Washington sentinel., 1856-08-02

~~S~A&So~
The following from Senator Douglas not
only exposes shameful instance of partizan
falsehood in the pulpit, but corrects misrepre-
sentations which have been extensively circu-
lated through the press:
WAsHINoToN, July 4, 1856.
Sih; learn from the newspapers that on
Sunday, the lst day Of June, in a sermon
preached by you in the Plymouth Congrega.
tional Church, Of Chicago, you deemed il your
duty to assail me personally and by name.
Referring to the affray between Mr.. Sumner
and Mr.. Brooks, you say: Douglas, of giant
infamy, stood by with his hands in his pockets
Although have no personal acquaintance
with you, or knowledge Of your character as
a citizen or a minister of the Gospel, my re-
spect for your profession, and for those Chris
tian principles which it is your duty to pro-
claim and observe, induce ME to take it for
granted that you would not knowingly utter an
unmitigated falsehood in the pulpit on the
Sabbath day, with the intent to injure the
character OF fellow-citizen; and that, having
committed such an act Of injustice, you will
feel IT both duty and a pleasure to repair the
injury in the same place, and before the same
audience, where the injury was done. With
the view OF enabling you to do me and your
self and the cause of truth the act Of justice
indicated, now state to you---that it is not
true that ! stood by with my hands in my
pockets at the tme-that was not in the
Senate Chamber when the ARRAY took place
that did not witness any part of the transac-
tion--that ! was engaged in consultation on
public affairs with several Senators and Repre-
sentatives in another part of the Capitol at the
time, and had been so engaged for more than
an hour previous--that had no knowledge,
intimation, or belief, that any such transaction
was to take place at that or any other time
nor had any knowledge or reason to believe
that either Mr.. Sumner or Mr.. Brooks was in
or near the Capitol at the time; and when !
returned to the Senate Chamber the affray had
been over and quiet had been restored for
some time.
These facts are not only susceptible of proof
by the Senator'S and Representatives referred to,
but are so we'll known to the Senate and to the
whole community here, that no gentleman
would hazard his character for truth and vera.
city by intimating his belief in the truth of the
charge which you, under some strange misap-
prehension, have made against me in the pull
pit of Christian Church, on the Sabbath day.
You are also represented as having made
another charge against me, equally unfounded
and untrue, which / quote from the newspapers,
not having seen copy of the printed sermon
This and the Kansas crime reveal a new step
in the policy of slavery; that physical force
must and shall be used TO carry out its mea-
sures The instigator Of all this crime Doug
las,) short time since, ventured to divulge the
secret policy, when he declared to its first vic
tim, I'VE will subdue you, sir and no one
knows but this very thing was in his mind at
the time"
In this passage you attribut to me language
which never uttered, and sentiment which /
never conceived or harbored. It's true that
the New York Tribune, and other unscrupuous
partizan sheets, attributed to me, several months
ago. the same sentiment; but it is also true,
and the official debates of the Senate attest the
fact, that promptly denied it in open Senate, in
the presence of Mr.. Sumner, and all others to
whom it was alleged to have been directed,
and not one Of them intimated or pretend that
the charge was true. Yet this same charge,
which had been thus branded in open Senate
as a base calumny, and admitted to be such by
the silence of all the Senator'S to sohom it was said
to have been directed, is now repeated after the
lapse OF several months, in the pulpit of the Ply
mouth Congregational Church Of Chicago, and
made the foundation of series OF inferences
equally unfounded and unjust have never ad-
force as substitute for truth and reason in
the discussion and decision of public ques-
tions.
Whether the Nebraska Bill-afirming the
right of the people to govern themselves ac-
cording TO the Constitution-was a crime, or a
wise and just measure, is a question which /
have always held myself ready to discuss calmly
and dispassionately on all proper occasions;
and if physical force or mob violence, or any
other improper means, have been used to destroy
the freedom of speech, either in Chicago or
elsewhere, it has not been approved by me or
my friends. / send this letter to you instead
of the newspapers, for the purpose of giving you
an opportunity of doing justice to me and to
the cause of truth, which trust you will regard
a Christian duty, in the same pulpit where
the injury was committed.
have the honor to be, very respectfully,
your obedient servant
S. A. DOUGLAS.
Rev. J. E. Roy, Chicago, Ill.