New-York tribune., 1874-03-21
CHARLES SUMNER.
"REMINISCENCES OF THE SENATOR.
s...--oy oy GRANT IN sTANroSs CAMPAIGN
IN" -.,.I,,vs Mr.. SUMMERS PERSONAL FEEIINGs
nr I'LL cnA-EE MIMI

I'M
-.,,, x,v,yr1oS oY GRANT IN STATIONS CAMPAIGN
I'M sr,,yC,,xs-mR. SUMMERS PERSONAL rEEIINGs
,ouArn MEMBRRs or THE GOVERNMENT.
- "a, RAZOR OF The Trtbunt.
s,p f, when Senator Sumner. in the Summer of
,s,o ,i,el the words which were spoken TO him by
,he dyins ex Secretary Stanton, his enemies imme-
S,iciy pointed 10 the printed speeches of Mr. stan
a. a. conclusive evidence of fslsehood on the part
~ The great Senator. Mr.. Sumner had represented
stanton as saving that he had not mentioned Gran,
IN one Of his campaign speeches. The speeehes uiu
not tally with this statement, and Mr. Summers enc
mics called il an ingenious fabrication nave no
doubt the inaccuracy was Mr.. Stantons.
More than year before the delivery OF Senator
samnor's great philippe against the President
,lscted by his own party, l heard him repeat in
,,vate conversation these words Of Nr. Stanton.
,,xasin 1871. think on the afternoon Of March 4,
hot I called on him and was shown into his study,
xbere I found him just bowing out o foreign
Gentleman. with whom he was conversing
snently and foreibly in French. When
n had welcomed me with characteristic
,onr,esy he recined in his chair, which was so ar
,anged with pillows that he could almost lie down
,nr After a brief call. l proposed to take my
I've bnt he said with importantly, mo, sit still.
- s;ck to-day, and cannot work If you feel like
s.a,ios should be glad to have you.' lon may
,oSeve I did not hasten my retreat, and for, two
,,,,s the eloquent man spoke magnfcently on
nabbc affairs To this grand impromptu Grafton
bad the honor TO be the solitary auditor.
He told me then Of his talk with Stanton. when
aman tells me that he Is waiting for his discharge
ms words have great weight with me-" he added
In the year that followed often repeated Mr. Sum
pers statement Of the conversation between himself
nd Secretary Stanton. As editOr-in-charge
-ya.N i'm
hitter inclosing check for the amount
tf the Aonorarium which We usually paid for his
contributions. asking him at his leisure to write out
the conversation with Stanton and give 1t to the
public in our columns. After delay of two months
he returned the check ana pleaded his engagement
"A ;he matter of the Salto Domingo annexation as
reason for his inability 10 find time to write
a newspaper article. when the speech
made on the eve Of the Philadelphia Convention
,ppeared was surprised at the perfect verbal CORE
,nondence between the statement he then made OF
lIr Stantons words and my own recollection of his
oc,ouut of the conversations given me fifteen
months before. In the whole passage relating to
this subect could not discover the variation of n
word from the corresponding passage IN his
eanyersatiop on the 4th of March, 1871. ] am
,,re that he was so confident of the accuracy of
Stanton's solemn ante-mortem statement that he
did not deem il worth while to investigate it. His
own habit Of accurate statement was so fixed that
he probably thought it impossible for Mr. Stanton to
,peakforgetfully in such matter at such moment.
There could be no more conclusive evidence of Mr..
snmuers truthfuness than his failure ~ look at Mr.
Stanton's printed speeches.
know of nothing more sublime than the lofty in
dimation with which Mr.. Sumner spoke of those
personal vices of public men which Washington
t,ciety condones so easily. l remember that when
he had occasion to speak on these subjects he got
out of bis chair and straightened himself up, pacing
The hoor to relieve his excitement. But he did not
speak bitterly OF with personal resentment, OF any
nan With the utmost good nature he foretold his
own removal from the Craftsmanship of the Commit
Zee on Foreign Relations and when replied with
amazed incredulty he laughed gently and said:
"You will see it before many days" The prediction
seemed then so improbable that should have for
gotten II had not the event followed its heels SO
swiftly
Ibave no relic that prize more highly than a
tnef ingenious note Of Mr.. Summers giving a state
meut of the personal relations existing between him.
self aud the President and Mr.. Fish. This letter,
which scarcely feel authorized to PRINT even now,
was written during the debate on his removal
and as he save, while Mr. Schurz was speaking
admirably on the subject" But there is no tone Of
anger in it, He did sometimes, unfortunately, make
public quarres private Ones but he was not one Of
those who elevate personal Quarres into public ones.
Brootlga March TO- 1o7A EDWARD EGGLEsToS.
GREELEY AND SUMNER