longs to the faithful servant she will do in all things, and Providence shall determine the result."

The peroration also excels in commanding, dignified eloquence:

"In just regard for free labor in that Territory, which it is sought to blast by unwelcome association with slave labor; in Christian sympathy with the slave, whom it is proposed to task and sell there; in stern condemnation of the crime which has been consummated on that beautiful soil; in rescue of fellow-citizens, now subjugated to a tyrannical Usurpation; in dutiful respect for the early Fathers, whose inspirations are now ignobly thwarted; in the name of the Constitution, which has been outraged-of the Laws trampled downof Justice banished-of Humanity degraded-of Peace destroyed-of Freedom crushed to earth; and in the name of the Heavenly Father, whose service is perfect Freedom, I make this last appeal."

This speech will always be regarded as one of the greatest oratorical efforts ever made, and it will also be remembered, by the latest posterity, as the occasion of one of the most brutal assaults ever committed. This outrage is fresh in the minds of all our citizens, and we will only repeat the leading facts in relation to it. On Thursday, May

22d, two days after the conclusion of his great speech, Mr. Sumner, after the adjournment of the day, was sitting in his chair in the Senate chamber, busily engaged in writing. Preston S. Brooks, a member of the House, from South Carolina, entered the Senate chamber, and waited some twenty minutes till Mr. Sumner's friends had retired. He then approached Mr. Sumner, addressed him by name, and said: "I have read your speech twice, and carefully. It is a libel on South Carolina, and on Mr. Butler also, a relative of mine." No sooner had he uttered these words than he struck Mr. Sumner on the head with a heavy cane, and repeated the blow a dozen or twenty times, till the thick gutta-percha stick was broken into many pieces. Mr. Sumner fell to the floor from the effects of the first blow which cut a gash of three or four inches in length on his head. The merciless Brooks kept on his repeating heavy blows, while the blood was flowing freely from the wounds he had inflicted, staining the floor of the Senate chamber, and the adjoining desks. Mr. Sumner lay upon the floor in an unconscious state, his face and clothes covered with blood, and his head dreadfully bruised, till he was rescued by Mr. Morgan and Mr. Murray of the New York delegation. These gentlemen, being in the front ante-room, and hearing the noise, came into the Senate cham

ber, and immediately rushed forward to the scene of the murderous attack. Mr. Murray seized hold of Brooks, and Mr. Morgan went to the relief of the mangled and bleeding Senator. In the perpetration of this great outrage, Brooks was accompanied by Mr. Keitt, of South Carolina, who stood by his side armed, and attempted to prevent interference in behalf of Mr. Sumner. The assault was made in the presence of some fifteen or twenty persons, including Messrs. Crittenden, Toombs, Foster, Fitzpatrick, Iverson, Bright, Douglas, Pearce, Geyer, Payne, several officers of the Senate, and some strangers. What is most surprising, none of the Senators present seemed to interfere, except Mr. Crittenden, who came forward and pronounced the assault an inexcusable outrage.

This violent attack upon the person of Mr. Sumner, to say the least of it, was that of a cowardly assassin. To steal upon a helpless, unarmed man, and, without giving him the least warning, to beat him till insensible, and after he is insensible to repeat the blows, is certainly an evidence of great cowardice. No truly brave man would act thus. Well did Mr. Burlingame, in his able speech in the House, refer to this most brutal assault, when he exclaimed in the following bold and truthful language:

"On the 22d day of May, when the Senate and

the House had clothed themselves in mourning for a brother fallen in the battle of life in the distant State of Missouri, the Senator from Massachusetts sat, in the silence of the Senate chamber, engaged in employments appertaining to his office, when a member from this House, who had taken an oath to sustain the Constitution, stole into the Senatethat place which had hitherto been held sacred against violence-and smote him as Cain smote his brother. * * * * One blow was enough; but it did not satiate the wrath of that spirit which had pursued him through two days. Again, and again, and again, quicker and faster, fell the leaden blows, until he was torn away from his victim, when the Senator from Massachusetts fell into the arms of his friends, and his blood ran down the Senate floor. Sir, the act was brief, and my comments on it shall be brief also. I denounce it in the name of the sovereignty of Massachusetts, which was stricken down by the blow; I denounce it in the name of humanity; I denounce it in the name of civilization, which it outraged! I denounce it in the name of that fair play which bullies and prize fighters respect. What! strike a man when he is pinioned--when he cannot respond to a blow! Call you that chivalry? In what code of honor did you get your authority for that.".....

A few days after the assault, Mr. Sumner made.

a statement with regard to it, before the House Committee of Investigation. He was not able to sit up during the examination, and gave the following testimony in bed:

"I attended the Senate as usual on Thursday, the 22d of May. After some formal business, a message was received from the House of Representatives, announcing the death of a member of that body from Missouri. This was followed by a brief tribute to the deceased from Mr. Geyer, of Missouri, when, according to usage and out of respect to the deceased, the Senate adjourned at once. Instead of leaving the Senate chamber with the rest of the Senators, on the adjournment, I continued in my seat, occupied with my pen, and while thus intent, in order to be in season for the mail, which was soon to close, I was approached by several persons, who desired to converse with me, but I answered them promptly and briefly, excusing myself for the reason that I was engaged. When the last of these persons left me, I drew my arm-chair close to my desk, and with my legs under the desk continued writing.

"My attention at this time was so entirely drawn from all other subjects that, though there must have been many persons in the Senate, I saw nobody. While thus intent, with my head bent over my writing, I was addressed by a per