LIFE OF CHARLES SUMNER. BY JEREMIAH CHAPLIN AND J. D. CHAPLIN. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY HON. WILLIAM CLAFLIN. BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY D. LOTHROP & CO. DOVER, N. H.: G. T. DAY & CO. 1874. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, BY D. LOTHROP & CO., In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. STEREOTYPED AT THE 19 Spring Lane. PREFACE. IN the belief that a Life of Charles Sumner, our great Senator, written in a somewhat popular style, would be welcomed by the public, this work has been carefully prepared from the most authentic sources. The writers have had access to private papers, and other sources of information, which have enabled them to give some hitherto unpublished incidents and letters. The works of Mr. Sumner have been carefully examined, and fitting selections from his speeches have been incorporated in the biography. His addresses are an integral part of the history of the times in which he lived, and they largely reveal his character. A full survey of Mr. Sumner's public career has not been attempted. To do that, would have been to transcend the limits of our plan, which was, iii rather, to dwell upon his connection with the one great subject which, above all others, called out his powers and developed his character. To the overthrow of American Slavery he gave his most earnest thought, and it was in this, his chief work, that his distinguished qualities of mind and heart are most conspicuous. He was a statesman in no narrow sense; he was not a man of but one idea; he was at home in all the business of legislation, in all foreign and domestic affairs. But he will be chiefly remembered as a philanthropist. Intellectually great, he was pre-eminently distinguished as a lover of justice, a defender of humanity. His moral endowments and humane achievements will chiefly endear him to mankind. From these are to be gathered the most valuable lessons, especially for the young. Happy will it be for our country if her young men study his life, and emulate his example of unselfish devotion to the cause of humanity. Happy for her if her coming legislators believe that to be upright is to be practical, to be just is to be patriotic. Properly to present Mr. Sumner's philanthropic services, it has been necessary briefly to sketch the progress of the anti-slavery enterprise up to the time when he became its foremost champion. Three chapters have, therefore, been given to the pioneers in that cause, and to the state of public sentiment upon the slavery question prior to Mr. Sumner's public life. In sketching his career, it has been almost a necessity to cast his co-laborers into the shade. As we have not attempted a history of his times, but only of his special relation to the great question of the times, he seems to absorb to himself more than his share of attention. He was, indeed, a most conspicuous figure, great among the great, in some respects without a peer; but the names of many men and women will come to mind who gave the full measure of noble talents and sweet charity to the cause of the humble and oppressed names that will never die. these to prepare the way, or to furnish the contemporary support of sympathy, of encouragement, of prayer, of sacrifice, Mr. Sumner could never have achieved those deeds which will make his name immortal. Without The writings of Mr. Sumner abound in noble sentiments, and in the fruits of rich and varied cul |