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.
Sumner insists that the oath must remain a true expression of loyalty, not a mere formality.
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This will be the FREEDOM POWER, whose single object will be to resist the SLAVE POWER.
Nor should we be too impatient to witness the fulfilment of our aspirations.
They are but leaders of the two contending factions into which the Slave Power is divided.
Let loyalty to one man be exchanged for Love to Man.
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