When the outrage on Senator Sumner was first announced one of the Virginia papers, giving vent to its joy in a most deplorable spirit of jocularity, declared that Mr. Sumner had probably found that "his Brooks, unlike Shakespeare's, had no sermons to utter." The allusion is not correctly made -- but there is a much greater mistake than that. Even the ruffian with his murderous cane is made to sound in the ears of this nation a sermon more solemn, instructive and warning, than that which any other man or even had for years been privileged to speak. Its vehemence is seen in the effect. From every part of the country comes up the earnest response, showing that there is hardly a man who has not had his attention arrested and his feelings aroused. And if from one quarter we have testimonials of joy while from every other there is a thunder tone of indignation, it only proves the power of the voice that can awake so many and such different echoes.
And why is it that a personal occurrence like
this should produce consequences so extended and
profound? In the just language of the resolutions
adopted at the meeting of our citizens last
Saturday evening, "If it could be regarded as the
act of one cowardly ruffian only, it might deserve
no other attention than what ordinarily follows the
commission of a crime." But as has been said, it
is a "representative act." It is the outgrowth
and deed of a system, and Brooks himself is as
much the instrument of slavery as his cane is his
own instrument. Given the slave plantation and
all its appliances, and a Herbert, a Rusk and a
Brooks are the natural results. If there were any
doubt of this, the instinctive heartiness with which
such men are shielded and approved by the South,
shows how close is the relationship of their deeds
to the spirit of that system which the South only
supports. The defenders of slavery had the power
to disown Brooks and cast him off the moment
his villainy was discovered - but instead of that,
the gray-headed Butler commends his
And so the North cannot help regarding it. -
There are many of our citizens to whom such an
exhibition brings no great surprise. They have
watched for years the domineering spirit of
Slavery and its desperation at the growth of free
sentiment. They have seen that intrigue and intimidation
are the two methods only which can be
opposed to free labor and free speech, and they
know that when one fails, the other will be
employed. A system founded on violence will
defend itself by violence. But there are many others
among us whom this ruffianly deed has startled
into a new train of thought. They either
could not see the aggressions of Slavery, or they
looked upon them as the natural efforts of a
system to extend itself, and that in the domain of
politics where all successes are fair. Besides, there
was an impersonality in the process, which "played
round the head but came not near the heart."
The fatal institution was extended -- but away
from, and out of sight of us. Free labor was
oppressed -- but it was not ours. The whip was
wielded -- but on distant plantations and among
another race. All the evils were thought of, probably
deplored -- but they were not felt. But when
free speech, in the person of one of our representatives,
is punished with cowardly and murderous
blows, in our Senate Chamber which, of all places
on earth ought to be the most sacred to every
attribute of freedom, we cannot but feel ourselves
assailed and aggrieved. The blows showered
upon bleeding Sumner, are blows directed at us,
for using rights that we have enjoyed every day
of our lives. The blows are dealt because these
rights are hostile to Slavery, and must ultimately
give way to, or conquer, it. We feel the straightness
of the alternative -- and we shall calmly and
resolutely prepare ourselves for it; not with
weapons of violence, but with earnest and kindly
discussion, with dissemination of facts and with that
freeman's weapon, the BALLOT-BOX. Thus shall
we make an
This document was produced as part of a document analysis project by Lloyd Benson, Department of History, Furman University. (Proofing info: Entered and reverse-order proofed by Lloyd Benson.) This electronic version may not be copied, or linked to, or otherwise used for commercial purposes, (including textbook or publication-related websites) without prior written permission. The views expressed in this document are for educational, historical, and scholarly use only, and are not intended to represent the views of the project contributors or Furman University.