antislavery struggle. In this "irrepressible conflict" Massachusetts
led the van. Garrison had written in his _Liberator_, in 1830, "I will
be as harsh as truth and as uncompromising as justice. I am in
earnest; I will not equivocate; I will not excuse; I will not retreat a
single inch; and I will be heard." But the Garrisonian abolitionists
remained for a long time, even in the North, a small and despised
faction. It was a great point gained when men of education and social
standing, like Wendell Phillips (1811-84) and Charles Sumner (1811-74),
joined themselves to the cause. Both of these were graduates of
Harvard and men of scholarly pursuits. They became the representative
orators of the antislavery party, Phillips on the platform and Sumner
in the Senate. The former first came before the public in his fiery
speech, delivered in Faneuil Hall December 8, 1837, before a meeting
called to denounce the murder of Lovejoy, who had been killed at Alton,
Ill., while defending his press against a pro-slavery mob. Thenceforth
Phillips's voice was never idle in behalf of the slave. His eloquence
was impassioned and direct, and his English singularly pure, simple,
and nervous. He is perhaps nearer to Demosthenes than any other
American orator. He was a most fascinating platform speaker on themes
outside of politics, and his lecture on the _Lost Arts_ was a favorite
with audiences of all sorts.

Sumner was a man of intellectual tastes, who entered politics
reluctantly and only in obedience to the resistless leading of his
conscience. He was a student of literature and art; a connoisseur of
engravings, for example, of which he made a valuable collection. He
was fond of books, conversation, and foreign travel, and in Europe,
while still a young man, had made a remarkable impression in society.
But he left all this for public life, and in 1851 was elected as
Webster's successor to the Senate of the United States. Thereafter he