Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-04-19

dreas upon the life and virtues OF the
dead n9ltator. The text of Mr.. Gurus
speech is given as follows
MIR. CURTIS SPEECH.
Massachusetts is always rich In
fitting voices to commemorate the Vlr-
tues and services of her illustrious clt-
liens, and In every strair. OF affections
ntc admiration and thoughtiul dis-
elimination, the Legislature, the pull
pit, and the press; his old associates,
who saw the glory OF his prime. the
Younger generation which cherishes
The tradition of his devoted lie, have
spoken the praise nf Wendell Phillips.
hut his native city has justly Thought
that the great work of his life was not
local or limited; that II was as large rs
liberty and as broad rs humanity, and
that Ills name, therefore, Is not the
treasure Of state only, but II national
possession. An orator whose conse-
Grated eloquencc, like the music of
Amphion raising the wall of Thebes,
was chief force in giving to the
American Union the impregna5!e de.
fence OF freedom, Ia u common bene-
factor; the West may well answer to
the East, the South To the Moth, and
Carolina and California, Minnesota
and New York mingle their sorrow
with that of New England, and own
In his death common bereavement.
The revolutionary tradition was the
native air of Wendell Phillips. When
he was born in this city, seventy.three
years ago last November, some of the
chief revolutionary figures still
fingered. John Adams was living ut
Quincy, and Thomas Jefferson at
Monticello; Elbridge Gerry was gov
crnor Of the state, James Madison was
president, and the second war with
England was at hand. Phillips was
nine years old when, in 1920, the most
important debate after the adoption of
the constitution, the debate of whose
tumultuous elimination and tiium-
! plant close he was to be the great
orator, began, and the second heroic
epoch OF our history, In which he was
q master figure, opened in the long
and threatening contest over tho ad-
mission of Missouri. Unheeding the
transactions which were shak-
ing the land and setting the scene
OF his career, the young boy, of the
best New England lineage and pros
pec's, played upon Beacon hill, and Mt
the age of sixteen entered Harvard col
lege. His classmates recall his manly
pride and reserve, with the charming
manner, the delightful conversation
and the nilluencc of kindly humor,
which was never lost. He saumered
and gently studied; not devoted stu
dent, not in the bent of his mind. nor
in the special direction of sympathy
forecastlng the reformer, but already
the orator and the easy master of TIA,
college platform; aud still, in tn,
| memory of his old companions, hs
walks those college paths In unfadinl
youth, n ilgule of patrician port, o
sovereign grace-a prince
: COMING TO HIS KINGDOM.
The time during which Phillips wa
studying law was the hour of the pro
!, foundest moral apathy In the histor,
n iutionary feeling was long since spent
=. and that of the final anti.slavery cor
y test was but just kindled. The que.
IS tlon of slavery indeed had never bee
r quite forgotten. There was always "a
f. anti-slavery sentiment In the countr,
hut there was also a slavery Interest
and the invention of the cotton Gin 4
+ 1883 gave slavery the most poWerfr
70 and instdlous impulse that Ii had eve
a received. AT once commercial gree
was allied with political advantag
and social power, and the active ant
slavery sentiment rapidly declined
Ten years after the Invention of TN
cotton GIN, the general convention {
y the Abolition societies deplored IN
decay OF public interest in emancip,
ton. Forty years later, in 1888. Will
:, Phillips was still studying law. tn
e. veteran Pennsylvania society i,
In mented that since 1894 II had seen on
~ after another of those societies dlsbau,
ss until IL was left almost alone to mour
II theuniversal apathy. When Wende
,e Phillips was admitted to the bar
N 1871 the slave interest In the Unite
d States entrenched in the constit 1t !ol
y. ~ In trade, in the church, in s.
rs clety, In historic tradition, and In Il
:. prejudice of race, had already beoom
ia although unconsciously to the countr
70 one of the most powerf,
10 forces in the world. IN
~ French monarchy In 1850, the Englis
10 aiistocracy IN the beginning of Ii
~ century, were not so strong as SLAYER
In this country nifty years ago. m
90 grasp of England upon the America
y, colonies before the revolution wus n,
or 40 sure, and was never so menacing
:, liberty u on this continent
III AsTHE oRAspor SLAVERY
~, upon the Union In the pleasant da,
up when the young lawyer sat In II
nm Office careless of the anti.slavery al
ne tation, and jesting with his old COLLIE
vs. comrades over the clients who did N
az come.
To- But on an October afternoon in ls3
H. while he was still sitting expectant
ed his office, the long awaited client cam
ri: but In what an amazing form! III
so young lawyer WAS especially Bosto
boy. Ho loved his native city vii
that lofty pride and intensity Of loo
affection which II peculiar to her eli
~ Gems. ~ was born In Boston,
NJ said long atterward, "aud tho go,
In name of tho old town il bound I
IN. with every fiber of my heart.u In ii
ny mild afternoon his windows We're on,
k and the sound OF unusual disturban
M drew him from his office. He hasten,
Ter along the street aud auddeuly.
'ty stono's throw from the scene OF ri
Boston massacre, In the very shade
OF the old South, he beheld In Bostt
a spectacle which Boston cannot mo-
conceive. lie saw American wome
=, insnlted for befriending their innoce,
NJ sisters whose children were sold fro,
Nj their arms. He saw an American al,
,ot zen assailed by furious mob In m
' 'v city OF James Otis FOR saving. vii
~ James Otis, that man
ne right to liberty Is nhera'
and inalienahle. Himself n eIlly,
hA Il 10, a..