[551]
soften when they remember, that it was his noble effort to heal the wounds of that war, and blot out its melancholy traces, which brought upon him the censure of his own State.
For Massachusetts also, this fact will not be without instructive suggestion.
The
Pittsburg Despatch—
Whatever political prejudices occasionally existed against him, he was undoubtedly the highest and most commendable type of American statesmen.
Intelligent, generous-hearted, of refined sensibilities, he expressed the clear truth as he saw it without regard for opposition.
He was a man who could not intentionally be guilty of meanness, and who was above intrigue.
The
Pittsburg Chronicle—
Brave, in days when it took bravery of the most lofty kind, to be the advocate of a lowly and down-trodden race, Sumner will live in the memory of all as a man of the most conspicuous mark.
The
Richmond Journal—
The sudden passing away of this profound scholar and statesman will cause a deep feeling of sorrow to pervade the breasts of his many friends both in this country and Europe.
The Rev. Dr. H. H. Garnet, the eloquent pastor of the Colored Presbyterian Church of New York—himself a fugitive from Slavery in his boyhood—delivered a touching and beautiful address at the great Colored meeting, at Cooper Institute:
He did not know to what religious creed Mr. Sumner belonged, nor need we inquire concerning a man whose faith and life-work are so clearly exhibited; but he did know that the self-sacrificing spirit that was in Christ, the Saviour of the world, and the broad humanity of the Gospel, were as clearly illustrated in his life and public services, as in those of any other man he ever knew.
The great and illustrious statesman literally resisted oppression of every form-even unto blood; and he laid down his life for his brethren.
The old Anti-Slavery leaders are fast passing away.
Chase and Stanton are gone, and John Brown and Lincoln are in their tombs; and to-morrow the mortal remains of Sumner will be laid in their last resting-place.
But the principles of liberty
