he is a true man, and struggles nobly for the highest rights which belong to all men. Liberty is the one grand subject which he has ever loved to contemplate, and to set forth with all the enchantment of his irresistible eloquence. "Tis liberty alone that gives the flower Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume, And all are weeds without it. All constraint, Is evil; hurts the faculties, impedes Their progress in the road of science; blinds In those that suffer it a sordid mind, Bestial, a meagre intellect, unfit To be the tenant of man's noble form.". The style of Mr. Sumner's composition is worthy of particular notice, in an estimate of his oratorical genius. It is remarkably clear, terse, strong, and beautiful his periods are generally full and flowing, and his words admirably chosen and well arranged. Among rhetoricians he stands in the foremost rank, and his style, though not entirely free from faults, will long be regarded as among the most perfect models, which our literature affords, for the study and imitation of the student of oratory. His composition abounds in an exuberance of classical allusion, which has been the subject of frequent and severe criticism. It may as truly be said of Mr. Sumner, as has been remarked of Fisher Ames: "His eloquence is generally flowing and delightful, rising at times to passages of great power and pathos-and conveyed always in a diction remarkably correct, terse, and beautiful. Like Burke, he is distinguished by philosophic and comprehensive views. Such is the skill with which he draws from human nature, and from history, his lessons of political wisdom, that his orations and writings are as instructive as they are pleasing." And it has been well remarked that his orations and speeches will live as long as liberty and humanity continue to be the prey of despotism and cruelty; and his principles will live and burn in the bosoms of liberty's own apostles, so long as war, violence, and slavery shall be permitted to shower their curses upon the world. In conclusion, what we most admire in Charles Sumner is his noble and majestic form-his bland and dignified manner-his appropriate and graceful gestures-his rich and mellifluous voice-his grand and elegant diction-his fervid and brilliant eloquence his deep and stirring pathos-his sound and irresistible logic-his masterly and overpowering argumentation-his varied accomplishments in literature-his genial courtesy of manners-his warm and kind disposition, and above all, his strong, abiding love of JUSTICE, HUMANITY, and FREEDOM. The Crime against Kansas. THE APOLOGIES FOR THE CRIME : THE TRUE REMEDY. SPEECH OF HON. CHARLES SUMNER, IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 19TH & 20TH MAY, 1856. SPEECH. MR. PRESIDENT: You are now called to redress a great transgression. Seldom in the history of nations has such a question been presented. Tariffs, army bills, navy bills, land bills, are important, and justly occupy your care; but these all belong to the course of ordinary legislation. As means and instruments only, they are necessarily subordinate to the conservation of government itself. Grant them or deny them, in greater or less degree, and you will inflict no shock. The machinery of government will continue to move. The State will not cease to exist. Far otherwise is it with the eminent question now before you, involving, as it does, liberty in a broad Territory, and also involving the peace of the whole country, with our good name in history for evermore. Take down your map, sir, and you will find that the Territory of Kansas, more than any other region, occupies the middle spot of North America, equally distant from the Atlantic on the east, |