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a herculean effort that has never been equalled, except by Hamilton's address before the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
I remember Sumner in the summer of 1860 walking under my father's grape trellis, when the vines were in blossom, with his arms above his head, and saying: “This is like the south of France.”
To think of Europe, its art, history, and scenery, was his relaxation from the cares and excitement of politics; but there were many who did not understand this, and looked upon it as an affectation.
Sumner in his least serious moments was often self-conscious, but never affected.
He talked of himself as an innocent child talks.
On all occasions he was thoroughly real and sincere, and he would sometimes be as much abashed by a genuine compliment as a maiden of seventeen.
At the same time Sumner was so great a man that it was simply impossible to disguise it, and he made no attempt to do this.
The principle that all men are created equal did not apply in his case.
To realize this it was only necessary to see him and Senator Wilson together.
Wilson was also a man of exceptional ability, and yet a stranger, who did not know him by sight, might have conversed with him on a railway train without suspecting that he was a member of the United States Senate; but this could not have happened in Sumner's
1905. E. P. DUtton and Co. Boston,.
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