The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-05-18
Zone 0fGrcateStN Northern Politicians and Speakers
The Tariff RObberieS Past and Present
BY DIR. T. b. KINGSBT RY.

Bryant, Emerson, Lowell, Whittier,
Holmes-and nave had due admira-
ton of several Others-FranklIn. jon
affair Edwards, Henry Ward Beecher.
Prescott. Bancroft, Motley, Nathanle
Hawthorne, greatest OF American nov
elists, and Daniel Webster, greatest
builder of speeches and oratlOns IN
the United States, and have had. l be-
lieve, a correct judgment as to OrNllle
Dewey, Edward Everett, Paulding,
Charming and some others. There IS
one New England name. one very OBJ
noxiou to the South, who stands bet
ter with the North, but he is no more
Charles Sumner q man Of real
character and high abilities however
low he may once have ranked in the
estimation Of most of the men in the
South OF intelligence and education
Permit me to write of this man OF
rare gifts and uncommon influence in
the North when in his prime. | refer
to Charles Summer, who was one OF
the foremost Of his people in the years
between 1850 and 1875. | believe he
was one of the greatest public men
in New England. a bitter eneiny of
the South. a Wool-dyed negrophilist
prior to the tremendous war and af-
forwards. of great Influence in Shap-
ing the opinions of his own section. as
he was in England. He died in 1874,
when United States Senator from.
Massachusetts. 1t created no little
sensation throughout h North, was
profound and wide, for he ranked
properly with the first men among all
of his Northern contemporaries. The
South had no lOve for him then, and
does not love him now. Perhaps he
never received ample justice and APP
probation in our great section Of this
country Deep prejudice is apt to
blind and ever sometimes to distort. /
believe in 100 that 1 really properly
estimated Charles Summers superla-
tive endowments in 1904, and / did
not as an editor Withhold my estimate
n convictions. Many years after
his death-perhapS twenty-five or
thirty years, I came across an article
I wrote upon him-author, orator,
statesman. Being of very decided po-
litical opinions then, as now, L wrote
plainly then of the eminent New Ing
lander, and perhaps was tempted into
excessive %plainness as [ did with the
enemies of my beloved Southland
when / wrote Of them. l am none the
less gratified after thirty-fVe years
after Mr.. Summers death, that / had
then an approximately correct view of
this able New Englander, and that /
was able to lift myself above personal
dislike and political a~ntagonism. and
write apreciatively and cordially of
the leading New England Senator of
that precise period. l hope it is good
enough to Justify reprfnting for it may
IL = VI VI oboN a. IL tit
those Of thirty q since.
To show the spirit of my article
written in the long ago, when the
great, dominating North was almost
overcome with grief over the depart
ure forever of one OF most maSterful
men. of one Of the most illustrious
and most richly endowed Of its
orators and statesmen. [ copy a part
Of what L wrote at he time. 1t may
interest some Of my readers in the
vaar 1Q0Q a G If did some of them in
1874. when he died. There was no
prostration but discriminating recog-
milton l shall think after nearly thirty
five years Here is a par OF what |
then wrote:
Mr.. Sumner was of striking pres
ence. and at his death was but little
past his sixty-third year.
He was more generally diSliked in
the South than any other ma1-the
most obnoxious man to q genuine man
Of the South than any man than iV-
ing-nOt even excepting General But
Ter. He was regarded as the uncomprO-
missing enemy of the South. and. as
we have heard. bore q personal ar
tipathy to every man born and r2acrd
in the South. But with all the e. IL
he did-and we have no doubt it was
very great-he was q thoroughly non-
est man in his convictions. for he Vas
thoroughly fanatical. He held CT
tain views With the greatest tenacity,
and pursued them to their end With
a devotion that was at least consistent
if not lovely. Mr.. summer CAV him
self up to his ideas. He could do
more harm by his constant efforts in
some wrong direction. than q hundred
wise men could ~counteract. No mar
was ever a wise leader whose reason
did not always hold the REV He
had a fire within him. there is no
doubt of it, but 1T heated the mind
without purifying it He was a man
of genius, but not a great statesman.
He was the fullest scholar of his
times among all OF our public men.
Indeed, we are of the opinion that in
the completeness of his mental furni-
ture he was the first man of all New
England. He had more learning than
Webster, the Adamses, Winthrop.