Chapter 15:
- Character of the Southern people. -- Preparations for secession. -- letter of Andrew Jackson. -- firmness of Mr. Sumner. -- Extract from his Letters. -- Mr. Lincoln's Inaugural. -- Mr. Sumner appointed chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations. -- his influence with Mr. Lincoln. -- his passage through Baltimore. -- a steady friend of the colored race. -- his speech at Worcester. -- he advocates Emancipation. -- Tribute to Col. E. D. Baker. -- his speech on the Trent Affair. -- resolutions for Emancipation. -- article from “the Atlantic Monthly.” -- abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. -- Hayti and Liberia. -- confiscation and liberation. -- speech at Faneuil Hall. -- the president's proclamation of Emancipation. -- its effect.
Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand.
Ring out the darkness of the land!
Ring in the Christ that is to be!
Still as an unmoved rock
Washed white, but not shaken by the shock;
His heart conceived no sinister device:
Fearless he played with flame, and trod on ice.
His was the celestial beautyThe Southern people possess magnanimous traits of character: they are brave, open-hearted, courteous, and hospitable. But the brightness of these noble traits was somewhat [271] shaded by the baleful influence of slavery. They devote much time and attention to political studies; and the controlling power which they long exercised in the national government, even when a Webster led the North, is in attestation of their activity and skill in political management. But they misunderstood the spirit of this section of the Union, which was not that of domination or of violence, but of humanity and fraternity. They also underestimated the unity of sentiment and the valor of those they falsely deemed their enemies. For this their leaders were to a great extent responsible. During the presidential canvass of 1860, the Southern States were secretly storing arms, and making other preparations for the dissolution of the Union; and, immediately after the triumph of the Republican party in the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidential chair, in November, public meetings were held in South Carolina urging a secession from the Union. On the opening of Congress (Dec. 4), this determination at once became apparent; and a resolution was presented to the Senate on the following day, that a committee be appointed to inquire into the present agitated and distracted state of the country. In speaking on this resolution, Mr. Sumner introduced with startling effect an unpublished autograph [272] letter of Andrew Jackson, containing these remarkable words: “Haman's gallows ought to be the fate of all such ambitious men, who would involve their country in a civil war, and all the evils in its train, that they might reign and ride on its whirlwinds, and direct the storm. . . . The tariff was only the pretext (for nullification), and disunion and a Southern confederacy the real object. The next pretext will be the negro or slavery question.” To the Crittenden Compromise, introduced into the Senate Dec. 18, and recognizing slavery in the territory south of 36° 30′ north latitude, Mr. Sumner was unequivocally opposed. South Carolina passed the ordinance of secession on the twentieth day of December. Other States soon followed: stout hearts were trembling; yet through the tremendous agitation Mr. Sumner stood to principle firm as a rock. He saw the storm impending; he deprecated bloodshed; he felt that the best way to avert it was for the North to hold itself immovable. He exhorted every one to stand for the right with unwavering front. He wrote (Jan. 1) to William Claflin, President of the Massachusetts Senate, “Let the timid cry; but let Massachusetts stand stiff: God bless her!” To Count Gurowski, author of an admirable treatise on slavery, he wrote (Jan. 8), “These compromisers do not comprehend the glory of principle. [273] Perissent les colonies plutot qu'un principle!” In a letter to Gov. John A. Andrew, dated Jan. 17, he said, “Pray keep Massachusetts sound and firm, firm, firm! against every word or step of concession.” In another letter to the same, dated Jan. 28, he said, “Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes: don't let these words be ever out of your mind when you think of any proposition from the slave-masters. O God! Let Massachusetts keep true.” So again he wrote (Feb. 5), “More than the loss of forts, arsenals, or the national capital, I fear the loss of our principles;” and again (Feb. 10) he wrote to the same, “I do not tremble for any thing from our opponents, whoever they may be, but from our friends.” On assuming the duties of his office (March 4), Mr. Lincoln declared that he had “no purpose to interfere with the institution of slavery” where it existed, and that in his opinion he had “no right to do so.” The course of the secession leaders had, however, been elected; and the conciliatory inaugural of the president served but to call forth their denunciation and contempt. One after another the Southern members withdrew from Congress, thus leaving the Republicans in the ascendant; and Mr. Sumner was on the 8th of April made chairman, in place of Mr. Mason of Virginia, of the Committee on Foreign [274] Relations, for which, by his long residence abroad, and his profound knowledge of international law, he was admirably qualified. He immediately made the acquaintance of Mr. Lincoln, of whom during the long and dreadful struggle which ensued he was a confidential adviser. He first presented to him emancipation as a war measure, the day after the battle of Bull Run, and steadily pressed it upon his attention until its proclamation. “There is no person,” said the president to Mr. Sumner, near the close of his life, “with whom I have more advised throughout my administration than with yourself.” Mr. Sumner left Washington, then in a state of great excitement, on the 18th of April; and, while he was stopping at Barnum's Hotel in Baltimore, on the evening of that day, occurred the prelude to the bloody scenes which took place on the morrow. A noisy crowd surrounded the building, and demanded his person. He was fortunately absent from the house at the time, so that Mr. Barnum was able to satisfy the disorderly people, who retired. On Mr. Sumner's entering the hotel soon afterwards, by a private door, he was requested to leave at once, and not imperil the establishment; but he insisted on remaining, which he was finally allowed to do. Departing early in the morning of the 19th, he met, [275] on his way to Philadelphia, the Sixth Regiment, which was called that day, while passing through the infuriated city of Baltimore, to sprinkle the altar of freedom with its blood. On arriving at New York, he visited the Third Battalion of the Massachusetts Rifles, to whom he made an encouraging address. As the Southern States, one after another, swung away from allegiance to the government, and as the great drama of the war, opened by the Sumter guns, proceeded, an immense amount of hard and active service was demanded in the halls of Congress, as well as on the battle-field. True to his past record, Mr. Sumner brought himself up grandly to the new questions, and guarded with untiring vigilance the rights of the colored race. Through storm and through sunshine, he stood forth the learned, the eloquent, the indomitable defender of the slave. Had he been called to reconcile his peace principles with the musterings of the squadrons of the grand army, his reply would have been,-- “Slavery is a state of war. To secure peace, we must stand rock-like to the constitution, and under its broad folds remove the cause of war.” On the opening of the Thirty-seventh Congress, July 4, 1861, he was at his post; and the volumes of the Congressional Globe disclose the active part he [276] took in almost every senatorial question through the war. In a speech at Worcester on the first day of October, 1861. he boldly affirmed that emancipation was the best weapon of the war. “Two objects are,” said he, “before us,--union and peace, each for the sake of the other, and both for the sake of the country; but without emancipation how can we expect either?” This declaration startled the Republicans even, and drew forth severe animadversions from the Democratic press. But Mr. Sumner was at the front; and it was then truly said of him,--
Of a soul that does its duty.
Thou hast hurledBefore a vast assembly at the Cooper Institute in New York, Nov. 27 Mr. Sumner made an eloquent speech, enriched by apt quotations and by cogent reasoning, in which he again intimated his desire that emancipation be proclaimed. “There has been,” said he, “the cry, ‘On to Richmond!’ and still another worse cry, ‘On to England!’ Better than either is the cry, ‘On to freedom I’ ” Soon after the opening of Congress Dec. 4, Mr. [277] Sumner spoke earnestly on a resolution for the discharge of fugitive slaves from the Washington Jail, and characterized the Black Code, prevailing in the District of Columbia, as “a shame to the civilization of the age;” and on the 11th he delivered in the Senate, Abraham Lincoln being present, a very touching and appropriate eulogy on Senator E. D. Baker, killed at Ball's Bluff Oct. 21, while serving a piece of artillery. In the course of this fine tribute he said:--
Thy single pebble, plucked from truth's pure stream,
Into the forehead of a giant wrong;
And it doth reel and tremble. Men may doubt;
But the keen sword of right shall finish well
Thy brave beginning. Courage, then, true soul!
The nine balls that slew our departed brother came from slavery. Every gaping wound of his slashed bosom came from slavery. Every drop of his generous blood cries out from the ground against slavery. . . . The just avenger is at hand, with weapon of celestial temper. Let it be drawn I Until this is done, the patriot, discerning clearly the secret of our weakness, can only say sorrowfully,--
“Bleed, bleed, poor country!As the war went on, Mr. Sumner felt more and more convinced of the necessity of emancipation; and on the 27th of December he wrote a letter to Gov. Andrew, in which he said,--
Great tyranny, lay thou thy basis sure;
For goodness dares not check thee.
”
Let the doctrine of emancipation be proclaimed as an essential and happy agency in subduing a wicked rebellion. In this [278] way you will help a majority of the cabinet, whose opinions on this subject are fixed, and precede the president himself by a few weeks. He tells me that I am ahead of him only a month or six weeks. God bless you!On the 9th of January, 1862, Mr. Sumner made in the Senate, then thronged with eager listeners, his exhaustive and noble speech on the “Trent” affair, which came near involving, as it afterwards appeared, this country in war with England. Messrs. Mason and Slidell, it will be remembered, who had been commissioned as rebel agents, the one to England and the other to France, were arrested on board the British mail-steamer “Trent,” by Capt. Wilkes of the frigate “San Jacinto,” and brought as prisoners to this country. England considered it a casus belli; and popular opinion here indorsed the course of Capt. Wilkes. Mr. Sumner, unmoved by public sentiment, discussed the question on the broad grounds of international law and maritime rights, and thus came to the conclusion that “the seizure of the rebel emissaries on board a neutral ship cannot be justified.” “Let the rebels go,” said he. “Two wicked men, ungrateful to their country, with two younger confederates, are set loose with the brand of Cain upon their foreheads; prisondoors are opened: but principles are established which will help to free other men, and to open the [279] gates of the sea.” Although many public journals criticized this calm and dispassionate review of the case, “The New-York Tribune” said, “It is already ranked in Washington as a State paper upon the question of seizure and search, worthy to be placed side by side with the despatches of Madison and Jefferson;” and this is now the decision of the country.1 On the 11th of February following, Mr. Sumner brought into the Senate a series of resolutions which embodied the principles of emancipation, and pointed out a method of reconstruction of the rebel States. He held that slavery, having no constitutional origin or natural right, must cease with the lapsing of the State where it existed, and that Congress must then assume complete jurisdiction of the vacated territory. This was the first attempt made in the Senate for the settlement of two of the greatest questions of the war; but, as usual, Congress was not ready for the advanced measures of this leading anti-slavery champion; and the resolutions were laid upon the table, The speech which Mr. Sumner then prepared to make was published in the October number [280] of “The Atlantic Monthly” of the year following, and thus concludes:--
Behold the rebel States in arms against that paternal government to which, as the supreme condition of their constitutional existence, they owe duty and love; and behold all legitimate powers, executive, legislative, and judicial, in these States abandoned and vacated. It only remains that Congress should enter, and assume the proper jurisdiction. If we are not ready to exclaim with Burke, speaking of revolutionary France, “It is but an empty space on the political map!” we may at least adopt the response hurled back by Mirabeau, that this empty space is a volcano red with flames, and overflowing with lava-floods. But, whether we deal with it as “empty space” or as “volcano,” the jurisdiction, civil and military, centres in Congress, to be employed for the happiness, welfare, and renown of the American people, changing slavery into freedom, and present chaos into a cosmos of perpetual beauty and peace.On Mr. Wilson's bill for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, Mr. Sumner made (March 31) a very statesmanlike speech, advocating ransom rather than compensation, and clearly intimating what was soon to come.
At the national capital, “said he,” slavery will give way to freedom; but the good work will not stop here: it must proceed. What God and Nature decree, rebellion cannot arrest. And, as the whole wide-spread tyranny begins to tremble, then, above the din of battle, sounding from sea to sea and echoing along the land, above even the exultations of victory on well-fought [281] fields, will ascend voices of gladness and benediction, swelling from generous hearts wherever civilization bears sway, to commemorate a sacred triumph, whose trophies, instead of tattered banners, will be ransomed slaves.This bill became a law on the 16th of April. Just previous to its signature by the president, Mr. Sumner said to him, “Who is the largest slaveholder in the country?” “Who is he?” replied Mr. Lincoln. “You yourself, sir,” returned the other, “holding, as you do, all in this District.” On the 23d of the month last named, he spoke eloquently on his bill for the recognition of the independence of Hayti and Liberia, which was carried through the house mainly by the efforts of Mr. Gooch, and was signed by Mr. Lincoln June 6, 1862. “This law,” Mr. Andrew wrote to Mr. Sumner, “will be a jewel in your crown.” The Haytian people subsequently tendered an elegant medal to Mr. Sumner, which he, in accordance with views previously expressed, declined to receive. It was therefore, in 1871, deposited in the library of the State House of Massachusetts. On the 24th of April Mr. Sumner reported a bill, on which he made effective remarks, for the final suppression of the slave-trade, which, to the disgrace of humanity, was still protected by our flag. The bill was approved by Mr. [282] Lincoln July 11; and thus, by treaty with England, that inhuman traffic was at last prohibited. In his anxiety for the suppression of the rebellion, and the upraising of the slave, Mr. Sumner spoke with great vigor in the Senate, May 19, urging the confiscation of rebel property, and emancipation, as in accordance with the rights of sovereignty and of war. He also again spoke with much force on the same subject, June 27, when he said in respect to liberation, “The language of Chatham is not misapplied when I call it the master-feather of the eagle's wing.” His last speech (July 16) previous to the close of the session, was in accordance with his whole course from the opening of the war,--that the slaves must be set free, and employed for the suppression of the rebellion; and in a letter to the Republican State Committee, dated Boston, Sept. 9, he said, “Banks also symbolized the idea, when, overtaking the little slave-girl on her way to freedom, he lifted her upon the national cannon.” In an admirable speech at Faneuil Hall, on the sixth day of October, which was received with great enthusiasm, he triumphantly refuted the objections to emancipation, and urged it with signal power, as the military necessity. “The last chapter of ‘Rasselas,’ ” he felicitously said, “is entitled The Conclusion in which Nothing is Concluded; and this will be the [283] proper title for the history of this war, if slavery is allowed to endure. If you would trample down the rebellion, you must trample down slavery; and, believe me, it must be completely done.” On the first day of January, 1863, President Lincoln issued his grand proclamation, declaring “forever free the slaves in the States then in rebellion,” excepting in certain parts occupied mainly by the Union army; and he thus brought the nation up to its true position in the dreadful contest. By this glorious act, the gates to freedom were thrown open to three and a half million people, and the hearts of loyal soldiers strengthened for the combat: by it the doom of slavery, though slow to come, was sealed. Then the bell of time again pealed forth the rousing note of human progress; and the world moved forward.
O dark, sad millions, patiently and dumb
Waiting for God I Your hour at last has come;
And freedom's song
Breaks the long silence of your night of wrong.
