one of the first acquaintances he made there was Charles Sumner, who was
lecturing before the Harvard Law-School.

The friendship between these two great men commenced at once and only
ceased at Sumner's death in 1874, when Longfellow wrote one of the finest
of his shorter poems in tribute to Sumner's memory. It was as poetic a
friendship as that between Emerson and Carlyle; but whereas Emerson and
Carlyle had differences of opinion, Sumner and Longfellow were always of
one mind. When Sumner made his Fanueil Hall speech against the fugitive
slave law, which was simply fighting revolution with revolution, and
Harvard College and the whole of Cambridge turned against him, Longfellow
stood firm; and it may be suspected that he had many an unpleasant
discussion with his aristocratic acquaintances on this point. It was
considered bad enough to support Garrison, but supporting Sumner was a
great deal worse, for Sumner was an orator who wielded a power only
inferior to Webster. Fortunately for Longfellow, his connection with the
university ceased not long after Sumner's election to the Senate; and the
unpleasantness of his position may have been the leading cause of his
retirement.

Sumner was the best friend Longfellow had, and perhaps the best that he
could have had. There was Emerson, of course, and Longfellow was always
on friendly terms with him; but Emerson had a habit of catechising his
companions which some of them did not altogether like; and this may have
been the case with Longfellow, for they never became very intimate.
Sumner, on the contrary, had always a large stock of information to
dispense, not only concerning American affairs but those of other
nations, in which Longfellow never lost his interest. More important to
him even than this is the fact that Sumner's statements were always to be
trusted. It may be surmised that it was not so much similarity of opinion