Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1856-06-17
s1 % S'P EE O H. @ Fgaey. 9
HON. CHAS.s. SUMNER.

/ :
Ma. PREstDaNT; You are now called t.
redress asgreat transgression. Seldom il
the history of Nations has such question
been presented. Tariffs, army bills, navy
Bills. land bills, ,.lare imporsant, and justly
occupy your care; but these all belong tt
the Tcourse of ordinary legislation. Al
means and instruments only, they are neces
sarily subordinate, to the conservation o.
Government ITSELF u Grant them or deny
them, in a greater or less degree, and yor
will inAict no. shock,,o The machinery O
Government will continue to moyes The
State willanot cease to exist Far otherwise
islit with the eminent question now before
you, involving, as il does, Liberty in broad
Territory, and also involving the peace ol
the whole country with our good name in
history vermore... gsoeal ind ;5aart..
Take down your map, sir, and youwil
find that the Territory Of Kansas, more thar
any other region, occupies the middle,spo
of North America, equally distant from the
Atlantic on the east, and the Pacific on the
west; from the frozen waters Of Hudson's
Bay on the north, and the tepid, Gulf Stream
on the south, constituting the precise ter
ritorial centre Of the whole vast Continent
To such advantages of situation, on the very
highway between two oceans, are added {
soil Of unsurpassed richness, and "a fascina
ting, undulating beauty Of surface, with 6
health-giying climate, calculated to nurture
a powerful and generous people, worthy te
be.a central pivot of American Institutions
A few short months only have passed, sipcs
this spacious mediterranean country was
open only to the savage, who ran wild il
its woods and prairies; and now it has al
ready drawn to its bosom population o.
fieemen larger than Athens crowded within
her historic gates, when her sons, undei
Miliades, won Liberty for mankind on the
field Of Marathon: more than Sparta con,
tanned when she ruled Greece, and sent forth
her devoted children, quickened by moth.
er's benediction, to return with their, shields
or on them; more than Rome gathered on
her seven hills. when, under her kings, she
commenced that sovereign sway, which af.
forwards embraced the whole earth; more
than London held; when, on the fields o
Crecy and Agincourt, the English banner
was carried VIGOROUSLY over the chiyalrous
hosts of Francs. I'd w ,r sal
Against this Territory, thus fortunate in
position and population, a Crime has been
Committed which is without example in the
records of the Past. !, Not in ,plundered
lproYinces or in the'cruelties Of selfish gov
ernors will you find its parallel; and YET
there is an ancient instance, which may
show at least the path of justice. In the
terrible impeachment by which the great
Roman Orator has blasted through all time
the name Of Verres, amidst charges of rob-
berry and sacrilege, the enormity which
most aroused the indignant voice Of his ac-
cuser, and which still stands forth with
strongest distinctness, arresting the sympa-
thetic indignation of all who read the story
is, that away in Sicily he had scourged 8
citizen of Rome-that the cry "I am Ro
man citizen" had been interposed in vain
against the lash of the tyrant governor
Other charges were, that he, had carried
away productions of art, and that he haG
violated the sacred shrines. 1t was in the
presence of the Roman Senate that this ar.
raignmen. proceeded; in the temple of the
Forum; amidst crowds-such as no orator
had ever before drawn together-throngine
the porticos and colonnades, even clingine
to the house tops and neighboring slopes
and under the anxious gaze of witnesse!
summoned from the scene of crime. Blu
an audience grander far-of higher dignity
-of more curious people and of wider in
telligence-the countless multitude of sue
ceeding generations, in every land, where
eloquence has been studied or where th,
Roman name has been recognized--has lis
tened to the accusation, and throbbed will
condemnation of the criminal. Sir, speak
ing in an age Of light and in land Of con
stitutional liberty, where the safeguards o
elections are justly placed among the high
est triumphs of civilization, I fearlessly as
sert thst the wrongs Of much-abused Sicily
thus memorable in history, were small BY
the side of the wrongs of Kansas, where thu
very ryishrines of popular institutions, NOR,
sacred than any heathen altar, have beer
desecrated; where the ballot-box more pre-
Icious than any work, in ivory or marble
from. the cunning hand of art, has beef
plundered; and where the cry. "I am al
American citizen, has been interposed il
vain against outrage of every kind, ever
upon life ITSELF Are you against sacrilege
III present it for your execration. Are Yol
against robbery? Ihold itup to your scorp
Are you for the protection of American cit
liens? Ishow you how their dearest right
J have been cloven down, while Tyranics
i Usurpation has sought to install itself o.
their very necksl 1a "a.
\ But the wickedness which now begin t
EXPOSE is immeasurably aggravated by tn
! motive which prompted it. Not in an,
; common lust for power did this uncommo
: tragedy have its origin. 1t is the rape Q
a virgin Territory, compelling it to the hate
| full embrace Of slavery; and it may be clear
ly traced to a depraved longing for ne,
! slave State, the hideous offspring of sue
a crime, in the hope of adding to the powe
Of Slavery in the National Government
/, Yes, sir, when the whole world, alike Chris
:. tian and Turk, is rising up to condemn thi
wrong, and to make it Kissing to the ma
tons, here in our Republic, forcs--aye, sil
FoRCE--has been openly employed i
compelling Kansas to this pollution, and a
[ for the sake of political power. There