“Mr. Fessenden. I am very glad to hear the Senator say so. I made no accusation—I put the question to him. If he denies it, very well. I only say that, with all the force and energy with which he denies it, so do I. The accusation never has been made against me before. On what ground does the Senator now put it?...
“Mr. Davis. Does the Senator ask me for an answer?
“Mr. Fessenden. Certainly, if the Senator feels disposed to give one.
“Mr. Davis. If you ask me for an answer, it is easy. I said your position was fruitful of such a result. I did not say you avowed the object—nothing of the sort, but the reverse....
“Mr. Fessenden. That is a matter of opinion, on which I have a right to entertain my view as well as the Senator his....
“Mr. Davis. Mr. President, I rise principally for the purpose of saying that I do not know whence springs this habit of talking about intimidation. I am not the first person toward whom a reply has been made, that we are not to carry our ends by intimidation. I try to intimidate nobody; I threaten nobody; and I do not believe—let me say it once for all—that any body is afraid of me—and I do not want any body to be afraid of me.
“Mr. Fessenden. I am. [Laughter.]
“Mr. Davis. I am sorry to hear it; and if the Senator is really so, I shall never speak to him in decided terms again.
“Mr. Fessenden. I speak of it only in an intellectual point of view. [Laughter.]
“Mr. Davis. Then, sir, the Senator was in a Pickwickian sense when he began; there were no threats, no intimidations, and he is just where he would have been if he had said nothing.” [Laughter.]...