Si la peste avoit des charges, des dignités, des honneurs, des bénéfices et des pensions à distribuer, elle auroit bientôt des théologiens et des juris-consultes qui soutiendroient qu'elle est de droit divin, et que c'est un péché de…

Among the assemblies of the great A greater Ruler takes his seat; The God of heaven as judge surveys Those gods on earth and all their ways.

Both the old parties, Whig and Democrat, plumed themselves upon being national, and one of their hardest hits at a political opponent was to charge him with sectionalism.

Does he hope to accomplish anything, except to stir up sedition at home against this law, and make the streets of Boston again the scene of disgraceful riots and lawless violence by the lawless opposers of the Constitution and laws of the…

It shall never be touched, or altered, or shaken, or repealed, by any vote of mine.

This forcible resistance is not only calculated to strike at the very foundation of our republican institutions by dissolving the Union, but to bring upon the head of the learned Senator from Massachusetts the blood of murdered men.

He who counsels murder is himself a murderer." Here Mr.

Yes, Sir, he has to-day made a draft upon the gratitude of the friends of humanity and of liberty that will not be paid through many generations, and the memory of which shall endure as long as the English language is spoken, or the…

That, Sir, is what I believe; and if I had one other feeling, or could indulge in it, in reference to that effort, it would be a feeling of envy, that it was not in me to tread even at an humble distance in the path which he has so nobly…

It was a noble vindication of that great charter of government from the perversions of the advocates of the Fugitive Slave Act....

He has arrayed history and reason in support of this proposition; and I avow my conviction, now and here, that, logically and historically, his argument is impregnable, entirely impregnable....

President, that in my judgment the speech of my friend from Massachusetts will mark AN ERA in American history.

Hundreds of thousands will read it, and everywhere it will carry conviction to all willing to be convinced, and will infuse a feeling of incertitude and a fearful looking for judgment in the minds of those who resist the light and toil in…

The graceful usages of this body may be abandoned, but the established privileges of debate cannot be abridged.

Parliamentary courtesy may be forgotten, but parliamentary law must prevail.

A tyrannical spirit among us, in unconscious imitation of this antique and discarded barbarism, seeks to surround an offensive institution with similar safeguard.

In the existing distemper of the public mind, and at this present juncture, no man can enter upon the service which I now undertake, without personal responsibility, such as can be sustained only by that sense of duty which, under God, is…

Before the Senate and the country let me be held accountable for this act and for every word which I utter.

Full well I know, Sir, the difficulties of this discussion, arising from prejudices of opinion and from adverse conclusions strong and sincere as my own.

Full well I know that I am in a small minority, with few here to whom I can look for sympathy or support.

Full well I know that I must utter things unwelcome to many in this body, which I cannot do without pain.

Full well I know that the institution of Slavery in our country, which I now proceed to consider, is as sensitive as it is powerful, possessing a power to shake the whole land, with a sensitiveness that shrinks and trembles at the touch.

But while these things may properly prompt me to caution and reserve, they cannot change my duty, or my determination to perform it.

For this I willingly forget myself and all personal consequences.

Let us at all hazards prevent the extension of Slavery and the increase of the Slave Power.