Senators Hale, Chase, and Sumner are robbed of a part of their senatorial dignity and consequence as representing sovereign states, because they have refused to be inoculated with the slavery virus.
Douglass highlights the consequences of slavery on the dignity of senators who oppose it, emphasizing political integrity.
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But we are not here to applaud manly courage, save as it has been displayed in a noble cause.
True it is that this faith was many times shaken by passing events, but never destroyed.
It only abolished slavery where it did not exist, and left it intact where it did exist.
The anti-slavery platform had performed its work, and my voice was no longer needed.