Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-01-23
Charles Sumner In London.

apartments N st. james street, not far
from the palace. had been charged
with q message to him from Mr.. Flow.
er. then Mayor Of Straiford-on-A Avon, q
man of great personal worth and an
ardent friend of our country, aud es.
pecially Of our great anti-slavery lead.
ers- Mr.. Sumner room was one flight
from the street. and, going mp the stair
way, met an old man With piercing
eyes and prodigiously, homely features
coming slowly and painfully down. I,
needed but glance to recognize him as
Lord Brougham. A day or two before
/ had seen him with Lord st. Leouaris
II think and three or four more law
lords sitting in the Upper House as
the highest tribunal in the realm. l
wondered then what connection there
vas between legal eninence aud per-
soual ugliness for such set Of noses,
20 preposteDus i'll shape. some Of them
so buloons and warty, and 81. SO bril-
liapt III color such beetling eyebrows,
such vide and fiabby mouths, such CO.
rious patterns of win kled ornament on
uniform ground OF crimson, l never
beheld. Our late Chief.J ustice Shaw
was Somewhat remarkable for his per-
sonai APPEARANCE but if he did resem
ble al idol, as Choate said, he was iu-
f,eIibly placid after his own grim fash.
ion. These were men OF the first order.
but they looked like collection of
vegetables whose growth had been dis
torted by some freak of nature. shall
never cease to regret that my call was
not made ten minutes. earlier but, as
it was, have an impression can never
forget 1t was look Of power. not
greatly pleasing, not at all winning, but
aggressive ami irresistible.
Mr.. Sumner was in excellent spirits,
though not in firm health. After some
desultory conversation upon the friends
in dear old Boston, he began to speak
of some OF the eminent men he hal
lately met. He told me he was in the
House oi Lords few evenings previous
in company with Lord Clarendon, and
was introduced to many of the notables,
among others to Bishop Wilberforce,
then of Oxford and afterwarl Of VIM
chester, the silvery orator whom Punch
nicknamed Soapy Sam" '3 ....
- told the Bishop" said Mr.. Sum
ner, THAT one of the pleasures had
anticipated in England was to hear him
speak, and that hoped some occasion
might arise ut thAt session-that really
could not be content to return to the
United States without having heard
him. The Bishop was evidently
pleased by the compliment, bnt said he
was not prepared, and that he would
not venture to deliver anything crude
in the presence of such critic. When
| renewed my wishes he courteously
but firmly declined. A few minutes
later I met Lord Clarendon, and told
him of the conversation. His lordship
smiled, and then with merry light in
his eyes exclaimed, Re tells you he
won't speak Yes replied, he re-
grets that he is not prepared Then
you mark my word. II the Bishop says
that You will be sure to hear him.
How is that? Inquired. oh. the
Bishop is an excellent man, but he
doesn't keep the eleventh command
ment. My risibles we're excited
by this time, and after broad
laugh l said, The eleventh COM
mandment Pray, what is that 2
Thou shalt not get found out. Now.
we kno,o the Bishop And, true
enough said Mr.. Sumner, 1.-The Jew
bill came up, and the Bishop did speak
with extraordinary eloquence."
In speaking of Lord Brougham and
his brilliant career, Mr.. Sumner ex-
pressed great admiration for his talents
and gave him honor for the reform he
had accomplished, but could not help
seeing that nearer view OF the great
man had been disseminating. Lord
Brougham had shown Mr.. Sum-
flattering attention, and had taken him
to the Bar dinner and also to church
lin Westminster Abbey. believe
The Bar dinner must have been ca
rouse, wcrthier of the time of Charles
II. than that of the severely decorous
Victoria. Mr.. Sumner, it is well known.
had little sense of the ridiculous and
not the least faculty of unbending. He
would not have known what to do
after 10 oclock-yith Burns or Fox or
Sheridan or Dryden. He would have
been shocked at the mad frolics of the
Corinthians CT his native city genera
ton earlier. The scene he witnessed
should have been sketched by Dickens.
There were al the dignitaries in the
| prOIeebIOu, pAt WAtuOuV AVoCc "ou
horsehair. Judges nodded to barristers,
aud chancellors and masters hob. nobbed
with rising solicitors. After the cloth
was removed and the few formalities
were over, the real entertainment be.
gan. Story. telling, comic songs aud
speeches and chatting went on without
cessation. The bottles came and went.
The fun grew fast and furious, and by
IL o'clock it was Babel. At this point,
when man rose to demand attention.
voices would shout. "Sit down, then y
was the laundering chorus. Other in
cidents are unreportable. what
troubled MIR. Sumner was that Broug-
ham seemed in mis- element.
But this relation (of which have
given the pith) came from Mr.. Sumner
in long and involved sentences, with
many q parenthesis, and With an occa-
sional de,omr like that OF pedestrian
stunning q mud puddle or other un-
seemliness 1t took hini several min
u,es in recalling this dinner 20 clo;he
nude ideas is his stately Eogiish so as
to make them presentabie- When, soon
after, Mr.. Sumner sat II the pew With
the ex-Chancellor, aud both knelt on
q -