The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1856-05-31

! eSSdut oh wi. III tiIC u. c'
nate, by Mr.. Brooks, Of S. c. In the mos
favorable aspect, uEqucstionably, the at.ac
must be regarded as shameful and bruta
outrage, i'll advised as unfortunate, for it ca
please nobody better than the abolitionists
Mr.. Brooks waited at the Porter's Lodg
about an hour yesterday, and as long thi
| morning hoping to meet Mr.. Sumner, Will
aview to attack him. Failing in this, he en-
tered the Senate chamber to-day, just a
that body adjourned, and seeing several la
dies present, seated himself on the opposit
side to Mr.. Sumner. Soon all disappearc
but one. lie then requested friend to &C
her out, when he Immediately approached
Mr.. Sumner, and said in quiet tone o
voice
"Mr. Sumner, l have read your spcecl
With great care, and with as much Impair
tiaity as / am capable of, and feel it IN,
duty to say to you that you have published
libel on my State, and uttered a slande
upon relative, who is aged and absent, ane
| am come to punish you"
At the concluding words Mr. Sumner at
tempted to spring to'h bis feet, showing fight
but whilst in the act was struck by Col
Brooks a backhandcd blow across the head
with gutta percha cane near an inch thick
but hollow, and he continued striking right
and left until the stick wa. broken into frag-
ments, and Mr.. Sumner was PROSTATE ana
bleeding on the floor. No one took hold Of
Col. i. during the time, 50 quick YVES the
operation but Immediately afterwards Mr.
Critteudcn caught him around the body and
arms.
Mr.. kcitt, of South Carolina, did not in
tcricre, only-to keep persons oil.
Senator Toombs declared that it was the
proper place to have chastised Mr.. Sumner
When the attack was made there were
probably fifteen or twenty persons present,
including MeSSrS. trittendcn, Foster, Fitz-
patrick, Toombs, Murray, Morgan, and
other members Of Congress, together with
Governor German, several officers of the
Senate, aud some strangers. This at
tack was so sudden and unexpected,
that Mr. Sumner had no opportunity whatc-
yer TO place himself in a defensive attitude.
The first blow given him by Mr.. Brooks
stunned him. and the thick gutta pcrcfa
stick which was used by Mr.. Brook. Was
broken into many pieces by the time the
assault terminated. Mcssrs Crittcnden,
Toombs, Murray and others interfcred as
soon as they could, and probably prevented
further damage. The grcatcsr excitement
prevailed. Mr.. Sumner sank perfectly I'M
conscious to the floor. where he lay, bloody
and drcadfullv bruised, til raised by his
friends. Mr.. Summers physicians say his
wounds are the most severe flesh wounds
that they ever saw n mans head, and de
ny his friends admission to him.
The following is the portion Of the speech
of Mr. Sumner which provoked the assault
The eXtenuation offered for the assault iS,
that the speech was made while Judge Butler
was absent, and therefore not in position
to reply TO II promptly, as Gen. CaSs.
Judge Douglas, and Mr.. Mason were able
to, who were attacked in similar vein:
With regret, | now come again upon the
Senator from South Carolina, Mr. Butler, }
who, omnipresent in this debate, overflow
ed with rage at the simple suggestion that
Kansas had applied for admission a a State;
and with ncoherent phrases, discharged the
loose expectorati0n OF his speech, now upon
her Representative and then upon her pco,
pie There was no extravaganza Of the an
clent Parliamentary debate which he did not
repeat; nor was there any possible deviation
much OF passion. am glad to add, as to
save ttim from the suspicion of intentional
alteration. But the Senator touches no
thin- which he docs not di>ti-urc-with err
ror, sometimes Of principle. sometimes of
fact. I.e shows an incapacity Of accuracy,
whether in stating the Constitution or in
stating the law, whether in the details uf
statistics or the diversions Of scholarship
10 l,,,. ;b.r, f,,.
a blundrr. Surely he ought to be familiar
with the life Of Franklin and yet he refer
red to this household character. while acting
as the agent Of our fathers in Englrad, as
above suspicion; and this was done that he
might give point TO a false contrast with the
agent of kansaS-not knowing that, howe
yer, they may differ in genius and fame, in
this experience they arc alike; that Frank
lin, when intrusted with the petition of
Bay, was assaulted by foul
mouthed speaker, where he could not be
heard in defence, and denounced as a
"thief," even as the agent of Kansas has
been assaulted on this floor, and denounced
as ''iorger' And let not the vanity of the
Senator be inspired by the parailel.with the
British statesmen of that day; for it is only
in hostility to freedom that any parallel can
be recognized But it is against the people
of Kansas that the senshilities of the Sena-
tor are particularly aroused Coming, as he
announces from a Statc"--aye, Sir, from
South Carolna-hc turns with lordly d's-
gust from his newly formed community,
which he will not recognize even as body
polite" PRAY, Sir, by what title does he
indulge in this eeotiSm? Has he read the
history of '',he State" which he represents:
1 I. lo, r,,rr h., III
imbeclitv from slavery, confessed through
out the Revolution, followed by its more
assumption far slavery since. He
cannot have forgotten its wretchcd persist
ence in the slave trade as the very apple of
its eve, and the condition of its participation
in the Union. He cannot have forgotten its
Constitution, which is republican only in
name, confirming power in the hands Of the
few, and founding the qualifications of
voters on "a settled freehold estate ard ten
negroes" And yet the Senator, to whom
that 'State" has in part committed the
guardianship of its good name, instead of
moving, with backward treading steps, to
cover its nakedncss, rushes forward to the
very ecstacy of madness to expose it by pro-
yoking a comparison with Kansas South
Carolina is old Kansas is young. South
Carolina counts by centuries where Kansas
counts by years. But beneiicent example
NAV be born in day; and venture to say
that against the two centuries of the older
State" may be already set the two years of
trial, evolving corresponding virtue, in the
younger community. In the one, is the long
wall of Slavery; in the other, the hymns of
Freedom. And if We glance at special
it will be difficult to find any
thing in the history of South Carolina which
presents SO much Of heroic spirit in heroic
cause as appears in that repulse of the Mis-
souri, invaders by the beleagured town Of
Lawrence, where even the women gave their
efforts to Freedom. The matrons
of Rome, who poured their jewels into the
treasury for the public deience-the wives of
Prussia, who, with delicate fingers, clothed