e, thinking that the great philanthropist was quite ready
to become a friend to a Union soldier without much inquiry into his
personality and antecedents, and now he met with a stinging rebuff.
But it must be confessed that subsequent experience has diminished
my sympathy for him, and probably it would be better for the country
if the innovation were introduced of having every senator of the
United States dispose of such callers in the same way.

Foreign men of letters, with whom Sumner's acquaintance was very
wide, were always among his most valued guests. A story is told
of Thackeray's visit to Washington, which I distrust only for the
reason that my ideas of Sumner's make-up do not assign him the
special kind of humor which the story brings out. He was, however,
quoted as saying, "Thackeray is one of the most perfect gentlemen
I ever knew. I had a striking illustration of that this morning.
We went out for a walk together and, thoughtlessly, I took him
through Lafayette Square. Shortly after we entered it, I realized
with alarm that we were going directly toward the Jackson statue.
It was too late to retrace our steps, and I wondered what Thackeray
would say when he saw the object. But he passed straight by without
seeming to see it at all, and did not say one word about it."

Sumner was the one man in the Senate whose seat was scarcely ever
vacant during a session. He gave the closest attention to every
subject as it arose. One instance of this is quite in the line of the
present book. About 1867, an association was organized in Washington
under the name of the "American Union Academy of Literature, Science,
and Art." Its projectors were known to few, or none, but themselves.
A number of prominent citizens in various walks of life had been
asked to join it, and several consented without knowing much about
the association. It soon became evident that the academy was desirous
of securing as much publicity as possible through the newspapers
and elsewhere. It was reported that the Secretary of the Treasury
had asked its opinion on some instrument or appliance connected
with the work of his department. Congress was applied to for an
act of incorporation, recognizing it as a scientific adviser of the
government by providing that it should report on subjects submitted
to it by the governmental departments, the intent evidently being
that it should supplant the National Academy of Sciences.

The application t