[448]
that I am still pursued by controversy.
I long for repose, and am now tried as much as ever.
On the Chinese,1 was left to do battle alone.
On the annexation of the West India islands, I began alone.
The heats have been great.
The President has spared no pains to carry out his ill-considered plan.
I insisted that these islands by climate, occupation, and destiny under Providence belonged to the colored race, and that we should not take them away.
No greed of land should prevail against the rights of this people.
I knew Mrs. Lincoln well during the presidency of her husband, and am sure that the stories of disloyalty are without foundation.
She was his companion, and sat by his side in his afternoon drives and at his assassination.
She is needy and unpopular.
I was the friend of the President, and therefore I exert myself for her. I wish you could see this case as I do. Ever sincerely yours and your husband's.
To
Longfellow, July 16:—
At last the bolt has fallen on Motley.
I am unhappy at the thought of the unhappiness in his house.
Wilson tells me that there is a talk of removing Monti also.
When I see you on that piazza, I will tell you this story of— “Revenge!”
To
Mr. Bemis, then in
Europe, July 22:—
The removal of Motley is simply brutal.
This is the only word to describe it; add also heartless and cruel.
I hope you will see him and strengthen him. The tragical death of Prevost Paradol2 adds to the gloom.
He was with me half an hour three days before his suicide, speaking of the war and his surprise at it, but saying that it was necessary; also of literature and Guizot, Thiers, and Saint Beuve.
He evidently was a great admirer of Thiers.
The senator and the secretary kept up correspondence during the recess of Congress, in which they continued to address each other as ‘My dear
Fish’ and ‘My dear
Sumner.’
They wrote familiarly of various matters,—disagreeing of course upon one.
This correspondence continued during October, and the senator was during the next month on his journey.
Sumner wrote plainly, even reproachfully, to his old friend, who, as he thought, had failed to stand by
Motley as he should, and who seemed to be the source of insinuations against the minister recently made in executive session.
Fish replied at length, endeavoring to remove what he regarded as the senator's misapprehension concerning himself, and still professing a warm and strong friendship
