Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1874-06-04
| Nesro,s tribute to summer.

A Negro,s Tribute 20 sumner.
The following is an extract from
the eulogy pronounced in Faneuii
Hall, Boston, on Charles Sumner, by
Congressman Robert G. Elliott (col-
ored), OF South Carolina:
Charles Sumner, in his mortal lin
itations, was an American more
narrowly, he was a Massachusetts
man; more narrowly still, he was q
white man; but to-day what nation
shall claim him, what State shall APP
propriate him, what race shall boast
him ? He was the fair c0nsuminate
flower Of humanity. lie was the
fruit Of the ages. He was the child
Of the Past and the promise OF the
Future. The whole world, could 1T
but know his relations, would mourn
his departure, and mankind every
where would join in his honOrs. But
fellow-citizens, if any fraction Of hui
manity may claim peculiar right
To do honor To the memory OF this
great common beDefactor Of the
world, surely it Is the c0lOred race in
these United States. 10 other men
his services may seem vast Access
sion Of strength TO II cause already
moving with steady and assured adj
vance; to us, to the colored race, he
is and ever will be the great leader
in political life, whose ponderous and
incessant blows battered down the
walls Of our prison-house, and whose
strong hand led us forth TO the sun
light Of freedom. j do not seek TO
appropriate him to my race; but |
do feel, to-day, that my race might
almost bid the race to which by
blood he belonged, to stand aside
while we, to whose welfare his life
was so completely given, advance to
do grateful honor to him who was
our great benefactor friend.
Once only, in all this splendid and
faithful career, did Charles Sumner
part company with the great mass Of
the friends of freedom, and on this
he needs no silence. Differing, as /
could not but differ, from his judg-
ment in the last national campaign,
j point to It, to-day, as one OF the
highest proofs Of his utter devotion
to the call OF duty. Still was he
true, utterly true, to his convictions,
to the commanding voice of
conscience. He had been faithful I'm
defeat; could he be faithful in sue
cess? Draw no veil Of silence over
this passage, but write it high on
his monument, that, In old age,
when the weary form longed for re-
pose, he could again brace himself
for the conflict in which nearly all
the friends of his lifetime stood ar
rayed against him.
Nothing Ia here for tears nothing 10 wall
Or knock the breaet, no weakness, no contempt,
Dispraiseor blame nothing but well aud fair.
TO have lived such life were glo-
ny enough. Success was not needed
to perfect its star-bright, immortal
beauty. But SUCCESS. came. What
contrasts did his life wit
ness! He heard the hundred guns
which Boston fired for the passage of
the fugitive slave act, and he saw
Boston sending forth with honors
and blessings regiment Of fugitive
slaves to save the Union which the
crime Of her Webster had imperiled.
He saw Franklin Pierce employing
the power of the nation to force back
one helpless fugitive to the hell OF
slavery, and he saw Abraham Lincoln
write the edict of emancipation. He
heard fancy declare that 1.-THE black
man had no rights which white
man was bound to respect" and he
welcomed Revels to his seat as Sen
ator of the United States. But rs de-
feat could not damp his ardor, so
success could not abate his zeal. He
fell while bearing aioft the same
banner OF human rights, which,
tweDty-eight years before, he had
unfurled aud lifted In this hall. The
blessings Of the poor are his laurels.
One sacred acknowledgements
over his life, inspiring him in youth,
guided him In manhood, strengthen
ing him in age. BE 10 ours to walk
by the light Of this pure example.
BE 1t ours to copy his stainless integ-
rity, his supreme devotion TO human
ity, his profound faith and truth,
and his unconquerable moral enthu-
siasm. Adieu! Great Servant and
Apostle Of Liberty! If Others forget
thee, thy fame shall be guarded by
the millions of that emancipated race
whose gratitude shall be more endu-
ring than monumental marble or
brass.
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