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Edward L. Pierce, Memoir and letters of Charles Sumner: volume 2, Chapter 28: the city Oration,—the true grandeur of nations.—an argument against war.—July 4, 1845.—Age 34. (search)
nce contented himself too often with mere commonplaces of patriotism. What was said was not vigorous or pointed enough to stimulate citizens to earnest reflection and good deeds. During the decade preceding 1845, the orators themselves, in opening sentences, sometimes confessed a decline of public interest in the festival; and they strove to revive it by the selection of a more impressive theme. The three city orators who immediately preceded Sumner were Peleg W. Chandler in 1844, Charles Francis Adams in 1843, and Horace Mann in 1842. They each spoke with earnestness and power; the first two on historical subjects, and the last on popular education, to which he was then devoting himself with extraordinary industry and enthusiasm. But among the orations which were delivered during three quarters of a century, Sumner's was the first which attacked a custom and opinions approved by popular judgment and sanctioned by venerable traditions. The others, even when speaking well for the