C. Edwards Lester, Life and public services of Charles Sumner: Born Jan. 6, 1811. Died March 11, 1874.

[224] enemy, let us derive instruction from the Oligarchy we oppose. The three hundred and forty-seven thousand slave-masters are always united. Hence their strength. Like arrows in a quiver, they cannot be broken. The friends of Freedom have thus far been divided. They, too, must be united. In the crisis before us, it becomes you all to forget ancient feuds, and those names which have been the signal of strife. There is no occasion to remember anything but our duties. When the fire-bell rings at midnight, we do not ask if it be Whigs or Democrats, Protestants or Catholics, natives or foreigners, who join our efforts to extinguish the flames; nor do we ask any such question in selecting our leader then. Men of all parties, Whigs and Democrats, or however named, let me call upon you to come forward and join in a common cause. Do not hesitate. When Freedom is in danger, all who are not for her are against her. The penalty of indifference, in such a cause, is akin to the penalty of opposition; as is well pictured by the great Italian poet, when, among the saddest on the banks of Acheron—rending the air with outcries of torment, shrieks of anger, and smiting of hands—he finds the troop of dreary souls who had been ciphers only in the great conflicts of life:

Mingled with whom, of their disgrace the proof,
Are the vile angels who did not rebel,
Nor kept their faith to God, but stood aloof.

Come forth, then, from the old organizations; let us range together. Come forth, all who have stood aloof from parties; here is an opportunity for action. You who place principles above men! come forward. All who feel in any way the wrong of Slavery, take your stand! Join us, ye lovers of Truth, of Justice, of Humanity! And let me call especially upon the young. You are the natural guardians of liberty. In your firm resolves and generous souls she will find her surest protection. The young man who is not willing to serve in her cause—to suffer, if need be, for her—gives little promise of those qualities which secure an honorable age.

fellow-citizens: We found now a new party. Its corner-stone is Freedom. Its broad, all-sustaining arches are Truth, Justice, and Humanity. Like the ancient Roman Capitol, at once a Temple and a Citadel, it shall be the fit shrine for the genius of American Institutions.