“If I had a fortune, however large, I would exhaust the last cent in the way I have chosen, and in getting up petitions from the Free States, especially from Massachusetts, which should meet Congress at the very threshold of the session nearly upon us, and which should inspire Senator Sumner to submit his Plan of Emancipation to that body at once, and give foundation and impulse for an immediate and triumphant vote in his favor.”
The Boston Traveller announced the following:—
“Several thousand copies of Senator Sumner’s recent speech at Worcester, which disturbed the equanimity of some of our contemporaries, have been circulated in Kentucky. A Colonel of that State, now in the Union service, writes thus: ‘Sumner’s speech strikes the key-note for the Union cause in Kentucky, and his policy, if followed up by the Administration, will insure us a speedy triumph.’”
The country press of Massachusetts espoused the speech warmly.
The New Bedford Evening Standard, always ready against Slavery, declared its sympathy, while giving testimony to the reception of the speech by the Convention.
“We have no apology to make to our readers for inserting the noble speech of Mr. Sumner at the Worcester Convention. Its perusal by all earnest and sincere lovers of Freedom will no doubt be a rich treat, as it was to those who had the pleasure of hearing it from the Senator’s lips. The manner in which it was received by nine tenths of the Convention was a true indication of the state of feeling in the Old Bay State. We have been pained, as well as surprised, to see the manner in which some Republican papers, as well as individual members of the party, have spoken in condemnation of this speech.”
The People’s Press, of Fall River, said:—
“The Boston Journal may call it ‘ill-timed eloquence,’ but we believe that the people are rapidly coming to the conclusion that the Honorable Senator has resolutely spoken the needed truth, and has indicated the proper course for our Government to pursue, in order to put down rebellion most speedily and effectually, and secure a permanent peace and an undivided country.”
The Taunton Gazette said:—