Year: 1876

SAsOAOOSt AAeS~~~
end" that means was to be found in divi-
sion within the Republican party-the end
q Confederate Democratic restoration, with
negro sabordination as the corner. stone of
. resectionalized South, this compact South
being the determining balance Of power in
the electoral college of the nation. But in
al my conversations with Sumner on this
subject he never for one moment wavered
in his. allegiance to the civil rights of the
negro or the cause Of the political brother
hood of man, which the colored citizen rep
Mr.. Summers and Mr.. Greeley's
one mistake consisted in the fact that they
had too much confidence in Democratic hu-
man nature. They relied also too much upon
the professions of the Confederate leaders
of the South. Mr.. Greeley and Mr.. Sumner
both believed, for instance, that a Liberal
Republican administration would have led
to the immediate recognition of the civil
rights of the negro in each Southern State
by voluntary State legislation. And yet it
was very easy for Mr.. Greeley, Mr.. Sum
ner and Mr.. Schurz to have trusted the in
tegrity of Cor fed crate professions on this
question by asking the Baltimore conven-
ton at the time to place Frederick Douglas
on the Liberal Presidential ticket as
"Vice" with Horace Greeley! Or they might
have asked the passage of resolution
pledging the Confederate wing of the party
to the policy of aking negro gentleman
q member of Mr.. Greeley's Cabinet. This
invincible test would have shown how little
love of the human brotherhood had to do
with Democratic professions. But In all
that matter Sumner was clear and true and
pure and open and honorable as he was in
every transaction and relation in life. OF
this inside history of the Liberal Republi-
can movement we will have more to say
hereafter. Let us now turn to the consid-
GRAFTON of the prophetic side of Summers
character.


Charles Sumner as . political prophet or
foreseer of far-off events, is creator than
Charles Sumner as Senator. or orator, or
political leader. In fact the element OF
moral prophecy formed the leading trait in
the great Senator'S mental formation. 1t
was this which enabled him to foresee, as
he clearly did, the downfall of American
slavery when he stood alone in the Senate
of the Uuited States as the representative
of the anti slavery sentiment of Massachu-
setts, and when the power Of slavery domi-
mated in every department Of the national
government. The same wonderful intuition
enabled him later on to see, also, when all
others considered the negro question settled,
that justice to the emancipated race through
the recognition of civil rights constituted
the only bond which could unite in per-
fect good faith the Confederate South to
the Republican North, and make emanci-
patton good. Hence Mr.. Summers admoni-
tions in season and ont of season in behalf
of the necessity of securing the civil rights
of the negro as the condition precedent to
reconciliation between the estranged sec-
tions of the Union. This one thought oc-
cupied his mind to the exclusion of all
others during the last years Of his life, and
"take care of my civils rights bill," were
the last words the great and good man ut
tered. With these words upon his lips his
soul passed into eternity.


But this warning was not the only legacy
which Sumner loft to his countrymeD. In
his later years he had prepared remarka-
BILE book, entitled prophetic Voices Con-
cerning America" This rare book is to-
day the most priceless gift ever bestowed


BY any man of any age on any people. 1t
reflects the element of moral prophecy


which formed the distinguishing character
istic of the great Senator and of which Ihave
spoken. In this volume he shows that re-


publican America must stand for the pOlit-
ical brotherhood Of man, or that it will
cease to stand. His prophetic Voices" is
the book to which Sumner alluded in his
dying moments as If he wished to add
something to its pages. In this book he
has foreshadowed the future of the repub-
lie. The admonition contained in the pages
of this little book can not be passed un-
needed with impunity. If America is true
to the civil rights of the negro and true to
the sublime idea of republican brotherhood
as illustrated in Summers life and works,
the nation will stand in its freedom the
hope and light of the world; if not, not
As people we are now face to face with
the alternatives, the selection of which will
lead either to monarchy m in the New World
or to the ascendency of the republican idea
throughout the world. The cause Of
the negro IN this crisis is the cause
of the republic, beca use it is the cause of
humanity and of civil liberty. The negro
and the nation therefore have a common
destiny. They must stand or fall together,
and the last words and works of Charles
Sumner in regard to the negro furnish the
guiding principles which are to lead us as
people to the realization of the promise
made IN the declaration of American inde-
pendence adopted at Philadelphia in l776
and of the pledge given by Abraham Lin
coin, as President of the United States, on
the field of Gettysburg in 1864. The prom
ise is that all men are born free and equal
and are entitled to personal liberty and
civil freedom. The pledge is that "a gov
ernment of the people for the people by the
people shall not perish from the earth"
The negro in his life aspirations represents
the integrity of this promise and this
pledge. Charles Sumner shows that on the
realization of this great fact turns the des-
tiny of the republic. Aud yet we should
never forget that above Sumner. above
Washington, above Jefferson, above Lin
whose will alone is wisdom and love and