Had he fallen
upon quiet times, when the ordinary affairs of men and states are the
only topics of thought and discussion, his career as a public man, if
such a career should have been opened to him, would have been brief and
valueless alike to himself and to the public. In all his life, he was
a victim to authority in affairs, and a slave to note- and common-place
books.
Henry Wilson, Sumner's future colleague in the Senate of the United
States, had large influence in securing the adoption of measures, but
his learning was inadequate to the preparation of specific provisions
of a constitution. Indeed, in his later years, he was unequal to the
work of composing and writing with even a fair degree of accuracy. But
his judgment of the popular feeling was unequalled, and he had capacity
for shaping public opinion, whenever it was found to be hostile or
uncertain, far superior to that of any of his contemporaries. He was
not an orator, but his style of speaking was effective, and his
speeches, as they appeared in the columns of the newspapers, would bear
the test of ordinary criticism. He was a thorough politician who aimed
to have things right, but who would not hesitate to use doubtful
methods if thereby the right could be attained. In the year 1854 he
joined the Know Nothing Party in secret, while openly he was acting
with the Free-soil Party, that had placed him in nomination for the
office of Governor.
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