Speech of Mr. Lincoln, of Massachusetts, Issue 52 |
Common terms and phrases
abolition memorials Abolitionists action believe breast calm CENSURE Chair character charged chivalrous civil liberty cognizable College Library committed common conduct conscientious consideration constitution contempt crime criminal debate declaration deliberate judgment denied discharge disposition District of Columbia Distrusting doctrine duty excitement excusable feeling floor freedom of speech freemen gentle gentleman from Georgia harmless Harvard heard heart honorable House human humble Idle incendiaries indulgence injustice inquiry intellectual intention jurisdiction language league LEGACY liberty of speech LINCOLN manner master and slave matter member from Massachusetts ment midst mischief motives murder North occasion offence passions peace peculiar peti petitioners prayer premeditated prerogative present principles propounded PURPORTING quarter question reason relation of master represent request resolutions respect right of petition rule scholarships selfish sentiment slavery South Carolina Southern brethren Speaker stand subscribed supposed sympathy tions treason trifle trust venerable colleague vindicate whence wish women wrong
Popular passages
Page 9 - But whether I stand alone, or am supported, I can never consent, that my venerable colleague shall be brought to your bar, to be censured for a conscientious discharge of duty. What he has done, he has manfully, rightfully, nobly done, in defence of the inestimable right of petition, and the freedom of speech in this House.
Page 8 - They know of no freedom without the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, and the right of petition.
Page 6 - ... stations he has held, and his standing before the world, have brought upon him responsibilities which others might not have borne. The people have thrown upon the shoulders of Ajax the weight which no common man could have sustained. They trusted his talents, his learning, and his great experience, to secure to him the deference of respect due to these qualifications in the duties he was called upon to discharge.
Page 6 - ... the liberty of speech, and the right of petition? Mr. Speaker, it has fallen to the lot of my venerable colleague to have been charged with more of these petitions than all of his associates in the delegation, together. His age, his character, the stations he has held, and his standing before the world, have brought upon him responsibilities, which others might not have borne. The people have thrown upon the shoulders of Ajax the weight, which no common man could have sustained. They trusted...
Page 9 - ... of the nation. They mean no offence. They meditate no wrong; and, in vindicating them, I do but vindicate and assert those great principles of civil liberty, to enforce and carry out which this Government was founded, and the subversion of which this Republic cannot survive.
Page 4 - House, on llip present occasion, profit somewhat, by imitating the characteristic coolness and discretion of northern men, in yielding something of the excess of feeling to the more calm suggestions of reason, while deliberating upon the conduct of my venerable friend, and" deciding the character of the offence which he is charged with having committed?
Page 5 - House, made the deliberate and solemn declaration, that to trifle with the House, or its members, would be the last possible purpose of his heart. And is not this enough? Can it be permitted for the gentleman from Georgia now to argue, by inference, against the sincerity of that declaration! It is asked...
Page 9 - Rights, that the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition, is an inalienable right, and cannot be impaired; that the liberty of speech, and of the press, is essential to freedom in a State, and ought not to be restrained. It...
Page 5 - I am, in the popular sense of the term, no abolitionist. Although I would to God that every human being was enlightened and free, yet I have never advocated, either on this floor or elsewhere, the peculiar views or schemes of the abolitionists.