[553] Smalley, the accomplished London correspondent of The New York Tribune, sent from the English journals, which during the Alabama discussions spoke of the leader of the American Senate with so much bitterness:
‘It is an honor to The Times, however,’ Mr. Smalley remarks, that it lifts itself high enough to say:Yet when we look back upon the 30 years during which Mr. Charles Sumner was among the foremost in the United States, we must admit that his career was such as to deserve the highest admiration and gratitude of his fellow-citizens; and those who are disposed to judge his faults with severity must remember how much there was to provoke to intemperance of judgment the man who was pursued with such animosity that he barely escaped with life from a cowardly assault in the Senate Chamber at Washington.The Daily News, which, during the arbitration, was one of Mr. Sumner's most hostile critics, lays aside its animosities in order to do him justice. The article is obviously by one who knew him, and thus speaks of his appearance and character:During his recent visit to England, his friends noticed that he was growing somewhat bowed and heavy, and showing rather prematurely the weight of years. But until this very late period he had the advantage of as striking a presence as any public man in our day has ever displayed. Physically, there was, perhaps, no statesman of our time so remarkable, except Prince von Bismarck; and without odious comparisons it may be observed that Mr. Sumner had a very handsome face, as well as a form of almost gigantic proportions, and a bearing expressive of singular energy and strength of will. His character and career as a politician were well in harmony with his appearance. Whatever he willed he strongly willed. All the flexibilities and docilities, all the quickness that suits itself with ease to new conditions, all the dexterity which extracts the utmost advantage out of unavoidable compromises, all the artistic self-control with which clever statesmen have sometimes contrived to give to defeat itself the appearance of a qualified victory—all this was wanting to Mr. Sumner. He had clear principles, a strong will, and a vigorous intellect, which went straight at obstacles, and either crushed over them at once, or drew back and tried to crush over them again. He was an accomplished scholar, a good linguist, a master of European literature, and almost a devotee of art. During his latest visit to Europe, a year or two back, he found no pleasure so great as that of ransacking the old bookshops and bookstalls of Paris for quaint and curious editions to add to his collection. He was a great talker upon
