Mr. Sumner's credentials as Senator were presented at the opening of the 32d Congress, December 1, 1851, when he took the oath of office. Among those who took the oath on the same day were Hon. Benjamin F. Wade, of Ohio, Hon. Hamilton Fish, of New York, and Hon. Stephen R. Mallory, of Florida, afterward Secretary of the Navy in the Rebel Government. The seat of the last was contested, and the question on his reception drew forth Mr. Clay, who was present for the last time in the Senate. Though living till June, he never again appeared in the Chamber. On the arrangement of the Committees, Mr. Sumner found himself at the bottom of the Committee on Revolutionary Claims and the Committee on Roads and Canals.
On the first day of the session a joint resolution was announced by Mr. Foote, of Mississippi, providing for the reception and entertainment of Louis Kossuth, the recent head of the revolutionary government in Hungary. Governor Kossuth, having escaped from Hungary, had found refuge in Turkey, where he was received on board one of our ships of war. After an interesting visit in England, where he addressed large public audiences with singular power and eloquence, he arrived in New York. Interest in the cause which he so ably represented, and personal sympathy with the exile, quickened by his genius, found universal expression in the country; but there was a protracted debate in the Senate before the vote was taken.
The debate proceeded on a resolution introduced by Mr. Seward, December 8th, as follows:—
"Resolved, &c., That the Congress of the United States, in the name and behalf of the people of the United States, give to Louis Kossuth a cordial welcome to the capital and to the country, and that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to him by the President of the United States."
On the same day, Mr. Shields, of Illinois, introduced a resolution in the following terms:—
"Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed by the Chair to wait on Louis Kossuth, Governor of Hungary, and introduce him to the Senate."
December 9th, Mr. Berrien, of Georgia, addressed the Senate at length in opposition to action by Congress, and, in closing his speech, moved the following amendment:—
"And be it further Resolved, That the welcome thus afforded to Louis Kossuth be extended to his associates who have landed on our shores; but while welcoming these Hungarian patriots to an asylum in our country, and to the protection which our laws do and always will afford to them, it is due to candor to declare that it is not the purpose of Congress to depart from the settled policy of this Government, which forbids all interference with the domestic concerns of other nations."
The final question was not reached till December 12th, when the amendment of Mr. Berrien was rejected: yeas 15, nays 26. The question then recurred on the resolution of Mr. Seward, which was adopted: yeas 33, nays 6. The resolution passed the House of Representatives, and was signed by the President.