The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-04-01
CHhRLEs sUMNMR.

1lS IrlumpnS III law, literature, anu inc
brutal assault committed upon him by
Brooks, closes the account by remarking
that "he is now chairman of the commit
tee on foreign affairs" All that was then
said is now true. except that he is not noac
the chairman of that committee "The
king is dead long live the kingp The
fact Of the removal is upimportant,
the reason for it may be worthy |
of some onsideration-not, however, be- |
cause it is Mr.. Sumner who falls, but be-
cause it is we'll known and greatly dis
tiuguished Republican who has given
place to another, alike well known and
distinguished.
Mr. Sumner was a ripe scholar, an able
editor, practced DICTATOR, and distin-
guished philanthropist, when, in 1851, be
entered the Senate. Scorning the slower
steps of gradual promotion, by which
other men reach lofty stations, he at one
bound planted himself on the topmost
round of the ladder. This was not an ac-
cident; nor is it light praise to say that
for twenty years he not only filled his
place with honor to himself but adorned
the station with all the graces which learn
ing, culture, experience and genius could
bring to it. Still, Senate overwhelm-
ingly Republican, composed of his per-
senal friends and admirers, lead by the
majority of the committee over which he
had SO long presided, removed him; nor
has any misgvings yet arisen among those
Senators as to the propriety of their action.
The country will long remember that
Senator's magnificent paper on the Mason
and Slidell embarrassment, and how popu-
lar prejudice, heat and passion at the time
denounced it, and how the same popular
clamor soon came not only to applaud the
argument, but to regard its author as
great public benefactor whose wisdom
and goodness had Saved the country from
one of the most serious dangers with
which it was threatened. The same sober
second thought will, we believe, finally
applaud Mr. Summers removal, nor will
that judgment be either slow or tardy for
the man, who could make in the Senate of
the United States the speech which that
gentleman made on Monday last, is not fit
to be at the head of any important COM
mittee And we are apt to believe that
the author of the speech will himself, see-
ing how diabolical it was, and recognizing
the sagacity which foresaw that he might
make it, come in his later and better
moments to concur in the wisdom of the
act.
GAS full grown peoples over charged with rain
Decline the head, and dropping kiss the plain"
Men at sixty are apt to be firm if not
stubborn; domineering if not dictatorial--
sight, hearing, taste, every sense in fact,
except the sense of their own greatness,
fails and weakens with increasing years,
that alone surviving the universal wreck
towers higher and higher as the man
grows older and weaker, till at last, in
public apprehension, it comes to be re-
garded as all that remains of his former
real greatness. After twenty years of tri-
umph in a forum so exalted as the Senate,
it would be strange if the hero of SO many
victories escaped the weakness common ia
all great men and it is perhaps the sim
cerest of all the regrets Of Mr.. Summers
g., do hot ba 10 ,at -, he
general rule. Self appreciation in public
man is sign of full maturity, as rotten
spot is of ripeness in harvest apple. Mr.
Sumner has long been figure in the Sen
ate that escaped no mans eye. No one
ever mistook his voice, for ''twas the voice
of Jove." He bad habit, too, of nod
ding sometimes as the gods nod--nor was
it uncommon for him to assert himself in
a way not only peculiar, but offensive; in
short, fully approaching himself, that dis
tinguished gentleman was much 10 the
habit of greatly domineering.
Though always courteous, 1t was The
courtesy of the most offensive pride and
pretentious superiority. The thirty OIL
more young Senators did not, nor could
they, patiently rest under the whip and
spur, the gag and bit, of Mr.. Summers ar.
rogance but that restiveness, SO natural
alone would not have produced the results
which were accomplished.
He had an undoubted right to differ al
he did with the President and the commit
tee of which he was the head, and natur-
ally undertook to impress bis views upon
them. Failing to do SO, two courses only
were left-submission to the will of the
majority, coupled with respectful consid
Grafton for their opinions, or indulgence in
pique, acrimony and childish petulance
altogether unworthy of man Of his sta
ton and talents. Nj. Sumner chose tn,
latter, and run tilt against the President
against his committee, against the Senate
against the party to which he belongs. ant
worst of all, against himself, forget
ting that private quarrels have never suffi
Gent dignity to attract public censnre, ant
as consequence, to-day he is the falleI
ob;aftao of q Ornat MARTY and an etarna