Charles Sumner: “The second broke forth in the “Atherton Gag,” under which the honest, earnest petitions from the national heart against…”

“The second broke forth in the “Atherton Gag,” under which the honest, earnest petitions from the national heart against Slavery, even in the District of Columbia, were tabled without reference, and the great Right of Petition, promised by the Constitution, became a dead letter.”