With the election over, Phillips made amends to Charles Sumner, his last link, save Butler, to what remained of the old Radical Republicans. Sumner needed this reassurance badly, for he had now been censured by the Massachusetts Republican party for his rebellion against Grant, and his influence in the Senate had been reduced to almost nothing. “The real old friends never waver a hair in their love and trust,” Phillips attempted to reassure him, before calling on Sumner at home, where he found his old friend ill and despondent. As they reminisced, a servant interrupted to remind the senator
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