“Your speech, in every part, is noble and great. Even you
never spoke so well.”
Another friend, who had not agreed with Mr. Sumner at an
earlier period, George Livermore, the intelligent merchant of
Boston, devoted to books as well as business, being in New York
at the time, heard the speech, and, in a letter dated at the
Fifth Avenue Hotel, wrote:--
“I can say in all sincerity, that, of all the political
addresses I have ever heard,--and for thirty years past I
have heard a great many, and from the most distinguished
men in the country,--I have never listened to one that
would begin to compare with this as a whole. The high and
broad ground on which you based your views, the clearness
and force with which you presented the subject, the dignity
and grace of your manner, and the honest and hearty tone
in which you uttered your thoughts, all together make your
speech _the best one that was ever delivered_, as far as my
knowledge and experience go.”
These testimonies will at least explain the effect of this
speech at the time.