Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1874-03-27
For !ha ,journ IL
--s - 1 OF s1f ~ ~ ~
Charles ssaslasaUr-Erl W crss or:ssEia.

lie 1s dead, Ihe Sfea6 sDpas uee OF
our national happiness, has fallen, bat
alas, not until exhf Ia ions, OF its deadly
poison had spread with tlreir blightlng
and destroying powel@into every sec
ton of -four once peacefnl, prosperous
and happy land. 49,.
How blessed for our country, were it
possible to say with truth, the evil that
he did dies with him. How propitious
would be the prospect for the future
peace and happiness Of this nation, did
the same grave which hides from view
his Wondering form, contain in its
folds of silence and forgetfulness, the
effects of the miscellaneous evils and
the diab0licai acts, with which rs Il
people we have been soSbitteriy cursed,
| during the reign of terror, extending
through the twelve years past, as the
| fruits which the labor OF his life pro-
| duced.
AND now the universal yankee ma
ton are bowling their discordant walls
of sorrow at his loss, and singing peans
to his praise. Ii the jingle of sound
ing brass and tinllling cymbal, car SO
far transform life of bitter, revenge
| full fanaticism, that in the hearts and
| minds Of his countrymen, his memory
| shall be cherished and revered, as that
of patriot, a statesman a8d a martyr
| ed Saint, then for his memory, bril-
liant future is already fixed.
Statesman he was, if the political
economy of our nation taught that
| its vast and varied interests of con-
merce, manufactures and agriculture
its general welfare and prosperity;
could all be legislated for-fostered
and protected, at one tel SaUOOl1 by
| Oh Cf ell tot
! he was, if the whole United States was
concentrated, Qike the sixty pounds of
beef condensed into gill cup i'll the
hide-bound, puritanical, fanatical,
witch burning State of Massachusetts,.
OF the over-bearing spirit, the in
tolerance, the bigotry, the self con-
ceit, and the exalted SELF righteous
ness of the people of lis State, lie was
perhaps, as perfect and well developed
a representative, as 1t was possible for
the Almighty to make out of elements
simply hihli0n.
Philanthropist and patriot he was,
if those virtues consist in despoiling
your neighbor of his Inherent rights
and lawfully vested possessions, with
out compensation, or in sacrificing
upon the unhalloWed altar, Of personal
ambition, indictive hate, and the
wild, utopian theories OF fanaticism-
the lives OF thousands of the noblest
Anglo-Saxon nation on the earth.
The day will yet come, if il is not
already davning, when the northern
people VIII feel and see and even ac
| knowledge, that the cost to the nation
in life and treasure--as we'las the vast
evils which have been entailed by the
war-was q price far too great to pay
for carrying out the abolition platform,
the pet idea, The embodiment, the con-
densation OF all that there was Of SUhi-
nCr. intellectually and morally. AID
that they have paid dear fer toi'i&ilf.
1t is in vain to endeavor to radiate
his brow with the halo of Il martyrs
crown-martyrs are generally sup
posed to suffer fer their principles or
conscience sake-Sumner suffered his
punishment at the hands of Brooks on
account Of the vile and slanderous ut
terances OF a yenomed tongue and ma
lignant heart. The browning idea Of
his mind, if q man can be said to have
a crowning idca-who seems to hav5
lived only for one purpose, was to com
pei by legal force. the white people Of
the Southern States to admit, lie and
Islander upon their race--that the ne
gro was morally, socially and mentally
their equal force upon them the
adherence of their soui--the moustrous
crin,e of miscegcnation aud amalgama-
ton. Doubtless he had long ago sat
isfel his mind that equal was the IA
tire between himself and them. To
this no one can obiect-he was doubt
less more familiar with his own in
stincts, passions and prejudices, his
OWN moral standard and social require
ments, than any other living man.
Aud if knowledge is the result Of
study and investigation, he ought GER
tainiy to have been most intimately
familiar with the corresponding senti-
ments OF passion and prejudice, the
neral standard, social requirements
and mental endowments of his darling
negro race; and if upon comparison
with his own, he gloried in the alsuio-
. g.y, why should anyone else object?
he had a Massachusetts Constitu-
tional' right to estimate hj~ cgu4i%,
and sc7cct his conlpcer$. Poor old
man, The only regret of his dying
breath was, ''his book was aot finish
ed How oblivious Of TIE misery lie
had caused, was not tins sudden
ending OF this inco,npleted srpyN of
crr0r an especial act OF Providence?
: Even that work-if finished would
; fail to convince the Southern people
that the negroes were their equals,
however fondly and delightfully."- the
Massachusetts, ruritans may cherish
this idea IN rCyGrd to, and tD, NCDI-
3CiI'CS.
Ho goes to the land of rest unsatis-
fed, the darling desire Of his heart
not fulfilled; his civil rights bill has
not. become a law, unconstitutional
and unjust.
It cannot be improper for every pa
triot to rejoice, even in his final and
, bitter disappointment, and deyoutIy
to trust, thai along with him to
the land OF shadows, may pass every
00cOcatc at its uiOptjDn, ere this
climax OF infamy, OF persecution and
: cowardly oppression, Of a PROSTATE
} and fallen foe-shaI be perpetrated
, to the endless shame and disgrace of
our nation and orr race.
{. Poor old man, he lived long enough
to feel upon himself the terrible reac-
ton of those passions of anger and
yindictivencss and that thirst for ven
geance, which had urged and stimu-
lated his actions and Speeches during
his whole career.
He lived long enough 10 see himself
III the RauIcal party, whose creation,
strength and power he had SO largely
contributed to establish, with few
friends and no followers.
He lived long enough to feel the
base ingratitude OF the race, to free
which he had deluged his country
with blood and with woe, who refused
to give the slightest heed when he
counselled them to vote flor Greeley
''Sie transit gloria mundi"-
Let pity shed its tears over his
grave, and let us for the future be to
Charles Sumner dead, more charitable
than he when living ever was to us.
de mortIlis nil, nisi bonum.''
Come impressive silence and drop
| thy pail upon his tomb"
This much [ have written, not to
crafty u spirit OF resentment or of
person ill-will, but to notice, that by