Alfred H. Stone Collection
Volume: 71

5. Charles Sumner, The Rebellion:--Its Origin and Main-Spring. An Oration Delivered by Hon. Charles Sumner under the Auspices of the Young Men’s Republican Union of New York, November 27, 1861 (Boston: Wright & Potter, 1861). (16 p.)

Speech reviewing the history of secession in the United States and predicting that a victory by the federal army will result in the emancipation of slaves in the seceded states. “If everywhere under the flag of the Union,--in its triumphant march,--Freedom is substituted for Slavery, this outrageous rebellion will not be the first instance in history where God has turned the wickedness of man into a blessing; nor will the example of Samson stand alone when he gathered honey out of the carcass of the dead and rotten lion. [Cheers.]” (The allusion to Samson refers to a metaphor from the Bible [Judges 14:5-9].) (The collection has another copy of this speech distributed by a different printer in volume 64 [no. 19].)