Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1855-08-18


A Letter 10 Hon. Charles sumner, a sem
atOr In Congress from the state Of Massa-
| chusetts, accustomed by his Anti-staveFy
Discourse, in Niblo's Theatre.
/ BY REV. X. >. pREcKERIDeE.
Sra: have read with great attention u dis
course of yours published In the New York Tri-
bune of the 18th Of May, which, according TO the
| statements of that paper, was pronounced at Nj
bios Theatre, in the city Of New York, a few
DAYS before, 10 an immense and delighted assem-
bly, of the people. will add, that il is my habit
TO read carefully whatever ! find in the newspa-
pers of the day proceeding from YOU For OBJ
serve In what falls from you more serious con-
yiction, deeper tincture Of scholarship, larger
| intelligence and more earnest manliness, than
| have been able to discover in the utterances of
those who to enjoy your confidence, and
share your labors IL Is no disparagement to
you personally, to add, that repre- sentng the
Commonwealth Of Massachusetts, sitting in the
seat of Daniel Webster, discoursing Of the duty
of the Northern States on the most dangerous
topics of our day, and pleading eloquently for
the necessity, practicabity and dignity OF an en-
terprise whose success involves the ruin of the
country-your words have, for all considerable
men, an interest and an Importance which all your
high qualities would fail to impart to them, if you
spoke as a private citizen 1t may be possible,
also, that the words of private person like my
self, and a total stranger to you, by connecting
themselves with the stirring and dangerous words
spoken by you from that great position you have
won, may obtain an audience, which, but for that
it were idle to expect for them. And you will
j yourself, perhaps, admit that have somewhat 10
say worthy Of serious consideration, and that my
lifelong connexion, in many forms, with most Of
the topics you discuss, entities me, without undue
presumption, to give utterance to some of the
thoughts excited by your discourse.
Allow me, sir, to utter in one sentence, the sub
stance of my whole thought touching the madness
of the times, about this whole question of negro
slavery Here We area great people, with a
glorious mission set before us. More than twenty
millions Of us--with whose destiny the destiny Of
three or four millions of blacks is fearflly COM
bined. One way or other we must solve their des
| tiny, when we solve our own. This is wholly un-
avoidable. But, the madness is, that every seven
| white Americans must needs out each others
throats concerning the fate of one black African!
Is there solution of the problem of their destiny
and ours but that solution which destroys u.s. with
out benefiting thems And can statesmen such as
do not see sufficient reason to doubt you are
and patriots such as have not the heart to deny
you to behind no better solution of this terrible
probem-no nobler issue of or sublime hopes
than mutual destruction by the men of the North
and the men Of the South-for the sake Of the
African slaves, scattered thinly over the contnentg
/
strength, even such a parasite as this black race,
carrying them forward far beyond anything they
could have reached without us, and yet mounting
up ourselves far beyond anything they may ever
reach? Shame upon every American statesman,
and every American patriot, who is insensble to
the glory of such result Infhmy to every one
who conspres to defeat it
| And yet, sir, you, an American Senator, speak
| ing in the name of that great Commonwealth in
| vIn hnonY ,oton do RpnDa 80 -,
the seat of that great statesman and patriot who
saw no hope for public liberty, higher than that
| which rests upon the Union Of these States you,
| an American Senator, who have studied the past,
and who fear God, allow yourself to bring the
whole force of your character, your position, and
| your great gifts, to bear directly upon the point
at which alone it is possible to wreck the country,
and to destroy us all together! The very madness
of the times assumes in you its most frantic aspect
and you openly avow that slavery in America is a
| wrong so grievous and unquestionable, that it
| should not be allowed to continue-nay, that il
should cease to exist at once-nay, that a wrong,
so transcendent so loathsome, so direful, must be
encountered wherever it can be reached, and the
battle must be continued without truce or compro-
mise, until the field is entirely won. Such are
your words, profoundly eloquent-unspeakab
| frantic
| Now, sir, this means neither more nor less than
the edge of the sword Lay aside the rhetoric, and
the simple sense Is grape and canister, cold steel
and stricken battle Believe me, Mr.. Sumner,
| when state two facts, one of which know better
than you do, and the other Of which you ought to
know, better, perhaps, than do. The fact which
| / know better than you do is, that whenever the
very fintrst indication of the settled purpose Of
the men Of the North to follow your advice, be-
comes apparent to the men Of the fifteen slave
States of this Union--a million of armed men win
| be ready TO receive you and your followers and
If you not speedily thereafter to execute your
threats, your coming will not be waited for; but
| they will seek you on the soil where you now win
| ly suppose no danger win ever come. The fact
which you ought to know better than do is, that
after two or three hundred thousand men
rayed in battle, on each side, 1t makes no sort OF
difference as to the probable result, whether one.
or the other party has the greater of phys
ical force left out Of battle because, after two or
three hundred thousand fighting men, in the pre-
sent state of the art of war-everything depends
merely on brains. The sum Of these facts is very
clear namely, if the North wants to settle the
slavery question by the edge of the sword, the
North is in very fair way to be perfectly gratfed
and when she gets what she wants. there is at
least an exceeding great probability that the North
win see reason TO change her mind very material
ly as to the wisdom of that method OF settling that
question.
Moreover, let il not escape your attention, that
many circumstances aggravate the conduct OF the
men Of the North and exasperate the hearts Of the
men Of the South in this whole business all Of
them tending to strengthen us and to weaken you
at every stage Of the bloody struggle 10 which you
are driving the country. For, in the first place,
let slavery be all that you assert it to bethe time
is long past when II was either honest wise, or pa
triotic for you TO take that ground, even In an ar
gument having merely ordinary political bearings
much less in one looking to bloodshed and con-
quest. All that was settled between us before the
old confederation was formed IL was settled again
in the common d niger and common glory Of our
great Revolution; twas settled again in the Fed
era constitution say nothing about the unspeak
able folly of arguing as a statesman, that a slave
State and a free State cannot tolerate each other
in one confederacy, surprising the question to be
| now for the first time considered. What say is,
that il is no longer possible for the men of the
North to open that question, without revolution, and
without dsloyalty TO every national act and move
ment Of our past history and what mean is, that
they cannot do this without 30 weakening and dis
grazing themselves, and so strengthening and en-
i ,ail;noy uu tb.t Cod pOatarity fortuna and tbo