Chapter 80: Abolitionist Charles Sumner’s attack on the Democrats runs across two days.

While the President tries to quell the turmoil in Kansas, Massachusetts’ Senator Charles Sumner seizes the opportunity to goad the South.

He begins by calling out Pierce: “MR. PRESIDENT — You are now called to redress
a great transgression…the crimes against Kansas

He continues his assault by casting Douglas as Don Quixote and South Carolina’s Andrew Butler as Sancho Panza, who together devote themselves to “chasing the harlot, slavery, who sell little children at the auction block.”

Sumner’s rhetoric reaches a low point when his fury gets out of hand after being interrupted thirty-five times by Senator Butler — who suffers from a recent stroke causing a slurring of his words. This prompts Sumner to mock him for his “incoherent phrases and loose expectoration of speech.”