Charles Sumner Letter Signed. Four integral pages, 4.75" x 7.25", Washington, July 6, 1856. Six weeks before writing this letter, Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was severely beaten on the floor of the United States Senate by Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina in retribution for Sumner's attack on Brooks' uncle, South Carolina Senator Andrew Butler, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act in his "Crime against Kansas" [May 19 and 20, 1856] speech. Writing to journalist David Lee Child, Sumner apologizes for not answering his letter earlier because "as often as I proposed to do it, I found my strength fail." Written in the hand of another, he explains that "when I rec'd your letter, I was confined to my room, unable to do more than to walk across the floor a few times in the day." Toward the end of the letter, he laments his present condition: "I am a useless member of society. How long this will last I cannot tell . . . I long for my duties in the Senate, where . . . I might say something which would help our cause at this time." Regarding the nomination of John C. Frémont as the Republican candidate for president in the 1856 election, he states that "whatever may have been individual preferences before the nomination, it is my ardent hope that all who hate slavery, and desire the overthrow of the Slave Oligarchy will cordially unite in his support. . . . He will at all hazards, throw the national shield over Kansas." Smoothed folds, else fine. The letter is affixed to a backing sheet to an overall size of 5" x 8".