New-York tribune., 1909-05-02
CHARLES SUMNER.

i-slaz,erv leaders who emerged about
-. came time from the groups Of mediocriues
.,oi1p them were Wendell Phillips and
-,-lae Sumner. SO essentially was Sumner an
,..a1ie+ that he might naturally have cast In
-. l.. with those who preferred ideals to party
oIi+ics but other influences finally prevailed
- embarked on that career which in due
',-.o made him the leader of the anti-slavery
- n whom freedom seemed possible by po-
-, methods on the whole, even among
- ,ro,n Of men which included Andrew, L
- sumner must be put first. His province
,a,ger- the range of his activities greater;
.,,--a were more moments than one when
: ms +Ie most conspicuous figure in pubhc
-. of his scholarship. his legal attainments'
"a. ,7,1tffgrious and accurate knowledge, MS I'M
-,e,sa mowers Of work. everybody has heard.
: IA not enter upon that. The sumner Sl'aIi
,esk Of is the Sumner knew
+,,a account. published in these columns. or
~ FIRST meeting with Bismarck, in looo' l silu
.bo+ had heard much from Bismarck when l
I'D not repeat on my return, saw sumner
.rr,ost instantly he asked what II was DIS
-, had told me which I could not repeat
Tho orestjon was embarrassing enough ana
.,svsred rather slowly; Mr.. Sumner much
- ,-ba+ Count Bismarck said that seemed 10
ros confidential related TO diplomatic and inter-
-.+s,-,s1 matters. and you are Chairman OF the
sc Committee on Foreign Relations II
,ro,7l5 not have been said 10 you sumner re-
hsc+ed a moment. then answered:
u sunnose YOU are right. I won't ask you
,bo,,f ANYTHING which you think you ought hoI
- rsnaat. But you must consider that ho'-
,i+bsranding all that Bismarck has accom-
-usbed- he Is still an unknown force. My own
he,;eF is that the future Of Germany hes IN A'S
hands The man who could defy the Puon0
orfnion Of Europe in that business WIN Zen
-, ,-+o couI5 DEFY the public opinion and
Parliament Of Prussia, who coeld govern 1oui
,a-s without a Budget or majority, VINO
corl5 make war without supplies. and Wltllou'
,,s country behind him; and his King only
-,-o-+ a+ the last moment to his poicy;-ljiaI
-., ,bo7ch he has put Austria under his 1eet
- Dr,ssfs in Austria's place at the head o-
(-o-r,arv is in my judgment, only at the De
s,r5-r- of his career. He is the one supTei-eiS
Interesting figure in Europe at this moment
have never met him: probably may never meet
him But II IS important TO me TO know all
-, about him Violate no confidence buI Ten
ms what YOU can. I viii make no use OF II eA-
cent 30 inform my own mind When nave 10
5eaI with Count Bismarck, want TO De aDle ~
r,c+,7-e 10 myself what manner OF man ne Is
In diplomacy, a knowledge Of men Is nan '-'7
battle"
This long SneeGl was Nl-el- -ea~~-A--N--
-. He was seldom brief or simple his mlho
.-eo-o5 In r,-ivate as in public he was
o-s+o-ica1 The sentences, as they came from
"a. 75ns seemed 20 have passed through mould
He smoke with model before him The most
sincere Of men, he was never content TO be MN
self and nobody else. In the murnur OF lh9
flowing periods he often uttered, you hearu
scboes Of Cicero Of Bossuet, Of Burke Fe'-
hsrz il was true OF hiun,-as Emerson salo' Ho1
Of hiua-that his library overloaded MS VIZ ne
moved as II in armour; a mixed but apt meta
phor The chair in which he sat was pidl-
form. and his one listener was an audience lie
,as5acted in his private talk. none Of the arts
of the -l1etorician- Whoever has heard Sumner
in the Senate or IN Faneul Hall must remember
the imposing presence Of the man; his stature
and the Ieonine head with its waving black
rnane which every moment he tossed from MS
so-ebead: only to have It fall again half over
his ewes. The strong featuRes stood out-strongly'
the ewes were alight, the lips moulded into plas-
tic form the most stubborn sentences; ana Ile
whole blended into one expression after ans
other at the viii Of the speaker; each expression
the visible image Of his thought BE was 50
bent on bending his audience 10 his will that ne
used without stint every weapon at ms COM
mand-
In private, all this was little overwhelming
AS it comes back 70 me in memory, my view o.
It is probably more critical than IL was While
sat and looked and listened. But II still seems
TO me extremely fne. In England-the country
Of all others where simplicity counts for most
Sumner was thought emphatic; and the Eng
lsh co not like emphasis, but they liked sum
ner. He was first here as young man, in 1872
and 1910, when he was still in the late thirtiesi
and these mannerisms were presumably less
hammered or less aggressive. But the men ant
women whom Sumner then came to know were
men and women who dwelt on the heights.
suppose the average Of serious culture at tha'
time n that class was at least high as 1t !.
now. They liked a man with a full mind sum
ner had that: and he poured il out In a Ilooo
Macaulay had taught his set, or the seVera
sets 10 which ne more or less belonged, TO endure
conversation which took the form Of monoIogu'
and riyalled the laborious accuracy Of cyclo
pseda. People suffered under him Lady Hoi
land and Hayward and Lord Melbourne ah'
others rebelled. but there were not many who re
helled- Summers path had therefore been mad
plain. nor was he dogmatic in Macaulays way
He was human and his enthusiasms were hu
man, and he was sympathetic
Bat when Sumner, in 1863, made his Indirec
Claims speech in the Senate, seeking 20 induc
the government TO demand from England In
direct Damages for the depredations Of the Ala
hama his popularity in this country came to
sudden end His best friends those wh
resented this speech most hotly: and Brigh
most Of all To Bright I'once undertook TO de
fend Sumner or 10 explain him, for I thought h
had been misunderstood. But Bright would no
hear II. The only defence is silence he ex
claimed. and he was the more angry when
said: That viii do for epigram" And W
never referred 20 It again.
So far I could, satisfied Summers inter
Z chr