The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-06-05
DEBATE I'M THE SENATE.

Mr. Siuel called the attention Of the
Sraal" 10 the telegraph despatch giving Mr..
Summers >;t!uis,cn, before the Committee
of Tho i.pu-,, Published this moraiug,
whic! c;.,,s,d Ion" debate and some cx
cltcncnl.
Mr.. S.n!rI! >a:I ti:c statement declares ::
"Oi!i"r icIao,.S were about me, offering
Tie tirdiv ,>si>:;;l.ce, bat did not recoe-
niZc ahy ut them. Others were ut Il dis
sansc, o"kins Oh aud Offering no assistance
uf whom | recognized only Mr.. douglas.
ot Illinois, Mr.. To",nbs, Of Georgia, and.
thought, my a,sa:lant standing between
them. | MAS helped from the floor and
cui.,luvtcL into The lobby of the Seuatc
where WAS placed upon Il sofa. OF those
WHO helped NC l., lie place, have no re-
cu!lcc,i"n y, ,,.terc, tie lobby re-
voy"!4cd Nj. >.id,l, If Louisiana, who re-
treated, bit | recognized no one else until
svlncti:n.: later, IS supposed, when | frl,
:. liicnuiy .ra>,, uf the hand, which seemed
to c,m," from Mr. C;mpheIl, OF Ohio"
Mr.. Hii,ivll sa;'l it seemed to him proper
to .xp!:;u his own position relative to this
matter. "a, the published statement might
c:ts,sc :, false impression Oh the public mind
When tie ~ci'hte ;s!lourucl that day lie
entered al ;lntc-luu'n, where liz reln,ncd
i'll conversation viii, M+<>rs. Douglas, Fiz
patrick anI ]. Gancy Jones and while
there WI, inorulcl that Mr. Sumner hui
been badly beaten Lv Mr.. Brooks. lie
calne into the Senate Chamber, but thcr.
were 50 n,any 'crsons crowded around Mr..
Suinler th;t iic lid not s"c linn at all, and
h: soon returned 10 tic ante room to finish
his conversation.
Having rculainc'i there for sometime, H..
w's passing through tic reception room to
70 home, wlicn Inc me. MIR. Sumner in the
door leaning on two prisons whVl lie did
not know. Ills face Was cUveicu with
blood, nnI It's lie (Sii,lclD WAS not Oh sucl,
terms rs 10 make it Necessary to express
any syn,athyuvt h,, ing spoken to Mr..
Sumner iur Two ycarS-hc turned aside ai,,l
Welt vut i,y another door, lie had net
the slightest iiyi.. before the occurrence
took place, that Mr.. brooks, OF anybody
else, had ANY Intention Of attacking Sam.
nc:, a,l was cllt!se:v free from ANY par,ici.
patton OR cou,lsri i'll tic matter.
Mr.. douglas curroburalcu the STATEMENT
Of Mr.. Silcil, :,nI said that when lie doug
!us) heard that Mr.. Sumner had been at
tackled, his first idea WIS to com. in and
eE,lc;.v"r To lcs;vre quiet, but upon reflect
nii,coas,rued, he dill not enter the Senate
Chamber until the ;,iiray was over. The
crowd arvanl Sumner was then So large
thaG ior sometime he could nvl sec him
He SAW Mc>srs. Toomb<, Crittcndc,i, Pcarcc
au,l EVANS. ;.iI seated in or near their usual
seats, but ii. WI, not hear Brooks, AS stated
i'll tic report. Th;s MAS Il total mi,appre-
l.rnsioa "n the part of Mr.. Sumncr.
I
knowledge OF suspicion that any assault
was contemplated, or would bc made, here
or elsewhere. Ii. did not approach Mr..
Brooks nor speak to him, and was not
within fifty feet Of tue Senator from Geor
gia (AIr. ToosnLs.) How such All idea
could have rot into Mr.. Summers head, it
WAS i,nlos>ic for him to conceive. The
published st.tcnc:t miyl carry an impress
elon to the cpul:.ry that i.c w;,s aiding AT!
aIettins, anil WAS, i'll i;,ct, participant in
the assault, but that WAS All entirely erro-
ncous idea, rs ,r did not even know that
Mr.. Sumner was i'll the Capitol ut The time
the assault wis committed.
Mr.. Toombs remarked that he was in
his SCAT at IT,. :ne and how Mr. Sumner
could suppose hc SAW him rear MIR. Brooks,
lie could not tell. 1t might be. that in The
confusion Mr.. Sumner mistook Gen. Cor
IMAM iur him. Mr.. ToomLs further said
that, in EXPRESSING opinions about the affair
at tic lime, SOME gentlemen condemned it,
but hu (roombs) told Mr.. Brooks that lie
approved OF il.
Mr.. Butter, of South Carolina, said he
had just arrived in the city, but had lie
been in Washington he should have as
suln;d aii til. responsibility taken by lis
gallant relative
He denied, in tue most emphatic man
Eer, the statement Of Mr. Sumner that
what l.c had said in his speech WAS strictly
III respvnsc to what Butler had said on
former ucc,siotS. lie understood that the
Legislature u Massachusetts had passed
resolutions iii reference to the aifrav, and
VIXEN these resolution, should he presented
se the Seuatc he would speak oil the sub.
jcct ;s it deserved. Not - srYlc one OF
Mr.. Summers remarks in relation to him
w;.s respunsc to anything which he (Butlcr)
had said upon the Kansas question His
friends in South Carolina, am, some of his
trlerlds here, Thought t!e (Bu,ler) had been
remarkably moderate in tile character Of
his remarks. lie had scrupulousIy avoided
saying anything to violate the courtcsies
the Senator from Massachusetts, to him, or
about him.
Mr.. Wade said it was impossible for
him to sit still and hear such principles
ivowcd as he had heard OH this occasion.
AS to the facts III reference to the assault,
no knew nothing about them, and had
nothing to say OIL that point. He wills
here in pretty lean majority, not more
than about one-titth Of tie Senate enter
taining opinions similar to his, but when lie
heard it stated that OH this floor an assas.
siE.like, cowardly attack had been made
upon man unarlne,, and having no power
to defend himself aud that he had been
stricken down and almost murdered, and
then heard u Senator avow that he ap.
proved such conduct, it became matter
OF some interest and Importance to all
the members Of this BODY. and esncci,IIv