Political Quotes

On the record
If they mean anything, if they are not mere words, they mean war, and this no common war, but war with a great and adventurous nation, powerful in fleets and armies, bound to us by treaties and manifold traditions, and still constant in professions of amity and good-will.
Said by
Charles Sumner
Massachusetts

Editor's note · Context

Sumner warns that if the resolutions imply action, they could lead to war with a powerful nation.

Share

More from Charles Sumner

Confessing the Fatherhood of God, and the consequent Brotherhood of Man, we find a divine standard of unquestionable accuracy.

gutenberg.org

Above all, welcome to the united regenerated Democracy of the North, which spurns the mockery of a Republic, with professions of Freedom on the lips, while the chains of Slavery clank in the Capitol!

gutenberg.org

Men are erring and mortal; principles are steadfast and immortal.

gutenberg.org

It is clear that the only question of present practical interest arises from the usurpations of the Slave Power and the efforts to extend Slavery.

gutenberg.org

Other voices in this conversation