By the enforcement of this odious Act the Union has suffered from the beginning; for not a slave is thrust back into bondage without weakening those patriotic sympathies, North and South, which are its best support.
Sumner argues that the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act weakens the Union by damaging patriotic sentiments in both the North and South.
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Controlled by such a code, employing such representatives, sustained by such agencies, animated by such Furies, and producing such fruits of tears and bitterness, it must be open to question.
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.
The first is a heavenly sentiment, from God: the other is a device of this world.
They are but leaders of the two contending factions into which the Slave Power is divided.
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