If he had prepared his speeches for a body of men like the
Roman senate, he might have been more nearly Cicero's equal. He used to
wear a high-crowned soft felt hat, which was remarkably suited to the
Roman-like contour of his face. He was skillful in all things, and might
have been equally celebrated as a writer, an actor, or possibly as an
artist, if his interest and inclination had led him in either of these
directions. What we feel the lack of in him is contemplative depth: he
was more Gallic than Germanic. He possessed a deep nature, but his
character was not equal to it. He was too refined, too much of an artist
perhaps, for the rough work fortune gave him to do. He had the heart of
a lion, but the mind of a woman.
Yet as we view his life from a distance it has grand outlines. When the
western continent was discovered, it seemed as if it were a paradise
which had been kept in reserve for the most civilized races; but this
had no sooner happened, than a curse was fastened upon it,--the curse of
slavery, which had already been abolished in Europe in its mildest type.
This may have been necessary at first in the tropical portions of
America, where it is impossible for a white man to labor in the sun; but
it was contrary to the spirit of Christianity and inimical to true
civilization. To eradicate this wide-spread, deep-rooted evil was a
tremendous undertaking, one of the most gigantic in history; and among
those who contributed to this, none, except perhaps John Brown and
Charles Sumner, accomplished more--and few have done so much as Wendell
Phillips.
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