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SPEECH.

In the Senate, Wednesday, May 26th, 1852, on the resentation of a memorial against the Fugitive Slave Bill, the following passage occurred:

Mr. SUMNER. I hold in my hand, and desire to present, a memorial from the representatives of the Society of Friends in New England, formally adopted nt a public meeting, and authenticated by their clerk, in which they ask for the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Bill. After setting forth their sentiments on the general subject of slavery, the memorialists pro ceed as follows:

"We, therefore, respectfully, but earnestly and sincerely, entreat you to repeal the law of the last Congress respecting fugitive slaves; first and principally, because of its injustice towards a long sorely-oppress ed and deeply-injured people; and, secondly, in order that we, together with other conscientious sufferers, may be exempted from the penalties which it imposes on all, who in faithfulness to their Divine Master, and in discharge of their obligations to their distressed fellow-men, feel bound to regulate their conduct, even under the heaviest penalties which man can inflict for so doing, by the Divine injunction, 'All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do you even so to them;' and by the other commandment, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself."

Mr. President, this memorial is commended by the character of the religious association from which it proceeds-men who mingle rarely in public affairs, but with austere virtue seek to carry the Christian

rule into life.

The PRESIDENT. The Chair will have to interpose. The Senator is not privileged to enter into a The contents of the discussion of the subject now. memorial, simply, are to be stated, and then it becomes a question whether it is to be received, if any objection is made to its reception. Silence gives conAfter it is received he can make a motion with regard to its reference, and then make any remarks he thinks proper.

sent.

Mr. SUMNER. I have but a very few words to add, and then I propose to move the reference of the memorial to the Committee on the Judiciary.

The PRESIDENT. The memorial has first to be received before any motion as to its reference can be The Senator presenting a memorial entertained. states distinctly its objects and contents; then it is sent to the Chair, if a reference of it is desired. But it is not in order to enter into a discussion of the merits of the memorial until it has been received.

Mr. SUMNER. I do not propose to enter into any such discussion. I have already read one part of the memorial, and it was my design merely to refer to the character of the memorialists-a usage which I have observed on this floor constantly-to state the course I should pursue, and then conclude with a motion for a reference.

The PRESIDENT. The Chair will hear the Senator, if such is the pleasure of the Senate, if he does discussion. not go into an elaborate

Mr. SUMNER. I have no such purpose.
Mr. DAWSON. Let him be heard.
Several SENATORS. Certainly.

Mr. SUMNER. I observed that this memorial was
commended by the character of the religious associa-
tion from which it proceeds. It is commended, also,
by its earnest and persuasive tone, and by the prayer
which it presents. Offering it now, sir, I desire sim-
ply to say, that I shall deem it my duty, on some
proper occasion hereafter, to express myself at length
on the matter to which it relates. Thus far, during
this session, I have forborne. With the exception of
an able speech from my colleague, [Mr. Davis,] the
discussion of this all-absorbing question has been
the country, by whose mutual differences it has been
mainly left with Senators from another quarter of
complicated, and between whom I have not cared to
interfere. But, there is a time for all things. Jus-
tice, also, requires that both sides should be heard;
and I trust not to expect too much, when, at some
fit moment, I bespeak the clear and candid at-
tention of the Senate, while I undertake to set forth,
frankly and fully, and with entire respect for this
body, convictions, deeply cherished in my own State,
though disregarded here-to which I am bound by
every sentiment of the heart, by every fibre of my
of God and man. But, upon these I do not now enter.
being, by all my devotion to country, by my love
Suffice it, for the present, to say, that when I shall un-
dertake that service, I believe I shall utter nothing
which, in any just sense, can be called sectional, un-
ments of the fathers were sectional. It is my happi-
less the Constitution is sectional, and unless the senti-
ness to believe, and my hope to be able to show that,
according to the true spirit of the Constitution, and
according to the sentiments of the fathers, FREEDOM,
and not slavery, is NATIONAL; while SLAVERY, and
and not freedom, is SECTIONAL. In duty to the pe-
titioners, and with the hope of promoting their
Committee on the Judiciary.
prayer, I move the reference of their petition to the

A brief debate ensued, in which Messrs. Mangum, Badger, Hale, Clemens, Dawson, Adams, Butler, and Chase, took part; and, on motion of Mr. BADGER, the On Thursday, 27th July, the subject was again prememorial was laid on the table. sented to the Senate:

Mr. SUMNER. Mr. President, I have a resolution which I desire to offer; and I wish, also, to give notice that I shall expect to call it up to-morrow, at an early time in the morning hour, when I shall throw myself upon the indulgence of the Senate to be heard upon it.

The resolution was then read, as follows:

Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary be bill for the immediate repeal of the act of Congress, requested to consider the expediency of reporting a approved September 18, 1850, usually known as the Fugitive Slave Act.

In pursuance of this notice, on the next day, during

the morning hour, an attempt was made to call it | United States is authorized to allow the payment

up.

Mr. SUMNER, Mr. President, I now ask permission of the Senate to take up the resolution which I offered yesterday. For that purpose, I move that the prior orders be postponed, and upon this motion I desire to say a word. In asking the Senate to take up this resolution for consideration, I say nothing of its merits nor of the arguments by which it may be maintained; nor do I at this stage anticipate any objections to it on these grounds. All this will properly belong to the discussion of the resolution itself the main question-when it is actually before the Senate. The single question now is, not the resolution, but whether I shall be heard upon it. As a Senator, under the responsibilities of my position, I have deemed it my duty to offer this resolution. I may seem to have postponed this duty to an inconvenient period of the session; but had I attempted it at an earlier day, I might have exposed myself to a charge of a different character. It might then have been said that, a new-comer and inexperienced in this scene, without deliberation, hastily, rashly, recklessly, pushed this question before the country. This is not the case now. I have taken time, and in the exercise of my most careful discretion now ask for it the attention of the Senate. I shrink from any appeal founded on a trivial personal consideration; but should I be blamed for any delay latterly, I may add, that though in my seat daily, my bodily health for some time past, down to this very week, has not been equal to the service I have undertaken. I am not sure that it is now; but I desire to try. And now again I say the question is simply whether I shall be heard. In allowing me this privilege this right, I might say you do not commit yourselves in any way to the principle of the resolution; but you merely follow the ordinary usage of the Senate, and yield to a brother Senator the opportunity which he craves, in the practical discharge of his duty, to express convictions dear to his heart, and dear to large numbers of his constituents. For the sake of these constituents, for my own sake, I now desire to be heard. Make such disposition of my resolution afterward as to you shall seem best; visit upon me any any degree of criticism, censure, or displeasure, but do not deprive me of a hearing. Strike, but hear." A debate ensued, in which Messrs. Mason, Brooke, Charlton, Shields, Gwin, Douglas, Butler, and Borland, took part. Objections to taking up the resolution were pressed on the ground of "want of time," "the lateness of the session," and "danger to the

Union."

The question being then taken upon the motion by Mr. SUMNER, to take up his resolution, it was rejected-yeas 10, nays 32-as follow:

YEAS-Messrs. Clarke, Davis, Dodge of Wisconsin, Foot, Hamlin, Seward, Shields, Sumner, Upham, and

Wade-10.

NAYS-Messrs. Borland, Brodhead, Brooke, Cass, Charlton, Clemens, Desaussure, Dodge of Iowa, Douglas, Downs, Felch, Fish, Geyer, Gwin, Hunter, King, Mallory, Mangum, Mason, Meriwether, Miller, Morton, Norris, Pearce, Pratt, Rusk, Sebastian, Smith, Soulé, Spruance, Toucey, and Weller-32.

THURSDAY, AUgust 26, 1852. The Civil and Diplomatic Appropriation Bill being under consideration, the following amendment was moved by the Committee on Finance:

"That where the ministerial officers of the United

States have or shall incur extraordinary expenses in executing the laws thereof, the payment of which is not specifically provided for, the President of the

thereof, under the special taxation of the district or have been or shall be rendered, to be paid from the circuit court of the district in which the said services appropriation for defraying the expenses of the jud ciary."

Mr. SUMNER moved the following amendment the amendment:

Provided, That no such allowance shall be a thorized for any expenses incurred in executing th act of September 18, 1850, for the surrender of fag tives from service or labor; which said act is hereb repealed."

On this he took the floor, and spoke as follows: Mr. PRESIDENT: Here is a provision for e traordinary expenses incurred in executing the laws of the United States. Extraordinary ex penses! Sir, beneath these specious word lurks the very subject on which, by a solemn vote of this body, I was refused a hearing. Here it is; no longer open to the charge of being an "abstraction," but actually presented for practical legislation; not introduced by me, but by one of the important committees of the Senate; not brought forward weeks ago, when there was ample time for discussion, but only at this moment, without any reference to the late period of the session. The amendment, which I now offer, proposes to remove one chief occasion of these extraordinary expenses. And now, at last, among these final crowded days of our duties here, but at this earliest opportunity, I am to be heard; not as a favor, but as a right. The graceful usages of this body may be abandoned, but the established privileges of debate cannot be abridged. Parliamentary courtesy may be forgotten, but Parliamentary law must prevail. The subject is broadly before the Senate. By the blessing of God, it shall be discussed.

sought to secure permanence for his imperfect Sir, a severe lawgiver of early Greece vainly institutions, by providing that the citizen who, at any time, attempted an alteration or repeal of any part thereof, should appear in the public assembly with a halter about his neck, ready to be drawn if his proposition failed to be adopted. A tyrannical spirit among us, in unconscious imitation of this antique and dis carded barbarism, seeks to surround an offensive institution with a similar safeguard. In the existing distemper of the public mind and at the service which I now undertake, without a this present juncture, no man can enter upon personal responsibility, such as can be sustained only by that sense of duty which, under God, is always our best support. That personal responsibility I accept. Before the Senate and the country let me be held accountable for this act, and for every word which I ut

ter.

With me, sir, there is no alternative. Painfully convinced of the unutterable wrongs and woes of slavery; profoundly believing that, according to the true spirit of the Constitution and the sentiments of the fathers, it can find