The Portland daily press., 1872-08-19
Senator Sumner. 1866.

EXTRACTS FROM SENATOR SUMMERS
SPEECH BEFORE THE MASSACHUSETTS
REPUBLICAN CONVENTION, IN 1865. THE
SPEECH WAS ENTITLED, ''THE NATIONAL
SECURITY AND THE NATIONAL FAITH;
GUARANTEES NEEDED FOR THE NATION
AL FREEDMAN AND THE NATIONAL
CREDITOR.
II do know that, according to concurring
and unimpeachablc testimony, from all quar-
tiers of the rebel States-frsm North Carolina
to Texas-there is one sullen, defiant voice,
VIII ch, in the very words of Satan when
driven from the skies, thus speaks:
"what though tine field be lost?
All Is not lost; the unconquerable will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And, through experience of this great event,
In arms mot worse, in foresight much advanced,
To wage by force or guile eternal war,
Irreconciable to our grand foe.
Such is their spirit Grounding their arms,
they now resort to other means. Cunning
takes the place of war. As they precipItated
themselves out of the Union, they now seek
to precipitate themselves back. A wooden
horse is constructed, which is stuffed with
hidden foes, and thus they seek to enter our
Troy. Already the rattle of arms is heard,
and ominous voices, as the treacherous en-
gine is advanced. The convention in Mis-
sissippi tells the story. Who does not know
that the South is full of spirits who have
sworn undying hatred not only to the Union,
but to reason itself, and whose policy is per-
petual conspiracy against the principles of
our government? Painful proofs come to
demonstrate the prevailing madness. The
freedmen are trodden down and the land is
filled with tragedies. History stands aghast
at the massacre of Glencoe in retired Scotch
valley and our sympathies overflow at the
murder of a solitary traveller by the merciless
Indians; but these scenes are now repeated.
The barbarism Of slavery RACES still. The
lash and the bloodhound are at large. Life
S nothing, if it beats under colored skin.
And these rebels, besmeared with blood, and
boiling with concentrated passion, now strive
to envelope themselves in the immunities of
State independence, with two special objects
in view: first, that they may deal with the
freedmen as they please, without any check
from the national authority; and secondly,
that they may send a solid representation of
more than eighty votes, pledged to Southern
pretensions, which, in combination with
treacherous votes from the North, may reas-
sert that ancient monopoly and masterdom
under wi ich the country suffered SO long.
One of their speakers in Mississippi, at the
recent convention, said openly, that she was
opposed to fighting the general government
or ANYBODY else; that he was ready to submit
to its wishes as he would to highway,robber,
whose power he was not able to resist" An
other speaker, less frank, thought it policy to
accept the present condition of affairs, until
the control of the State is restored into the
hands of its people, and ito submit for e time
to evils which cannot be remedied." And
still another, much more willy, when urging q
seeming acceptance of the Union, thus lured
his brother conspirators: ~ ige act cisely
,ce shall be Joined by tchdt is called the copper
head pdrty, and eUen By many Of the black
Republicans" Such is the plot, and such Is
the disastrous alliance f0reShGdolced. But,
thank God! in encouraging his comrades,
the conspirator has warned us. PoFewarned
is fOrearmed.
Reason and experience warn us to post
pone our trust in any such persons. Over
come in battle, they wrap themselves i'm
professions Of loyalty, confirmed by an oath
''As they who, to be sure Of Paradise,
Dying, put on the weeds Of Dominic,
Or in Franciscan think to pass disguised"
But character is not changed in a day, and
that "Southern heart" ,chich tcds '.fred
against the linton, still preserves its pindic-
Gtice violence. Eren for moment control
led, trhO can tell hoc long 10 ,ciH continue in
this mood? There is an exquisite fable of
La Fontaine, where a cat was turned into
beautiful woman; but ON the night of her
marriage, hearing the sound of mouse on
the floor she sprang from the bed with all
her original feline nature; and so rebel,
turned by an oath into loyalist, will sudden
ly start in full cry to run down a national
freedman or national creditor. So strong
is nature, Horace tells us: Drive it out with
pitch-fork and it will return. Therefore, /
insist, do not put political trust in that man
who has been engaged in warning upon his
country. do not ask his punishment. L
would not be harsh. There is nothing hui
name which l would reject. l am for gentle
ness. | am for velvet glove; but wish the
hand for awhile of iron. / confess that /
have little sympathy with those hypocr!tes
OF mdgnanimity, whose cry for the rebel mas
ter is only barbarous indifference towards =
the slave Pardon me if you will. Nobody
shall outdo me in clemency. But do not
trust the rebel politically. The words ot
Shakespeare do not picture too strongly the
danger of such an attempt;
'Thou mght'st hold serpent by the tongue.
sknless lion by the mortal paw
A fasting tiger by the tooth,
As Keen In Seace that hand which thou dost hold"
sIn obtaining guarantees We must rely up
ON acts rather than professions, and light our
footsteps by the lamp of experience There
fore. we turn from recent experience to con-
slant loyalists."
Addressing himself directly to the then
President, Mr.. Sumner said:
"Act, we entreat you, so that our country
may have no fresh sorrow. De not hazard
emancipation, which is the day-star of our
age, and the special jewel in the crown of
your martyred predecessor, by any concession
to its enemies. Do not put in jeopardy all
that are hold most dear by any premature at
tempt to bring back into the copGrtnerShip OF
the national government any Of those ancient
associates l1hO hare scdrred upon their couIl-
try. Let them rdit You have said that
concluded on fourth page.l