At this period,
the number engaged in the agitation was small, and possessed little or
no personal influence.
Neither party in Congress had, at that time, any sympathy with them or
their cause. The members of each party presented their petitions with
great reluctance. Nevertheless, small, and contemptible as the party
then was, both of the great parties of the North dreaded them. They
felt, that though small, they were organized in reference to a subject
which had a great and commanding influence over the northern mind.
Each party, on that account, feared to oppose their petitions, lest
the opposite party should take advantage of the one who might do so, by
favoring them. The effect was, that both united in insisting that the
petitions should be received, and that Congress should take jurisdiction
over the subject. To justify their course, they took the extraordinary
ground, that Congress was bound to receive petitions on every subject,
however objectionable they might be, and whether they had, or had not,
jurisdiction over the subject.
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