The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1854-09-19

Senator Sumner is an eloquent man: ard
his speech made on Wednesday at the Wor-
ccsier Convention, which will be found in an
other part of this mornings Times is an elo-
quent speech. Upon some points connected
with the relations Of the General Government
to Slavery. it goes further than we can; but its
leading sentiments are just. and its spirit and
temper are such as the times demand. tits
manly, bold ,energclcal ard practical.
The most eloquent sentence in this speech,
because il is the trnest.--is that in which
MIR. Summer declares that thero are three things
needed 10 enable the Free States to resist the
inccssapt aggressions of Snvery;--that The
first is baekbonc-thd second backbone, and
the third BACKBONE. Truer word was never
spokon The saying Of Demosthones that the
three Essentials of eloquence were acting. dc-
Gae, ACTING. was not whit moro true BACK
BONE is the one thing needful To the Free
States, in their struggle against the steady,
menacing cncroachments of Slavery. Ii is
what they must have, and il is also what as
yet they have not got Their weakness, their
constant defeats their ignoble prostration un-
der the assaults Of the Slave power. arc all due
TO he feet tha, they do no, stand up firmly
ana boldly to their rights that they lack the
courage, and tho high toned resolution which
are Indispensable in such n contest.
Everybody knows that the strength Of the
Slave interest lies in tho steady, indomiiah le
determination Of its champions It's leading
representatives in Congress are men Of ptuck.
They take their stand with resolution not
to bo driven from il. They praciice on their
opponents all tho arts of bold and energetic
warfare. Thev shrink from no responsibility;
thoy spare no monaco If they cannot coax
and convince they alarm and coercc. AS a
genera thing the Northern members have al
ways given way TO them. Some of them have
boon reached by iattery. by promises by gild-
ed baits thrown ont to their cupdity or their
ambition. Others have been alarmed by
fears for place, for their own social position,
or for the Union. BY whatever means will an
| swer their purposes best, the compact. reso-
lutte, well-drilled phalanx Of Slavery has al
ways managed to divide and subdue tho rep
resentatives of Freedom. They have succee-
ded either in making them break or bend -
And it has been simply for the lack Of BACK
| BONES.
The next Congress ought TO contain Back.
bones enough from tho Free States to give
strength and impregnable fortitude to the cause
Of Freedom. Not that much actual Legislation
will be desirable, or feasible, on the subject o.
Slavery. 1t is not this which the country needs
Just at present. But it does need such man
| ifest. clear and unmistakable exhibition o.
frmness, on the part of the FREQ States. in de-
fence of their own rights, as has not been since
the days of John Quincy Adams. We neod
men there too sharp to BIO uiised. too honest tC
be bought, and too bold to be bullied. W.
wish tho prospect of getting such men were
better than it seems. The spirit of the people
is such as ought to insure us against any 9th
ers. But, as always happens in such cases
paltry personal ambitions have seized the oc
casion for their own advancement. This egi
tation of the public mind has brought to The
surface. as candidates for Offices. n horde o
small, selfish, venal politicians. without char
acter or position, and as guiltless Of backbone
as the slimiest worm that serves the angler fo
bait. We have somo hope that a higher orde
of the animate creation may yet bo offered fo
the popular suffrage. e.-[New York Times