This Convention was organized with the following officers: Hon. Stephen C. Phillips, of Salem, President,—William Davis, of Plymouth, Gershom B. Weston, of Duxbury, Edward L. Keyes, of Dedham, William B. Spooner, of Boston, John G. Palfrey, of Cambridge, John B. Alley, of Lynn, Samuel E. Sewall, of Stoneham, John W. Graves, of Lowell, John Milton Earle, of Worcester, William Jackson, of Newton, Rodolphus B. Hubbard, of Sunderland, Caleb Swan, of Easton, Joel Hayden, of Williamsburg, William M. Walker, of Pittsfield, Vice-Presidents,—Robert Carter, of Cambridge, George F. Hoar, of Worcester, S.B. Howe, of Lowell, Andrew J. Aiken, of North Adams, S.L. Gere, of Northampton, Secretaries.
The resolutions were reported by Hon. Henry Wilson.
Washington City, July 3, 1852.
Dear Sir,—The true and well-tried friends of Freedom in Massachusetts are about to assemble at Worcester. It will not be in my power to be with them, to catch the contagion of their enthusiasm, to be strengthened by their determination, and to learn anew from eloquent lips the grandeur of our cause and the exigency of our duties. But I confidently look to them for trumpet words which shall again rally the country against the sectionalism of Slavery.
At Worcester, in 1848, commenced the first strong movement, which, gaining new force at Buffalo, and sweeping the Free States, enrolled three hundred thousand electors in constitutional opposition to a hateful wrong. The occasion now requires a similar effort. Both the old parties, with apostasy greater than that which aroused our condemnation at that time, have trampled on the Declaration of Independence, and the most cherished sentiments of the Fathers of the Republic. Even liberty of speech is threatened. It is difficult to see how any person, loyal to Freedom, and desirous of guarding it by all constitutional means, can support the national candidates of either of these parties, without surrendering the cause he professes to have at heart. Let no man expect from me any such surrender.
The two Conventions at Baltimore, by their recorded resolutions, have vied with each other in servility to Slavery. But I rejoice to believe that in both parties there are large numbers of good men who will scorn these professions. The respectable persistence in opposition to the Black Flag, which distinguished at least one of the Conventions, furnishes an earnest for the future, though Massachusetts can derive small encouragement from her delegates there. All her votes in that Convention were cast in favor of those declarations by which Slavery has received new safeguards and Freedom new restrictions.
But these efforts are doomed to disappointment. In spite of the clamors of partisans and the assumptions of the Slave Power, there is one principle which must soon prevail. It cannot be too often declared; for it is an all-sufficient basis for our political position, and an answer also to the cry of "Sectionalism," by which the prejudices of the country are ignorantly and illogically directed against us. According to the true spirit of the Constitution and the sentiments of the Fathers, Freedom, and not Slavery, is national, while Slavery, and not Freedom, is sectional. Though this proposition commends itself at once, and is sustained by the history of the Constitution, yet both the great parties, under the influence of the Slave Power, have reversed the true application of its terms. A National Whig is simply a Slavery Whig, and a National Democrat is simply a Slavery Democrat, in contradistinction to all who regard Slavery as a sectional institution, within the exclusive control of the States, and with which the Nation has nothing to do. In upholding Freedom everywhere under the National Government, we oppose a pernicious sectionalism, which falsely calls itself national. All this will yet be seen and acknowledged.
Amidst the difficulties and defections at the present moment, the Future is clear. Nothing can permanently obstruct Truth. But our duties increase with the occasion; nor will the generous soul be deterred by the greatness of the peril. Any such will be content to serve Freedom, to support her supporters, and to leave the result to Providence. Better be where Freedom is, though in a small minority or alone, than with Slavery, though surrounded by multitudes, whether Whigs or Democrats, contending merely for office and place.
Believe me, dear Sir, ever faithfully yours,
Charles Sumner.
Hon. E.L. Keyes.
["STRIKE, BUT HEAR": ATTEMPT TO DISCUSS THE FUGITIVE SLAVE BILL.]
Remarks in the Senate, on taking up the Resolution instructing the Committee on the Judiciary to report a Bill for Immediate Repeal of the Fugitive Slave Act, July 27 and 28, 1852.
Mr. President,—I have a resolution which I desire to offer; and as it is not in order to debate it to-day, I give notice that I shall expect to call it up to-morrow, at an early moment 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:—