riend and strongest supporter, to succeed Mr. Hamlin in
the Senate. President Hayes was willing to appoint Mr. Hale
to a Cabinet office. But Mr. Hale, I think very wisely, declined
the overture, as he had before declined the tender of a seat
in the Cabinet from President Grant. He would have made an
excellent Cabinet officer. But he was specially fitted for
the more agreeable and permanent public service of Senator.
I do not know what occasioned President Hayes's reluctance
to comply with Mr. Blaine's desire. But it was a fortunate
decision for Mr. Frye. If he had gone into the Cabinet,
in all likelihood the people of Maine would have chosen another
Senator when Mr. Blaine became Secretary of State under Garfield
in 1881, and according to the habit of the people of that
State would have continued him in their service. So Mr.
Frye's brilliant and useful career in the Senate would have
been wanting to the history of the Republic.

I had myself something to do with the selection of the Cabinet.
I had been a member of the Convention held at Cincinnati that
had nominated President Hayes. The Massachusetts delegation
had turned the scale between him and Blaine. Their votes
gave him the slender majority to which he owed his nomination.
I had also been a member of the Electoral Commission to which
the contest between him and Tilden had been submitted and
I had been on the committee that framed the bill under which
that Commission was created. I had voted with the Democrats
of the House to support that bill against the judgment of
a large majority of the Republicans. I agreed with President
Hayes in the matter of a reform in the civil service and in
his desire to free the Executive power from the trammel of
senatorial dictation.

I had formed a strong friendship with Mr. McCrary in the House
of Representatives and had earnestly commended him to the
President for appointment to the office of Attorney-General.
I did not expect to make any other recommendation. There
had been an unfortunate estrangement between the Republicans
of Massachusetts and of Maine by reason of the refusal of
the Massachusetts delegation to support Mr. Blaine for the
Presidency. I thought it desirable for the interest of the
Republican Party that that breach should be healed and especially
desirable that the incoming administration, so beset with
difficulty, should have the powerful support of Mr. Blaine
and of those Republicans of whom h