Arkansas true Democrat., 1858-06-01
A Lame Defense.


 sed themselves in opposition to the disgusting toadyism shown by certain persons in the south towards Edward Everett his friends have set up defence He, also, has written a letter in justification of his course in relation to Simmer which we find in communication from Hon. W. II. Sneed, published in the Southern Citi. zen.
 The subscription paper alluded to in MT. Everett's letter was as follows:
 Being desrous of expressing to Hon. Char les Summer, In some permanent and appropriate form, our admiration of his spotless public and private character-our lively gratitude for his dauntless courage, in defence of freedom on the floor of Congress. and especially our un qualihed appreciation of his speech in behalf o1 Free Kansas, delivered in the Senate on the 1oth ot May last--a speech characterized by comprehensive knowledge of the subject. by logical acuteness and Spartan iterpiditv in it's chastlsement ot lniquity, for which he has well nlSh lost hls lie, at the brutal and cowardly nand or creature for which, thanks to the rarity of their appearance, the English tongue mas as yet no appropriate name, we deem it aIlke privilege and an honor to participate in offering hlm some suitable token of our senti- ments. For this purpose, we subscribe the se- verdi sums opposite our names.,
 But shortly after the we'll earned tbrashino of Sumner, Mir. Everett prefaced his address on Washington with the following remarks Let tha reader note their tenor and drift mborino that this was the first time any speaker or writer had assumed the ground that the employment of troops in Kansas was useless.
 " An lrrepressble sadness takes possession of my heart, at the occurrences of the past week and the most fearful apprehensions force them, selves upon me, that events are already in train win an impulse too mighty to be resisted winch wlll cause our beloved country to ween tears ot blood through all her borders for oen- eratons to come. The civil war-for such if ls-wlth Its hornd train of pillare. fire and slaughter, carried on, without the slightest nro- vocation, aganst the infant settlements of our orethern on the frontier of the Union:-the worse than clvll war. which has for months ragged unrebuked at the Capitol of the Union. ana mas at length by all act of lawless violence oi winch know no parallel in the history of constitutional government, stained the floor of the Senate chamber with the blood of an un armed, deienceless man, and Senator of Massachusetts. An, my friends, these are events which, for the good name. the neace the aatetv of the country--for the cause of free mstltutionS thoughout the world: it were worth all the gold of California, to blot from the record of the past week."
 Taking the cue from this orator. the aboIi. tionists in Congress appended to the apDropria- ton bill proviso refusing to pay the troops in Kansas.
 Here is Mr.. Everett's defence, which we give in full:
 MeIfood, Massachusetts, Oct 31.
 DEAR SRI have received vour friendly letter of the 18th of September, enclosing a cutting from the Knoxville Register of the l7tb and another from the Knoxville Whig con- taning the card of Mr. Sneel The subject revives painful recolectons, but it remains to me duty, in compliance with your request, to acquaint you with the facts of the case.
 When the intelligence of the assault on Mr. Sumner, in the Senate of the United States. reached Boston, 1t produced an excitement in the public mind deeper and more dangerous. than have ever witnessed. It was the opin- ion of some persons that if leader darngand reckless enough, had presented himself. he might have raised any number of men to march on Washington By refccting men, the depo- rable act was regarded as the beginning of the end;' the spark which was but too likely to llindle the train, whose explosion would rend the Union. Letters from Washington informed us that the members had generally armed them selves, and if the predictions received by me from an impartial source had been fulfilled, and the crack of the revolver been heard all round the House of Representatives" the event would have been inevitable
 Immediately on the receipt of the irtelh- gence. an indignation meeting was called in Fanuiel llall which was invited to attend - Not disposed to quit the retirement from poi- tlca life, caused by ill-beath year be.ofe-- believing also that additional excitement was to be deprecated-I declined to attend the meeting. It was, however. attended, and ad- dressed by very sound conservative men, In the course of the following week, having occa, sion to repeat my address on the character of Washington prefaccd it with a few remarks on the recent occurrences, the object of which was to impart a chastened and sober temper to the tlery indignation which pervaded the com mnnity These remarks were extensively quo- ted and approved in conservative journals, both north and south They are the same
 
 of Mr. Sneed's card. enclose you copy of them.
 A day or two after the appearance of these remarks ln the public papers, a young friend, after expressing his cordial approbation tf them requested me to sQ bscrihe to testimonial pro- posed to be rendered to Mr. Sumner. He did not show me the paper, nor mention in whole or Tn part, the terms in which it was to be ex pressed hot spirit With my own remarks just alluded to. I felt it a duty, in order to avoid misconception Tn the existing state of the public mind to com ply with his request, which Iaccorainglv aorced to do. The paper was sent up to me at a very early hour the next morning, in my bed room where from ill health, had passed a bad night. and was still under the influence of ether repeatedly inhaled as an anodyne It was en- grossed on very stiff sheet. rolled up the lower end outward l unrolled it up to the names already subscribed, those which struck my eve were of judicious and refecting persons; and without reading or seeing the caption, I signed my name. This, of course, was a great indis- cretlon, but of a kind perhaps, not unnatural under the circumstances of my illness. This IS the paper given at length in Mir. Sneed's card.
 As soon as l saw it the next day, in the pub lie prints, informed the young gentleman who had procured my sgnture, that 1 could not have signed the paper had been aware of the spirit in which it was drafted, and the terms in which it was expressed. made the same statement to numerous friends and correspon- dents in different parts of the country. I fur nished memorandum to the above effect to the editor of the Boston Daily Advertiser to be published when he should think 1t proner. authorized two friends in the Senate of the United States, to make the necessary explana- ton, should the subject be alluded to in that body, as thought it possibly might be; and as soon as MT. Summers health was sufficiently restored, to make 1t proper to do so, wrote to him to the same effect
 Others who subscribed the paper did it, as am informed, either without reading it at all or so hastily as not to be aware of it's character. w hen meeting of the subscribers was called, 1t was agreed-partly as 1 understood for this reason-and in accordance with the expressed wishes of Mir. Sumner to take no further steps in the premises; and to apply the sums subscri