The Senator from South Carolina has read many books of chivalry and believes himself a chivalrous knight. Of course he has chosen a mistress — though ugly to others, always lovely to him; though polluted in the sight of the world, chaste in his sight. I mean the harlot, Slavery.
Original passage & context
"The Senator from South Carolina has read many books of chivalry, and believes himself a chivalrous knight, with sentiments of honor and courage. Of course he has chosen a mistress to whom he has made his vows, and who, though ugly to others, is always lovely to him; though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste in his sight -- I mean the harlot, Slavery."
The passage about Sen. Andrew Butler that provoked the caning three days later; Brooks's own letter cites this speech's language. The provocation was not clean: the same speech mocked the stroke-impaired Butler — 'with incoherent phrases, discharged the loose expectoration of his speech' (verified in the same text).
Read it in the original — The Crime Against Kansas (1856), Internet Archive ↗
Political · Republican, Mass. Condensed — not verbatim Source scan differs from our text — see the record