But I thought the story of the important part of his life
should be told from his point of view, and not from mine;
that the reasons which governed him should be stated by a
person sure to appreciate them fully. If a great Catholic
Prelate were to die, his eulogy should not be pronounced
by a Protestant. When Dr. Channing died, we did not select
a Calvinist minister to pronounce his funeral sermon. When
Charles Sumner died Mr. Schurz and Mr. Curtis, not some old
Whig, and not some earnest supporter of General Grant, pronounced
the eulogy. I suppose nobody would have dreamed of asking
a Free Trader to pronounce the eulogy on President McKinley
if he had died soon after the beginning of his first term.
So I declined the office. The City did not ask anybody else
to fill my place, or perform the task.
I will not now renew the debate about our treatment of the
people of the Philippine Islands. My opinion has not at all
changed. I think that under the lead of Mabini and Aguinaldo
and their associates, but for our interference, a Republic
would have been established in Luzon, which would have compared
well with the best of the Republican Governments between the
United States and Cape Horn.
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