teresting and even important unprinted
letters of Cobden, the Duke of Argyll, and of John Bright." "Yes,"
replied Mr. Pierce, with a twinkle in his eye, "I can say with Lord
Clive, 'Great Heavens, at this moment I stand astonished at my own
moderation.'"

Any one who has studied public sentiment in this country for any period
knows how easy it is to generalize from a few facts, and yet, if the
subject be more thoroughly investigated, it becomes apparent how
unsatisfactory such generalizations are apt to be; not that they are
essentially untrue, but rather because they express only a part of the
truth. If a student should ask me in what one book he would find the
best statement of popular opinion at the North during the Civil War, I
should say, Read Sumner's letters as cited in Mr. Pierce's biography
with the author's comments. The speeches of Sumner may smell too much of
the lamp to be admirable, but the off-hand letters written to his
English and to a few American friends during our great struggle are
worthy of the highest esteem. From his conversations with the President,
the Cabinet ministers, his fellow-senators and congressmen, his
newspaper reading,--in short, from the many impressions that go to make
up the daily life of an influential public man,--there has resulted an
accurate statement of the popular feeling from day to day. In spite of
his intense desire to have Englishmen of power and position espouse the
right side, he would not misrepresent anything by the suppression of
facts, any more than he would make a misleading statement. In the
selection of these letters Mr. Pierce has shown a nice discrimination.

Sumner, whom I take to have been one of the most truthful of men, was
fortunate in having one of the most honest of biographers. Mr. Pierce
would not, I think, have wittingly suppressed anything that told against
him. I love to think of one citation which would never have been made by
an idolizing biographer, so sharply did it bring out the folly of the
opinion expressed. Sumner wrote, May 3, 1863: "There is no doubt here
about Hooker. He told Judge Bates ... that he 'did not mean to drive the
enemy but to bag him.' It is thought he is now doing it." The
biographer's comment is brief, "The letter was written on the day of
Hooker's defeat at Chancellorsville."

It seems to me that Mr. Pierce was as impartial in his writing as is
possible for a man who has taken an active part in political affairs,
who