Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 06 (of 20) — John Shaqi
Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 06 (of 20)Sumner, Charles
History
Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 06 (of 20)
Sumner, Charles
Slavery -- United States; Speeches, addresses, etc., American
This article is not alone in attesting his sympathy with the
Antislavery cause. The first public appearance of Macaulay,
while yet a very young man, was at an Antislavery meeting;
and one of his most stinging speeches, at the maturity of his
powers, in the House of Commons, bore testimony to the depth
and constancy of this sentiment.[14] This was natural; for he
was son of Zachary Macaulay, one of the devoted Abolitionists
who helped to carry, first, the abolition of the slave-trade,
and then, at a later day, the abolition of Slavery itself, in
the British dominions.
The services of the father, as friend of the slave, have been
aptly commemorated by a cenotaph in Westminster Abbey, situated
in the nave, on the left side of the great door as you enter,
and close to the imposing monument of Fox. The son now lies
in the same historic burial-place and beneath the same mighty
roof,[15] but in Poets’ Corner, distant by more than the whole
length of the nave from the tablet erected in honor of his
father. In all that multitude of monuments to the illustrious
dead, if we except the line of kings, there is but one other
instance of father and son enshrined in the Abbey, and that is
Lord Chatham and William Pitt, whose monuments are also distant
from each other by more than the whole length of the nave.
Such is the conspicuous fellowship of the two Pitts and
the Macaulays, father and son, although most unlike in
circumstances of life and the services which have secured this
common foothold of immortality. In each case, the father, even
with the fame of Lord Chatham, has new glory from the son. The
resting-places of the two Pitts are known at once on entering
the Abbey. Hereafter, the stranger, who has stood with grateful
admiration before the grave of the younger Macaulay, will
seek with reverent step the simple tribute to his father, the
Abolitionist,--mindful that the love of Human Freedom in which
the son was cradled and schooled gave to his character some of
its best features, and to his career of authorship its earliest
triumph.
My purpose is simply to introduce this new-found testimony
against Slavery, and not to dwell on the life or character of
the author. If I followed a hint from him, the way would be
open. Nobody can forget that in one of his most magnificent
essays he has availed himself of the interest, transient it may
have been, created by a newly discovered prose work of Milton,
and has reminded his readers that the dexterous Capuchins never
choose to preach on the life and miracles of a Saint till they
have awakened the devotional feelings of their auditors by
exhibiting some relic of him,--a thread of his garment, a lock
of his hair, or a drop of his blood. Here, indeed, is a relic
of Macaulay; but I venture no further.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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