Edward L. Pierce, Memoir and letters of Charles Sumner: volume 4

[371] the ‘Prophetic Voices concerning America,’ which at the time of his death he was enlarging for a separate publication, it fell to his literary executors to complete the enterprise, with the assistance of proof-readers, acting under Mr. Longfellow's immediate direction. The last two volumes, the proofs of which were read by Mr. A. W. Stevens, did not appear till May, 1883, on account of a suspension of the work, the completion of which Mr. Longfellow and Mr. Nichols did not live to see. The announcement of the proposed complete edition of his Works called out a large number of notices, which dwelt at length on his habits of mind, his style, and his position as a statesman. The one contributed to the New York Independent, May 12, 1870, was from the distinguished scholar, Moses Coit Tyler.

Sumner's name had at different times been mentioned for Secretary of State and for the missions to England and France. Mr. Lincoln, at the time he called for the resignation of Mr. Blair, Postmaster-General, in 1864, contemplated a change in the state department after the election in 1864;¹ and in that event it is likely that he would have invited Sumner to be Seward's successor. Sumner's name was mentioned in connection with the Cabinet which Wade might have formed if Johnson had been removed by impeachment; and it was now again, after General Grant's election, canvassed in connection with the state department. It is not likely that Sumner would have consented to pass from the Senate to the Cabinet except at an exigent call; certainly he never indicated any wish to make the change, or any disappointment that he had not been called to make it. The duties of the place he had long held were congenial to him; its tenure was secure, and work remained to be done in it on the completion of which he had set his heart. His friends also, who took the most interest in his personal fortunes, were averse to his leaving the Senate. E. L. Pierce wrote to him, Jan. 20, 1869: ‘By your service in the Senate you are to live in the history of the country. Is it not best to remain there? With it there is fixedness and independence; beyond, there is uncertainty of tenure and a measure of subordination.’² Sumner was reticent when his name was mentioned for the Cabinet as among the probabilities. The most that he said was in a letter