Full well I know that the conscience, which speaks so powerfully to the solitary soul, is often silent in the corporate body, and that, in all ages and countries, numbers, when gathered in communities and States, have sanctioned acts from which the individual revolts.
Sumner reflects on the disparity between individual conscience and collective actions of societies that endorse slavery.
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The devices of party can no longer stave it off.
Endeavor, for a moment, by comparison with other interests, to grapple with this sum.
In this contest, we may borrow from the ancient Greek, who, when his hands were cut off, fought with his stumps, and even with his teeth.
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.
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