an effort to deceive the American people and to conceal from them what they have a right to know and ought to know?
I cannot agree with you as to Judge Gray. Do you remember the despatch he wrote from Paris in which he said he was utterly unable to agree to the annexation scheme, and gave the most cogent reasons for rejecting it? And after all this he put his name to the treaty without protest, and then to accept an appointment which looked like—and which all the world regarded as—a reward for his compliance! The man who does such a thing has a weak spot in his character which makes him an uncertain quantity. The assumption that he acted in a diplomatic capacity and had to obey instructions cannot excuse him. As a peace commissioner he had much more freedom of action and was fully authorized to shape his conduct according to his own honest conviction as to what was best for his country. He failed in the great trial. If he should be nominated, it may be good policy to support him, but only as a choice between two evils.
TO CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, JR.
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This is one of the occasions on which I wish I were rich myself, which I am not, and which I am ordinarily glad I am not. It is a great pity Welsh is no longer on the ground. He was very efficient in getting money, which I am sorry to say I am not.
I enclose two newspaper clippings on the [George] Gray case, one from the Springfield Republican, the other from the Evening Post. I have heard the same opinions expressed by several other respectable people. You see, I am not the only stickler for soundness of character in
