Would my friend from Maine have the tree that he plants grow up with a generous and protecting shelter for all mankind, or shall it be the bent and crabbed product of unhappy prejudices which are only a growth of Slavery?
Sumner uses a metaphor about trees to discuss the importance of nurturing a society free from the prejudices of slavery.
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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.
Men are erring and mortal; principles are steadfast and immortal.
They are but leaders of the two contending factions into which the Slave Power is divided.
But so long as War exists as an Institution this terrible inconsistency must appear.
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