First, he was the most accomplished man in public life in America; second, the ablest orator in Congress; third, of unblemished private character; fourth, of unblemished public character, which no breath of calumny had ever reached, and whom no one had ever dared approach with a dishonorable proposition; fifth, a man whose zeal and talents had been expended, not upon selfish schemes, but upon measures and policies looking to the improvement of the condition of society,—such ends as, whatever differences of opinion may prevail as to the adaptation of his means to secure them, must possess the sympathy and respect of all good citizens; sixth, he is
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persistence in opposing a limitation of the session, even under the oppressive heat of the summer, brought him sometimes into collision with senators who, though not laggards, took a less exacting view of official duty, or who thought, sometimes quite rightly, that enough had already been done, and what remained would ripen for better action during the vacation.1 Sumner's superlative fidelity may be thought finical, but it attests the seriousness with which he regarded all public duties.
Sumner's presence in the Senate was always one of dignity, such as became the office and place.
He never descended to frivolity; he did not, as is the habit of restless members, keep passing from seat to seat, indulging in small talk with one or another, but remained mostly in his own;2 he listened with respect to what his associates said in debate;3 his manners were uniformly decorous, as opponents in the worst of times admitted; and the stranger in the gallery looking down on the scene recognized in him the impersonation and ideal of a leader in what has been regarded, in view of its constitution and functions, as a parliamentary body second to none in the world.
John Bigelow, already referred to, a writer and public man distinguished for critical observation of men and affairs, wrote in his journal on shipboard, in February, 1861, his estimate of Sumner, given in reply to a fellow-passenger who had made some criticisms on the senator:—
1 July 2, 1864 (Works, vol. IX. pp. 55-63; Globe, p. 3502). June 25, 1864 (Globe, p. 3263). March 31 and April 7 and 8, 1869 (Globe, pp. 384, 607, 609).
2 Douglas's swagger up and down the aisles is still remembered. Wilson was never so unhappy as when obliged to stay in his seat. Sumner's uniform observance of rules and courtesies in the Senate was referred to in tributes in Congress, April 27, 1874, by Pratt of Indiana in the Senate (Congressional Globe, p. 3403), and by E. R. Hoar in the House (Globe, p. 3410). He was accustomed to make protests against scandalous conduct in the Senate,—as Abbott's threat of a duel with a senator, and the drunkenness of Senator Saulsbury and Vice-President Johnson.
3 Thurman said of him in his tribute, April 27, 1874 (Congressional Globe, p. 3400), ‘He spoke often and elaborately himself; and he was the best, and perhaps the most courteous, listener among us to the speeches of others.’
Cambridge, MA. Press of John Wilson and Son. 1877.
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