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Mr. Quincy, and the procession, mounted or in carriages, and half a mile nearly in length, moved north through the city, the multitude thronging the streets.
All the way there were demonstrations of honor, cheers from the crowds on the pavements and sidewalks, waving of handkerchiefs from the windows, bouquets thrown by men and women so as quite to fill the carriage, —thrown also by children, whose interest affected Sumner the most; along the route were displayed flags, festoons, and arches inscribed with ‘Welcome’ and various tributes; indeed, all was done that a grateful people could do to testify their devotion to an admired and beloved statesman who had suffered for a great cause.1 The area around the State House, the adjacent part of the Common and streets near by,—Beacon and Park,— and even the roofs of houses which could give a view, were packed with human beings, estimated at six or seven thousand, who greeted with long-continued cheering the senator, as he came in sight.
He was presented by Professor Huntington to Governor Gardner as one whose ‘friends are wherever justice is revered,’ who ‘has a neighbor in every victim of wrong throughout the world,’ now returning to his State, ‘her faithful steward, her eloquent and fearless advocate, her honored guest, her beloved son.’
The governor from the platform at the foot of the steps of the State House, surrounded by his Council and staff, welcomed in an address ‘the eloquent orator, the accomplished scholar, and the acknowledged statesman, ’
1 Wendell Phillips, in his sketch of Sumner for Johnson's Encyclopedia, says that absence of display and interest in the occasion was noticeable on Beacon Street, the seat of old Boston families. W. F. Channing, in a letter to E. L. Pierce, states the same fact, adding that Sumner at the time observed it. On the other hand, Professor Huntington, in a letter to E. L. Pierce, Feb. 20, 1890, states that there was no such contrast between Beacon and other streets on the route, making allowance for the habits, tastes, and social reserve of people living in that part of the town; and he is sure that as they drove, and during the evening at Sumner's house, where friends—E. P. Whipple and others—were present, and in Sumner's call on the professor at Cambridge, at all of which times the scenes of the day were talked over, no such difference between one part of the city and another was referred to or apparently observed by Sumner or any one present with him. Mr. Rice, the mayor, concurs in recollection with Professor Huntington.
It may be mentioned that Prescott and his family stood, as the procession passed, on the balcony of his house on Beacon Street, waving their handkerchiefs. The next day, calling on Sumner, he said that if he had known there were to have been decorations and inscriptions on houses he should have placed on his these words:—In a few days Prescott sent Sumner some bottles of Burgundy and other choice products of ancient vintages. J. T. Fields's ‘Biographical Notes and Personal Sketches,’ pp. 85, 86.
Cambridge, MA. Press of John Wilson and Son. 1877.
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