The headship of the first committee of the Senate is equal in position to anything in our government under the President; and it leaves to the senator great opportunities. Had Mr. Lincoln lived, I think I should have been obliged to determine then if I would supersede Mr. Seward. The thought troubled me at the time; for how could I leave reconstruction and equal rights unsettled in the Senate? Nobody has ever heard me say that I would accept any place out of the Senate, if it were offered to me. I admit, however, that my country has a right to determine where I can work best.
This text is part of:
[372]
to Lieber, written the day after the election in November in reply to the latter's suggestions on the subject:—
Cambridge, MA. Press of John Wilson and Son. 1877.
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