[531] The part which we do not return to you is not wholly yours to receive, nor altogether ours to give. It belongs to the country, to mankind, to freedom, to civilization, to humanity. We come to you with emblems of mourning which faintly typify the sorrow that dwells in the breasts upon which they lie. So much is due to the infirmity of human nature. But, in the view of reason and philosophy, is it not rather a matter of exultation, that a life so pure in its personal qualities, so high in its public aims, so fortunate in the fruition of noble effort, has closed safely before age had marred its intellectual vigor, before time had dimmed the lustre of its genius! May it please your Excellency,—Our mission is completed. We commit to you the body of Charles Sumner. His undying fame the muse of history has already taken in her keeping.The Governor tendered to the Committee the thanks of the Commonwealth for the tender care of the precious dust of its Representative, assuring them that it should ever be cherished by Massachusetts as among its most precious treasures. The hospitalities of the Commonwealth were then extended to the Congressional Committee, who were escorted to the Revere House. The crowd then retired from the State House, the iron gates were closed, and the Capitol of Massachusetts was left to a night of silence and gloom.
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