Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-04-19
WENDELL PHILLIPS MEMORY
\ Monster Meeting of Cultured Admi-
rers Meld at Boston.


a Monster Meeting of Cultured Admit
rers Held at Boston.
BOsTON, April 1s.-The Wendell
Phillips memorial services at fremont
Temple this afternoon attracted a more
notable audience than on any similar oc-
casion in Boston. The demand for tickets,
if fully supplied, would have more than
six times filled the space within the
building. The assembly comprised many
Of the fellow workers of the deceased
orator, besides distinguished gathering of
ladies and gentlemen in sympathy with
his philanthrOpic acts. Among those
present were the members of the City
| Council, heads OF the city departments,
the School Committee, several eX-MayOrs
OF Boston, Gov. Robinson and staff, the
Governors Council, the Justices Of the
Supreme and Superior Courts, with the
standing Justices of the Municipal
Court, Collector WOrthingtOn, Post
master TObey, United States Marshal
| Banks, United States District Attorney
Sanger, and United States Court Justices
! Gray, Lowell and Nelson. The old AbOli-
ton party was represented by EliZur
Wright, L. NJ. Alcott. Rev. A. A. Miner.
/ Samuel LOngfellow, T. w. HigginsOn, Alb
hey w. May. Rev. James Freeman Clarke,
Julia W. Howe, William LLOYD Garrison,
II. +. Blackwell and John q. Whittier.
The other representative persOnages were
Rev. Edward Everett Hale, Rev. Phillips
| Brooks, T. b. Aldrich, w. d. Howells, E.
j. Whpple, President Eliot, Justin Win
sor, the Librarian Of Harvard College,
William EndicOtt, Jr., IL. z. Kidder, r.
II. Dana, and RObt. c. Winthrop. The
exercises began at 3 O'Clock p. IN. with an
organ voluntary, which was followed by
a quartette singing, loyal to the End"
Rev. Minot j. Savage having offered a
prayer, the quartette sang an ode to
"Truth," written by him. Miss Belle
| Cushman Eaton read a poem written for
the occasion by Mrs. Mary Z. Blake,
which was followed by an ode, ''Humani-
tvs Hero" composed by Rev. Mr. Savage,
and rendered by a select chorus. Mayor
Martin then introduced George William
Curtis, who delivered an eloquent eulogy
upon the dead philanthrOpist.
The following are extracts from Mr..
| Curtis eulogy:
Massachusetts, is ALWAYS rich in fitting
voices to commemorate the virtues and SER
vices her illustrouf citizens, and in every
strain of ahectlonate admiration and thought
full Discrimination the Legislature, the pull
pit and the press: his old assoc iates. who saw
the glory of ms prime; the younger genera
ton. which chershes the tradition of his de-
voted life, have spoken the praise of Wendell
thought that the great work Of his life was
not local or limited; that it was large as
liberty and as broad as humanity, and that
his name, therefore. is not the treasure of a
state only, but national possession. An ora
tor whose consecrated eloquence. like the mu-
sic of AmphlOn raising the wall of Thebes
was chief force in giving to the American
Union the impregnable defense of freedom, is
a common benefactOr; the West may we'll an
swer to the East, the South to the North, and
Carolina and California, Minnesota and New
Nn~ mi la w nf Npz
England and own in his death a common be-
rcavement.
The revolutionary tradition was the native
air Of Wendell Phillips. When he was born
in this city, 70 years ago last November. some
| of the chief revolutionary figures still lin
gereg. John Adams was living at Quincy
and Thomas jefferson at Monticello; Elbridge
Gerry was Governor of the State, James Mad
isOn was President and the second war with
| England was at hand Phillips was 9 years
old, when in 1920. the most important debate
after the adoption Of the Constitution. the de-
bate Of whose tumultuOus elimination and
triumphant close he was To be the great ora
tor, began, and the second heroic epoch OF our
history. in which he was a master figure,
opened in the long and threatening con-
test over the admission Of Missouri.
Unheeding the transactions which were
shaking the land and setting the scene
of his career, the young boy. of the best New
England lineage and prospects, played upon
Beacon Hill. and at the age of is entered
Harvard College. His classmates recall his
manly pride and reserve, with the charming
manner, the delightful conversation, and the
atlluence of kindly humOr, which was never
lost. He sauntered and gently studied; not
devoted student, not in the bent of his mind,
nor In the special direction of sympathy, fore
casting the reformer, but already the orator
and the easy master of the college platform;
and still, in the memory OF his old COM
panons, he walks those college paths in I'M
fading youth. figure of patrlcian port, of
sovereign grace-a prince coming to his king
dom.
The tranquil years at the university ended,
and he graduated in 1881, the year Of Nat.
Turner's insurrectiOn in Virginia. the year,
also, in which Mr.. Garrison issued the lib
erdtOr, and, for unequivOcally proclaiming
the principle of the Declaration of Indepen-
dence, was denounced as a public enemy
Like other gently nurtured Boston boys, Phil
lips began the study Of law, and, as it pro-
ceeded, doubtless the syrens sang to him as to
the noble youth of every country and time.
The time during which Phillips was study
ing law was the hOurof the profOundest moral
apathy in the history Of this country. The
fervor Of revolutionary feeling was long since
spent, and that of the final anti slavery con-
test was but just kndled. The question of
slavery indeed had never been quite forgotten.
There was always an anti-slavery sentiment
in the country, but there was also a slavery
interest, and the invention of the cotton gin
in 1889 gave slavery the most powerful and in
sidiOus impulse that it had ever received. At
once commercial greed was allied with pOlti-
cal advantage and social power, and the active
anti-slavery sentiment rapidly declined. Ten
years after the invention Of the cotton gin, the
General Convention of the Abolition Societies
deplOred the decay of public interest in eman-
cipati0n. Forty years later, in 1888, while
Phillips was still studying law, the veteran
Pennsylvania Society lamented that since
1894 it had seen one after another of those So
cieties disband, until it was left almost alone
to mourn the universal apathy. When Wen
dell Phillips was admitted to the bar in 1884
the slave interest in the United States en-
trenched in the constitution, in trade, in the
church, in society, in historic tradition. and in
the prejudice OF race, had already become, al
though unconsciOusly to the country. one of
the most powerful forces in the world. The
English throne in 1925, the old French mon
archy in 1880, the English aristOcracy at the
beginning of the century, were not so strong
as slavery in this country fifty years ago The
grasp of England upon the American colonies
before the revolution was not so sure, and was
never 50 menacing to liberty upon this
continent, as the grasp of slavery upon the
Union in the pleasant days when the Young
lawyer sat in his Office careless of the anti
slavery agitation, and testing with his old col
lege comrades over the clients who did not
come.
Bat on an October afternoon in 1885, while
he was still sitting eXpectant in his office, the
long awaited client came, but in what an
amazing form. The young lawyer was es-
pecially Boston boy He loved his native
city with that lofty pride and intensity of local
affection which IS peculiar to her citizens
81 was born in Boston, he said long after
ward, ''and the good name of the old town
u
In the mild afternoon his windows were open
and the sound of unusual disturbance drew
him from his office. He fastened along the
street, and suddenly, stones throw from the
scene Of the Boston massacre. in the very
shadow of the old South, he beheld i'm Boston
a spectacle which Boston cannot now con-
ceive. He saw American women insulted
for befriending their innocent sisters, whose
children were sold from their arms Hesaw an
American citizen assaied by furious mob in
the city of James Otis, for saying, with James
Otis, that mans right tOliberty is inherent
and nalienable. Himself a citizen soldier
he looked to see the majesty of the people
maintaining the authority of law; but to his
own startled surprise, lac saw that the rightful
defenders of law against the mob were them
selves the mob. The city, whose dauntless
free speech had taught a country how 10 be |
independent. he saw raising parricidal hand
against its parent-Liberty. 1t was enough. |
As the Jail doors closed upon Garrison to save
his life, Garrison and his cause had won their |
most powerful and renowned ally. With the
setting of that October sun vanished forever |
the career of prosperous ease, the gratifica-
ton of ordinary ambition which the genius |
and the accomplishment of Wendell Phillips |
had seemed to fOretell. Yes. the long awaited |
client had come at last. Scared, scOrned |
and fOrsaken, that covering and frendless |
client was wrOnged and degraded humanity !
The great soul saw and understood.