Speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, on the cession of Russian America to the United States:

13
side her limits have been extended. Even now
the report comes that she is lifting her southern landmarks in Asia, so as to carry her
boundary to India. The other annexationist
is Great Britain, which from time to time adds
another province to her Indian dominion. If
tht United States have from time to time added
to their dominion they have only yielded to the
universa.l passion, although I do not forget that
the late Thleodore Parker was accustomed to say
that among dll people the Anglo-Saxons were
remarkable for "a greed of land." It was
land, not gold, that aroused the Anglo-Saxon
phlegm. I doubt, however, if this passioIn be
stronger with us than with others, except, perhaps, that in a community where all participate in government the national sentiments
are more active. It is common to the human
family. There are few anywhere who could
hear of a considerable accession of territory,
obtained peacefully and honestly, without a
pride of country, even if at certain moments
the judgment hesitated. With an increased
size on the map there is an increased consciousness of strength, and the citizen throbs
anew as he traces the extending line.
Extension'of Republican Institutions.
(3.) More than the extension of dominion is
the extension of republican institutions, which
is a traditional aspiration. It was in this spirit
that Independence was achieved. In the name
of Human Rights our fathers overthrew the
kingly power, whose representative was George
the Third. They set themselves openly against
this form of government. They were against
it for themselves, and offered their example to
matlnkind. They were Roman in character, and
turned to Roman lessons. With a cynical
austerity the early Cato said that kings were
" carnivorous animals," and at his instance the
Roman Senate decreed that no king should be
allowed within the gates of the city. A kindred sentiment, with less austerity of form.
has been received from our fathers; but our
city can be nothing less than the North American continent with its gates on all the surrounding seas.
John Adams, in the preface to his Defense
of the American Constitution, written in London, where he resided at the time as minister,
and dated January 1,1787, at Grosvenor Square,
the central seat of aristocrati'.fashion, after
exposing the fabulous origin of'the kingly
power in contrast with the simple origin of
our republican constitutions, thus for a moment lifts the curtain of the future:' "Thirteen
governments," he says plainly, "thus founded
on the natural authority of the people alone,
and without any pretense of miracle or mystery, and which are destined to spread over the
northern part of that whole quarter of the
globe, is a great point gained in favor of the
rights of mankind." (John Adams's Works,
vol. 4 p. 293.) Thus, according to this prophetic minister, even at that early dayS was the
destiny of the Republic manifest. It was to
spread over the northern part of the American quarter of the globe;-. and it was to be a
support to th e rights of m ankind.
By the text of our Cons titution t he United
States are bound t o guaranty a "mrepublican
form of government" to every State i n this
Union; but this obligation, which is only applicable at home, isoe an un ques tion able indication of the national aspiration everywhere.
The Republic is something more than a local
policy; it is a general principle, not to be forgotten at any time, especially when the opportunity is presented of bringing an immense
region within its influence. Elsewhere it has
for the present failed: but on this account our
example is more important. Who can forget
the generous lament of Lord Byron, whose
passion for fieedom was not mitigated by his
rank asmen hereditary legislator of England,
when he exclaims in memorable verse:
"The name of commonwealth is past and gone
O'er the three fractions of the groaning globe I"
W'ho can forget the salutation which the poet
sends to the "one great clime," which, nursed
in freedom, enjoys what he calls "the proud
distinction" of not being confounded with
other lands,
"Whose sons must bow them at a monarch's.motion,
As if his senseless scepter were a wand I"
The present Treaty is a visible step in the
occupation of the whole North American continent. As such"it will be recognized by the
world and accepted by the American people.
But the Treaty involves something more. By
it we dismiss one more monarch from this
continent. One by one they have retired;
first France; then Spain; then France again;
and now Russia; all giving way to that absorbing Unity which is declared in the national
motto, Eoluribus unum.
Anticipation of Great Britain.
(4.) Another motive to this acquisitift may
be found in a desire to anticipate the imagined
schemes or necessities of Great Britain. With
regard to all these I confess my doubts, and
yet, if we may credit report, it Would seem as
if there was already a British movement in
this direction. Sometimes it is said that Great
Britain desires to buy if Russia will sell
Sir George Simpson, governor-in-clhief of the
Hudson Bay Company, declared that without
the strip on the coast underlet to the former
by the Russian Company the interior would be
" comparatively useless to England." Here,
then, isa provocation to buy. Sometimes report
assumes a graver character. A German scientificjournal, in all elaborate paper entitled " The
Russian Colonies on the Northwest Coast of
America, " after referring to the constant "~ pressmle" upon Russia, proceeds to say that there
are already crowds of adventurers from British
Columbia and California nowr at the gold mines
on the Stikine, which flows from British territory
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