On the record
Any reason supplied by him anterior to the adoption of the Constitution must be of more weight than any ex post facto imagination or invention of learned commentators.
Source
gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Sumner asserts that original reasoning from the time of the Constitution's adoption holds more weight than later interpretations.
Share
More from Charles Sumner
Above all, welcome to the united regenerated Democracy of the North, which spurns the mockery of a Republic, with professions of Freedom on the lips, while the chains of Slavery clank in the Capitol!
Their existence is a disgrace to civilization; for it implies the common consent of nations to the Arbitrament of War, as regulated by these laws.
As the Brotherhood of Man is practically recognized, it becomes impossible to restrict the feeling within any exclusive circle of country, and to set up an unchristian distinction of honor between civil war and international war.
I agree with the Convention in the importance of the new organization; nor do I think there are many candid persons, recognizing morals as the soul of all true politics, who will hesitate in this conclusion.
Other voices in this conversation
