Speech before the Young Men’s Republican Union of New York, at Cooper Institute, July 11, 1860.
This early speech in the Presidential campaign which ended in the election of Abraham Lincoln was made by Mr. Sumner while on his way home from Washington. It was reported and noticed by the New York press. A journal having little sympathy with it describes the magnificence and enthusiasm of the auditory, and thus abridges the speech in flaming capitals: “The Presidential Contest; Great Convulsion in the Republican Camp; Charles Sumner on the Stump; A Strong Plea for Old Abe; Another Attack upon Slaveholders; The Fivefold Wrong of Human Slavery.”
The meeting is mentioned in all the journals as one of the largest ever assembled within the walls of Cooper Institute, and also remarkable for respectability of appearance. One of them says it seemed more like an audience of some great concert or festival than a political meeting. As soon as the doors were opened every available position was occupied, and in half an hour afterwards it was impossible to find accommodation. More than one third of the vast hall had been reserved for ladies, and it was completely filled. The windows of the upper floor opening upon the basement were crammed with people. On the stage were many distinguished persons, judges and ex-judges. The welcome of the speaker is thus noticed by another:—
“Mr. Sumner appeared on the rostrum precisely at eight o’clock, and was received with an outburst of excited enthusiasm which defies all description. The applause was unanimous and intense. Cheer after cheer arose, loud and vociferous; men stood up and waved their handkerchiefs and their hats till scarcely anything else could be seen.”
The scene at this time was chronicled by the Independent.
“The orator’s return to the people, after his long and enforced retirement from the platform, was celebrated at Cooper Institute with such a welcome as we have rarely seen given to any man. On coming forward, he was greeted with cheer after cheer, the audience rising and prolonging their salutations through many minutes, with continuous shouting and waving of handkerchiefs.”
Mr. Rogers, the President of the Young Men’s Republican Union, nominated for chairman of the meeting Hon. Abijah Mann, Jr., which nomination was unanimously accepted. Mr. Mann, on taking the chair, said that they had now to listen to the voice of one who had stood up manfully for freedom of speech, not only against open foes, but even against the opposition of some of his colleagues. [Applause.] He was here to-night to maintain this same right to free speech, and to express his views of the political condition of the country. It gave him pleasure to introduce to the audience Hon. Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts.
Mr. Sumner, on taking the stand, was again greeted with loud and prolonged cheers. After tendering acknowledgments for the generous and cordial reception, and regretting his inability to express all he felt, he proceeded with his speech, which was thus described by the Evening Post:—