Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874 to [Edward W.] Kinsley
Order a pdf of this item here.
Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02095.16 Author/Creator: Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874 Place Written: Washington, District of Columbia Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 10 April 1872 Pagination: 4 p. ; 20.5 x 12.8 cm. Order a Copy
Marked private. Written from the Senate Chamber. Complains about the Boston press being hard on him, criticizes President Ulysses S. Grant's attempt to annex Santo Domingo, and rails against Grant's leadership in general: "I did not write to promote any personal interest. I have none. I am a candidate for nothing. I desire no office. But I am not insensible to misrepresentat[ion] & injustice. Never was the Boston press so hardened & her[2]metically sealed against even Fair Play where I am concerned. Even [Slack] cannot do justice to me.This madness for Grant upsets every thing. All this is laying up mortificat[ion] & regret for the future. Grant is unfit, this will be conferred in history. I have no personal griefs- to influence me by a hairs breadth. I know my sincerity & the Sense [3] of duty which governs me. His treatment of the Black Republic deserves impeacht & it shews an insensibility to law & constitut[ion]; so also the violation of our neutral duties & an act of Congress in the sale of arms to belligerent France. Then comes his indifference to duty making his office a plaything & a perquisite- all of which must be [met] if the Republicans are guilty of the suicidal folly of renominating him. The French arms inquiry has already sustained me in every essential point...but the Boston Press will not let this be known. I claim very little; but I have done the State some service, & I am trying to do more now."
Citation Guidelines for Online Resources
The copyright law of the United States (title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.