Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1869-11-11
Charlie, Summers Lecture

opening lecture in the Young Men 9
Christian Association course, by Hon.
Charles Sumner.
At little after eight o'clock, Hon.
Seneca NJ. Dorr appeared upon the plat
form, accompanied by Mr.. Sumner. mr..
Dorr after giving notice that Anna 4.
Dickinson would deliver the next lecture,
on Monday evening, Nov. 10Th, said
81 have the honor to introduce as the ora
tor of the evening, Charles Sumner OF
Massachusetts," Mr.. Sumner prefaced
his lecture by abiding to the beautiful
hall and the good taste and judgment dis
played in arrangement and adornment,
and that il was an honor to the town and
the enterprise Of the people, and that such
hall was hospitality to a speaker.
He said that sad memories came to him
on this his first visit to Rutland. He re-
membered that it was the loved home of
his associate and friend, the late Senator
Foot. They entered the United States
Senate at the same session, and early
formed friendship that continued un-
t. =
Of the time they were in the public service
they occupied adjoining seats and were
constant associates. He knew the great
heart and manly honor of the distin-
gushed Senator, and honored the noble
qualities of the man and the statesman.
Had not Mr.. Foot entered the public SER
vice at a later period of life than himself,
he would have been at this time, I'M
doubtedly, living servant of the people
Of Vermont When in the chair as pre-
siding officer of the Senate, he never had
seen his equal nor one who, in this respect,
had so won his admiration. He valued
him as an associate and friend, and thus
much he felt it due he should say of his
distinguished friend to the people among
whom he dwelt.
Passing to the subject OF his lecture,
the speaker said La asking you to con-
sder the Question of Caste, l open a.
subject OF great Importance for your con-
-deration. Slavery no longer exists to
disturb the repose of this nation, though
i is not dead in other lands, and the i'm
pious reflection remains that the African
is seorned because he is black and the
Chinaman because he is yellow, and that
they can be shut out on account of the
,oor Of their skin, despite the allegation
Il our fathers that "all men are created
equal" and that they should be equally
protected 1t ia not my purpose to show
II. -
the universe and of man. Because man |
IS black or yellow he Ia none the less a I
man, and because he is white he is none
the more a man. 1t is by the title of
manhood he CLAIMS AL he can claim on
.arth IS this he claims supremaey,-a
symbolic cn-partnership in all the equal
rights of men. You will all agree that
governments in the past have been but an
art, yet the time will come when govern
ments will be a science, conducted on
fixed and immutable laws, which will be I
The science of justice on earth. But to
apply!ethese laws men must understand
themselves. "Know myself" was the t
inscription carved on The oracle of Delphi. /
It's for man to understand his relation
with his brother man, so that it can be .
read in the darkest night, the same for
nations IA for individuals.
Do pledge the rights Of all mankind,
can do little, yet Imay contribute some
thing that shall blast the effrontry of caste
As dnubly offensive to human nature. You
are all prepared to defend caste. In
India for untold generations it was the
same as accepted here and in other
countries But though the word is /
modern, the theme is ancient. In history
you find it side by side with the pyramids
and hieruyly phics Of Egypt. Macaulay
aye that the tinkers of England formed a
.4.te by themselves. raud 90 the thing ap-
eAred ON all EUROPEAN soil. But to India
We must go to find the most striking
Al,tratiou, where, in the Bible of the
country we find its population divided
into four great castles: 1st the Brahmin
u priest; I'd, the soldier; Sd, the
susbandrnan; AND 4th, the Sudra or foot
nan. In thaS country NO che inferior
caste, b. any means, could evefrise to
superior one. Where one was born there
he and there his children, after him for
ever remained, though, while the Br alb
Minis could rise the Sudras must forever
.en.al., Us lov 40 hey were born, even
sinking gradually in the scale fioIn gene
ration 10 generation. The speaker went
on to illustrate in other parts of the world
Il u ~.
principle of caste. When passing to our
Republic, he said the caste here claiming
-anx ana priority 10 tho whites, and the
Inenials the blacks or yellow moI. Abe
o,,u roa.,,, - tie difference Of race. For
getting the truths of our fathers We ''a'
advanced the cry that this Is "a
white mans government" in support
Of which theory appologists claim that
mankind are not derived from common
stock-that they are different in charac-
ter-and that this justifes the discrinina-
ton made, or that the white is the Brah-
min and the black the Sudra. While in
one place one class of Sudras were in var
ious ways made mental, in another part
the Chinese were refused to testify in
courts The question of caste is, as will
be seen, a surprising one, both in science
and religion. The speaker here quoted
from the Bible in various places to show
the falicy of the theory of caste as oom-
monty accepted, concluding by quota
flol from st. Paul, to the men of Athens,
On Mars Hill, saying that if his own the
ory was impeached, no exception could be
taken to the doctrine of st. Paul.
Mr.. Sumner went on to show that caste
IL confined wholly to the human race I'll