Columbus, Feb. 14, I860.
Dear Sumner, Your
congratulations, if not among the first, were by no means the least welcome;
for I know the sincere & noble heart from which they came.
But I feel no pleasure in the thought of returning to the
Senate. If circumstances warrant me in so doing I shall prefer to resign
without taking my seat. These are days of too much concession to suit me.
We all remember you with love and admiration. Your picture
hangs alone in my library over a framed autograph of Charles Carroll. It hangs
with others, all of earnest men, in my dining room. I put them all up when I
first opened my house, as a defiance to the proslavery men who would resist or
debase republicanism — as symbols of my faith and my purposes.
Why should Seward retire from the Senate? Is he certain of
the nomination at Chicago? I do not so read the signs exactly; but I shall not
be disappointed, if such shall be the event. I look upon him as a great man,
faithful to the cause of freedom & humanity, & worthy of any honor
which can be conferred upon him. We don't agree in some views, but I should be
ashamed of myself, if I could be moved to undervalue or decry him. On the
contrary I heartily honor, & cheerfully praise &, if the
Republicans choose him as their standard bearer, shall zealously support him.
Cordially your
friend,
[SALMON P. CHASE.]
SOURCE: Diary and correspondence of Salmon P. Chase, Annual
Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1902, Vol.
2, p. 285-6
