At the Republican State Convention, held at Worcester,
September 9, 1868, of which Hon. George S. Boutwell was
President, the following was the last resolution of the
platform, which was unanimously adopted:--
“That the public life of the Honorable Charles Sumner,
during three terms of service in the Senate of the United
States, has fully justified the confidence which has been
successively reposed in him; that his eloquent, fearless,
and persistent devotion to the sacred cause of Human
Rights, as well in its early struggles as in its later
triumphs,--his beneficent efforts, after the abolition of
Slavery, in extirpating all the incidents thereof,--his
constant solicitude for the material interests of the
country,--his diligence and success, as Chairman of the
Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, in vindicating the
policy of maintaining the just rights of the Government
against foreign powers, and at the same time preserving
peace with the nations,--all present a public record
of rare usefulness and honor; and that his fidelity,
experience, and honorable identification with our national
history call for his reëlection to the high office in which
he has rendered such illustrious service to his country and
to mankind.”
The report of the _Boston Daily Advertiser_ stated that
“the reading of the resolutions was accompanied by repeated
applause,--the last one, relating to Mr. Sumner, calling forth
a perfect tempest of approval.”
* * * * *
January 19, 1869, Mr. Sumner was reëlected Senator for the
term of six years, beginning with March 4th following, by the
concurrent vote of the two Houses of the Legislature. The vote
was as follows:--
_In the Senate._
Charles Sumner, 37
Josiah G. Abbott, 2
_In the House._
Charles Sumner, 216
Josiah G. Abbott, 15
Nathaniel P. Banks, 1