Putting his head in the British lion's mouth

Charles Sumner

Putting his head in the British lion's mouth

3/9/1872

Historical Illustration

The New York Public Library features an 1872 historical illustration, published in Harper's Weekly, that depicts Senator Charles Sumner (LR-MA)--the leader of the anti-slavery forces in Massachusetts and the Radical Republicans in the United States Senate-- sticking his head into the mouth of a lion while being watched by a wide-eyed gentleman in the background. The caption reads, "Why did he seek this counsel? It was to prove that our Government had violated its neutral obligations to Germany, to embroil us in a diplomatic difficutly with that Power, and to prejudice our own case with the tribunal at Geneva, by showing that we sinned as gravely against Germany as England sinned against us in the time of the Rebellion."

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New York Public Library (Digital Schomburg Collection)

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