Delaware State journal and statesman. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1855-1870, 1867-01-29
NO. 8.

terly impossible for him 10 concede anything,
even to bis most radical adherents. They have
at various times implored him to sacrifice his
personal views for party advantage; bat
be has shown that no party advantage, however
great, has the slightest weight with him in con-
iict with the negro's claim to absolute political
equality. The recent successes of the average
Republican party have therefore been carried in
several cases against his opposition. On inter
national questions, or those of foreign policy,
his influence is far beyond that of any other
American, and has several times overruled that
Of Mr.. Seward, with whom his relations have
for years been anything but pleasant
No other man could have arrested by his
single voice q measure unanimously passed by
the House, as Mr. Sumner did in the case of
the late measure abolishing the American Neu-
trality Laws. Mr.. Summers voice is husky
when he begins speaking, and harsh afterwards
but his evident sincerity generally has strong
effect. Every sentence seems to rack the entire
frame Of the man as it comes out. In his exor-
dium there is Renaissance Of the college ros-
trum, but at length more agreeable awkward
ness takes its place, and he becomes decidedly
eloquent. Though every speech is carefully
prepared, it is never written out beforehand;
yet close report shows that every sentence is
as complete in it's structure as writing could
have made it. Mr.. Sumner is rather given to
rhetoric Of the " highfalutin" sort. He is also
rather fond of elaborate denunciation, as, when
speaking Of what he considered the unfrieudly
/ attitude Of British statesmen during the late
war, he said: =" Not to subjugate but to liberate
is the object Of our holy war. And yet British
statesmen, forgetting for the moment all moral
distinctions, forgetting God, who will not be
forgotten,-gravey announce that cause
must fail Alas individual wickedness is too
often successful; but a pretended nation, suo-
kled in wickedness and boastngits wickedness,
a new Sodom with all the wckedness of the old,
waiting to be blasted, and yet in its effroniery
openly seeking the fellowship of Christian
Powers,-is doomed 10 defeat federation Of
such pretension is practical atheism. Chro-
nOlogy and geography are both offended by it.
Piety stands aghast. In this age Of light, and
in countries Boosting civilization, there can be
no place for its barbarous plenipotentiaries. As
we'll expect crocodles to be crawling on the
pavements Of London and Paris or the idols of
Africa installed for worship in Westminster ALB
hey and Notre Dame" Mr.. Sumner is entrly
fearless, and scarcely seems conscious Of the
bitterness which his words frequently convey
when he is speaking about slavery. He is Of a
family somewhat distinguished in Boston for in
tellectus ability, and is very dear to the literary
circles in which he moves and those who know
him best value him most He is nearly sixty
years Of age, and has this year married for the
first time. He is entirely free from personal
vices is incapable of any indirection or politi
j cal trick and has gained strength as well as
. influence by his strict adherence to his own po.
litical "habitat."
q The other senator of Massachusetts,, Hon.
9 Henry Wilson, is in every respect contrast to
u his colleague. He was. up to middle age, a
Q cobbler in the little town of NatOk in Massa-
Y chusetts, and, being fair speaker aad an active
politician, he WAS sent to Washington, partly as
sort Of satire on the collegiate and sristocratio
r interests Of Boston and Cambridge, which had
i been represented by the scholastic Mr.. Edward
n Everett with feebleness which very much dis
ia gusted the people of his State. Those who
Is elected him as sort of 'Felix Holt" have,
II however, been disappointed in his recent course,
10 he having shown disposition to compromise
r. with the President. He has since endeavored
to retrace his steps, but he has lost the conf
IN dence Of bis party in the Senate and in his State
4 Mr.. Wilson is man in whom impuIsveness and
ID shrswdness are oddly blended. He is a Radi
CAL but loves to surprise his adversaries by fits
and starts Of conservatism.
IN The youngest of the senators is Mr. Cresswel
n. Of Maryland. BE is man of commanding pre-
F. senoe, Of classical culture, a hard worker, and
n. to literary taste, may contest the palm of be
A. ing the most interesting speaker in the Senate
N native Of Maryland, and related in every way
an to shareholders, Mr.. Cresswel investigated the
a subject Of slavery philosophically, and reached
,h an independent anti-slsvery view which he wa
=. able to state to the Marylanders with immens
effect, and yet with such excellent taste an,
v winning eloquence, that instead of being award
ed. as some prophesied, coat of tar and feaih
a. ers, be was sent to Congress His eloquence i
-. unambitious, and his style, though yet trf
~ young, free from any straining after effect
Listening TO him, one may find a good il ustra
=, ton of the French rule, {" Peu de moyen, beau
=. coup d'etfet."
he In striking contrast with this gentleman wa
be Senator Lane Of Kansas, who has just terminate
lbe his career by suicide. His weather-beaten fat
old had long been remarked with curiosity by Wis
The torsin the Senate Chamber. He was the trough
biz of the assembly. Everybody joked with hin
,o- nobody trusted him, all miss him. He was not,
nss for his participation in the Border wars of Ks
as sss. where he led in the interest Of freedom
ata band Of doubtful characters with whom Jol
nm Brown and his Puritan comrades would ha'
bia nothing to do. Many odd stories were told
lis- him, amongst others that, his wife having o
I'm, tanned divorce from him on account Of his CO
,ad tinued absence from her in Kansas, he return
ths some years afterwards to Indiana, where s
ngb lived, and courted and married her a seoo
mar time. Brave and strong against his enemit
in poor Lane could not stand against the scOrn
%. those who had been his friends. When, aft
nao taking the side of the President, he returned
~. Kansas to fud every face averted which h
III. once Welcomed him, this bronzed old man, W
had faced death hundred times without shrn
ing, left his home heart-broken, and shot hi
self.
jaunty individual of the intensified Yank
an type is Mr.. William Pitt Fessenden Of Mair
nj. who deserves mention only as one who will pl
-. bably be regarded for the present session