Part 2

When The weary day Lays down her tired head Upon the dreamy pillow of the past, Closing the silent gates of night On her departing foot-falls! Throwing back upon our thrilling senses The curtains of mystery! That float upon the silence and hush Of the night season! Making the soundless air Tremulous with life! 'Tis then, And not till then. Pervaded by a divine restlessness We kneel And loose our earthly shoes from off our feet For the ground whereon we stand Is holy!

Alone, With the divine sculptor, Whose unerring chisel, Rounds off the uneven curves and awkward corners Of our erring nature, The heroic statue Is wrought out of roughest marble! So, the good man Is moulded out of his very faults! Thus the great master hand With divine precision Measured the breadth and depth and height Of Sumner! To fill with honor and credit The royal shrine; The grand and noble niche prepared for him In heaven, And in the stirring history Of the world!

There are men So utterly narrow-minded, So wanting in moral vertebræ And grand human nature, that they are never greatly Tempted! Satan, With discriminating acumen, seeks higher Prey than these! They are all too flimsy, weak, and crude For his purposes! But, Upon the men of moral breadth, of depths Of human pity; Of height of divine abiding! Some prince Of the sons of the earth, Whom God has chosen For some great epoch in our history, The whole artillery of hell Is brought to bear!

Men Tried and trusted of God! Fitted to go down to the arena, "To fight the great fight," from the going down To the rising of the sun! Struggling with some deadly temptation that has Locked him In its sinewy embrace; Or taking some wild passion By the throat, And strangling it out of existence. These, The large-hearted, square-headed, high minded, Men of history, Are his best stock in trade! To these temptation comes! _and if they fall_, He lashes them to his chariot wheels, And carries them in triumph Into hell!

But Sumner, The man of princely integrity, Accepted no defeat, acknowledged no tempter! The lobbyist, Engaged in tunneling under human nature, Fled from before his face! The briber, Whose soft insinuating palm Takes kindly to the hands of his fellow man! He, Who cometh with a smile, And asketh for no receipt! He, Whose loosened purse strings, bind The tender conscience With cords, gripped by the sinewy hand Of Satan, Turns aside to let Sumner pass on; _The utterly incorruptible!_

'Tis thus, Viewing the great Defender of the constitution surrounded By an atmosphere of bribery and corruption Of men Selling the very sinews of their country For just so many dollars Of bitter enemies, Of unstable friends; Of hurry and rush Of weak legislation; Of "the groans of wounded souls;" Of falsehood and moral contagion That we love him best. For amidst the soulless throng He stood up in his peerless manhood Like a pillar of truth, And carried with him the brightest Stars of the age!

'Twas not in vain He sat, A studious disciple At the royal feet of wisdom! Culling the sweets of knowledge from her tomes! Not in vain Did he visit other lands, and other climes, Filling up The vast storehouses of his mind, With the rarest And richest gems of culture, The grand position he had taken in the great Human family Needed this! He stood like a great tree in the forest, The branches of which stretched out So far As to cover the oppressed ones Of the whole world!

Let us all Kindle our aspirations At his shrine! For the loftiest ideas Flow from him! This our modern Solomon who challenged The admiration of the world! Whose wise and pure character Stands out before us to-night As one That fills the void in our highest ideas Of manhood! The light of his example Throws its clear defining ray along The pathway of our lives; Keeping our eye upon that beacon of light We shall not stumble, But fulfill our duties truthfully, manfully, And with a pure heart!

His character, In its human and divine greatness, Has a wondrous completeness! Comprehensive In its compact firmness, its grasp of justice. Vital In its rounded purity, its magnanimous Humanity! Subtle In its fine intuitive sympathy! Grand In its lofty ideas of duty! He Has left us a rich inheritance not in lands Or tenements, But in jewels of silver, jewels of gold, And precious stones! Heir-looms that shall crown our lives With honor!

These jewels Dived for, in fathoms deep of the waters Of tribulation, Are our common heritage! His Nobility of character, caught from divine communing! His Devotion to truth and integrity of purpose! His Allegiance to pure principles and honor! His Grand moral and physical courage, And his great humanity! Towering in strength, like a giant tree In the forest, These are the casket of gems He has willed to our keeping, To adorn our lives!

We stand amazed At the pyramid of work, Of toilsome labors, he has raised up! Labors Associated with your rise, progression, And preservation! The pages of his life are illuminated with The records of his toil! These facts Should pass into your lives, elevating and ennobling Your efforts! Raising you upward to The true dignity of daily labor! Ye diggers of the soil, Remember that he was a digger amongst The roots of wisdom! Remember that _he_ was pre-eminently A laborer, Whose deeds have passed securely Into the history Of the world!

His Work is done! The temple is built all but the crest, And to tender and loyal hands he has left The finishing thereof! He has fulfilled the mission to which God called him! He, With the bright band of thinkers And laborers, Has brought you out of bondage, of Egyptian Darkness To the glorious noon day of freedom, The promised land Is yours by divine and human right! From his immense altitude, with the eyes Of prophesy, He could see you possessed of Its every corner!

His Wreath is woven! Not upon the garniture of costly Sepulchre, But upon the loving and sorrowing hearts Of four millions of freed people! Not upon The marble statue, But upon the appreciative consciousness Of the world at large! His wreath is woven! Every leaf bedewed with tears! Every flower wreathed in with lamentations! Tied with the heart-strings of a nation's love! But, "we mourn not as one without hope!" For "I am the resurrection and life "Saith the Lord! He who believeth in me, though he were dead Yet shall he live."

Ye women! Upon whose kindly bosoms Lisping children nestle! _Remember!_ For the eyes that saw deepest into your human Woe, And trembled in humid tenderness For your degraded humanity, _Are closed for ever!_ _Remember!_ For the lips That broke your galling fetters With the fiery thunder of his manhood's Eloquence! Re-adjusting, In all its God-given symmetry, The disjointed framework Of your human lives, Are stilled!

Ye women! Who stood alone, On the outer fringes of proud Humanity! Appealing in your helpless degradation To the pity of the world! _Remember!_ For the hand That made room for you Amongst the nations of the earth, And placed a seat For you In the halls of civilization! _Remember!_ For the hand, That dug out of the shifting sands Of public opinion The gem you wear proudly upon your bosoms, _Lies cold in death!_

Ye women, _Remember!_ As ye take a last lingering look At the face Of your dead martyr, On which the surging tide of calumny And misconception Have left their harrowing traces, That he was The great high priest of your nation, Ministering To its highest aspirations! _Remember!_ The hand That lies with such pathetic attitude Above his quiet bosom, Opened wide the gates of freedom To your weary footsteps, And let you in!

O ye women! _Remember!_ And take heed What influence ye bring to bear upon The coming generation! For ye, too, Form a strong link In the chain of our civilization! Woman, in all ages, in all climes, White and black, Have swayed an influence over the world For evil or for good, Which has swept the black tide of iniquity, Whose waters reach down to the uttermost depths Of hell; Or the gentle waves of good, freighted with A nation's blessings! Upon the waves, _whose reflex actions Are the currents that flow From heaven_!

O ye women! _Remember!_ And forget not! Your great patriot and friend Left to your keeping The jewels of divine and human greatness Washed with his tears! Brightened with his love! _Remember!_ And forget not! The intertwining of your prayer extended hands Forms a stairway By which your nation hope To reach all greatness, All purity, all grandeur, And at last To follow your leader up the shining stair To heaven!

As The voice of sympathy Hath a thousand tongues, Making the silent mystery of night Eloquent with gentle whisperings, So, out of the seclusion of my quiet life, To ye O ye millions of freed people, I have come! To ye my sympathies go forth to-night. Sympathies, At whose fountain head, the angel of purity sits; And from her sacred niche, beholds The coming and the going thereof. For ye Whom he called his children, were knit in With every fibre of his heart; And your wrongs echoed To the innermost chamber of his soul, To ye His loss is greatest!

O ye men! Who loved him With a love past telling! Be the better for his noble efforts! Let the picture of his glorious life Hang ever before your eyes! Sanctifying your efforts, ennobling your aspirations! He suffered In the throes of agony to give birth To a higher manhood! _Be that manhood!_ True, you have been buffetted and Rudely tossed, But that has passed into the oblivion of The receding age! The present and future Are open to you as never before! Helping hands are extended to you! _Take care of your opportunities!_

Ye men Cultivate truth! For honor and independence Follow quickly upon its footsteps! 'Tis true The standard of Sumner is high! But a-down the ladder of his life there are Steps of granite mould That will bear you upward And onward! _Be ye governed by no ignoble motives!_ The time is not far distant when the missing Fringes Of the glorious mantle of liberty Will be sewn on by loving hands! Be prepared for it! Receive it upon your knees, With uncovered heads! Remembering whose hand had Wrought it out!

Be ye sure It is borne to ye Within the folding of an angel's wing! 'Tis yours! By the voice of heaven! 'Tis yours! By the voice of earth! The pinnacle of your temple of freedom! The flag that will flutter freely o'er its top! "O, my bill! My bill!!" He cried in the last agonies of death! "Take care of my civil rights bill!" Were his solemn words, As the messenger of death stood upon His threshold! "_O, don't let the bill fail!_" Was his dying injunction, as he sought out With his glazing eye, the friend Who kissed his hand in token of The solemn covenant!

"_Take_ _Care of your rights!_" Comes across the ocean of eternity, A solemn message from your friend And benefactor! Be worthy of him! Raise the standard of your people higher, And higher still! To-day is yours! Grasp firm hold of it, for it cometh not Again! Let the world see and note The heroic fibre Of which you are made! Remember the gates of a great future Are open to you! Educate yourselves, your women and your children, Inaugurate and carry on Reform within yourselves; Enlarge your minds! Quicken your Intelligence, and follow in the footsteps Of Sumner!

Ye men, Look well and wisely To your political welfare! Let not the foul fingers of bribery And corruption Pollute the pure scroll of your Birthright! Remember the loving laborers upon the walls Of liberty's republican temple. A temple built on free soil! "Its corner stone," said Sumner, "is _freedom_; Its broad, all sustaining arches, _Truth_, _justice_ and _humanity_! Like the ancient Roman capitol, at once A _temple_ and a _citadel_! Fit shrine for the genius of _American institutions_." _A shrine at whose high Altar The best and noblest of the land doth minister! A temple wherein the lamp of human pity Suspended by the chain of universal brotherhood Swings its perpetual light!_

Adieu Charles Sumner! Thou friend of humanity, Adieu! Never! Till the sun Folds up his gorgeous mantle! Hiding his burning head In the dark valley of chaos! Never! Till the moon's pale hand Forgets to throw her silver shower A-down the ether track! Never! Till the angels forget To replenish the glistening starlight In the sky! Never! Till the great surging deep recedes To the mysterious outlet, From whence the voice of God Called it forth!

Never! Till the murmuring shells Lying along the sunny shores Forget their music! Never! Till the flowers hide their heads Upon the dying heart of nature, Sighing out the requiem "There is no more life!" And the birds go silently to their death! Never! Till human hearts Throb out their last breath _Shalt thou be forgotten_! Nay! Not even then! For As we go upward on our last journey We'll see thy name with the names of the just Written in letters of gold Across the sky!

_Finis._

"It will take a long time to get the whole truth told about that noble man, and many voices to tell it."

HENRY W. LONGFELLOW.