On the record
I am tempted to say, that, in devotion to the form of the Constitution, you sacrifice its substance.
Source
gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Sumner warns that an excessive focus on constitutional form can undermine its essential substance.
Share
More from Charles Sumner
They belong to a system so essentially irrational, that all the admitted virtues of many of its agents cannot save it from judgment.
They are but leaders of the two contending factions into which the Slave Power is divided.
Let us at all hazards prevent the extension of Slavery and the increase of the Slave Power.
Tendencies of nations, as revealed in history, teach that our aims are in harmony with prevailing laws, which God, in his benevolence, has ordained for mankind.
Other voices in this conversation
