Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 11 (of 20)Sumner, Charles
History
Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 11 (of 20)
Sumner, Charles
Slavery -- United States; Speeches, addresses, etc., American
He was a Representative of Illinois, born in Maine when Maine was
part of Massachusetts, which made him a connecting link between the
East and the West. The welcome he found in the West, and his complete
fellowship with that region, while his sympathies overflowed to his
early home, attest better than arguments the ligatures binding together
these different parts of our common Union; so that, hereafter, should
any malignant spirit seek to sow strife between us, his name alone will
be a standing protest against the alienation. Born in the East, he was
honored in the West. Honored in the West, he never lost his love for
the East. But the whole country, not excepting the South, had a home in
his patriotic, hospitable, and capacious heart. He hated Slavery; but
he loved his country in every part, with heart, soul, and mind.
He was of the Old Guard of Antislavery, and we bury him with the
honors that belong to such a soldier. Flags are at half-mast, and
funeral guns are sounding in our hearts. But from his new-made grave
he speaks now to the whole vast Republic, animating all good citizens
to labor as he labored and to live as he lived, that this land may be
redeemed. Especially does he speak to the State that honored him in
life, and to those associate States constituting the mighty Northwest,
where he found the home of his mature years,--Indiana, Michigan,
Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota,--exhorting them to take up bravely and
without faltering the cause he made his own, that it may not lose by
his death. But, alas! the vigilance of many will be needed to supply
the place he filled.
Such a character must be mourned in Congress; but he will be mourned
throughout the country, at all those virtuous firesides where fathers,
mothers, brothers, and sisters speak of those who have helped human
happiness on earth. And there is another company, who cannot yet
pronounce his name, but, as they hear how truly he was their friend,
will rise to call him blessed. Already, unseen of men, in vast
uncounted procession, the slaves of the Union help to swell his funeral.
COLORED SUFFRAGE IN THE TERRITORY OF MONTANA.
SPEECHES IN THE SENATE, ON AN AMENDMENT TO THE BILL FOR A TEMPORARY
GOVERNMENT OF THAT TERRITORY, MARCH 31 AND MAY 19, 1864.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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