Page images
PDF
EPUB

CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED NECESSARY IN THE

NEW GOVERNMENTS.

ADVICE TO COLORED CITIZENS.

LETTER TO A COMMITTEE OF COLORED CITIZENS AT SAVANNAH,

HON. CHARLES SUMNER:

JULY 8, 1865.

SAVANNAH, June 15, 1865.

SIR, — We, the undersigned, Committee of the Union League of Savannah, Ga., have the honor to present to you these our petitions to his Excellency Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, signed personally by the hands of some three hundred and fifty loyal citizens. We respectfully ask that you will present them to his Excellency the President, and we beg that your Honor will use all of your influence in our behalf, and oblige,

Very respectfully, your humble servants,

Jos. C. JACKSON, Chairman,
GEORGE R. J. DOLLY, Cor. Sec.,
BENJ. W. ROBERTS,

PETER DUNCAN,

JOSEPH S. TISON.

BOSTON, 8th July, 1865.

G

ENTLEMEN, -Your petition asking for the right

to vote has been forwarded to me here, with the request that I would present it to the President. I regret much that my absence from Washington has prevented me from doing this in person; but I have lost no time in forwarding the petition to the President, with my most earnest recommendation.

You need not beg me to use influence in your behalf. I cannot help doing so to the extent of my ability.

Allow me to add, that you must not be impatient. You have borne the heavier burdens of Slavery; and as these are now removed, believe the others surely will be also. This enfranchised Republic, setting an example to mankind, cannot continue to sanction an odious Oligarchy, whose single distinctive element is color. I have no doubt that you will be admitted to the privileges of citizens.

It is impossible to suppose that Congress will sanction governments in the Rebel States which are not founded on "the consent of the governed." This is the corner-stone of republican institutions. Of course, by the "governed" is meant all the loyal citizens, without distinction of color. Anything else is mockery.

Never neglect your work; but meanwhile prepare yourselves for the privileges of citizens. They are yours of right, and I do not doubt that they will be yours soon in reality. The prejudice of caste and a false interpretation of the Constitution cannot prevail against justice and common sense, both of which are on your side; and I may add the Constitution also, which, when properly interpreted, is clearly on your side.

Accept my best wishes, and believe me, fellowcitizens,

Faithfully yours,

CHARLES SUMNER.

Messrs. JOSEPH C. JACKSON, GEORGE R. J. DOLLY, PETER DUNCAN, BENJAMIN W. ROBERTS, JOSEPH S. TISON.

JUSTICE TO THE COLORED RACE.

LETTER TO A TRUSTEE FOR COLORED SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AUGUST 16, 1865.

IN reply to a representation that there was a little scheme in Washington to deprive the colored schools of their proportion of the school funds arising from taxation, Mr. Sumner wrote the following letter, which was published in Washington.

BOSTON, August 16, 1865.

EAR SIR, -I had already noticed the article on the Washington "Ostrich" before I received the

paper you kindly sent me.

The Lord reigns, and I am sure the diabolism at Washington cannot continue to prevail. You will not weary in counteracting it.

Work on. Fight on. When Congress meets, we shall insist upon JUSTICE. This is the talisman by which our country is to be saved.

Accept my best wishes, and believe me, dear Sir, faithfully yours,

CHARLES SUMNER.

THE LATE GEORGE LIVERMORE, ESQ.

ARTICLE IN THE BOSTON DAILY ADVERTISER, SEPTEMBER 2, 1865.

N the death of Mr. Livermore we have all lost a

IN

friend. He was naturally and essentially kind. He was also most conscientious and sincere. He was exquisite in simplicity. He was pure in heart. Though retiring and modest, he was outspoken and courageous for the Right. His instinctive earnestness was always on the side of virtue. These qualities marked him in all the walks of life. To these must be added a general intelligence, much acquired information, business talents of no common order, and an immense love of books.

He was a merchant always, and his name will hereafter be inscribed proudly among those who have done honor to the commercial life of Boston. Men are remembered most by what they do outside their profession. Although not unsuccessful in business, Mr. Livermore will be commemorated as a merchant who excelled in refined tastes, in generous sympathies, and in literary studies. He was an example of what a merchant may be, not only at his counting-house, but at home, in association with men, in the Sunday school, in counsel to the young, and especially in his library.

Among his schoolmates was one whose reputation in the medical profession is enhanced by acknowledged

VOL. IX.

19

BB

fame as writer and as poet, who cheered him during his late illness.1 I had not the advantage of acquaintance with Mr. Livermore at that early day. I knew him first as he was about to visit Europe, and I cannot forget his absorbing interest at that time in the family of William Roscoe. He admired the accomplished author of the history of Lorenzo de' Medici and of Leo the Tenth, because he was a merchant who cultivated letters, and while in England one of his peculiar pleasures was to study on the spot the life and character of this merchant author. His interest in bibliography was recognized by Dibdin, the great professor of the science, who conceived a friendship for his American disciple.

On his return, our merchant, while engaged in all the activities of business, renewed his devotion to those other pursuits which made him so dear to a large and growing circle. His library increased. His specialty was Bibles, of which he formed a precious collection. Among these is one which once belonged to Melancthon, with notes in the autograph of this mild and scholarly Reformer. There is also a very rare copy of "The Soldier's Pocket Bible," in antique print and spelling, as published for the God-fearing Ironsides of Oliver Cromwell. In other departments the library is rich and interesting. Mr. Livermore read his books, but he had a true pleasure in looking at them. He was choice in editions, and careful in bindings. Anything in vellum or large paper had a fascination for him, showing that he had not conversed with Dibdin in vain. This library, after overflowing the rooms of his house, was gathered into a beautiful apartment,

1 Oliver Wendell Holmes.

« PreviousContinue »