Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1858-05-19


made speech in his place in Congress, upon
the subject Of slavery and the repeal of the
Missouri Compromise. 1t was bold, decisive,
yet parliamentary. During the delivery Of
the speech, Mr.. Sumner was neither called to
order by the Vice President nor by any mem
Der of the body. Portions of the speech re-
Elected keenly upon the State OF South Caro-
lima. But not more SO than did portions of
MIR. Webster's great speech in reply to Hayne,
| delivered in the same chamber twentysix years
before. In that speech Mr.. Webster said that
during the time of the Revolution there were
"twenty tories in South Carolina for one in
Massachusetts" Mr. Hayne had devoted two
entire days to disparage Massachusetts, i'm
| pugn her motives, blacken the character of
| her great men and to break down Mr.. Web
ster. In this labor of hatred he had the as
sistance of many of his associates in the
Senate, and of members of General Jackon's
! Cablnet. Old records hGd been examined,
and the pigeon holes ransacked to End matter
for the speech. Even private correspondence
had been violated, and made public,to convict
| Mr.. Webster of being an enemy to his coun-
try and an ally of reat Britain during the
war of 1872 The reply Of Mr.. Webster to
| Hayne is known wherever the English lam
| guage is spoken, and it stands now and will
stand forever unapproachabIe for its mastery
eloquence and unanswersble logic. For
making this speech, Mr.. Webster was received
with open arms by the great men OF this
country, and there was no man from the
South SO base as to attempt to insult him, far
less to disgrace him with blow.
| Not so with Mr.. sumner. A few days af.
ter his speech had been made, while seated at
his desk in the Senate chamber, he was as
saulted by member OF Congress from South
Carolina M struck lilo don with
He fell upon the floor of the Senate, and was
taken up bloody and senseless, and conveyed
to his lodgings. From that day to this he has
been an invalid. The best medical skill of
this land has been employed to effect cure.
But medical skill has failed. He was advised
to try the mountain air of the Alleghanies,
and the salt breezes of the sea shore, which
he did. Still he remained an invalid. He
crossed the ocean and consulted the most
skiilful of European physicians. Among the
mountain recesses of Switzerland and by the
placid waters of the Mediterranean he sought
for health and found it not. After living
abroad many months he returned again to his
native land. In the meantime the Legislature
of Massachusetts by vote approaching 10
unanimity had re. elected him for six years to
the Senate. 1t was the fond hope Of this
people and of thousands of others living be-
be sufficiently recovered 10 take his seat at
the opening of the present Congress. That
hope, so fondly CHERISHED, has thus far proved
delusiye. He is still an invalid, still broken
down man, and he may become in the end, a
wreck Of his former self; noble but melan-
choly ruin.
| When Massachusetts was outraged and in
suited by the blow given her Senator, the in
dignation OF her people was aroused to high
| pitch. IL could not have been otherwise. A
meeting was held in Faneui Hall, to give ut
terance to the deep adherence entertained by
the people of Boston, in regard to the indig.
nifty committed. and the brutality exhibited,
in the act of the South Carolinian. A testi-
monial was proposed, and many gentlemen
subscribed their names to it and advanced
| their money. Mr.. Sumner, while he appre-
ciated the kindness which prompted it, de-
elined accepting the present, and at his re-
| quest, the money was contributed TO the relief
| fund for the suffering free State men in Kan
zas Among the distinguished gentlemen
whose names were appended to the testimo-
| NAL, was that of Mr.. Everett. 1t was nobly
| done, and was worthy of his high position
| 1t appears by letter published IN the Ma
tioaaI I'lteltgsncer Of Friday, and furnished
toathat paper by the gentleman TO whom it
was addressed, that Mr.. Everett signed the
| paper without knowing the exact phraseoogy
of the testimonial, and he apologies to his
| Southern friends for having given to it his
name. We quote the letter:
| aA MEDFoRD. Mass, October 81.
Dear Sir FL have received your friendly let
ter of the 18th of September, enclosing a cutting
| from the Knoxville Register OF the 18th, and an
other from the Knoxville Why. containing the
card Of Mr. Sneed. The subject revives painful
ht,t = ron al
pliance 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 first
reached Boston, it produced excitement in the
public mind deeper and more dangerous than |
have ever witnessed. 1t was the opinion of some
persons, that if a leader, daring and reckle
enough, had presented himself, he might have
raised any number OF men to march on Washing
ton By rejecting men the deplorable act was
regarded as the "beginning of the end I" the
spark which was but too likely to kinde the train
whose explosion would rend the Union Letters
| from Washington informed US that the members
had generally armed themselves, and if the pre-
dictions received by me from an impartial source
had been fulfilled, and the crack OF the revolver
| been heard all round the House Of Representa-
| ltives, the event would have been inevitable
Immediately on the receipt of the intelligence,
! an indignation meeting was held in Faneuil Hall
| which was invited to attend. Not disposed to
quit the retirement from political life caused BY
Ill health year before-believing, also, that ad-
! ditional excitement was to be deprecated-I de-
clined to attend the meeting. 1t was, however
| attended and addressed by very sound conserya.
| tive men. In the course of the following week
! having occasion to repeat my address s'on the
character of Washington" prefaced it with a
| few remarks on the recent occurrence the object
OF which was TO impart more chastened and
sober temper to the fiery indignation which per :
vaded the community. These remarks were ex !.
tensively quoted and approved in conservative
| journals, both North and South. They are the
| same which are alluded to in the closing nara
| graph Of Mr.. Sneed's card. l enclose you a COPY
| Of them. sNta af
A day or two after the appearance of these re-
marks in the public papers, young friend, after
expressing his cordial appreciation Of them, re !.
quested me to subscribe to a. testimonial proposed
to be rendered to Mr.. Sumner. He did not show
me the paper, nor mention in whole or in part the
terms in which-it wac to be expressed Supposinp
that it would accord in spirit with nv avn re.
marks just alluded to- felt it duty, in order TO
avoid misconception in the existing state Of the
| public mind, to comply with his request, which
accordingly agreed to do. The paper was sent IN
| 20 me at very early hour the next morning IN
my bedroom, where, from i'll health, Iihad passed
a bad night, and was still under the influence Of
ether repeatedly inhaled as an anodyne. 1t was
engrossed on very stiff sheet, rolled up the low.
er end outward. ! unrolled it up to the names
| already subscribed those which struck nv eve
| were OF judicious and rejecting persons and
| wthoutfeadngo or seeing the caption, | signed
my name Ihlsgof course, was a great lndiscre.
| uon, out OF Kind perhaps not unnatural under
| the circumstances of my Illness This is the oa-
per given at length in Mr. Sneed's card.
As soon as saw it the next day, in the public
prints, informed the young gentleman who had
procured my signature that | could not ha We
signed the paper had been aware Of the spirit