, New York:--

“I have this day read your speech as it appeared in the _New
York Times_ of the 5th. God be praised for the proof it affords
that you are yourself again,--ay, more than yourself! I say
more,--for, though the ‘Crime against Kansas’ _was_ the speech
of your life, this _is_ the speech of your life. This eclipses
that. It is far more instructive, and will be far more useful,
and it is not at all inferior to the other in vigor or rhetoric.

“The slaveholders will all read this speech, and will all be
profited by its clear, certain, and convincing truths. The
candid among them will not dislike you for it; not a few of
them will, at least in their hearts, thank and honor you for
it. Would that they all might see that there is no wrong, no
malice whatever, in your heart! Would that they all might see
that you do not hate the slaveholder, but pity him as the
victim of a false education!…

“I have read the editorial of the _Times_ on your speech. It is
more than unjust, it is wicked. Nor has the _Tribune_, so far
as I have seen, any praises for you. But this is their way, or
rather one of their ways, for promoting the interests of your
Republican party.”

Mr. Smith added in a subsequent letter:--

“I am scattering through my county the great speech of your
life: I mean your speech on the Barbarism of Slavery. It is
just to the taste of Republicans here,--for the Republicans
here are nearly all Abolitionists.”

Rev. John Pierpont, lifelong Abolitionist, and poet, wrote from the home of Gerrit Smith, whose guest he was:--

“I finished the reading of your great speech in the car on
my way hither, and, permit me to say, thank you for it with my
whole soul,--notwithstanding the qualified commendations of
it that may have found their way into some of the Republican
papers.”

Hon. Samuel E. Sewall, another lifelong Abolitionist, and able lawyer, wrote from Boston:--

“I rejoice that you have had the courage to exhibit in a
systematic manner the essential barbarism of the institution.
Everywhere I hear your speech spoken of in the highest terms of
admiration. Even the most desperate conservatives are compelled
to acknowledge your eloquence and ability. Nor do they deny
the justice of your attack on the system of Slavery. But they
say the time you chose for making this assault was inopportune
and ill-judged, that it could only retard the admission of
Kansas, that it is likely to have a bad effect on slaveholders,
etc., etc., etc. It seems to me, however, that no occasion for
denouncing an institution which is the ruin and disgrace of our
nation can be inopportune.”

William Lloyd Garrison, who gave his name to a school of Abolitionists, and was himself a host in constancy and lofty principle, wrote from Boston:--

“Allow me warmly to congratulate you upon your complete
restoration to health, and upon the successful delivery
of your great speech in Congress, the potency of which is
seen in the writhings and denunciations of the slaveholding
oligarchy and their base Northern allies, quite as much as in
the commendations and rejoicings of your numerous friends and
admirers.”

Wendell Phillips, the orator of Freedom, and early friend, wrote:--

“I rejoice with a full heart, not only, not so much perhaps, in
your glorious speech, as in what we so longed for and hoped,
that you are again on your feet, again in harness,--it is so
heart-stirring and cheering to hear your voice once more along
the lines, and just now, too, when you and a very few others
seem to embody all the real Antislavery there is in politics.
Those were ‘four’ nobly used hours. ’Twas a blast of the old
well-known bugle, and fell on welcoming ears, and thankful
ones.”

Edmund Quincy, the accomplished writer and determined Abolitionist, wrote from Dedham:--

“The spirit moveth me to tell you how much I admired your
speech of last Monday, the rather that I see that the dishes
of skim-milk that you are trying to stir to an honorable
action are turning sour to your word. The fact is, the leading
Republicans not only don’t know enough to go in when it rains,
but they quarrel with the man that offers them an umbrella.…
I beg you to believe that the editors do not express the real
feeling of the Republicans about your speech, as far as I have
talked with them. The common people received it gladly; and its
great power, eloquence, and exhaustive and unanswerable quality
everybody acknowledges, even the enemy. You have done a good
service to the country, and a great one to your party, if they
have the sense to make use of it.”

Lewis Tappan, the ancient and leading Abolitionist, wrote from New York:--

“The speech is timely and valuable. Everywhere I have heard it
highly commended. Still some Republicans dislike it, at this
crisis. But the party needs having their attention directed to
the moral aspects of the question. May the good Lord protect
and bless you, and enable you to feel a consciousness of his
presence and inspiration!”

J. Miller M’Kim, an active Abolitionist, who did much for the cause, wrote from Philadelphia:--

“The speech is in great demand here. Twenty-five cents a copy
have been offered for the _Herald_ or _Bulletin_ containing
it. I am disgusted with the notices of it which have appeared
in some of the leading Republican prints. Maugre them all, I
say, and all right-minded men will say, it was _judicious_,
_well-timed_, and _german to the question before the country_.”

Rev. Parker Pillsbury, the Garrisonian Abolitionist, who thought the Republican party too feeble, wrote from Cumington, Massachusetts:--

“Amid the profusion of epistolary plaudits you will doubtless
receive for your late powerful protest against Slavery, a voice
humble as mine can be to you only of slight account. And yet
I cannot forbear my congratulations at your so far recovered
vigor and health, and the cause of Freedom and Humanity, that
it still receives the powerful aid and advocacy of your voice
and influence. I only regret that a speech of such power as
your last must be laid on the altar of Republicanism, while to
the leaders of the party your utterances are distasteful, if
not absolutely terrific.”

Mrs. Maria Weston Chapman, the courageous Abolitionist, always faithful and intelligent, wrote from Boston:--

“Will you accept my hearty thanks for your speech? Exciting, as
it must, a rage of hatred in some, proportionate to the love
and gratitude it secures from others, I am sure your life is in
danger; but with you, the greater the danger, the greater the
courage,--and courage is preservative. No need to bid you be of
good cheer: one in your place cannot help being so.”

Rev. George B. Cheever, whose soul was in the Antislavery cause, wrote from New York:--

“I bless you from the bottom of my heart, and praise God for
his goodness in sparing you and returning you to your place in
the Senate for that great work. It is a mighty blow, struck
just at the right time, with a severity, pungency, and hearty
earnestness that it does one’s very soul good to witness. God
bless you, and keep you, my dear friend and brother!--for you
must allow me to use this language, since you have endeared
yourself to every lover of freedom and justice, of truth and
righteousness, and to every friend of the slave, more than
ever; and your noble course might justify even a personal
stranger in addressing you thus. You are very dear to us all.”

Rev. William H. Furness, the Unitarian preacher, whose gentle nature was always aroused by Slavery, wrote from Philadelphia:--

“I have just read the telegram of your speech, and I must tell
you that I have no words to express my admiration, gratitude,
love. It is a grand justification of your non-resignation of
your seat. The grace of God is on you,--his special favor, in
that you have had the will and the opportunity for so faithful,
so noble an utterance. It is a planetary space beyond and above
the Republican party.”

In another letter he wrote further:

“I have no words to describe the blessed work you have done.
Never for one instant mind the ‘cold-shoulderism’ of the
_Tribune_, or the heartlessness around you; but rest assured
that you have sent the truth into the inmost being of the
Southern men who heard you. They may affect contempt by their
silence, or they may rail and foam like Chesnut, but they
know that you have spoken the bitter and biting truth without
bitterness and without fear, as became a Christian gentleman.
I declare to you that I consider that you are paid for the
inaction and suffering of the last four years, and so are we.
You cannot, no one can, begin to estimate the substantial work
that you have done, both in regard to the essential truth,
which you have demonstrated, and more to the perfect spirit and
manner of the work.”

Rev. O. B. Frothingham, the courageous clergyman and reformer, wrote from New York:--

“Expressing my satisfaction and delight with your recent
speech in the Senate, I do not know which most to be thankful
for,--the complete restoration of your physical and mental
power indicated by it, or the unabated courage it manifests,
or the undazzled moral vision it displays in every sentence.
To read it is like inhaling a draught of air in midsummer from
the cliffs of Nahant or the hills of New Hampshire. It gives
a conscience to legislation, and sets us all back upon the
everlasting truth and rectitude.”

Rev. Nathaniel Hall, an excellent clergyman, beloved by all who knew him, wrote from Dorchester, Massachusetts:--

“Nobly you have dared to speak the truth, where to speak the
truth, as you well knew, was to imperil life: I do not know
in our day a nobler instance of moral bravery. And the speech
itself, so clear, so strong, so impregnable in its arguments,
so unanswerable in its facts, so unexceptionable in its tone,
so free from personalities (save where for truth’s sake and the
cause they must have been), so comprehensive, so conclusive,
so great, so good, so Christian, so worthy,--yes, of a
Christian statesman,--so lifted in tone and character above the
utterances of that place,--my soul thanks you for it,--thanks
God with added fervor, that he spared your life, and brought
you back to your honored seat, and enabled you to such
fidelity. It richly pays for these years of waiting.… Whatever
a partisan press may say, whatever political opponents and
political _friends_ may say, whatever of coolness and mistrust
may be expressed, where you had a right to expect sympathy and
support, be assured that deep in the hearts of multitudes of
all parties you are honored, and will be by increasing numbers.
I know it from what I know of human nature in myself. I know
that my feelings _must_ be shared. I know that the secret
reverence not only of the true-hearted, but of all who have
not sunk below the mark where appreciation of true-heartedness
is impossible, must be given to him who has stood forth in the
intrepidity of a Christian manliness, to declare, in the face
and beneath the power of its violators, strong in power and
reckless in deed, the eternal law of rectitude and mercy.”

Rev. Convers Francis, the learned professor and stanch Abolitionist, wrote from Harvard University:--

“Thanks, many and most hearty thanks, for that great, very
great speech, and for your kindness in sending it to me. What a
portraiture of the Barbarism of Slavery! And what a master hand
to draw it! Such a picture none but an artist of the highest
order could paint. I must tell you, Mr. Sumner, that nothing on
this great and fearful subject has ever so filled and satisfied
my whole soul. ‘Too severe,’ say some; ‘not good policy to
irritate the South.’ I tell them, Not an iota too strong.
I would not have a single sentence or word less pungent or
forcible, if I could; because every sentence and every word are
loaded deep with truth, such truth as I rejoice that somebody
is found in our Congress to give utterance to.… You have done
great and excellent things before, Mr. Sumner, but this, I must
say, seems to me the greatest and most excellent of all. The
abundance of facts from the most unquestionable sources, the
admirable arrangement, the keen and searching application of
the argument, the masterly logic, and the manly eloquence of
the speech will make it a document of truth and righteousness
for all coming time.”[141]

Rev. John T. Sargent, Abolitionist and faithful reformer, wrote from Boston:--

“Every column of the paper, as I took it up, seemed to gleam
on me like the golden lamps of the Apocalypse. How irresistible
are your arguments! How pungent, and yet how Christian, your
rebuke of this sore iniquity of our time! How sharp and clear
goes the sword of your spirit through all the sophistry of your
opponents! My soul has been in a glow all through the reading,
and over the pathos of parts I have cried as if my heart would
break.”

Rev. Frederick Hinckley, Free-Soiler from the start, wrote from Lowell:--

“I write this hasty note to tell you how much I thank you (and
I think the heart of New England thanks you, too) for your
recent speech on the ‘Barbarism of Slavery,’ in its moral tone
and outspoken truthfulness so far above all other Republican
speeches in Congress or Convention, carrying us back to the
remembrance of the old Free-Soil times, when the party had more
moral than political power, and, not expecting success, could
speak right out.”

Rev. Beriah Green, one of the most devoted among Abolitionists, wrote from Whitesborough, New York:--

“Such massive, enduring truth! uttered so clearly, definitely,
fully! The argument so perspicuous, compact, conclusive! The
illustrations so apt, so fresh, so sparkling! The conclusions
so weighty, grand, impressive! Every paragraph pervaded,
radiant, with scholarly beauty. When did literature, our own or
other, ever more willingly, more generously, come, all vigorous
and graceful, to the aid of any of her sons?

“I bless God, and thank you, for the deep-toned, comprehensive
humanity which pervades, which consecrates and hallows your
paragraphs. I found myself, as I moved on step by step through
your trains of thought, quickened and encouraged, inspired and
refreshed. The impression which the speech as a whole made upon
my innermost spirit it is my privilege to cherish and retain.
I shall, I trust, be more fraternal in my regards for all my
fellows forever, for your brave, manly utterances. Blessings on
your head, heart, and estate!”

Rev. Thomas C. Upham, author, professor, and devoted friend of Peace, wrote from Bowdoin College, in Maine:--

“Your history in Congress has been a providential one. I do
most fully believe that the hand of God has been in it from the
beginning. I thought that the blow which struck you down in the
Senate was destined, through the overrulings of Providence, to
break the chains of the slave, and I think so still. Allow me
to congratulate you, in connection with multitudes of others,
on your return to the country and the Senate, and on the
utterance of great and true and kind words which will have an
influence on the hearts of thinking men throughout the nation.”

Rev. Henry M. Dexter, religious editor, and zealous historian of the Plymouth Pilgrims, wrote:--

“I cannot help feeling, my dear Sir, that you have made the
most effective argument which the country has yet listened to
on the general subject of the evils of that horrible system
under which our nation is reeling like a giant poisoned by
an adder. God bless you for your faithfulness, so calm, so
dignified, so just, so overwhelming in its logical results,
and grant that in ‘the good time coming’ your voice may often
be lifted in that Senate House to more appreciative and
coöperative auditors!”

Rev. Joseph P. Thompson, the eminent divine and eloquent preacher, wrote from New York:--

“My first duty as a Christian is to thank God that he has
restored you to the Senate with physical and mental vigor equal
to the great debate in which you have just borne so noble a
part. My first duty as a patriot is to thank you for a speech
which meets fully, squarely, ably, eloquently, conclusively,
the one issue upon which our national welfare now depends. My
first duty as a friend is to express the high satisfaction
with which I have read the speech throughout, every line and
letter of it, and the peculiar pleasure with which I have
observed your self-control and avoidance of personalities
under provocation, and your fearless and searching exposure of
the barbarism and criminality of Slavery under the very eye
of its bullying champions and in the very place where you had
suffered its deadly malice. I am ashamed of the timid comments,
almost deprecating indeed, of the _Tribune_ and _Post_ upon
the only speech in the Senate which has reached the core of
the question. If the Republican party is to seek success by
blinking the real issue of the right or wrong of Slavery, I am
prepared to witness its defeat without regret.”

Rev. Thomas T. Stone, the persuasive preacher, and student of Plato, wrote from Bolton, Massachusetts:--

“It is scarcely necessary that I should tell you how much I
thank you for your public deeds. I was one who wished your
seat in the Senate empty, till either you filled it, or the
inevitable doom removed you from the possibility of doing it.
May the words which have ennobled it go forth as thunders,
arousing souls now deadened by the barbarisms of our country
and our age!

“‘Quo bruta tellus et vaga flumina,
Quo Styx et invisi horrida Tænari
Sedes, Atlanteusque finis
Concutitur.’”[142]

Rev. Caleb Stetson, the Liberal clergyman, and early foe of Slavery, wrote from Lexington, Massachusetts:--

“It is the best and completest word that has yet gone forth
on the subject. If another as good can be made, it must be by
yourself.”

Rev. Rufus P. Stebbins, the Unitarian divine, wrote from Woburn, Massachusetts:--

“I have read your last speech in the Senate on ‘The Barbarism
of Slavery’ with admiration and gratitude. As a citizen,
a constituent, I thank you from my heart’s core. It was a
glorious triumph, such as no Roman consul or general ever won,
to stand in your place, after such a long absence, for such a
cause, and through four long hours proclaim such holy truth in
such distinct language as was never before heard on that floor.
It is glory enough for one life.”

Rev. William C. Whitcomb, an earnest clergyman and Abolitionist, wrote from Lynnfield Centre, Massachusetts:--

“A thousand thanks to you for your speech in Congress this
week. ’Tis the most thorough, satisfactory, and powerful speech
I have ever read on the subject of Slavery, or any subject.
’Twill secure millions of readers, and I trust open the eyes of
the nation to the ‘Barbarism of Slavery.’ Ever think of me, and
the people to whom I preach, as among your warmest admirers,
lovers, and sympathizers.”

Rev. David Root, retired clergyman and Abolitionist, wrote from Cheshire, Connecticut:--

“Though approaching seventy, such is my heartfelt interest
in the cause you advocate, that I could cry with joy over
the thought that there is at least one member in Congress
who is able, and who has the moral courage, to do justice to
that great enormity, that atrocious wickedness, that deep
and damning crime of Slaveholding. You seem to have embraced
in your speech the whole subject, in all its important
departments, and with a plainness, directness, pith, force,
and pungency worthy of the highest commendation. It should
be a permanent and standard document on that subject, and be
perpetuated through all coming time, that other generations may
look at it and learn to hate Slavery and love Liberty.… Mind
not what some timid croakers may say about being ill-timed or
calculated to injure our Republican campaign. It is not so. You
have given us just the document we needed, going down to the
foundation.”

Rev. Edgar Buckingham, an early schoolmate of Mr. Sumner, wrote from his parish at Troy, New York:--

“I congratulate you upon the fidelity and the courage which you
have manifested; and though I do not rejoice in all severity, I
rejoice always in the severity of truth, and I trust that the
leaders of the Republican party will unanimously decide, that,
not their expediencies, but God’s opportunity, is always the
test of the time in which truth is to be spoken.”

Rev. J. S. Berry wrote from New York:--

“Allow me, though a stranger, to thank you in the name of
Humanity for the noble speech on the ‘Barbarism of Slavery’
just delivered by you in the Senate, so just, so truthful,
and so _timely_. I bless God that he has so far restored you,
and brought you to ‘this hour.’ Thousands of hearts thrill
with intense hatred of Slavery, as they read your startling
disclosures of its workings; and the prayers of these same
thousands, nay, millions, ascend to the Father of us all, that
you may be long spared to show up the wickedness and inhumanity
of the institution. I rejoice that not alone on political
grounds do you attack the system.”

Rev. Daniel Foster, pastor, Abolitionist, and pioneer in Kansas, wrote from the town of Sumner there:--

“I rise from the perusal of your speech on the ‘Barbarism of
Slavery’ with such feelings of affection and reverence for you
that I must give my feelings and emotion vent by a word of
thanks to you. I was grievously disappointed in ----’s speech.
Yours fully satisfies me, it is so thorough, exhaustive,
forcible, and withal so lofty and noble and patriotic in its
spirit.”

T. Dwight Thacher, journalist, and Kansas pioneer, wrote from Lawrence:--

“Allow me, though an entire stranger, to express my thanks for
the delivery of your recent great speech in the Senate of the
United States. You may rest assured that the true, radical,
Free State men of Kansas have no kind of sympathy with those
who are so solicitous lest that speech should have injured our
prospects for admission. We have learned the Slave Power well
enough to know that its schemes of injustice toward us are not
the offspring of sudden and transient excitements, but are the
deep and well-settled purpose of years. And for one I would
rather that we should remain out of the Union forever than that
a single utterance in favor of Freedom should be suppressed in
the Senate.”

H. R. Helper, of North Carolina, afterwards Consul at Buenos Ayres, author of the work entitled “The Impending Crisis,” wrote from New York:--

“I am in ecstasies with your speech of yesterday. Every word is
put just where it was most needed. One such speech at intervals
of even four years is worth incomparably more than a _Globe_ of
ordinary debate every day.”

Theodore Tilton, the eloquent lecturer and journalist, sent this good word from New York:--

“I hasten to offer you my congratulations, not merely as a
personal friend, but as a citizen, for your vindication of
Liberty. Since the Senate began its sessions, no speech has
been made on the floor which has satisfied me except this. I
am glad that you have been neither intimidated to silence nor
hallucinated by ‘expediency’ into speaking only half the truth.”

Francis H. Upton, lawyer, and author of the work on “The Law of Nations affecting Commerce during War,” wrote from New York:--

“Thank God that you are yet stanch and strong, and in all
things fit for the fight that is before us. I have no sympathy
with those who prate of the _impolicy_ of your present
utterance, and also suggest the possibility of its influencing
Senators to obstruct or postpone the admission of Kansas. It
seems to me that he is but an ill observer of the signs of the
times, and has not his finger upon the nation’s pulse, who
fails to perceive that the day of soft words and bated breath
and candy-tongued conciliation is gone, and gone forever.
Slavery has seen its last triumph, and henceforth should
receive no quarter.”

Hon. William Curtis Noyes, the eminent lawyer and exemplary citizen, wrote from New York:--

“I thank you cordially for your speech on the ‘Barbarism of
Slavery’; and I thank you still more for having delivered it
in the Senate, where you had a right to speak, and were bound
to speak upon that subject first of all upon your restoration
to health. Allow me also to congratulate you on that event, so
auspicious to yourself and your country.”

Hon. John Bigelow, the able journalist, and afterwards Minister to France, wrote from New York:--

“I have not found an opportunity until to-day of reading your
speech about the Barbarism of Slavery. It is the best arranged
and by far the most complete exposure of the horrid rite of
Slavery to be found within the same compass in any language, so
far as known.”

Hon. Hiram Barney, for many years an Abolitionist, Collector of the Port of New York under President Lincoln, wrote from New York:--

“I was mortified to see in some of our Republican papers unkind
criticisms on the expediency of such a speech at this time. In
my judgment it is the best speech you have ever made. It was
made at the best moment practicable to make it, and it would
have been a wrong to the country and the cause to have withheld
it. Moreover, it was made by the right man in the right place.
It is the most valuable Antislavery document that I have ever
seen.”

Thomas Hicks, the artist, wrote from New York:--

“I have just read your speech. It is solid with fact,
eloquence, and courage,--right in matter, place, and time.”

Alfred Willard, a strong Republican, wrote from New York:--

“The South Carolina Senator spoke truly, in saying your speech
was ‘characteristic.’ It was so indeed, not only of yourself,
but glorious old Massachusetts, whose happy fortune it is
that her Senators dare speak boldly for Truth and Freedom.
Sir, you spoke yesterday not for yourself alone; thousands,
ay, millions, of American citizens will sympathize to their
hearts’ core with every word so fearlessly spoken. As your
speech was ‘characteristic,’ so also was the brief South
Carolina response.… Your speech will serve admirably, not only
as a powerful and able argument for Freedom, but as a campaign
document in the coming contest.”

Professor Charles D. Cleveland, the accomplished teacher and early Abolitionist, wrote from Philadelphia:--

“Many, many heartfelt thanks to you, my dear friend, for your
noble speech. It takes the only true ground,--the essential
barbarism and sinfulness of Slavery. The few lines in reply to
the infamous remarks of Chesnut were admirable, just the thing,
and I hope his remarks and yours will go with the speech in its
pamphlet form. What would I have given to hear it!”

E. M. Davis, merchant and constant Abolitionist, wrote from Philadelphia:--

“So many people will thank you for your timely, noble, and
courageous speech that my thanks will hardly reach your ear;
yet I must thank you for my own sake. Our family here spent the
last three evenings in reading it out aloud, my son Henry being
the reader, and you ought to know how sure we are now that you
_are_ well, and how thankful we are for it, and how much good
this greatest of all your efforts will do.”

Daniel L. Eaton, journalist, wrote from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania:--

“You must permit me, a perfect stranger, to express my cordial
thanks to you for the noble, scathing speech on the ‘sum of
villanies’ with which you enriched our literature on Monday
last in the Senate. This contest is no holiday battle, but the
irrepressible conflict between Right and Wrong. I thank my
God that he has spared your life to tell the world that the
bludgeon of Barbarism did not silence your tongue nor subdue
your spirit. ‘Let the Heathen rage.’ Behind you stand a million
of your fellow-citizens in whose hearts your speech finds an
echo. After reading it through with scrupulous care, I could
not resist the impulse to tell you what I have.”

Thomas MacConnell, lawyer, wrote from Pittsburg:--

“I hold Slavery to be a curse and a disgrace to our country and
to mankind; and I rejoice to know that we have one man who is
not afraid to denounce it as such, in plain Anglo-Saxon, on the
floor of the Senate, and in the face of the Slaveholders.”