Thaddeus Stevens hobbled to the front of the Speaker’s podium, bracing himself against the marble desk. His voice was hoarse. The room fell silent. But the effort to say what he wanted to say was too much for him. He handed his speech to McPherson. “The framers of our Constitution did not rely for safety upon the avenging dagger of a Brutus, but provided peaceful remedies which should prevent that necessity,” McPherson read.
