New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1874-05-07

great measure to his rare talents and acquire
ments, and the splendid opportunity he ell.
Joycd OF speaking to the country.
MI Sumner was patriot of no ordinary
rank; he was 4 lover of his country, the
whole country, in the broadcast and the most
comprehensive Specification of the term
Whatever he did to hinder tho extension oil
slavery or to hasten the day of its final abo.
lition was based not upon hatred or antipathy
to the South, but upon conviction that il
was not only wrong to humanity, but an &C.
cursed blot upon the cscutcheOn of the Re-
public. lie knew full well that il would
furnish the beauty of its history; therefore
he felt the duty pressing to combat it. In a
word, he did not hate the South nor the
Shareholder, but he hated and dctested
stacery. His desire was that the South as
well as the North should share in the real
grandeur of this republican empire. He was
aware that the impartial historian could not
complete his task so long as slavery existed,
unless the pen, as it were, was dipped in
human blood; the thought of which to him
was revolving. o that the South had needed
his admonlion and let the oppressed 90 free
AS statesman, Mr.. Sumner may have al
lowed his zeal to- Outrun his discretion, and
TINS made mistakes.
TO err is human; to forgive, divine.
1t was evident, however, that his errors
ever leaned to the side of Justice and hu-
mainly. He could not comprehend any fun
damental law that did not embrace in its
provisions the cause of the poor and the
needy; consequently his construction of the
Constitution differed in many essential par
ticulars from that put upon it by other states
men, who were less liberal in their opinions
and more partial and biased in their judy
10 in icf;o
faithful to duty, and true to his country
How appropriate are the following lines in
| tracing his active and useful life:
Staunch at thy post, to meet life's common
doom,
1t scarce seems death to die as thou hast died :;
Thy duty done, thy truth, strength courage
tried,
And all things ripe for the fulfilling tomb
crown would mock thy hearses sable gloom,
Whose virtue raised thee higher than a throne.
Whose faults were erring Natures, not his
Such be thy sentence, writ with Fame's bright
plume,
Amongst the good and great; for thou vast
great,
In thought, worI deed - like mightest ones of
DID,
Full of the honest truth, which makes men bold,
Wise, pure, firm, just; the nobest Romans
state
Became not more ruler of the free
Than thy plain life, high thoughts, and match
less constancy.
Compared to his admirers, Mr.. Summers
circle of intimate friends was not very nu-
merous. Only a few genial spirits impaired
to him social pleasure and mental enjoyment.
He found his chief delight in the companion
ship of books and the study of the fine arts.
But with this rare appreciation for the clas-
sic and the artistic, he possessed in an aston
ishing degree the faculty of adapting himself
| to social intercourse with those whose attain
mcnts were not commensurate with his own.
He was always willing to receive such as
| visited him, seeking counsel or advice, with
| ont regard to present circumstances or form
er condition. His friendship, when formed,
was sincere aAd advantageous. l did myself
| the honor to call upon him occasionally; not
| as often, however, as l felt Inclined for
knew his time was valuable, not only to HIM
| self, but to his country. Never did | call but
| found him glad to see me and ready to Law
| aside constantly cXacting duties, and engage
| in such conversation as invariably resulted
in my being benefited. 1t was very per-
| ceptble that the aim and bent of his master
mind was to elevate to true manhood the race
with which / am particularly identified. l
can never forget, SO long''a l have the fac
ulty of recollection, the warm and friendly
grasp he gave my hand, soon after was adj
mltcd 4 member of this House. On my first
visit to the Senate, he SAID 81 welcome
you to this Chamber. Come over frequently :;
you have rights here as well as Others"
During his senatorial career, embracing a
period of twenty-three years, he has con-
| tended for q moral principle against enemies
more daring and intrepid, perhaps, than any
| other man has encountered in the same space
lDr L.. IL, to
dear than life itself. His conscientious con-
victions that slavery was national crime
and moral sin, could not endure tamely asser-
tions to the contrary. lie needed not the
menacnG denuncations of thOscS' who eat
the bread of wickcdness and drink the wine
of violence" Their eXecratOns could not
move or intimlatc him. Finding these in
str,ments could not deter him or turn the
keen edge of his argument, he was brutaly
and cOwardly assaulted in the Senate Cham
Der, in 1876, by Preston S. Brooks, repre-
sentative from South Carolina. This occurred
few days after his mastery effort setting
forth the " Crimes against Kansas"
| Mr.. Speaker, that unprOvOked assault de-
clared to The country the threatening attitude
of the two sections, one against the other,
and awakened Il determination on the part of
the North to resist the encrOachments of sla-
very. The uneXpressed sympathy that was
| felt for him among the slaves of the South,
when they hca. ID of this unwarranted attack,
was only known to them whose situations at
the time made them cOntidants. Their prayers
and secret opportunities were ever uttered in
the interest of him who was their constant
friend and untlring advocate and defender,
before the high courts of the nation.
Mr.. Speaker, it is said that 'the blood of
the martyrs is the seed of the church. -
With equal truthfulness and force think il
may be said that the blood of Charles Sumner,
spilled upon the floor of the Senate because
he dared to oppose the slave power of the
South, and to interpose in the path of its
progress, was the seed that produced general
emancipation the results of which is too
we'll known to need comment. 1t spoke
silently, but effectively, of the cruelty and
iniquities of that abominable institution.
Notwithstanding that dastardly assault,
his valor was not cooled, neither was his de.
termination abatcd to resist the advancing
steps of that po,oer which was the source Of
SO much distraction to the Republic and dis.
grace to the nineteenth century. Sir, be.
leve in a Providence that shapes events anG
controls circumstances. His hand is mosi
cOnspcuously seen in the life and death Of
the lamented Senator. Though he was q
martyr to the cause of freedom and univer
sal liberty, he nevertheless lived long enough
to sec the struggles of his eventful public life
crowned with victory and the broken shackles
of the slave scattered at his feet, before he
was gathered to the fathers. The emanci
pated and enfranchised will pay grateful
homage to his memory in life, and, dying
bequeath the name of him who was theil
benefactor as bclitting one for the reverence
4 L..