Preston Brooks

“I would not have dishonored the Senate chamber by an assassination, which was within my power.”

“Mr. Sumner, I have read your speech twice over carefully. It is a libel on South Carolina, and Mr. Butler, who is a relative of mine.”

“I did not assault him with a weapon calculated to kill, though I chose one that was more painful in its application than a common switch.”

“I have been a man of peace, and my whole life has been a protest against street brawls and street fights.”

“Whatever insults my State, insults me.”

“To expect me to publish a card, and say that I was a coward, was to expect an impossibility.”