On the record
I cannot consent to speak of Lafayette, who was not ashamed to fight beside a black soldier, to an audience too delicate to sit beside a black citizen.
Source
gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Sumner criticizes the exclusion of black citizens from an audience, invoking Lafayette's legacy of fighting alongside black soldiers to highlight hypocrisy.
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It is a cause which, though long kept in check throughout our country, as also in Europe, now confronts the people and their rulers, demanding to be heard.
The first is a heavenly sentiment, from God: the other is a device of this world.
Men are erring and mortal; principles are steadfast and immortal.
Far above any flickering light or battle-lantern of party is the everlasting sun of Truth, in whose beams are the duties of men.
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