LETTER.
Washington, July 29, 1872.
Gentlemen and Fellow-Citizens:—
If I have delayed answering your communication of July 11th, which was duly placed in my hands by your committee, it was not because the proper course for you seemed doubtful, but because I wished to reflect upon it and be aided by information which time might supply. Since then I have carefully considered the inquiries addressed to me, and have listened to much on both sides; but my best judgment now is in harmony with my early conclusion.
I am touched by the appeal you make. It is true that I am the friend of your race, and I am glad to be assured that in your opinion I have held a consistent course in the Senate and elsewhere as the special advocate of your rights. That course, by the blessing of God, I mean to hold so long as life lasts. I know your infinite wrongs, and feel for them as my own. You only do me simple justice, when you add a belief that my counsel at this critical juncture of your citizenship “would be free from personal feelings and partisan prejudice.” In answering your inquiries I can have no sentiment except for your good, which I most anxiously seek; nor can any disturbing influence be allowed to interfere. The occasion is too solemn. Especially is there no room for personal feeling or for partisan prejudice. No man or party can expect power except for the general welfare. Therefore they must be brought to the standard of truth, which is without feeling or prejudice.
QUESTIONS PROPOSED.
You are right in saying that the choice for the Presidency is now “narrowed down” to President Grant or Horace Greeley. One of these is to be taken, and, assuming my acquaintance with both and my observation of their lives, you invite my judgment between them, asking me especially which of the two, “judging from their antecedents as well as present position,” would enforce the Constitution and laws securing your civil and political rights “with the most heart-felt sympathy and the greatest vigor.” Here I remark that in this inquiry you naturally put your rights in the foreground. So do I,—believing most sincerely that the best interests of the whole country are associated with the completest recognition of your rights, so that the two races shall live together in unbroken harmony. I also remark that you call attention to two things,—the “antecedents” of the candidates, and their “present position.” You wish to know from these which gives assurance of the most heart-felt sympathy and greatest vigor in the maintenance of your rights,—in other words, which, judging by the past, will be your truest friend.
The communication with which you have honored me is not alone. Colored fellow-citizens in other parts of the country, I may say in nearly every State of the Union, have made a similar request, and some complain that I have thus far kept silent. I am not insensible to the trust reposed in me. But if my opinion is given, it must be candidly, according to my conscience. In this spirit I answer your inquiries, beginning with the antecedents of the two candidates.
ANTECEDENTS OF THE CANDIDATES.
Horace Greeley was born to poverty and educated himself in a printing-office. President Grant, fortunate in early patronage, became a cadet at West Point and was educated at the public expense. One started with nothing but industry and character; the other started with a military commission. One was trained as a civilian; the other as a soldier. Horace Greeley stood forth as a Reformer and Abolitionist. President Grant enlisted as a Proslavery Democrat, and, at the election of James Buchanan, fortified by his vote all the pretensions of Slavery, including the Dred Scott decision. Horace Greeley from early life was earnest and constant against Slavery, full of sympathy with the colored race, and always foremost in the great battle for their rights. President Grant, except as a soldier summoned by the terrible accident of war, never did anything against Slavery, nor has he at any time shown any sympathy with the colored race, but rather indifference, if not aversion. Horace Greeley earnestly desired that colored citizens should vote, and ably championed impartial suffrage; but President Grant was on the other side.
Beyond these contrasts, which are marked, it cannot be forgotten that Horace Greeley is a person of large heart and large understanding, trained to the support of Human Rights, always beneficent to the poor, always ready for any good cause, and never deterred by opposition or reproach, as when for long years he befriended your people. Add to these qualities, conspicuous in his life, untiring industry which leaves no moment without its fruit, abundant political knowledge, acquaintance with history, the instinct and grasp of statesmanship, an amiable nature, a magnanimous soul, and above all an honesty which no suspicion has touched,—and you have a brief portraiture where are antecedents of Horace Greeley.
Few of these things appear in the President. His great success in war, and the honors he has won, cannot change the record of his conduct toward your people, especially in contrast with the life-time fidelity of his competitor, while there are unhappy “antecedents” showing that in the prosecution of his plans he cares nothing for the colored race. The story is painful; but it must be told.
GRANT’S INDIGNITY TO THE COLORED RACE.
I refer to the outrage he perpetrated upon Hayti, with its six hundred thousand blacks engaged in the great experiment of self-government. Here is a most instructive “antecedent,” revealing beyond question his true nature, and the whole is attested by documentary evidence. Conceiving the idea of annexing Dominica, which is the Spanish part of the island, and shrinking at nothing, he began by seizing the war powers of the Government, in flagrant violation of the Constitution, and then, at great expenditure of money, sent several armed ships of the Navy, including monitors, to maintain the usurper Baez in power, that through him he might obtain the coveted prize. Not content with this audacious dictatorship, he proceeded to strike at the independence of the Black Republic by open menace of war, and all without the sanction of Congress, to which is committed the power to make war. Sailing into the harbor of Port-au-Prince with our most powerful monitor, the Dictator, (properly named for this service,) also the frigate Severn as consort, and other monitors in their train, the Admiral, acting under instructions from Washington, proceeded to the Executive Mansion accompanied by officers of his squadron, and then, pointing to the great war-ships in sight from the windows, dealt his unjust menace, threatening to sink or capture Haytian ships. The President was black, not white. The Admiral would have done no such thing to any white ruler, nor would our country have tolerated such menace from any Government in the world. Here was indignity not only to the Black Republic with its population of six hundred thousand, but to the African race everywhere, and especially in our own country. Nor did it end here. For months the Navy of the United States was kept hovering on the coast, holding that insulted people in constant dread and anxiety, while President Grant was to them like a hawk sailing in the air, ready to swoop upon his prey.
FALSE IMPRISONMENT OF AN AMERICAN CITIZEN.
This heartless, cruel proceeding found a victim among our white fellow-citizens. An excellent merchant of Connecticut, praised by all who know him, was plunged into prison by Baez, where he was immured because it was feared that on his return to New York he would expose the frauds of the plotters; and this captivity was prolonged with the connivance of two agents of the President, one of whom finds constant favor with him and is part of the military ring immediately about him. That such an outrage could go unpunished shows the little regard of the President for human rights, whether in white or black.
HARD TO BEAR THESE OUTRAGES.
I confess my trials, as I was called to witness these things. Always a supporter of the Administration, and sincerely desiring to labor with it, I had never uttered a word with regard to it except in kindness. My early opposition to the Treaty of Annexion was reserved, so that for some time my opinions were unknown. It was only when I saw the breach of all law, human and divine, that I was aroused; and then began the anger of the President and of his rings, military and senatorial. Devoted to the African race, I felt for them,—besides being humbled that the Great Republic, acting through its President, could set such an example, where the National Constitution, International Law, and Humanity were all sacrificed. Especially was I moved when I saw the indignity to the colored race, which was accomplished by trampling upon a fundamental principle of International Law, declaring the equality of nations, as our Declaration of Independence declares the equality of men.
This terrible transaction, which nobody can defend, is among the “antecedents” of President Grant, from which you can judge how much the colored race can rely upon his “heart-felt sympathy.” Nor can it be forgotten that shortly afterward, on the return of the Commission from this island, Hon. Frederick Douglass, the colored orator, accomplished in manners as in eloquence, was thrust away from the company of the Commissioners at the common table of the mail-packet on the Potomac, almost within sight of the Executive Mansion, simply on account of his color; but the President, at whose invitation he had joined the Commission, never uttered a word in condemnation of this exclusion, and when entertaining the returned Commissioners at dinner carefully omitted Mr. Douglass, who was in Washington at the time, and thus repeated the indignity.
OTHER ANTECEDENTS.
Other things might be mentioned, showing the sympathies of the President; but I cannot forget the Civil Rights Bill, which is the cap-stone of that Equality before the Law to which all are entitled without distinction of color. President Grant, who could lobby so assiduously for his San Domingo scheme, full of wrong to the colored race, could do nothing for this beneficent measure. During a long session of Congress it was discussed constantly, and the colored people everywhere hung upon the debate; but there was no word of “heart-felt sympathy” from the President. At last, just before the Nominating Convention, he addressed a letter to a meeting of colored fellow-citizens in Washington, called to advance this cause, where he avoided the question by declaring himself in favor of “the exercise of those rights to which every citizen should be entitled,”[175] leaving it uncertain whether colored people are justly entitled to the rights secured by the pending bill. I understand that Horace Greeley has been already assailed by an impracticable Democrat as friendly to this bill; but nobody has lisped against President Grant on this account.
Among “antecedents” I deem it my duty to mention the little capacity or industry of the President in protecting colored people and in assuring peace at the South. Nobody can doubt that a small portion of the effort and earnest will, even without the lobbying, so freely given to the San Domingo scheme, would have averted those Ku-Klux outrages which we deplore,—thus superseding all pretence for further legislation by Congress. But he is disabled both by character and the drawback of his own conduct. After violating the Constitution and International Law to insult the Black Republic, and setting an example of insubordination, he is not in condition to rebuke law-breakers.
PRESENT POSITION OF CANDIDATES.
Passing from “antecedents,” I come now to the “present position” of the two candidates, which is the subject of your next inquiry. If in any formal particulars the two are on equality, yet in all substantial respects the obvious advantage is with Horace Greeley.
NOMINATIONS OF THE TWO CANDIDATES.
Each was nominated by a Republican Convention, one at Cincinnati and the other at Philadelphia; so that in this respect they may seem to be on equality. But it will not fail to be observed that the Convention at Cincinnati was composed of able and acknowledged Republicans, many having acted with the party from its first formation, who, without previous organization, came together voluntarily for the sake of Reform and Purity in the Government; while, on the other hand, the Convention at Philadelphia was composed of delegates chosen largely under the influence of office-holders, who assembled to sustain what is known as Grantism, being the personal government and personal pretensions of President Grant, involving nepotism, repayment of gifts by official patronage, neglect of public duty, absenteeism, quarrelling, military rule, disregard of Constitution and Law, with general unfitness, and indignity to the colored race,—all of which is so unrepublican as to make its support impossible for true Republicans. Therefore the Convention at Philadelphia, though calling itself Republican, was less Republican in reality than that at Cincinnati.
THE TWO PLATFORMS.
The two platforms, so far as concerns especially the colored race, are alike in substance; but that of Cincinnati is expressed in terms more worthy of the equal rights it states and claims: “We recognize the equality of all men before the law, and hold that it is the duty of Government, in its dealings with the people, to mete out equal and exact justice to all, of whatever nativity, race, color, or persuasion, religious or political.” In other respects the platform of Cincinnati is the more republican, inasmuch as it sets itself against those unrepublican abuses which have been nursed by the President into pernicious activity.
SUPPORTERS OF THE TWO CANDIDATES.
From the two nominations and two platforms I come to the supporters of the candidates; and here I look, first, at those immediately about them, and, secondly, at the popular support behind.
Horace Greeley has among his immediate supporters, in all parts of the country, devoted and consistent Republicans, always earnest for Reform and Purity in Government, on whose lives there is no shadow of suspicion,—being a contrast in character to those rings which play such a part in the present Administration. The country knows too well the Military Ring, the Senatorial Ring, and the Custom-House Ring, through which the President acts. Such supporters are a poor recommendation.
DEMOCRATS TURNING REPUBLICANS.
Looking at the popular support behind, the advantage is still with Horace Greeley. President Grant has at his back the diversified army of office-holders, drilled to obey the word of command. The speeches praising him are by office-holders and members of rings. Horace Greeley finds flocking to his cause large numbers of Republicans unwilling to continue the existing misrule, and as allies with them a regenerated party springing forward to unite in this liberal movement. Democrats, in joining Horace Greeley, have changed simply as President Grant changed when he joined the Republicans,—except that he was rewarded at once with high office. The change is open. Adopting the Republican platform, which places the Equal Rights of All under the safeguard of irreversible guaranties, and at the same time accepting the nomination of a life-time Abolitionist, who represents preëminently the sentiment of duty to the colored race, they have set their corporate seal to the sacred covenant. They may continue Democrats in name, but they are in reality Republicans, by the same title that those who sustain Republican principles are Republicans,—or rather they are Democrats, according to the original signification of that word, dedicated to the rights of the people.
It is idle to say that Horace Greeley and the Republicans who nominated him are any less Republican because Democrats unite with them in support of cherished principles and the candidate who represents them. Conversions are always welcome, and not less so because the change is in a multitude rather than an individual. A political party cannot, if it would, and should not, if it could, shut the door against converts, whether counted by the score, the hundred, or the thousand; and so we find that the supporters of President Grant announce with partisan triumph the adhesion of a single Democratic politician or a single Democratic newspaper. On equal reason and with higher pride may the supporters of Horace Greeley announce the adhesion of the Democratic party, which, turning from the things that are behind, presses on to those that are before.
GREELEY’S ELECTION THE TRIUMPH OF REPUBLICAN PRINCIPLES.
It is also idle to say that the election of Horace Greeley as President, with Gratz Brown as Vice-President, both unchangeable Republicans, will be the return of the Democratic party to power. On the contrary, it will be the inauguration of Republican principles, under the safeguard of a Republican President and Republican Vice-President, with Democrats as avowed supporters. In the organization of his Administration, and in the conduct of affairs, Horace Greeley will naturally lean upon those who represent best the great promises of Equal Rights and Reconciliation made at Cincinnati. If Democrats are taken, it will be as Republicans in heart, recognizing the associate terms of the settlement as an immutable finality.
The hardihood of political falsehood reaches its extreme point, when it is asserted that under Horace Greeley the freedmen will be reënslaved, or that colored people will in any way suffer in their equal rights. On the contrary, they have in his election not only the promises of the platform, but also his splendid example for a full generation, during which he has never wavered in the assertion of their rights. To suppose that Horace Greeley, when placed where he can do them the most good, will depart from the rule of his honest life is an insult to reason.
It is none the less idle to suppose that Democrats supporting Horace Greeley expect or desire that he should depart from those principles which are the glory of his character. They have accepted the Cincinnati platform with its twofold promises, and intend in good faith to maintain it. Democrats cannot turn back, who at the Convention adopting this platform sang Greeley songs to the tune of “Old John Brown, his soul is marching on.” Seeking especially the establishment of character in the National Government, they will expect their President to be always true to himself.
Therefore I put aside the partisan allegations, that Horace Greeley has gone to the Democrats, or that he will be controlled by Democrats. Each is without foundation or reason, according to my judgment. They are attempts to avoid what you recognize as the true issue, being the question between the two candidates; or perhaps they may be considered as scarecrows to deter the timid. Nobody who votes for Horace Greeley will go to the Democrats; nor do I believe, that, when elected, Horace Greeley will be under any influence except that enlightened conscience which will keep him ever true to the principles he represents.
The conclusion from this comparison between the two candidates is plain. Unquestionably the surest trust of the colored people is in Horace Greeley. In everything for your protection and advancement he will show always the most heart-felt sympathy and the greatest vigor beyond what can be expected from President Grant. He is your truest friend.
VOTE FOR GREELEY.
Gentlemen, in thus answering your two inquiries, I have shown why you, as colored fellow-citizens, and also all who would uphold your rights and save the colored race from indignity, should refuse to sanction the reëlection of the President, and should put trust in Horace Greeley. I ought to add, that with him will be associated as Vice-President Gratz Brown, whom I have known for years as a most determined Abolitionist. The two together will carry into the National Government an unswerving devotion to your rights, not to be disturbed by partisan dictation or sectional prejudice.
Besides all this, which may fitly guide you in determining between the two candidates, it is my duty to remind you, that, as citizens of the United States, and of part of the country, your welfare is indissolubly associated with that of the whole country. Where all are prosperous you will be gainers. Therefore, while justly careful of your own rights, you cannot be indifferent to the blessings of good government. It is for you to consider whether the time has not come for something better than the sword, and whether a character like Horace Greeley does not give stronger assurance of good government than can be found in the insulter of the colored race, already famous for the rings about him and his plain inaptitude for civil life. The supporters of President Grant compel us to observe his offences and shortcomings, and thus the painful contrast with Horace Greeley becomes manifest. It will be for others in the present canvass to hold it before the American people.
TOO MUCH OF A REPUBLICAN TO VOTE FOR GRANT.
Speaking now for myself, I have to say that my vote will be given for Horace Greeley; but in giving it I do not go to the Democratic party, nor am I any less a Republican. On the contrary, I am so much of a Republican that I cannot support a candidate whose conduct in civil life shows an incapacity to appreciate Republican principles, and whose Administration is marked by acts of delinquency, especially toward the colored race, by the side of which the allegations on the impeachment of Andrew Johnson were technical and trivial. Unquestionably President Grant deserved impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors, rather than a renomination; and on the trial it would have been enough to exhibit his seizure of the war powers, and his indignity to the Black Republic with its population of six hundred thousand, in violation of the National Constitution and of International Law. And here a contrast arises between him and Abraham Lincoln. The latter in his first Annual Message recommended the recognition of what he called “the independence and sovereignty of Hayti”; but it is at these that President Grant has struck. One of Abraham Lincoln’s earliest acts was to put the Black Republic on an equality with other powers; one of President Grant’s earliest acts was to degrade it.
I am so much of a Republican that I wish to see in the Presidential chair a life-time Abolitionist. I also wish a President sincerely devoted to Civil-Service Reform, beginning with the “One-Term Principle,” which President Grant once accepted, but now disowns. I also wish a President who sets the example of industry and unselfish dedication to the public good. And I wish to see a President through whom we may expect peace and harmony, instead of discord. Strangely, President Grant seems to delight in strife. If he finds no enemy, he falls upon his friends,—as when he struck at the Black Republic, insulted Russia in his last Annual Message, offended both France and Germany, and then, in personal relations, quarrelled generally.
PRINCIPLES ABOVE PARTY.
My own personal experience teaches how futile is the charge, that, because Horace Greeley receives Democratic votes, therefore he becomes a Democrat, or lapses under Democratic control. I was first chosen to the Senate by a coalition of Free-Soilers and Democrats. Democratic votes helped make me Senator from Massachusetts,—as they also helped make my excellent friend Mr. Chase Senator from Ohio, and will help make Horace Greeley President. But neither Mr. Chase nor myself was on this account less faithful as a Free-Soiler,—and, answering for myself, I know that I never became a Democrat or lapsed under Democratic control. I do not doubt that Horace Greeley will be equally consistent. The charge to the contrary, so vehemently repeated, seems to reflect the character of those who make it,—except that many repeat it by rote.
There is a common saying, “Principles, not Men”; and on this ground an appeal is made for President Grant, it being justly felt that in any personal comparison with Horace Greeley he must fail. But a better saying is, “Principles and Men.” I am for the principles of the Republican Party in contradiction to Grantism, and I am for the man who truly represents them. By these principles I shall stand, for them I shall labor, and in their triumph I shall always rejoice. If any valued friend separates from me now, it will be because he places a man above principles. Early in public life I declared my little heed for party, and my indifference to the name by which I was called; and now I confess my want of sympathy with those who would cling to the form after its spirit has fled.
GREELEY’S NOMINATION A RESPONSE TO LONGING FOR PEACE.
This answer would be incomplete, if I did not call attention to another and controlling consideration, which cannot be neglected by the good citizen. Watching the remarkable movement that has ended in the double nomination of Horace Greeley, it is easy to see that it did not proceed from politicians, whether at Cincinnati or Baltimore. Evidently it was the heart of the people, sorely wrung by war and the controversies it engendered, which found this expression. Sir Philip Sidney said of the uprising in the Netherlands, “It is the spirit of the Lord, and is irresistible”; and such a spirit is manifest now. I would not use the word lightly, but to my mind it is Providential. Notwithstanding the counteracting influence of politicians, Republican and Democratic, in the face of persistent ridicule, and against the extravagance of unscrupulous opposition, the nomination at Cincinnati was triumphantly adopted at Baltimore. Such an unprecedented victory, without concert or propulsion of any kind, can be explained only by supposing that it is in harmony with a popular longing. That Democrats, and especially those of the South, should adopt a life-time Abolitionist for President is an assurance of willingness to associate the rights of their colored fellow-citizens with that Reconciliation of which Horace Greeley was an early representative. In standing by Jefferson Davis at his trial and signing his bail-bond, he showed the same sentiment of humanity he so constantly displayed in standing by the colored race throughout their prolonged trial; so that the two discordant races find kindred hospitality in him, and he thus becomes a tie of union. In harmony with this interesting circumstance is the assurance in his letter of acceptance, that, if elected, he will be “the President, not of a party, but of the whole people.”
RECONCILIATION.
The nomination has been adopted by the Democrats in convention assembled. This was an event which the supporters of President Grant declared impossible. I do not see how it can be regarded otherwise than as a peace-offering. As such it is of infinite value. The Past is rejected, and a new Future is begun with the promise of concord. Here is no ordinary incident. It is a Revolution, and its success in pacifying the country will be in proportion to its acceptance by us. I dare not neglect the great opportunity, nor can I stand aloof. It is in harmony with my life, which places Peace above all things except the Rights of Man. Thus far, in constant efforts for the colored race, I have sincerely sought the good of all, which I was sure would be best obtained in fulfilling the promises of the Declaration of Independence, making all equal in rights. The spirit in which I acted appears in an early speech, where I said: “Nothing in hate; nothing in vengeance.”[176] My object was security for Human Rights. Most anxiously I have looked for the time, which seems now at hand, when there should be reconciliation, not only between the North and South, but between the two races, so that the two sections and the two races may be lifted from the ruts and grooves in which they are now fastened, and, instead of irritating antagonism without end, there shall be sympathetic coöperation.
The existing differences ought to be ended. There is a time for all things, and we are admonished by a wide-spread popular uprising, bursting the bonds of party, that the time has come for estrangement to cease between people who by the ordinance of God must live together. Gladly do I welcome the happy signs; nor can I observe without regret the colored people in organized masses resisting the friendly overtures, even to the extent of intimidating those who are the other way. It is for them to consider carefully whether they should not take advantage of the unexpected opening, and recognize the “bail-bond” given at Baltimore as the assurance of peace, and unite with me in holding the parties to the full performance of its conditions. Provided always that their rights are fixed, I am sure it cannot be best for the colored people to band together in a hostile camp, provoking antagonism and keeping alive the separation of races. Above all, there must be no intimidation; but every voter must act freely, without constraint from league or lodge. Much better will it be when the two political parties compete for your votes, each anxious for your support. Only then will that citizenship by which you are entitled to the equal rights of all have its natural fruits. Only then will there be that harmony which is essential to a true civilization.
The present position of the colored citizen is perilous. He is exposed to injurious pressure where he needs support. But I see no early extrication except in the way now proposed. Let him cut adrift from managers who would wield him merely as a political force, with little regard to his own good, and bravely stand by the candidate who has stood by him. If Democrats unite with him, so much the better. The association, once begun, must naturally ripen in common friendship and trust.
I am for peace in reality as in name. From the bottom of my heart I am for peace, and I welcome all that makes for peace. With deep-felt satisfaction I remember that no citizen who drew his sword against us has suffered by the hand of the executioner. In just association with this humanity will be the triumph of Equal Rights, when the promises of the great Declaration are all fulfilled, and our people are united, as never before, in the enduring fellowship of a common citizenship. To this end there must be Reconciliation. Nor can I withhold my hand. Freely I accept the hand that is offered, and reach forth my own in friendly grasp. I am against the policy of hate; I am against fanning ancient flames into continued life; I am against raking the ashes of the Past for coals of fire yet burning. Pile up the ashes; extinguish the flames; abolish the hate!
And now, turning to the Democratic party, I hold it to all the covenants solemnly given in the adoption of a Republican platform with Horace Greeley as candidate. There can be no backward step.
WATCHWORD FOR THE CANVASS.
With no common sympathy I observe that Mr. Hendricks, a leading Democrat, whom I knew and esteemed in the Senate, has recently announced his acceptance of the Constitutional Amendments with their logical results. He proposes, as a proper key-note to the popular movement now swelling to a sure triumph, “Just Laws and Public Virtue.” This is a worthy aspiration, entirely fit for the occasion. My watchword is, “The Unity of the Republic, and the Equal Rights of All, with Reconciliation.” Such is my heart-felt cry; and wherever my voice can reach, there do I insist upon all these, humbly invoking the blessings of Divine Providence, which, I believe, must descend upon such a cause.
Accept my best wishes for yourselves personally, and for the people you represent.
And believe me, Gentlemen,
Your faithful friend,
Charles Sumner.
To Dr. Augusta, William H. A. Wormley, and others.
LETTER TO SPEAKER BLAINE.
August 5, 1872.
July 31, 1872, Mr. Blaine addressed a letter to Mr. Sumner through the newspapers, arraigning him as recreant both to party and principle, in the position taken by him on the Presidential question in his recent Letter to Colored Citizens. Mr. Sumner responded as follows:—
Washington, August 5, 1872.
DEAR SIR,—I have seen the letter addressed to me by you through the public prints, and I notice especially, that, while animadverting upon my support of Horace Greeley, you say not one word in vindication of that compound of pretensions known as Grantism in contradistinction to Republicanism, which you would install anew in the Government.
You are greatly concerned about the company I keep. To quiet your solicitude, I beg leave to say, that, in joining the Republicans who brought forward an original Abolitionist, I find myself with so many others devoted to the cause I have always served that I had not missed you until you hastened to report absence; nor had I taken account of the “Southern Secessionists,” who, as you aver, are now coöperating with me in support of this original Abolitionist, except to rejoice, that, if among former associates some like yourself hesitate, their places are supplied from an unexpected quarter.
You entirely misunderstand me when you introduce an incident of the past, and build on it an argument why I should not support Horace Greeley. What has Preston Brooks to do with the Presidential election? Never, while a sufferer, did anybody hear me speak of him in unkindness; and now, after the lapse of more than half a generation, I will not unite with you in dragging him from the grave, where he sleeps, to aggravate the passions of a political conflict, and arrest the longing for concord. And here is the essential difference between you and me at this juncture. I seize the opportunity to make the equal rights of all secure through peace and reconciliation; but this infinite boon you would postpone.
Seven years have passed since the close of our Civil War; but, unhappily, during all this period a hostile spirit has continued to exist between the contending sections, while the rights of colored fellow-citizens have been in perpetual question. Seven years mark a natural period of human life. Should not the spirit be changed with the body? Can we not after seven years begin a new life, especially when those once our foes repeat the saying, “Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God”?
I declare my preference for an original Abolitionist as President, and you seek to create a diversion by crying out that Democrats will support him. To which I reply, So much the better. Their support is the assurance that the cause he has so constantly guarded, whether of Equal Rights or Reconciliation, is accepted by Democrats; and this is the pledge of a true union beyond anything in our history. It is a victory of ideas, without which all other victories must fail.
To intensify your allegation, you insist that I am ranged with Jefferson Davis and Robert Toombs; but, pardon me, nobody knows how the former will vote, while Robert Toombs is boisterous against Horace Greeley, and with him are Stephens, Wise, and Mosby. This is all very poor, and I mention it only to exhibit the character of your attempt.
In the same spirit you seek to avoid the real issue by holding up the possibility of what you call a Democratic Administration; and you have the courage to assert, as within my knowledge, that by the election of Horace Greeley “Congress is handed over to the control of the party who have persistently denied the rights of the black man.” You say that I know this. Mr. Speaker, I know no such thing, and you should be sufficiently thoughtful not to assert it. I am entirely satisfied that a canvass like the present, where the principles declared at Cincinnati are openly accepted on one side and not contested on the other, must result in a larger number of Congressional Representatives sincerely devoted to the rights of the colored citizen than ever before.
The Democrats will be pledged, as never before, to the ruling principle that All Men are Equal before the Law, and also to the three Constitutional Amendments, with the clause in each empowering Congress to enforce the same by appropriate legislation. But besides Democrats, there will be Liberal Republicans pledged likewise, and also your peculiar associates, who, I trust, will not betray the cause. Senators and Representatives calling themselves Republicans have been latterly in large majority in both Houses; but the final measure of Civil Rights, to which you refer, though urged by me almost daily, has failed to become a law, less, I fear, from Democratic opposition than from Republican lukewarmness and the want of support in the President.
The great issue which the people are called to decide in November is on the President, and nobody knows better than yourself that the House of Representatives, chosen at the same time, will naturally harmonize with him. So it has been in our history. Now harmony with Horace Greeley involves what I most desire. With such a President, Congress will be changed. For the first time since the war the Equal Rights of All will have a declared representative at the head of the Government, whose presence there will be of higher significance than that of any victor in war, being not only a testimony, but a constant motive-power in this great cause.
Opposition, whether open hostility or more subtle treachery, will yield to the steady influence of such a representative. Therefore in looking to the President I look also to Congress, which will take its character in large measure from him. In choosing Horace Greeley we do the best we can for the whole Government,—not only in the Executive, but in the Legislative branch,—while we decline to support nepotism, repayment of personal gifts by official patronage, seizure of the war powers, indignity to the Black Republic,—also, the various incapacity exhibited by the President, and the rings by which he governs,—none of which can you defend. You know well that the rings are already condemned by the American people.
For myself, I say plainly and without hesitation, that I prefer Horace Greeley, with any Congress possible on the Cincinnati Platform, to President Grant, with his personal government and his rings,—a vote for whom involves the support of this personal government, with prolonged power in all the rings. There must be another influence and another example. The Administration, in all its parts, is impressed by the President. Let his soul be enlarged with the sentiment of justice, quickened by industry, and not only the two Houses of Congress, but the whole country, will feel the irresistible authority, overspreading, pervading, permeating everywhere. Therefore, in proportion as you are earnest for the rights of the colored citizen, and place them above all partisan triumph, you will be glad to support the candidate whose heart has always throbbed for Humanity. The country needs such a motive-power in the White House; it needs a generous fountain there. In one word, it needs somebody different from the present incumbent; and nobody knows this better than Speaker Blaine.
The personal imputation you make upon me I repel with the indignation of an honest man. I was a faithful supporter of the President until somewhat tardily awakened by his painful conduct on the island of San Domingo, involving seizure of the war power in violation of the Constitution, and indignity to the Black Republic in violation of International Law; and when I remonstrated against these intolerable outrages, I was set upon by those acting in his behalf. Such is the origin of my opposition. I could not have done less without failure in that duty which is with me the rule of life. Nor can I doubt that when partisan sentiments are less active you will regret the wrong you have done me. Meanwhile I appeal confidently to the candid judgment of those who, amidst all present differences of opinion, unite in the great objects, far above Party or President, to which my life is devoted.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
Charles Sumner.
The Honorable Speaker Blaine.
RETROSPECT AND PROMISE.
Address at a Serenade before his House in Washington, August 9, 1872.
The serenade was given under the auspices of the colored men of the District, on the occasion of the Senator’s departure for Boston,—and the crowd in attendance is reported to have been “one of the largest ever gathered in Washington for a similar object.” On presentation by Dr. Augusta as “the tried and true friend of the African race,” Mr. Sumner said:—
Friends and Fellow-Citizens:—
I am touched by this voluntary expression of friendship, and beg to thank you from the heart.
In seeing you on this occasion I think of you only as personal friends among whom I have lived more than twenty years. During this considerable period changes have occurred of incalculable importance to the country, but especially to the colored people. When I entered upon my public duties here Slavery was in the ascendant, giving the law to all the usages of life. The colored man was degraded. He was not allowed to testify in court; he was shut out from the public schools; he was excluded from the public conveyances, and thrust away from the ballot-box. But here in the National Capital all these terrible wrongs have ceased. The court-room, the school-house, the horse-car, and the ballot-box are all open, never to be closed. Revolutions do not go backward. Therefore you may rest secure in what has been won. Of this be sure, Slavery will never be revived, nor will you be restrained or limited in any of these rights you now enjoy. [Applause, and three cheers for Mr. Sumner.]
Most sincerely do I congratulate you on these signal triumphs, so little to be expected when I first became acquainted with you. And when we consider the brief period in which they have been accomplished, I am sure you will unite with me in hope and trust for the future. [Cries, “We will!”]
It is my duty, however, to remind you that the work is not yet completed. This will be only by the enactment of a Civil Rights Bill which shall relieve the citizen, whoever he may be, from any exclusion or discrimination on account of his color. Only then will be established that Equality before the Law to which now, for the first time in our history, all political parties are distinctly pledged. Here there can be no question. [Applause.] It is in the platforms of all. Of the early passage of such a law I do not doubt. Then will you have all the assurance of your rights that can be found in the Constitution and law. But that law will be the cap-stone. [Applause.]
I shall not disguise from you that something more will be needed. There must be a constant, watchful, public opinion behind, to see that these are enforced in letter and spirit. Here there must be no failure in awakening and invigorating this public opinion. You can do much,—I would almost say you can do everything. How constantly have I urged, in public speech and in all my intercourse with you, that our colored fellow-citizens must insist upon their rights always, by petition, by speech, and by vote! Above all, never vote for any man who is not true to you. Make allegiance to you the measure of your support. [Cheers.] So doing, all parties will seek your vote. [Cheers.] You will be felt, and your cause will be irresistible.
Please accept these few words as my acknowledgment of your kindness this evening. [Cries, “Go on!”] From long acquaintance you know something of my sympathies. [A voice, “I do!”] Always from the beginning I have sought to serve you, and always to the end shall I seek to serve you. To your cause my life is dedicated, and nothing can turn me from it, nothing can tempt me or drive me from its support. [Loud applause.]
FREDERICK DOUGLASS AND PRESIDENT GRANT.
Letter to Hon. Andrew D. White, President of Cornell University, August 10, 1872.
Washington, August 10, 1872.
MY DEAR SIR,—I am surprised by a statement purporting to proceed from you, which I find under the telegraphic head, to the effect that I have misrepresented facts with regard to Frederick Douglass.
In making this allegation you defend the Commissioners to San Domingo, and allege that Mr. Douglass was well treated by them. I have never said the contrary, nor have I ever alluded to the treatment he received from them. Not a word or hint can be found on the subject in anything written or spoken by me.
My allusion was to the exclusion of Mr. Douglass from the common table of the mail-packet on the Potomac, almost within sight of the Executive Mansion, simply on account of color,—and I added, that the President, on whose invitation he had joined the Commission, never uttered a word in rebuke of this exclusion, and when entertaining the returned Commissioners at dinner carefully omitted Mr. Douglass, who was in Washington at the time, and thus repeated the indignity. On this you are represented as remarking, that General Sigel was also omitted, but that, in fact, Mr. Douglass and General Sigel had already left for their homes (forgetting that Mr. Douglass continued in Washington); and you do not allow yourself to doubt, that, had they been in town, they would have been included in the invitation. Your apology clearly shows your opinion that they ought to have been invited; but please not to forget that there was a reason for inviting Mr. Douglass that did not exist in the case of General Sigel. The General was white, and he had suffered no indignity on board a mail-packet which it was in the power of the President to rebuke by example.
But you are mistaken in the facts, as appears by the newspapers of the time. The Commissioners reached Washington on the evening of March 27th. They were entertained at dinner by the President March 30th. On the day before the dinner Mr. Douglass presided at the Convention to nominate a Delegate to Congress from the District of Columbia, and on taking the chair made a speech. Mr. Chipman was nominated against Mr. Douglass, who made another speech thanking his supporters for their votes. To gratify the friends of Mr. Douglass, there was an understanding that he should succeed Mr. Chipman as Secretary of the District. These things show that Mr. Douglass was not only in Washington, but conspicuously so, presiding at a public Convention, and being voted for as a candidate for Congress.
But we are not left to inference. Mr. A. M. Green, of Washington, who at the Convention nominated Mr. Douglass for Congress, assures us that he did not leave town till some days later. Mr. Green further states, in a note dated August 10th, now before me, that about this time he and another friend called on Mr. Douglass, in relation to his appointment by the President as Secretary of the District; that Mr. Douglass, while thanking them for their earnestness in his behalf, assured them that he had no hope of success; that he had “new evidence of the conservative character or tendency of the Administration, which warranted him in the opinion that we could not succeed”; and Mr. Green says that Mr. Douglass added these words: “I was not only neglected without any rebuke for the offence from the President, but the Commissioners have been invited to dine with the President, and the same spirit of neglect has been exhibited in that respect also.” Mr. Green adds, that recently, while on the way to the National Colored Convention at New Orleans, Mr. Douglass, in conversation with Mr. Downing and himself, “referred in a complaining spirit to this circumstance.”
I have also before me a note, dated August 10th, from Mr. Wormley, so well known for his excellent hotel in Washington, who says that he asked Mr. Douglass, shortly after his return, if he dined with the President and the Commissioners, to which he answered, “No, and for the good reason that I was not invited”; and then he added, “It is no use to deny it, but I feel it sorely.” This was at Mr. Douglass’s office. On another occasion, at his son’s house, referring to the same thing, he said to Mr. Wormley, “I felt it keenly.”
Mr. Gray, recently of the Legislative Council of the District, nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, now a School Trustee, assures me that Mr. Douglass spoke to him of his omission by the President with the same feeling that he exhibited to Mr. Green and Mr. Wormley. These witnesses are all colored, but even without the new law nobody would question their testimony. I add my own acquaintance with the case. At my house, Mr. Douglass, while speaking not unkindly, said that he felt the President’s neglect in not inviting him to dine, which was more noticeable, as he had gone to San Domingo at the express invitation of the President, and on his return was insulted on board the Potomac mail-packet. He added, that an invitation from the President would have been a proper rebuke to those who had insulted him.
I will add, that it is a matter of common notoriety that Mr. Douglass did not disguise his feelings on account of this Presidential incident.
Such are the facts and the evidence. I think that you will see, my dear Sir, that, if there is any misstatement, or, as you express it, “perversion of facts,” it is not on my part.
Faithfully yours,
Charles Sumner.
GREELEY OR GRANT?
Speech intended to be delivered at Faneuil Hall, Boston, September 3, 1872.
Liberal Republican Head-Quarters,
Boston, August 24, 1872.
My Dear Sir,—I am directed by the Liberal Republican State Committee to communicate to you a vote of which the following is a copy:—
“Voted, That the Chairman, in the name of the Liberal Republican State Committee, invite the Hon. Charles Sumner to address his constituents on Public Affairs in Faneuil Hall, at the earliest day that may suit his convenience.”
Allow me to add my earnest personal wishes that you will be able to comply with the request. “The great soul of the world is just,” and the sober second thought of the people of Massachusetts will, I doubt not, sustain you in the position you have taken in favor of Reform and Reconciliation, and therefore of the election of Greeley and Brown.
Very faithfully yours,
F. W. Bird.
Hon. Charles Sumner.
Boston, August 30, 1872.
Dear Sir,—I have been honored by your communication of August 24th, inviting me in the name of the Liberal Republicans of Massachusetts, to speak in Faneuil Hall. It is with inexpressible pain and regret that I feel constrained to decline this flattering opportunity.
I had confidently hoped, on returning home, to meet my fellow-citizens in that venerable forum, so dear to us all, and to speak once more on great questions involving the welfare of our country; but recurring symptoms of a painful character warn me against any such attempt. My physician advises that I must not for the present make any public effort, and he prescribes rest. Valued friends, familiar with my condition, unite with the excellent physician.
In submitting most reluctantly to these admonitions, I cannot renounce the privilege of communicating with my fellow-citizens, and therefore hand you a copy of what, with the blessing of health, I hoped to say. In the House of Representatives undelivered speeches are sometimes ordered to be printed. You may follow this precedent with mine, or do with it as you please. Meanwhile accept my best wishes, and believe me, dear Sir,
Very faithfully yours,
Charles Sumner.
Hon. Francis W. Bird, Chairman, etc.