Political Quotes

Charles Sumner: “It shall not be degraded to be an oath of purgation or a custom-house oath, but shall be in all simplicity what is…”

On the record
It shall not be degraded to be an oath of purgation or a custom-house oath, but shall be in all simplicity what is regarded by the Constitution an oath of office, in itself the pure and truthful expression of assured loyalty,--not of loyalty still in question, still doubtful, so that people openly testify against it.
Said by
Charles Sumner
Massachusetts

Editor's note · Context

Sumner insists that the oath must remain a true expression of loyalty, not a mere formality.

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