[Footnote 25: Born in Kentucky; a prominent lawyer and statesman of
Illinois; was elected President of the United States in 1860; was
eminent for his profound appreciation of 'the subsequent struggle, and
for his patriotic appeals in behalf of the nation. Assassinated April
13, 1865.]
* * * * *
=_Charles Sumner, 1811-1874._= (Manual, p. 487.)
From the "Speech in the Senate on the Nebraska and Kansas Bill," May 25,
1854.
=_96._= PROSPECTIVE RESULTS OF THE BILL.
Sir, the bill which you are now about to pass is at once the worst and
the best bill on which Congress ever acted. Yes, sir, worst and best at
the same time.
It is the worst bill, inasmuch as it is a present victory of slavery. In
a Christian land, and in an age of civilization, a time-honored statute
of freedom is struck down, opening the way to all the countless woes and
wrongs of human bondage. Among the crimes of history, another is about
to be recorded, which no tears can blot out, and which, in better days,
will be read with universal shame.
But there is another side, to which I gladly turn. Sir, it is the best
bill on which Congress ever acted; for it annuls all past compromises
with slavery, and makes all future compromises impossible.
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