New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-04-12
Curtis on Sumner.

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Reminding mankind in their simple way,
Ofthe holy marvel of Easter day.
Curtis on Sumner.
Mr. Sumner leaves no public man behind
him with 30 close hold upon the heart OF
the country. He was the last of the great
trlumvIrate OF anti-slavery senators who
succeeded that other trio of the earlier and
darker epoch of which we speak in another
column OF this paper. The work of the later
three, Seward, Chase, and Sumner was in
comparably greater and more beneficent
than that of Webster, Clay and Calhoun.
1t Is curious fact that Mr.. Sumner took
his seat in the Senate on the day that Mr..
Clay, the last OF the elder three, left it for.
ever. The two men typited the two eras of
| our politics Henry Clay was the great
compromised. Charles Sumner was one of
| the most uncompromising men that ever
| lived. The cOurtly, gay, plausible. fasci-
| mating cavalier, Harry of the Vest
! broken, saddened and disappointed, tai
| tered out OF the chamber, and Charles Sum
her. yourg, towering in form. dauntless in
mein, the IndoInltabie Puritan, conscience
lncarnate In politics, entered. and the new
and better Union entered with him, The
very qualities IN him that SO often offended
We're indispensable to the time and work,
lconoclasm like his was as much needed
among the long worshiped idols of the old
temple of slavery as ever it was among
the images upon which Cromwelrs IRON
sides fell.
That stern refusal TO vince or bend which
opposed itself TO the slave power as a cliff
OF granite fronts the Widest sea and dashes
1t into futile froth, was the great and men,
orable service ct Charles Sumner to his
country. When. slavery in Congress en-
countered him, it met for the first time that
NORTH mat American conscience, that
American will, which was at last to over
throw It utterly, and redeem and repenerate
the country. For the first time in the ma
tional arena slavery found itself opposed
by spirit as reaolute and naughty as
its own. It tried every means to suh-
due 1t, and tried IN vain. By culture and
taste and temperament Mr.. Sumner was
peculiarly sensible 20 thai social blandish-
ment in which Southern society excelled.
and which made Washington a Capua to
many hardy Northern warriors. They came.
perhaps. from some secluded rural home.
unused to the charms and forces of So
eiety. Bashful in the new scene, and ill
at ease, they found the most welcome re-
Lief amidst the graceful delight of drawing
rooms, and in the frank hospitality of dining
rooms n which their pleasure and comfort
seemed to De the chief study. In those
magic circles the line of political duty, the
sense OF right and wrong, which is the
quiet home or among cool New England
hiis were so clear and positive, wavered
shifted and often glimmered quite out of
SIGHT lie lotus was eaten at those feasts.
Samson was shora and honest folks at home
wondered what nepenthe in the air of
washington drugged the Northern brain
ana dulled its conscience. No man was
mora thoroughly equipped to enioy all this
to the utmost than Sumner, and no ;nflu-
ence IN public affairs is more subtle and |
effective With men CT his temperament. But |
he knew the Lamia and he did not WELD
ana as it could not seduce, neither could |
1t terrhy him. He stood for years in the |
capital OF the cOuntry-to our bitter shame |
q slave city-aDd he Numbered against |
slavery words which were blows. His |
speeches were not bursts of rhetoric: thew
were, like those Of Demostbenes, oratiors.
ne trained advocates of slavery and it's |
mere attorneys were amazed at the cOmpre.
hensiVeness of di5coUrses that left them no |
escape, left them, indeed, only rage and de-
And long afterward, when the
aolest lawyer Ii the Senate, Reverdy John
son, was preparing the speech in which he
lustine4 MS vote upon emancipation, he
carefully studied all of Summers orations
as the competest body of history and argu-
nent upon the whole subject. The hostility
1I slavery took Its natural form. Often for |
months II was known, and Mr.. Sumner knew
nat MS lie was II constant danger: and
turing the heat of the Kansas debate a few
rlenos from Kansas then in Washington,
VINO were aware of his personal peril, I'M
Known to him, daily followed him when he
EFT his house, armed-as he never was or
you'd be-for his own protection. At last |
lavery, by the hand Of Preston Brooks.
Truck hlm the blow that it hoped would be- |
atal. But, after long and weary strug-
ne, MS sturdy constitution seemed to have |
hrown OF all serious effects of it, and, at.
er resumlng his seat in the Senate with q |
peech that showed all the old yipor he |
,ore his part in the great and final Conflict,
'ut although he lived eighteen years after
,rooks assault, it was clear to him toward
he end, and to his friends, that he had new i,
r wholly rallied from the blow. :
Inc hostility OF foes was not all that he
.lthstood. His political and even many of !,
IS personal friends were impatient with
I'M |, IoI the injury to the common Cause I
;nlcn tney feared from what they thought !
Is want OF moderation and tact. But ,
nose were his inestimable qualities, for ,
1ey not only showed to slavery, as we }
hc, the face of its real foe and future vic !,
~ Dut they stimulated and confirmed | :
orthern sentiment by the spectacle of its :
ncompromlsing personiicatOn. There q,
ere censures OF his taste, of his epithets. i.
his rhetoric, of his style, while he was !;
olng giants work in rousing and SAVING =
nation. How many critic points ont
re defects Of ST. Peters! And st. Peters
mains one OF the grandest temples in the
orld. lie loved duty more than friend. | !,
mp, and he feared dishonor more than anv
re. He measured truly the real forces !
'ound him, and be saw more clearly than \
~ American statesman that ever lived The
tai relation between political morality .
Id national prosperity. The great acts If a
epu oIi ca legislation are thoroughly in u
rned oy the spirit of which he was the i
oss iertenl and comprehensive political v
~ sir a.I. why; Mr. Sumner, am
i'd to him, during the war. It was most Il
Tor him that his career was cast 7
tune and upon a scene for which he +,
as especially fitted, and he lived for a f,
1artec OF q century IN <bo fill 1;a. af |