C. Edwards Lester, Life and public services of Charles Sumner: Born Jan. 6, 1811. Died March 11, 1874.

[523] than all his friends had feared. There was a great profusion of choice flowers upon and around the coffin, some from the White House and some from colored ladies, and the floral offerings, like the company gathered to honor his memory, were from all classes and conditions. The rotunda, the Senate chamber and the porches were heavily draped. The great building, like the multitude it contained, was in mourning. Long before the hour for the services in the Senate drew near, the galleries were crowded, and nearly all the Senators were promptly in their places. The House of Representatives, the Supreme Court, the President and all the Cabinet, were successively announced, and each were received by the whole body present standing. General Sherman and many other officers of the army, Admiral Porter, with a number of his associates, and the authorities of the district were present. The legations sent a large representation, and the diplomatic gallery was filled with the wives and families of the Cabinet and the legations. At precisely 12.20 the pall-bearers appeared at the door with the coffin. The great company, so fully representing the nation, rose and stood in profound silence as the coffin, covered with flowers, but open and so exposed that all could see, was carried slowly up to its place before the desk. The arrangement brought those together who, had not death stepped in, would seldom so meet. Nearest to the head of the coffin sat the President; next to him Secretary Fish, and nearest the foot Senator Schurz. And here in the presence of this death, they were all moved alike to tears. The nation in its three branches, legislative, executive and judicial, stood close around the coffin, and the people from all quarters of the land looked down upon it. The eyes of the great throng seemed to wander from the coffin to the one empty chair and unoccupied desk, and back to the features of the dead Senator in his coffin. The religious exercises were brief, lasting but half an hour, and at their close Senator Carpenter, in a tone and manner which none who heard and felt will ever forget, made this simple and beautiful announcement: ‘And now the Senate of the United States entrusts the remains of Charles Sumner to its sergeant-at-arms and the committee appointed to convey them to his home, there to commit them, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in the soil of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Peace to his ashes.’ It was by far the most impressive sentence uttered in the chamber, and all were deeply moved by it.