Douglas in the struggle he was then making for free
soil in Kansas and the territories, and his speeches were clear and
often fierce.
In reply to a speech from a Carolina senator in regard to the disgrace
of belonging to the working class, Mr. Broderick said (Congressional
Globe, 1857-58), "I represent a state where labor is honorable, where
the judge has left his bench, the doctor and lawyer their offices, the
clergyman his pulpit, for the purpose of delving in the earth, where no
station is so high, no position so great, that its occupant is not proud
to boast that he has labored with his own hands. There is no state in
the Union, no place on earth, where labor is so honored, so well
rewarded, as in California." Mr. Broderick died in the midst of his
bright career, murdered in a duel by one of the leading members of the
slavery party.
When he died, those of his fellow-citizens who believed much as he did,
yet had let him fight secession and slavery lone-handed, recognized what
he had done for them--their "brave young senator," as Seward called
him, who had kept the evil of slavery from their soil.
Pages:
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223