sary measures the amendments to the
Constitution which were designed to make that policy permanent.
Indeed, it was his opinion, at one period of the controversy over the
question of negro suffrage, that a legislative declaration would be
sufficient. The field of his success is to be found in the
argumentative power that he possessed and in its use for the overthrow
of slavery. Of the anti-slavery advocates who entered the Senate
previous to the opening of the war, he was the best equipped in
learning, and his influence in the country was not surpassed by the
influence of any one of his associates. In his knowledge of diplomacy,
he had the first rank in the Senate for the larger part of his career.
His influence in the Senate was measured, however, by his influence in
the country. His speeches, especially in the period of national
controversy, were addressed _to_ the country. He relied upon
authorities and precedents. His powers as a debater were limited, and
it followed inevitably that in purely parliamentary contests he was
not a match for such masters as Fessenden and Conkling, who in learning
were his inferiors.

My means for information are so limited that I do not express an
opinion upon the question whether Mr. Sumner's ambitions in public life
were or were not gratified. On one or two occasions he let fall
remarks which indicated a willingness to be transferred to the
Department of State. Major Ben. Perley Poore had received the
impression that there was a time when Mr. Sumner looked to the
Presidency as a possibility. At an accidental meeting with Major
Poore, he said to me: "I have dined with Sumner, and he gave me an
account of the conversation he had with you this morning, in which you
consoled him for not gaining the Presidency."

I recalled the conversation. It was a Sunday-morning talk, and there
was no special purpose on my part, however my remarks may have been
received by Mr. Sumner. He spoke of the opportunity furnished to Mr.
Jefferson for the exposition of his views in his first inaugural
address. I then proceeded to say that, omitting the incumbent of the
office, of whom nothing could then be said, not more than three or four
men had gained in standing by their elevation to the Presidency, beyond
the fact that their names were upon the roll. The exceptions were,
first of all, Lincoln, who had gained most. Then Jackson, who had
gained something--indeed, a good deal by his defence of