was the Moses that helped to bring out of bondage myriads of the oppressed, who to-day feel that a father and a protector is gone up from among them; and I would rather have the sympathy, the sorrow, and the prayers of the smitten than all the eulogies and all the honors of strong and prosperous men. He has lived well. He has died well. His faults will go down with him. His virtues will live after him. He. joined himself to whatever was best in his time. Now he is with God.

Young men, let me speak a few words to you in respect to some parts of the example of this man who has departed from our midst.

First, you will take notice that he identified his own interests with the noblest interests of his country. He was not a vermin statesman, a parasitic statesman, who looked upon his country but as a carcass from which he might draw blood. In a venal, corrupt time, he held trust and power unsullied and unsuspected. Nothing can speak better for the judgment of corrupt men than the fact that they never dared to approach him-for Mr. Sumner said, with inimitable naiveté, "People speak of Washington as being corrupt. I do not believe a word of it; I have been in Washington fifteen years and more, and I have never seen a particle of corruption!" No, he never had. He was the last man that any corrupt schemer dared to approach.

It is not necessary that men should be greedy, and selfish, and corrupt, in order to be prosperous. The foremost man of his time has died with white hands and a clean heart.

His patriotism sought no aggrandizement of his nation by defrauding others. His was not a belligerent nor a selfish statesmanship. He attempted to associate this land of his love with the best interests of mankind universally. He was an advocate of peace. He preached and inspired the sense of justice among nations. Known well in America and in Europe, and esteemed among statesmen and courts and lawyers everywhere, his voice was against violence, and for amity based upon justice. His ambition was not for the "manifest destiny" of greediness; it was for the better destiny of temper. ance, forbearance, patience, and plenitude of power for the

defense of ourselves, but yet more for the defense of the poor and of the needy. Everywhere aggression met his determined resistance. He was a statesman because he based al procedure on great principles. He was a republican statesman because he sought the welfare of all; and not of a privileged class. In his case this is the more noticeable because his personal habits did not lead him to love association with common people. It was principle, and not personal attraction, that moved him. In some sense, it may be said that he denied himself, and loved those who were beneath him. Nay, I think he thought more of mankind than he did of men. I think he loved the principles of justice and of liberty, rather than liberty and justice themselves. It was because liberty in practical life glorified the principle of liberty, that he loved it.

He is an example of personal integrity-an example not a little needed. Much assaulted, much misunderstood, partly from his own fault, and partly from circumstances, nevertheless he was prosperous, and had an illustrious career, never drooping, and never really blackened by any taint. He has died in honor; and his name remains a glorious name in the galaxy of American patriots.

delity to his convicHe never asked the

He was a man of courage, and of tions. He never meanly calculated. question whether it was dangerous to speak. He was one of those heroic spirits that carried the fight further than it needed to be carried. He erred by an excess of bravery. He was

a self-sacrificing man, giving up every prospect of life for the sake of doing his duty and establishing rectitude. He lost his life, and found it. He has verified the truth that disinterestedness is not inconsistent with the highest ambition. We have not a great many such men. There is not a disposition, in this great, trading, thriving, commercial nation, and in this time of greed, to believe in romantic heroism of character; and it is good for us to be called to the consideration of a man who did not live for himself, and whose nature, naturally revolving about itself, was trained by the principle of justice to develop itself for the welfare of others. I cannot conceive of a man who by nature befitted the courtly

circle better than he. If I had looked through all the old State of Massachusetts, I could not have found, it seems to me, one man who would have been more likely to ally himself to government, to party and to illustrious power than Charles Sumner; and it was a marvel of the providence of God to see this man, who was built apparently to play the part of a sovereign and an aristocrat, filling the office of nurse to the slave child; giving his brilliant knowledge, his unwearied industry, and the fruit which he had gathered from every field, to those who needed succor; and bringing the stores of his literary attainments, the richness of his historical researches, and the accumulated treasures of the ages, which were his, and employing them to build better huts for the emancipated bondmen.

If he does not rank with the earlier men of our history; if he does not rank with the inventive geniuses of the age to which he belonged; yet, no man in America has ever surpassed Charles Sumner in the entire dedication of the gifts which God granted him to the service of the poor and needy. Thousands and thousands are blessed by him who have only heard his name to rail at it; for while he secured rights to the poor, and while he removed disabilities from those who were enthralled, not only the particular class for whom he specially labored were benefited, but every honest man in the country, whatever might be his nationality, participated in the bounty which he wrought out.

He has gone to his reward. He has lived a noble and spotless life on earth. He has not been a hero without a blemish; and yet, his blemishes were not spots of taint. His faults were weaknesses, not crimes of the soul. They were intensities, partaking somewhat of fierceness, engendered by the high conflicts through which he passed. And let us forget them. Let us bury them, as we bury his noble form, dust to dust, under the sod. Let us remember his virtue, his integrity, his self-devotion, his enormous industry, his patient humanity, and his endurance unto the end as a martyr for liberty.

PRAYER BEFORE THE SERMON.

MOST merciful God, thou art our fathers' God. The trusted in thée, and were never put to shame. Thou didst in darkness bring light to them; in danger, succor; in perplexity, guidance. By them thou didst achieve great and glorious things for the honor of thy name, and for the welfare of thy cause upon earth.

We rejoice that our lot was cast in this land, and that for us there has been, since our very childhood, the ministration of truth in freedoom and liberty. We rejoice that we have been reared under these benignant skies, and in this abundant land, amidst plenty. We rejoice that thy gracious providence hath timed and guided events for the furtherance of thy honor, and for the welfare of humanity.

Be pleased, Almighty God, to breathe upon all this great people the same wisdom, the same forbearance, the same courage, the same seeking for the highest treasure, which shall bring in its train all earthly good.

We beseech of thee that thou wilt be pleased to bless the great citizenship of this land, mingled together a rolling mass, deep as the sea. and as wide, and multitudinous as its drops. Thou hast brought hither this great people that they may be grounded in knowledge, and that they may be mighty in virtue. Take away from them, we beseech of thee, easily besetting sins. Take away from them all temptations to lust, and intemperance, and greed, and avarice, and corruption of every kind. Grant that they may be obedient under the laws, and seek for rulers men that are wise and just.

We pray that thou wilt grant the light of knowledge to all the dark mass who are yet in our midst. We pray that thou wilt kindle in them a zeal for knowledge that shall increase until it shall be as the burning sun. Give daylight to this great nation, we pray thee.

We pray for all who are in authority-for all judges, magistrates, and rulers-that they may be men who fear God, and esteem the interests of their kind, and do not pursue their own selfish ambitions. We pray that thou wilt grant that justice, and purity, and truth and righteousness may prevail everywhere.

We pray that this nation may never embroil its hands in blood needlessly. May it be kept back from ambition, from invasion, from all mingling with the affairs of men which shall entangle it guiltily. May it fear God. May it love mankind. May it desire, by example, and by all its legislation and policy, to pursue the things which are for peace, and things whereby one may edify another.

We pray for the nations of the earth, that they may learn war no more, having no more need to learn war. Grant that knowledge may release men from weakness, and that they may become too strong to be handled by tyrants. We pray for the uprising of men, not by revolutionary passions, and not by the rolling tide of war. We pray that thou wilt advance the light of knowledge, and more and more subdue the heart to the amenities of love; and more and more may mankind rejoice that so they may be free.

And bring to pass, we beseech of thee, those great and glorious promises which portend the latter-day glory, when all the earth shall

dwell in peace, when right shall shine, and when Christ shall come and reign a thousand years.

And to thy name shall be the praise, Father, Son and Spirit. Amen.

PRAYER AFTER THE SERMON.

Our Father, we beseech of thee that thou wilt bless the memory of those who are gone-of all that have wrought well, and of all that deserve honor. Grant that their shadow may fall upon the young who are coming forward, and that men may not take counsel of the basely thrifty and prosperous; of men who shall die in their success; of men who are corrupted by their gains. We pray that thou wilt inspire in the minds of the young a loftier conception of character, and a purpose to educate themselves disinterestedly for the promotion of the welfare of their fatherland. Join their hearts to their race. The time has come when men belong to all mankind, and when all mankind are brothers. Grant, we pray thee, that this spirit may be more and more developed; and may the blood of martyrs nourish it.

We pray for more purity, for more truth, for more simplicity, for more straightforwardness, for more exalted aims, for riper principles. Deliver us from the power of bad men and evil examples, and make this nation as great as it has promised to be.

Accept, we pray thee, our thanks. Acccept our gratitude, that this church has beer. permitted to stand in these days a light in darkness. We thank thee that it has sent out words of truth and fidelity and courage for the right. We thank thee for the many names of those who have gone from among us. We thank thee for those who yet remain, and rejoice to see that their labor has brought success. O Lord, let this church live. Let it be for ever more a church working for the poor, for the needy, for all mankind. May the time never come when it shall be held by shackles, when its eyes shall be darkened by policies, and when its heart shall be dry, or turned into narrow channels. We pray that from this place may go forth the word of universal truth to universal man. And when this church can no longer serve God in the interests of humanity, may it die, and may something better spring up in its place.

And to thy name shall be the praise, Father, Son and Spirit, forevermore. Amen.