1874.] OF THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES. 1089

Mr. Thompson moved that the Report of the Committee be
adopted.

Pending which,

Mr. Annan submitted the following

MINORITY REPORT.

The undersigned, a minority of the Committee on Federal
Relations, to which was referred the Resolutions introduced
by Mr. Brace, of Allegany, on the death of Hon. Charles
Sumuer, respectfully declines to concur in the Report of the
majority of said Committee. The political career of the
honorable gentleman named in said Resolutions, was of such
extraordinary nature, and of such brilliant character, as to
necessarily challenge the admiration of friends and enemies
alike. The work of his life was one of humanity and love—
a work in which he was supported by a large number of the
ablest, the truest, the best statesmen of his day. His
course, (although his theories were a few years ago diametri-
cally opposed to those of a large majority of his countrymen,)
has always been such as by its honesty, its candor, its
straightforwardness, to win the admiration of all. Engaged
for years, it may be said for a lifetime, in a labor of the
broadest philanthropy, bending every energy to the accom-
plishment of a great purpose, he lived to see a success crown
his efforts, such as has seldom been vouchsafed to any
human undertaking. Although at times his better judg-
ment may have been blinded by considerations such as the
mightiest mind cannot at all times free itself from ; still, no
one can be so bitterly prejudiced as to deny that in the main
his heart was right and his head was clear.

It would be worse than useless for me to attempt an eulogy
on the character of Mr. Sumner. The demonstrations of his
fellow-citizens, the heartfelt exhibitions of sorrow, the unmis-
takable signs of woe which have spontaneously burst forth
all over our common country, are indications of the regard and
esteem in which he was held, compared to which the few
efforts of any one would be very feeble indeed. Such being
the character of the man, and such the feelings of his coun-
try, is it to be wondered at or deprecated that organized
bodies all over the country should give expression to the com-
mon feeling, in the shape of Resolutions similar to those we
have now before us? It is true indeed that a large number
of us differ politically from his views, but who has ever
charged that the impulses of the Maryland heart were so un-
generous as to refuse a just won tribute of respect to an honest
opponent. Is not that feeling which prompts us to be just
to a living opponent greatly intensified by his death? Can