WHEN WILL THE NORTH BE AROUSED?

LETTER TO A PERSONAL FRIEND, MARCH 30, 1854.

THE following private letter found its way into the public prints.

MY

Y DEAR
strengthened me.

SENATE CHAMBER, March 30, 1854. Your letter has cheered and It came to me, too, with pleasant memories of early life. As I read it, the gates of the Past seemed to open, and I saw again the bright fields of study in which we walked together.

Our battle here has been severe, and much of its brunt has fallen upon a few. For weeks my trials and anxieties were intense. It is a satisfaction to know that they have found sympathy among good men.

But the Slave Power will push its tyranny yet further, and there is but one remedy,- Union at the North without distinction of party, to take possession of the National Government, and administer it in the spirit of Freedom, and not of Slavery. Oh, when will the North be aroused?

Ever sincerely yours,

CHARLES SUMNER.

A LIBERTY-LOVING EMIGRATION TO GUARD

KANSAS.

LETTER TO A MASSACHUSETTS COMMITTEE, May 1, 1854.

MY

SENATE CHAMBER, May 1, 1854.

Y DEAR SIR,I cannot be with you at your meeting on Wednesday next: my post of duty is here. But I must not lose the opportunity afforded by your invitation to express anew my abhorrence of the outrage upon Freedom and public faith attempted by the Nebraska Bill, and to offer my gratitude to those who unite in the good work of opposing it.

In this warfare there is room for every human activity. By speech, vote, public meeting, sermon, and prayer, we have already striven. But a new agent is now announced. It is proposed to organize a company of Liberty-loving citizens, who shall enter upon the broad lands in question, and by example, voice, and vote, trained under the peculiar institutions of Massachusetts, overrule the designs of slave-masters. The purpose has a nobleness which gives assurance of success.

With a heart full of love for Massachusetts, her schools, libraries, churches, and happy homes, I should hesitate to counsel any one to turn away from her, a voluntary exile. I do not venture such advice. But if any there be among us, to whom our goodly Commonwealth seems narrow, and who incline to cast their

lines in other places, to such I would say, that they will do well, while becoming, each for himself, the artificer of his fortune, to enter into the Sacred Legion by which Liberty shall be safely guarded in Nebraska and Kansas. Thus will mingle public good with private advantage.

The Pilgrim Fathers turned their backs upon their native land to secure Liberty for themselves and their children. The emigrants whom you organize have a higher motive. Liberty for themselves and their children is already secured in Massachusetts. They will go to secure Liberty for others, to guard an immense territory from the invasion of Slavery, and to dedicate it forever to Liberty. In such an expedition volunteers may win a victory of peace, which history will record with admiration and gratitude.

Believe me, dear Sir,

Very faithfully yours,

CHARLES SUMNER.

THOMAS DREW, Esq., Chairman of the Committee.

FINAL PROTEST, FOR HIMSELF AND THE CLERGY OF NEW ENGLAND, AGAINST SLAVERY IN NEBRASKA AND KANSAS.

SPEECH IN THE SENATE, on the NIGHT OF THE FINAL PASSAGE OF THE NEBRASKA AND KANSAS BILL, May 25, 1854.

AMONG the important incidents of the Nebraska Debate was a protest from three thousand clergymen of New England, which was severely denounced by the supporters of the aggression, especially by Mr. Douglas. Particular objection was taken to the words, "In the name of Almighty God, and in his presence," which were employed by the protestants. The heats on both sides increased. At a later stage Mr. Sumner felt constrained to speak again, which he did for himself and the much-abused clergy. This brief effort attracted unusual attention. It seemed to meet the rising sentiments of the people, and especially of the clergy. Rev. Dr. Allen, formerly President of Bowdoin College, wrote: "Our Northampton Courier of yesterday contained your bold and admirable midnight speech. I thank you for what you said for the clergy, but more especially what you said for the country and for Freedom." Rev. Dr. Storrs, of Braintree, Massachusetts, an eminent Congregationalist, wrote: "I took my pen only to say a single word, to tell you of my grateful admiration of your courage, faithfulness, and eloquence in defence of truth and godliness against the increasing tide of hellish principles and passions." Rev. Theodore Parker wrote: "I have had no time to thank you for your noble speech till this minute. Nat. Bowditch says it is the best speech delivered in the Senate of the United States in his day. You never did a thing more timely, or which will be more warmly welcomed than this." George S. Hillard, a friend of many years, but differing in position on political questions, wrote: "Your last brief speech on the Nebraska Bill is capital. I think it the best speech you have ever made. The mixture of dignity and spirit is most happy. We are going to fill up that region with free laborers, and secure it against

Slavery." John G. Whittier wrote: "It was the fitting word; it entirely satisfied me; and with a glow of heart I thanked God that its author was my friend." As the speech received the sympathy of friends, so it aroused all the bad passions on the side of Slavery. The manifestation that ensued will appear in a note at the end.

The original debate in the Senate on the Nebraska and Kansas Bill, in which Mr. Sumner took part, was closed by the passage of that bill — after a protracted session throughout the night — on the morning of Saturday, March 4, 1854, by a vote of thirty-seven yeas to fourteen nays. The bill was then sent to the House of Representatives. It was there taken up and referred to the Committee of the Whole; but, owing to the mass of prior business, it became impossible to reach it. Under these circumstances, a fresh bill, nearly identical with that which passed the Senate, was introduced and passed the House. This, of course, required the action of the Senate. On the 23d of May a message from the House announced its passage, and asked the concurrence of the Senate. It was at once read a first time; but, on the objection of Mr. Sumner, its second reading was stopped for that day. The next day, on motion of Mr. Douglas, all prior orders were postponed for the purpose of considering it. The debate upon it continued during that day and the next. The interest it excited was attested by crowded galleries to the end. Among spectators on the floor of the Senate was the Earl of Elgin, Governor-General of Canada, with his suite, then in Washington to negotiate the Canadian Reciprocity Treaty. Late in the night of the last day, after the bill was reported to the Senate, and the question put by the Chair, “Shall the bill be engrossed and read a third time?" Mr. Sumner took the floor and said :

MR.

R. PRESIDENT,- It is now midnight. At this late hour of a session drawn out to unaccustomed length, I shall not fatigue the Senate by argument. There is a time for all things, and the time. for argument has passed. The determination of the majority is fixed; but it is not more fixed than mine. The bill which they sustain I oppose. On a former occasion I met it by argument, which, though often attacked in debate, still stands unanswered and unanswerable. At present I am admonished that I must be content with a few words of earnest protest against the