"Earl Spencer has sent to Mr. Sumner two stones, being from the same quarry, and having the same form and dimensions, as the originals, and containing a fac-simile of the inscriptions. It has been suggested that these stones ought to be placed in the State-House, where they may be accessible to the public, and my opinion on the subject has been asked. As they are unquestionably genuine memorials of the Washington family, and possess on this account a singular historical interest, I cannot imagine that a more appopriate disposition of them could be made. I understand that Mr. Sumner would cheerfully assent to such an arrangement, and I cannot doubt that your Excellency will be well inclined to take such measures as may effectually aid in attaining so desirable an object. "I am, Sir, very respectfully yours, "His Excellency JOHN A. ANDREW, Governor of Massachusetts." "JARED SPARKS. "COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. "HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 23, 1861. The Committee on the State-House, to whom was referred the Message of His Excellency the Governor, presenting to the General Court, as a gift from the Hon. Charles Sumner, certain memorials of Washington, of great historic interest, report that they consider it a matter of special congratulation that the interesting facts concerning the Father of his Country, contained in the papers accompanying the Message, should have been first made known to us by a citizen of Massachusetts; and deeming it important that these valuable memorials should be permanently preserved in the capitol of the State, they report the accompanying resolves. "Per order, "R. WARD." "Resolves in relation to certain Memorials of the Ancestors of Washington. "Resolved, That the thanks of the General Court be and hereby are presented to the Hon. Charles Sumner for his interesting and patriotic gift to the Commonwealth, of two Memorial Tablets in imitation of the originals which mark the final resting-place of the last English ancestors of GEORGE WASHINGTON. "Resolved, That the Commissioners on the State-House cause the same to be prepared and placed, with appropriate inscriptions, in some convenient place in the Doric Hall of the State-House, near the statue of Washington. Approved April 6, 1861." "OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONERS ON THE STATE-HOUSE, BOSTON, January 1, 1862. “The undersigned, Commissioners on the State-House, hereby certify, that, in compliance with the Resolves of the Legislature of Massachusetts, passed April 6, 1861, they have caused the abovenamed Memorial Tablets of the Washington Family to be permanently placed upon the marble floor of the area in which the statue of Washington stands, within the railing in front of said statue. "JOHN MORISSEY, Sergeant-at-Arms. OLIVER WARNER, Secretary. A white marble tablet, placed by the Commissioners near the Washington Memorials, bears the following inscription: THESE FAC-SIMILES OF THE MEMORIAL STONES OF THE WASHINGTON FAMILY IN THE PARISH CHURCH OF BRINGTON, THE BURIAL-PLACE OF THE SPENCERS, NEAR ALTHORP, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, ENGLAND, WERE PRESENTED BY THE RIGHT HONORABLE EARL SPENCER TO CHARLES SUMNER OF MASSACHUSETTS, AND BY HIM OFFERED TO THE COMMONWEALTH 22 FEBRUARY, 1861. LAWRENCE WAS FATHER, AND ROBERT UNCLE, OF THE ENGLISH EMIGRANT TO VIRGINIA, WHO WAS GREATGRANDFATHER OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. LAFAYETTE, THE FAITHFUL ONE. ADDRESS AT THE Cooper Institute, New York, NOVEMBER 30, 1860. He [Algernon Sidney] was stiff to all republican principles, and such an enemy to everything that looked like monarchy, that he set himself in a high opposition against Cromwell, when he was made Protector. - BURNET, History of His Own Time, Vol. I. p. 538. Quant à moi, j'avoue que mon indolence sur cet objet tient à la confiance intime où je suis que la liberté finira par s'établir dans l'ancien monde comme dans le nouveau, et qu'alors l'histoire de nos révolutions mettra chaque chose et chacun à sa place. - LAFAYETTE, Mémoires, Tom. I. Avant-propos, p. v. THIS Address was at the invitation of the Young Men's Republican Union of New York, before whom the speech on the Republican party had been given.1 On the present occasion, William C. Bryant, justly famous in our literature, took the chair and introduced Mr. Sumner in the following words. "I am glad, my friends, to see so large an audience assembled for the purpose of, hearing one of our most accomplished scholars and orators discourse on a subject lying apart from the ordinary strifes and immediate interests of the day. Concerning the services rendered by Lafayette to our country, to our own Republic, in the most critical stage of its existence, there is no controversy. For them we are all grateful. For his personal character we all cherish a high veneration. And your presence here to-night in such numbers declares that there are multitudes among us who cherish and preserve a warm admiration, a generous and purifying enthusiasm, for the noble examples of self-sacrifice bequeathed to us by a generation which has passed away. Among public men, in all times and all countries, among all that class who have been actors in the events which make up the history of the world, there are few, unfortunately, who can compare with Lafayette in a course of steady, unswerving virtue. Attend, then, my friends, to the portraiture of that virtue drawn and set before you in living words by a great artist, Charles Sumner, of Boston, whom I now introduce to this assembly." [Long continued cheering.] The newspapers speak of the assembly as crowded and enthusiastic, in spite of stormy weather. The Herald says, "The cheering was protracted, and the utmost enthusiasm was manifested by the audience." Even the World adds, "The lecturer was frequently and vociferously applauded, and the audience gave evidence of deep interest in his remarks." From the report in the Herald it appears that the allusions to Slavery were received always with "applause," while, at the remark of Lafayette attributing "the evils of France less to the madness of violence than to compromise of conscience by timid men," there was what the Herald calls "vehement and long continued applause, and waving of hats and handkerchiefs." The temper of the audience was an illustration of prevailing sentiment. 2 Beside the newspaper report at the time, this address was printed at 1 The Republican Party, its Origin, Necessity, and Permanence: Ante, pp. 191-229 2 See, post, p 420. |