And so far from refusing to present a petition because it might come from those low in the estimation of the world, it would be an additional incentive, if such incentive were wanting.

If we have rules we had better either obey them or burn them.

Adams said, that even admitting the object of the petitioners is abolition, as has been alleged, they had the right to petition for that too; for every individual in the country had a right to be an abolitionist.

I simply take the position that George Washington was an abolitionist in the most extensive sense of the term; and I defy any man in this House to the discussion, and to prove to the contrary if he can.

No man of intelligence can hope, in this age of the world, to perpetuate that which is wrong and destructive, by bravado and threatening--by refusing to look it in the face, or to allow others to scrutinize it.

Truth, however unpalatable, or however it may be obscured for a season, must eventually triumph.

The very exertions of its supporters to perpetuate wrong, will but hasten its death.

Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again; Th' eternal years of God are hers: But Error, wounded, writhes with pain, And dies among her worshippers.

We degrade and disgrace ourselves; we degrade and disgrace our constituents and the country.

I am not to be frightened from the discharge of a sacred duty, by their indignation, by their violence, nor, sir, by all the grand juries in the universe.

I have done only my duty; and I shall do it again under the same circumstances, even though they recur to-morrow.

The homage paid you, dear sir, is sincere, for it has its sources in the just sentiments and irrepressible affections of a free people, their love of truth, their admiration of wisdom, their reverence for virtue, and their gratitude for…

We not merely deny hereditary claims to civil trust, but regard even hereditary distinction with jealousy.

For when before has it happened that in such a condition of society the son has, by mere civic achievement, attained the eminence of such a sire, and effaced remembrance of birth by justly acquired renown?

We cannot expect, with the agency of free and universal suffrage, to be always governed by the wise and the good.

You have devoted the energies of a mind unperverted, the learning and experience acquired through more than sixty years, and even the influence and fame derived from your high career of public service, to the great cause of universal…

The praises we bestow are already echoed back to us by voices which come rich and full across the Atlantic, hailing you as the indefatigable champion of humanity--not the humanity which embraces a single race or clime, but that humanity…

The only answer I can make, is a declaration, that during my public service, now protracted to nearly the age of eighty, I have endeavored to serve my country honestly and faithfully.

I can only repeat thanks, thanks, thanks to you, one and all, and implore the blessings of God upon you and your children.

A man had been kidnapped in Boston--kidnapped at noon-day, 'on the high road between Faneuil Hall and old Quincy,' and carried off to be a slave!

Rulers, statesmen, legislators! study and emulate such a life--seek after a character so beloved, a death so honorable, a fame so immortal.

But it may be due to ourselves and to the country, that the national sense of his character and services should be fitly commemorated.

The State I have the honor in part to represent once endured, with yours, a common suffering, battled for a common cause, and rejoiced in a common triumph.

When a great man falls, the nation mourns; when a patriarch is removed, the people weep.

It was a sublime thought, that where he had toiled in the house of the nation, in hours of the day devoted to its service, the stroke of death should reach him, and there sever the ties of love and patriotism which bound him to earth.