The weekly Louisianian., 1874-05-09


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(the asg q my country, a 4 ripple
lin every fbrecaa, at last in reality. !
ii nams the sFhe Of Tteedom-un
ldoubted, pure snd ir1esaiistsiiiblt h
Esorrowfuly I bend before the wron,
you commit. Joyfu1ly T welcom
the promises Of the Future 80 . s
l.. But the sacred landmark Of ffee
dom for which be. pleaded was ruth
lasely swept away, and two year
latet he country was convulsed b,
|.tAg odtlasss ,1ailsss of the 'salas,e power a
tie plains Of Kansas. The oon6e
ragged dnssq nssqaally in tie halls Of Con
gr, 'whefs slavery sought toga*hs'
the fruits Of this great wrong byath'
org.nizst ton of the territory Of Kan
sss' as q slave State.
|. Against this measure Charlie
Sumner uttered the: magniicen'
Ph1ippio entitled so apt'y, 9TH
czime against: Kansas" thus 5e1
pressing in a single phrase III
moral aspects and character Of tha'
whole passage Of history. In thai
speech he developed new pow'srsso a
dennnciation and invective. From
the impressive exordium beginning
"Mr. President, you are now called
upon to redress a great wrong ~
on through the aanple statement,
the exhaustive narrative, the ire.
zistible argument, the fiery invee'
tive, the pathetic appeal, to those
last words ef the memorable perora-
6os,-"I In the name Of the Heavenly
Father, whose service is perfect
Freedom, I make this last appeal
-he spoke with absolute fidelity IA
tho convictions Of his own hearl
and Of the aroused conscience d
the free North. Il was the full dis
charge, aye, the explosion pi the
slnmbering volcano Of moral indie-
nation which Slavery had aroused
in thirty years Of continuous and
intolerable aggressionaI Il was The
voice Of the Declaration Of Inde:
pendenoe calling back the reueant
sons to the faith and practice Of the
Fathers It was, a. Whittier said,
"a grand and terrible philippe,
worthy of the great occasion; the
severe and awful trnth which the
sharp agony Of the national crisis
demanded"
It was more than = speech, it was
m event. II was mora than A hall
battle, it was a battle crowned with
. glorious victory. It was . scene
and a speech to be compared only
With the great triumphs Of oratory
.Demosthenes pleading for Athen-
ian liberty, Cicero laundering
against the oppressor Of Sicily,
Burke arraigning the soourge Of
India.
But why do I thus characterize
hat great utteranee? Two days
Ifter it's delivery it received q de-
nonstration OF it's quality and power
more impressive and startling than
my which attended the former mas
Of human speech. Slavery,
n the person Of : representative in
Congress from South Carolina,
truck him to the floor and covered
Tim With murderous blows. II was,
y another has eloquently said. 'our
beaten 10 the ground for
he noblest word Massachusetts essr
poke in the Senate" +"
The effect Of this assault upon the
ortunes Of the two struggling pow
rs-Freedom and Slsvezy-was|
Each rushed to the
Of it's champion. Brook
vas hailed throughout the South ~
he chiralrous ezponsnt of Slavery,
vhile Charles Somner ceased to bel
he assailant merely Of slavery, and
,ecsme the champion and martyr Of
rec speech and the sacred right Of
,asiialmenta.y debate. r.. /
AlaA do We not still sey alas, that