The life of Samuel J. Tilden

CO

LO

o

LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.

Class

BUST OF SAMUEL JONES TILDEN.— BY KITSON
Circa 1884

THE LIFE

OF

SAMUEL J. TILDEN

BY

JOHN BIGELOW, LL.D.

AUTHOR OF " LIFE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN " " LIFE OF WILLIAM

CULLEN BRYANT " " FRANCE AND THE CONFEDERATE NAYY "

EDITOR OF " WRITINGS AND SPEECHES OF

SAMUEL j. TILDEN" ETC.

Chacun de ses malheurs semble une meprise ou une
enignie jusqiCa ce qu'on prononce le nom deses ennemis

ST. MARC GIRAEDIN. Art. " Arnaud "

IN TWO VOLUMES

VOLUME II.— 1877-1887

NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS

1895

Copyright, 1895, by JOHN BIGELOW.
All rights reserved.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

Page

Presidential canvass of 1876 — Assailable points of Grant's administra
tion — Popular majority for Tilden and Hendricks — Inception of
the conspiracy to defeat the popular choice — Senator Barnum,
JohnC. Reid, and the "New York Times" — William E. Chand
ler's break-of-day despatches — Troops ordered to Florida — Presi
dent Grant's despatch to General Sherman — Foul operations of
conspirators in Florida — How rewarded by President Hayes —
General Barlow 1-32

CHAPTER II

The conspirators' operations in Louisiana — William Pitt Kellogg —
Visiting statesmen in New Orleans — The composition and opera
tions of the Louisiana Returning Board — Garfield — Sherman —
Anderson — Jewett — Eliza Pinkston — Fraudulent registration —
The reward of the conspirators 33-56

CHAPTER III

The electoral count of 1877 — Senator Morton's scheme — Tilden's
history of the presidential counts — President Grant concedes
Tilden's election — Electoral commission created — Disapproved
of by Tilden — Refuses to raffle for the presidency — Horatio Sey
mour's speech before the New York electors — Dr. Franklin's
advice to his son — The Florida case — The Louisiana case —
The Oregon case — Conflicting decisions of the commission —
The commission for sale — The forged certificates from Lou
isiana — Decision of the commission condemned by the House o$
Representatives — Letter of Charles Francis Adams — Tilden's
reply — Protest of the Democratic minority of the electoral com
mission — Thurman and Bayard — James Russell Lowell . . 57-118

CHAPTER IV

Revisits Europe — Blarney Castle — St. Patrick's Cathedral — Tom
Moore's birthplace — The cabman's criticism — Lord Houghton's

208129

iv CONTENTS

Page

story — General Grant's reception in London — Tilden elected an
honorary member of the Cobden Club — Visits the home of his
ancestry — Arrives in Paris — Attends the funeral of Thiers —
Talk with Gambetta — Louis Blanc's account of his visit to Louis
Napoleon when a prisoner at Ham, and of the loss and recovery of
his voice in London — The story of General Cavaignac's brother
and mother — Tilden's exposure in recrossing the channel — Re
turns to the United States — The " Indian Corn Speech" . 119-144

CHAPTER V

s The trials and temptations of a bachelor millionaire — Proposals of

marriage in verse and prose 145-167

CHAPTER VI

The cipher despatches — Tilden's address to the people of the United
States in regard to them — His examination by a congressional
committee — A calumnious report corrected — Letter to Senator
Kernan 168-223

CHAPTER VII

Income-tax returns — New persecutions by the administration — The
capitulation of the administration — The ignominious end of seven
years' persecution — Letters of Edwards Pierrepont, special coun
sel for the government ; S. L. Woodford, United States District
Attorney ; Green B. Raum, United States Commissioner of Inter
nal Revenue ; Charles J. Folger, Secretary of the Treasury ; and
Benjamin H. Brewster, Attorney-General of the United States, 224-260

CHAPTER VIII

The purchase of Graystone — Dinner to J. S. Morgan — Mr. Tilden
rebukes third-term candidates for the presidency — Withdraws
from public life — Letter to Mr. Manning declining the presidential
nomination in 1880 — The Cincinnati convention — Urged for a re-
nomination in 1884 — Second letter of declension .... 261-288

CHAPTER IX

Tilden's relations to the new President — Senator Garland a suitor — Let
ters to Manning — Tilden's and Jefferson's views' of civil service —
Harbor defences — Letter to Carlisle — Tilden's friends proscribed
at Washington — Letter to Watterson — George W. Julian —
Tilden discourages his nephew and namesake from embarking in
politics — R. B. Minturn — Manning's illness and retirement from
the treasury — History of the Monroe Doctrine — The Broadway

CONTENTS v

Page

railroad — Advice to Governor Hill against the proposed enlarge
ment of the Erie canal — Favors the bill for an international park
and for the protection of the Adirondack forests .... 289-34G

CHAPTER X

Tilden's last days — The books he read — His death — Whittier's ele
giac verses — The funeral — Mr. Tilden's will — The validity of
the Tilden will contested — The trustees of the Tilden Trust pur
chase a half-interest in the estate — James C. Carter's argument —
Provision made by the Legislature and afterwards withdrawn, for
the Tilden Free Library 347-371

CHAPTER XI
Conclusion 372-394

APPENDIX A

Address of the minority of the electoral commission of 1877 . 397-403

APPENDIX B

Party sentiment in favor of Tilden's renomination for the presidency

in 1884 404-410

APPENDIX C

Miss Gould's list of the books read to Mr. Tilden during the last years

of his life 411-419

APPENDIX D

Last will and testament of Samuel Jones Tilden 420-431

APPENDIX E
Act to Incorporate the Tilden Trust 432-433

INDEX 435

ILLUSTRATIONS

BUST OF SAMUEL ,T. TILDEX Frontispiece

GRAYSTONE Facing p. 262

SAMUEL J. TILDEN ON THE POUCH AT GRAYSTOXE .... " 310

THE PROPOSED TILDEX TRUST LIBRARY . " 368

OF

UNIVERSITY

OF

THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J, TILDEN

CHAPTER I

Presidential canvass of 1876 — Assailable points of Grant's administration —
Popular majority for Tilden and Hendricks — Inception of the conspir
acy to defeat the popular choice — Senator Barnum, John C. Reid, and
the "New York Times " — William E. Chandler's break-of-day de
spatches — Troops ordered to Florida — President Grant's despatch to
General Sherman — Foul operations of conspirators in Florida — How
rewarded by President Hayes — General Barlow.

THE presidential canvass of 1876 was one of exceptional
bitterness. The public officers of the party in control of
the federal government had been charged by the press and
on the platform, by prominent and responsible Republicans
as well as by the opposition, not only with gross neglect of
official duty, but with official conduct for much of which
the laws provided the most degrading penalties. They
charged, among other things, that during the whole eight
years of General Grant's administration the ordinary ex
penses of the government, exclusive of pensions and inter
est on the public debt, had been increased at the inordinate
rate of $75,000,000 a year.

That its influence had been exerted to procure its inser
tion in the bill that was to double the President's salary,
and, as an inducement for its passage, a provision that the
increase of pay which Congress had already awarded the
members should date back to the beginning of their term,
by which means they were to receive about $1,000,000 of
back pay.

That in a single month in 1874 one million gallons of

VOL. II. — 1

2 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

whiskey were sold in St. Louis which had not paid the law
ful tax, amounting to $700,000, through the collusion of
officials attached to the Treasury Department, who were
tried and convicted of sharing in the plunder. As St.
Louis was but one, and by no means the most considerable,
of the cities in which large distilleries were in operation, it
was estimated and charged that from these frauds alone,
which had been going on for many years, the loss to the
treasury had been not less than $15,000,000 a year. O.
C. Babcock, the President's private secretary, and one
Avery, the chief clerk of the treasury, were both indicted
for participating in these robberies. Avery was convicted,
but to save the President's private secretary from the State-
prison, and for other reasons which it is too painful even
to suggest, Mr. Henderson, the lawyer selected by the
Attorney-General for the prosecution of these rogues, was
displaced at the special instance of the President, as was
publicly charged, and, so far as I know, never denied.

That the financial agency of our government abroad was
taken from the old and responsible banking-house of the
Barings, of London, who had held it through a long suc
cession of administrations, and was given to the house of
Clews & Co., of which one partner was an Englishman, but
then residing in New York, and the other a Swede, who at
one time was Swedish consul in New York, from which
position he had been relieved at the instance of our govern
ment for blockade-running during the war. To secure
their appointment it was charged that Clews & Co. agreed,
in writing, to give a quarter, or some other portion, of
their profits to one Cheever, a notorious familiar at the
White House ; another quarter to one James A. Van
Buren, which name subsequently proved to be a pseudo
nym, and the appropriation to it was understood to repre
sent a gratification to some personage too important to be
named ; and an eighth to a brother-in-law of the Presi
dent. It is not surprising that, with so many divisions, the

GRANT'S ADMINISTRATION 3

dividends of Clews & Co. were disappointing, and that
they soon failed and went into bankruptcy, debtors to the
government for a large amount.1

That the soldiers of the United States were ordered to
take possession of the legislative halls of Louisiana in
1874, and drive from the House those Representatives who
were opposed to the usurpation of the executive chair by
William Pitt Kellogg, the Jonathan Wild of Louisiana pol
itics, who had been placed in it by the aid of a drunken
and corrupt judge of a federal court.

That George William Curtis was compelled to retire
from the Civil Service Commission, because " the circum
stances under which several important appointments had
been made seemed to him to show an abandonment both of
the letter and the spirit of the civil service regulations,"
and because " he was unwilling to be held responsible for
acts which he considered nothing more nor less than a dis
regard of public pledges and a mockery of the public faith."

That Mr. Bristow, the Secretary of the Treasury, and
Mr. Cox, the Secretary of the Interior, who were the only
friends of a reformed civil service in the cabinet, were ex
pelled from it because they were its friends.

That one vice-president, one speaker of the House of
Representatives, three senators, and five chairmen of con
gressional committees, all partisans of the executive, dis
honored themselves, the government, and the nation by
marketing their influence as legislators ; that a secretary of
the treasury did the like by forcing balances in the public
accounts ; that an attorney-general did the like by appro
priating public funds to his own use ; that a secretary of

1 The books of the State department show that the indebtedness to the
government of Clews, Habicht, & Co., on the 24th of September, 1873, when
they went into liquidation, amounted to $145,451.47. Up to November 29,
1887, the company had paid off $38,718.77 of this indebtedness. In 1882
the State department compromised with Henry Clews for his individual
Bhare of the indebtedness for $12,500, leaving the sum of $94,232.70 still
standing charged to Clews, Habicht, & Co. on the books of the Ilegister of
the Treasury.

4 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE 'N

the navy did the like by enriching himself and his confed
erates out of percentages levied upon contractors with his
department ; while a secretary of war was impeached for
high crimes and misdemeanors.

Then there was the Emma mine swindle, in which one of
our ministers to England was understood to be implicated ;
enormous frauds in the Indian and printing departments
and in the New York custom-house ; extravagant and cor
rupt expenditures for post-offices and public structures of
various kinds, which, during fifteen years, had amounted
to $51,164,978, while for the same purposes during the
seventy-two previous years of our national existence the
corresponding expenditures had been less than twenty-nine
millions. Then there was the Venezuela scandal, the San
Domingo scheme, the Credit Mobilier scandal, and defalca
tions of public officers so numerous as almost to constitute
the rule rather than the exception in the public service ; so
numerous, indeed, that the Secretary of the Treasury per
sistently refused to comply with the law which required him
annually to report them to Congress.

I will not swell these pages with more of these unsavory
charges, which, to be complete and explicit, would alone fill
a volume. It will be for the historian, in due time, to deal
with this saturnalia of crime and political prostitution,
which few Americans even now can recall without a blush.

Most of these charges were established by congressional
or by judicial inquiry, many by both. They of "course
placed many thousand individuals — indeed, it would be no
exaggeration to say hundreds of thousands — on the de
fensive, who, if deprived of the protection of a sympathetic
administration, would be personally as well as politically
ruined. They naturally dreaded the accession of a Demo
cratic administration, from which they could expect little
indulgence ; but the prospect of having their operations re
viewed by an administration with Tilden at its head made
them desperate. His name had more terrors for them than

WARRED UPON BY THE ADMINISTRATION 5

that of any other man in the Kepublic, and when his nom
ination with such practical unanimity by the St. Louis
convention transpired, they realized at once that vce victis
was to be the battle cry of the campaign, and that Tilden
must be beaten or they be ruined. They were in the con
dition of rats assailed in a room which offered no hole for
escape. The situation gave them the courage and the
recklessness of despair. They took up the cry of the furi
ous goddess, maddened by the unsuccessfulness of her
malice :

" Flectere si nequeo superos
Archeronta Movebo." *

They did not undertake to defend themselves, for that,
they knew, was useless. Their crimes were of record, and
suspected, if not known, of all men. Their plan of battle
was to assail Tilden with charges bred of their own foul
imaginings ; in the language of Voltaire, fa ire la guerre des
pots de chambre, in the hope of persuading the people that
he was no better than they, and that nothing was to be
gained by admitting him and his party to power. They
denounced him as a railroad wrecker, because he had em
ployed his extraordinary talents as a lawyer and an organ
izer in rescuing a number of railways from bankruptcy and
converting them into productive properties. They charged
him with extorting excessive fees for his professional ser
vices, though he had never had a bill for services success
fully questioned, nor had he ever accepted a contingent fee
in his life. They charged him with rebel sympathies dur
ing the war, though he was one of the leaders of the revolt
against the administration which was proposing to legalize
slavery in the free Territories ; though he supported Van
Buren and Adams for President in 1848-9 ; though he re
fused his consent to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise
in 1854 ; though he attended and his name figured in the
list of officers of the Union meeting held in New York imuie-

6 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

diately after the attack on Fort Sumter, and also attended
another meeting of the bar, held for the same purpose ; and
though he was during the war in more or less continuous
consultation with every member of President Lincoln's
cabinet, the only two surviving members of which were
then on the stump advocating his election.

They charged him with intending, if elected, to indemnify
the South for their losses during the rebellion and to assume
the rebel debt — a charge for which there was only the flimsy
foundation that the Southern States favored his nomination
and were expected to vote for him at the election. Though
the prospect of the payment of such losses had not been re
garded of sufficient magnitude to deserve the notice of the
nominating convention of either party, Mr. Tilden waived
his right to disregard the charge, and in reply to a letter
from the Hon. A. S. Hewitt, who then represented in Con
gress the district in which Mr. Tilden resided, gave these
charges a most explicit and satisfactory denial. Even the
tf Tribune," which had already quite forgotten Mr. Tilden's
oft-acknowledged claims to its respect as a man, and its ad
miration as a statesman, confessed that the charge which
it had not thought unworthy of the hospitality of its
columns had been fully disposed of by this letter.1

It was further charged that his health was too feeble to
endure the fatigues of the presidential office, especially
when increased as they would be enormously by the resto
ration of a party which had been excluded from the admin
istration of the government for some fourteen years, and
by such changes of men and measures as would be the
inevitable consequences of such restoration.

It was not the Governor's health about which they were
solicitous. They could have borne his clinical sufferings and
even his demise with Christian fortitude, and aided per
haps in imposing the burden which would have contributed
to it.

1 " Tribune," Oct. 25, 1876.

DESPERATION OF THE ADMINISTRATION 7

" If the assassination

Could trammel up the consequence and catch
With his surcease success."

But there was Hendricks quite ready to leap into the sad
dle. He was no "reformer," it is true, but he was before
all things a thorough party man of the most unadulterated
strain, who they knew full well would neglect no partisan
advantage or leave one stone upon another of the adminis
tration party that could be thrown down. There was no
alternative left them but to defeat Tilden, and as it could
not be done by fair means, it was too late for them to
scruple about a resort to foul.

The most unequivocal evidence of their having reached
this stage of desperation was exhibited in the report put into
circulation soon after the Governor's nomination, that he
had failed to make full and fair returns of his income to the
tax assessors. Because on one occasion he had received
the sum of $20,000 as compensation for professional ser
vice, which did not seem to correspond with his tax
returns for that year, it was assumed that his return
was false, concealing or ignoring the fact that the fee in
question was his compensation for eight or nine successive
years of severe professional toil. I shall have occasion to
deal with this subject more at length later, when the aid of
the federal judiciary was invoked to assist, with this weapon
in its hands, in defeating his renomination to the presidency
in 1880 and in 1884.

But all their efforts proved unavailing. The Governor
had lived too long in the public eye ; his service had been
too considerable ; his character had sunk its roots too deep
into the confidence of his countrymen, and its branches
covered too large a territory to be seriously disturbed by
such a storm as could be provoked by the recMess mis
representations of a crowd of rogues whom the" people were
bent on haling to judgment.

8 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

At the election, on the 7th November, 1876, the total vote
for Tilden electors in the United States was 4,300,316
For Hayes 4,036,016

Majority for Tilden 264,300

Tilden's majority over Grant's majority in 1872, 703,574
Tilden's majority over Grant's majority in 1868, 1,287,128

He was the choice of the people, and with a larger major
ity by some 700,000 than had ever been cast by the people
of the United States for any other person. But all this
majority did not make him President. The Constitution
provides that the people of the several States shall choose
electors whose votes are to decide who shall be President ;
but how those votes are destined to be counted, or for which
candidate, are problems which henceforth, as we shall now
proceed to demonstrate, there is no calculus of variations
that is competent to solve.

As a necessary preliminary to this demonstration the
reader is requested to imagine himself in the editorial
rooms of the " New York Times," at ten o'clock on the night
of the 7th of November ; present, John Foord, then editor-
in-chief; John C. Reid, editor of the news department ; and
Charles H. Miller, the present editor of the "Times," but
then occupying a subordinate position. Sufficient returns
from the election had been received to extinguish all hope
of electing Hayes, and to warrant the preparation of an edi
torial article to that effect which appeared in the first edition
of the " Times " of the 8th. The article commenced as
follows :

"A DOUBTFUL ELECTION.

"At the time of going to press with our first edition, the
result of the presidential election is still in doubt. Enough
has been learned to show that the vote has been unprece-
dentedly heavy ; that both parties have exhausted their full
legitimate strength; that the peculiar Democratic policy for

1*

THE CONSPIRACY 9

which such extensive preparations were made in the large
registry in this city, and in the enormous registry in Brook
lyn, has had its effect, and that in some of the States where
the shotgun and rifle dub were relied upon to secure a Demo
cratic victory, there is only too much reason to fear that it
has been successful."

The writer closes his article as follows : " The Democrats,
in order to gain the election (New York being conceded),
must have carried New Jersey, and in addition either
Oregon or Florida. The returns from New Jersey leave
the State in doubt. Oregon is not heard from. Florida is
claimed by the Democrats."

Between eleven and twelve o'clock, and while the edito
rial gentlemen above named were assembled together taking
some refreshments, a note was received from the chair
man of the Democratic National Committee, then United
States Senator Barnum, of Connecticut, asking what news
the " Times " people had from Louisiana, South Carolina,
Oregon, and Florida. Mr. Reid, who was an intense parti
san, and had been very much cast down by the returns, asked
to see the note, read it over carefully, then sprang up
and, with a volley of expletives suited to the message he had
to deliver, exclaimed, " The Democrats are in doubt about
Louisiana, and South Carolina, Florida, and Oregon : it's
a close vote ; we must stop the press and claim them
for Hayes ; we must claim as ours everything that the
Democrats concede as doubtful." Mr. Reid's reading
of Senator Barnum's mind, and his mode of turning its
revelation to account, was approved by his colleagues ; and
the following editorial, prepared without unnecessary delay,
displaced the one which had already gone to press for the
country edition.

From the "New York Times," Nov. 8, 1876 (city edi
tion) :

"A DOUBTFUL ELECTION.

" At the time of going to press the result of the presiden
tial election is still in doubt. Enough has been learned to

10

THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

show that the vote has been unprecedentedly heavy. Both
parties have exhaused their full legitimate strength, while
the peculiar Democratic policy, for which such extensive
preparations were made in the large registry of this city,
and in the enormous registry in Brooklyn, has had its
effect.

" Conceding New York to Mr. Tilden, he will receive the
electoral votes of the following States :

Alabama 10

Arkansas 6

Connecticut .... 6

Delaware 3

Georgia 11

Indiana 15

Kentucky 12

Maryland 8

Mississippi .... 8

Total 184

" General Hayes will receive the votes of the following
States :

Missouri 15

New Jersey .... 9

New York 35

North Carolina . . .10

Tennessee 12

Texas 8

Virginia 11

West Virginia 5

California 6

Colorado 3

Illinois . .21

Iowa
Kansas .
Louisiana .
Maine .
Massachusetts .

11

5

8

7

13

Michigan 11

Minnesota . 5

Nebraska 3

Nevada . 3

New Hampshire
Ohio . . .
Oregon . . .
Pennsylvania .
Rhode Island .
South Carolina

5

3

22

29
4

7

Vermont 5

Wisconsin . , 10

Total 181

" This leaves Florida alone still in doubt. If the Re
publicans have carried that State, as they claim, they will
have 185 votes — a majority of one."

It will be observed that the desponding words which I
have italicized in the first article are eliminated from

THE CONSPIRA CY 11

the second, and all the doubtful States, including Florida,
claimed for Hayes, assuring him a majority of one in the
electoral college.

What was in Mr. Reid's mind in setting up a formal
claim to all these States, on receiving the impression from
Senator Barn urn's inquiry that they were " close," we need
not speculate about ; for we have his own testimony upon
the subject.

Not satisfied with the share which William E. Chandler
had been appropriating to himself of the credit for securing
the election of Hayes, Mr. Reid published in the "Times "
of June 15, 1887, an account of what followed the oper
ations in the " Times " office, which have already been
disclosed.

Mr. Reid informs us that before daylight on the morning
of the day succeeding that of the election, William E.
Chandler, a personage who, as my readers of this genera
tion at least are aware, was already renowned beyond the
boundaries of his native State of New Hampshire for what
the French call les petites politiques, arrived at the Fifth-
avenue hotel in New York. Soon after his arrival, and
between six and half-past six in the morning, Mr. Reid,
who in this communication does not give his name, but
uniformly describes himself as an editor of the " New York
Times," also entered the Fifth-avenue hotel. He went
at once to the rooms of the national committee, and found
them occupied only by a number of servants of the hotel
who were engaged in cleaning and setting the rooms to
rights. He was informed that everybody had gone home
or to bed a couple of hours before. He left the room and
started for the clerk's desk to ascertain the number of Mr.
Zachariah Chandler's room.1

" On his way to the office of the hotel he came in collision

1 Mr. Zachariah Chandler was then a member of the United States
Senate from Michigan, and also chairman of the Republican National
Committee.

12 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

with a small man wearing an immense pair of goggles, his
hat drawn down over his ears, a greatcoat with a heavy
military cloak, and carrying a gripsack and a newspaper in
his hand. The newspaper was the ' New York Tribune.'
The stranger cried out, 'Why, Mr. Blank, is that you?'
The gentleman knew the voice and said, ' Is that you, Mr.
Chandler?' He answered, 'Yes, I have just arrived from

New Hampshire by train. D n the men who have

brought this disaster upon the Republican party ! ' The
gentleman replied, ' The Republican party has sustained
no disaster. If you tvitt only keep your heads up here,
there is no question of the election of President Hayes.
He has been fairly and honestly elected.' '

Mr. Reid and Mr. Chandler then proceeded to the latter's
room in the hotel.

"The visitor went over the ground carefully, State by
State, from Maine to Oregon, counting the electoral vote in
each State, and showing the vote as it ivas finally counted
for Hayes and Tilden. After he had finished, William E.
Chandler said :

' Well, what do you think should be done ? ' The gen
tleman replied :

' Telegraph immediately to leading Republicans, men
in authority, in South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, Cali
fornia, Oregon, and Nevada.' Mr. Chandler made no reply
to this proposition, but said :

' We must go and see Zach.' "

After some difficulty, Mr. Reid and William E. Chand
ler succeeded in finding Zach. Chandler's room.

"The door was shortly opened, and Mr. Zachariah
Chandler was discovered standing in his night-dress.
William E. Chandler then said, closing the door, ' Here is
a gentleman who has more news than you have, and he has
some suggestions to make.' To which Zach. Chandler
replied: ' Yes, I know him. What is it?' with which he
seated himself on the edge of the bed. William E. Chand
ler then said : ' The gentleman will tell you the story him
self. He understands the case better than I do.'

THE CONSPIRACY 13

" The gentleman then went over the details of the elec
tion, and added the recommendations he had made to
William E. Chandler.

" The chairman of the national committee lay down and
said : ' Very well, go ahead and do what you think neces
sary.'' "

Mr. Reid and William E. Chandler then rushed in com
pany to the telegraph office in the hotel. It was not yet open
for business. It would not be open for an hour or more.

" The gentleman said : ' I'll have to take these messages
to the main office of the Western Union.' Chandler called
a servant and directed him to have a carriage brought to
the Twenty-third street entrance. Then Chandler said :

'Well, what do you want to do?' The gentleman re
plied :

' We'll first telegraph to Governor Chamberlain, of
South Carolina.' The gentleman dictated the despatch, as
follows :

"ToD. H. Chamberlain, Columbia, B.C.:

"Hayes is elected if ive have carried South Carolina,
Florida, and Louisiana. Can you hold your State 9 An
swer immedia tely . '

" Mr. Chandler took the despatch in shorthand, as dic
tated."

The following despatch was then dictated to S. B. Con-
over, Tallahassee, Fla. :

" The presidential election depends on the vote of Flor
ida, and the Democrats will try to wrest it from us. Watch
it and hasten returns. Answer immediately. Hayes de
feated without Florida. Do not be cheated in returns.
Answer when sure."

To S. B. Packard, of Louisiana, the following despatch
was sent :

14 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

" The presidential election depends on the vote of Louis
iana, and the Democrats will try and wrest it from you."

Mr. Reid says despatches of like import were sent to
Oreon and California. He then adds :

"William E. Chandler signed with his .own name the de
spatches to Oregon and to Gorman, of San Francisco. To
the despatches sent to Conover, Packard, and Chamberlain,
the narrator's recollection is he signed the name of Zacha-
riah Chandler. William E. Chandler at once took tele
graph blanks and wrote from his stenographic notes the
despatches above printed, the gentleman standing by him
taking every despatch as he finished, and carefully read
ing it. When the last despatch was transcribed, Chandler
handed it over tc the gentleman and said : ' Are they all
right?' He was informed that they were.

" The gentleman jumped into the carriage waiting and
told the driver to go to the main office of the Western
Union with all possible speed. Probably the quickest time
ever made by a carriage from the Fifth-avenue hotel to
the Western Union was made that morning. Arriving at
the Western Union office, the gentleman wrent to the re
ceiver's desk and handed in the despatches. The receiver,
who knew the gentleman very well, said, ? Good morning.'
The gentleman said :

': ' Get these despatches off as quickly as" possible, and
charge the Republican National Committee.' The receiver
replied :

" f The national committee has no account here, and we
can't do it. Why not charge them to the "New York
Times'" account?'

" The gentleman replied, ' All right,' and the receiver
immediately handed them back to him to be countersigned.
This was promptly done. The gentleman returned to his
carriage and was driven back to the Fifth-avenue hotel.
There was still nobody stirring connected with the national
committee.

" The ' New York Times ' has never to this 'day [June
15, 1887] been reimbursed by the national committee or
William E. Chandler; nor has William E. Chandler, or any
national committee ever offered to repay the ' Times ' for

THE CONSPIRACY 15

the telegraph tolls or for any of the expenses incurred on
that morning."

Here we have, upon the most authentic possible testimony,
a quasi official account of the first stage in the erection of
the complicated structure of fraud by which the choice of
the American people was to be defeated and their executive
government delivered over to a usurper.

That the Tilden and Hendricks ticket was entitled to
184 electoral votes was undisputed. That the Hayes and
Wheeler ticket was entitled to 165 electoral votes was
also undisputed. There were 369 electors in all. The
Tilden ticket, therefore, with 184 votes, needed but one
more to give it the majority required for an election. The
Hayes ticket, having only 166 electoral votes assured, re
quired 19 votes more to ensure its election.

The four votes of Florida, the eight of Louisiana, and
seven of South Carolina made just nineteen. To get one of
these votes was sufficient to elect Tilden and Hendricks.
To elect Hayes and Wheeler it wras necessary to get the
whole nineteen.

The " Times " of the 9th followed up the operations
initiated in its columns the previous morning by boldly
claiming to have returns which gave the election to Hayes,
though it could have had nothing of the kind. If it had
any returns of such import they were of course simply the
partisan reverberations of Chandler's despatches.

"THE BATTLE WON.

" A REPUBLICAN VICTORY IN THE NATION — Gov. HAYES
ELECTED PRESIDENT AND WILLIAM A. WHEELER VICE-
PRESIDENT — THE REPUBLICANS CARRY TWENTY-ONE
STATES, CASTING 185 ELECTORAL VOTES — A REPUBLI
CAN MAJORITY IN THE NEXT CONGRESS.

"The despatches received since our last issue confirm
the reports on which the 'Times' yesterday claimed 181
electoral votes for Governor Hayes. On Wednesday the

16 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

following States were put down as surely Republican : Colo
rado, California, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massa
chusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Nebraska, New
Hampshire, Oregon, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
Vermont, Wisconsin, Louisiana, and South Carolina.
Some of these States were claimed by the Democrats ; but
all intelligence, thus far received, not only shows that the
above estimate was correct, but that Florida, which was
left in doubt, has gone Republican by at least 1,500
majority, — our latest despatches say 2,000, — and that the
two Republican Congressmen are also elected. Encourag
ing reports were received from Oregon early yesterday
morning, and in the afternoon came the decisive news that
the Democrats conceded the State, which had given a Re
publican majority of over one thousand, and gained a
Republican Congressman. In Nebraska the same condition
of affairs was shown. There the Republican majority rose
to 8,000. Despatches from Nevada made it certain that
the State had gone for Hayes. The latest news from South
Carolina shows a Republican victory, the Democrats con
ceding the State to Hayes and the Republicans claiming
5,000 majority. Louisiana is one of the States which the
Democrats have claimed ; but our despatches, coming from
various sources in the State, show that it has gone Repub
lican. The latest intelligence points to the certain election
of Gov. Rutherford B. Hayes to the presidency, and a
Republican victory in the nation."

In no other newspaper in New York city or elsewhere, I
believe, wTas a serious doubt expressed of Tilden's election.
It was conceded in the " Times " office, and but for the
inquiry of Barnum I am assured, upon the best authority,
that the question of his election would never have been
raised. The evidence which that inquiry furnished of the
closeness of the vote operated like an open basement
window at night to a burglariously disposed passer-by. If
the vote was so close as this inquiry warranted the sus
picion that it was, what was easier for the administration,
with its control of the army, of all the federal offices,
including the judiciary, and with all the patronage of the

THE CONSPIRACY 17

federal government in reserve, to warp the Tilden vote
sufficiently to give Hayes the nineteen votes which he
lacked ; and how few are active in politics anywhere who
are not ready to reason like the tyrant of Thebes :

"Be just, unless a kingdom tempts to usurpation ;
For that, sovereignty only is adequate temptation."

The scheme of the Fifth-avenue conspirators spread
through the party as rapidly as the poison from the bite of
an adder. Republican leaders all over the country were
signalled at once to claim all the disputed States and to per
sist in claiming them. At the same time it was arranged to
send men " who could be depended upon " to each of the
States whose electoral vote was to be tampered with ; to
provide ample means for such contingencies as might arise ;
and finally to open communication with the President and
the Secretary of War to secure for the Returning Boards
such protection for the work expected of them as they
might require.

Senator Zachariah Chandler, chairman of the National
Republican Committee, proposed to take charge of Florida,
and a credit was opened for him at the Centennial Bank in
Philadelphia, whose officers were his friends. William E.
Chandler, the man with " the immense pair of goggles,"
also went to Florida, and the Department of Justice ordered
its detectives to report to him at Tallahassee. Thomas J.
Brady, with a force of special agents of the Post-Office
Department, followed the Chandlers with money for imme
diate use. William A. Cook, of Washington, was sent to
Columbia, S.C. The election took place on Tuesday, the
7th, and before Thursday night, the 9th, these men were
all on their way to their posts.

On the same day, or night rather, the following orders
were issued to Gen. W. T. Sherman by J. D. Cameron,
Secretary of War, all dated from Philadelphia :

VOL. II. — 2

18 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

10 P.M. "Order four companies of soldiers to Talla
hassee, Fla., at once. Take them from the nearest points,
not from Louisiana or Mississippi, and direct that they be
moved with as little delay as possible."

11 P.M. "In addition to the four companies ordered to
Tallahassee, order all troops in Florida to the same point,
and if you haven't more than the companies named, draw
from Alabama and South Carolina. Advise of the receipt
of this and your action."

11.15 P.M. "Telegraph General Ruger to proceed at
once to Tallahassee, Fla., and upon his arrival there to
communicate with Governor Stearns. Say to him to leave
affairs in South Carolina in hands of an eminently discreet
and reliable officer."

General Grant, who evidently had not yet been let fully
into the scheme mapped out in the early morn of the day
after the election, and who was satisfied that Tilden had
been duly elected,1 did not quite comprehend the motive for
all these military preparations for securing a fair election
which had been held three days before. He evidently had
suspicions that something was afoot, the nature and pur
pose of which there was a manifest disposition to disguise,
if not altogether to conceal, from him. He concluded,
therefore, to do a little telegraphing on his own account
and without the intermediation of his guileless Secretary
of War. Persuaded in his own mind that Tilden and
Hendricks were elected, he seems to have been getting
suspicious that some of the people about him, with the
connivance of Hayes, were plotting something for which
he himself did not care to be responsible, and for that reason
sent the following telegram to General Sherman, and gave
it simultaneously to the press :

1 George W. Childs in his Reminiscences reports that a Republican Sena
tor and other leading Republicans were early at his office the day after the
election to meet General Grant, who was then at Philadelphia attending the
closing exercises of the Centennial Exposition, and the guest of Mr. and
Mrs. Childs. These gentlemen insisted that Hayes was elected, " notwith
standing the returns." Mr. Childs tells us that Grant did not agree with
them, but contented himself with merely expressing a negative opinion.

THE CONSPIRACY 19

"PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 10, 1876.

« To GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, Washington, D. C. :

" Instruct General Augur, in Louisiana, and General
Ruger, in Florida, to be vigilant with the force at their com
mand to preserve peace and good order, and to see that the
proper and legal Boards of Canvassers are unmolested in the
performance of their duties. Should there be any grounds
of suspicion of fraudulent counting on either side, it should
be reported and denounced at once. No man worthy of the
office of President would be willing to hold the office if
counted in, placed there by fraud ; either party can afford
to be disappointed in the result, but the country cannot
afford to have the result tainted by the suspicion of illegal
or false returns.

"U. S. GRANT."

Two weeks before the election the federal troops in
South Carolina had been increased to thirty-three com
panies, taking for that purpose every available soldier on
the Atlantic seaboard from Fortress Monroe northward.

The President's telegram, whatever the motive that in
spired it, was not in accordance with the plans of the con
spirators. The direction " to see that the proper and legal
Boards of Canvassers are unmolested in the performance of
their duties" was easy to execute, for there was no danger
wrhatever of the Boards of Canvassers being molested in the
performance of their duties ; and it was entirely within the
scope of the executive authority, if lawfully invited, to direct
the generals in command in the several States, in the event
of an outbreak, to cooperate with the local authorities " to
preserve peace and good order." No other interference of
federal troops within a State was lawful, nor could even
such an order be lawfully enforced until the governors of
the respective States had reported that they were unable to
preserve the peace, a condition of things which could not
have been honestly affirmed to exist in any State of the
Union at that time. But how were the commanding
generals to comply with the second term of Grant's last

20 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

telegram, and see whether there were any " grounds for
suspicion of fraudulent counting on either side " ? And to
whom were they to report and denounce it ? In Louisiana
the canvassers all, without exception, were Republicans,
and in Florida all but one were Republicans. Was it false
counting by his own party the President wished his soldiers
to guard against? If so, he did not send enough, or at
least enough of the right kind. How, too, could the com
manding generals ascertain whether there were any grounds
of suspicion of fraudulent counting, unless they had been
directed to supervise the reception, as well as the can
vassing, of the returns? But this was equivalent to an
impeachment of the integrity of the Returning Boards.

Besides, "a fair count of the votes actually cast" was pre
cisely what the conspirators did not want. Two days before
President Grant stepped between his Secretary of War and
the people, with those memorable despatches, the polls had
been closed, and the returns " of the votes actually cast," save
from remote counties and parishes in Florida and Louisiana,
had been turned in. There was no possibility then of
fraudulent counting, except by the Returning Boards.
When President Grant sent those despatches of the 10th of
November it is evident that if he really meant what he said
he was not aiming his gun at any Democratic influences at
work in the disputed States, but at the reckless crowd
about him who were tampering with the Returning Boards.

Believing, as we now know he did, that Tilden was
elected, he might very naturally have suspected that all
the forces of the federal government were being rallied by
his political staff for the single purpose of defeating him.
Grant, with all his limitations as a President, is generally
believed to have been too direct a man to let fly the Parthian
shaft with which he concluded his telegram to Sherman, if
he were merely " playing to the galleries."

The Returning Boards of South Carolina and Louisiana
could be depended upon to return Republican electors, for

THE CONSPIRATORS IN FLORIDA 21

the character of the Republican officials of those States
were known to be equal to the emergency if properly " pro
tected" and adequately "encouraged." The "encourage
ment " was on its way, and the action of the Secretary of
War left no doubt that the " protection " also was at hand.
Of Florida the managers were not so certain, as there were
doubts about the powers of the Returning Boards in that
State, and also about the degree of dependence to be placed
upon its members. W. E. Chandler telegraphed from
Tallahassee in cipher on the 13th of November : " Send
$2,000 to Centennial Bank of Philadelphia so I can draw for
it." " Have Arthur send Republicans acting with Demo
crats." On the 15th he telegraphed again : "Florida needs
eminent counsel and help. Can you send $3,000 and $2,000,
making $5,000? Danger great here."

Which of these sums was used for " counsel " and which
for " help " has never transpired.

On the arrival of AY. E. Chandler in Tallahassee, the
13th, telegrams were sent to the local Republican managers
telling them that the " State is close and you must make
effort to render every possible assistance," and that "funds
from Washington would be on hand to meet every
requirement."

Chandler's promises that " counsel " and " protection "
should not be wanting, and that the " funds " from Wash
ington were on their way, were very well as far as they
went; but Chandler was not the candidate for the presi
dency, and there was no satisfactory evidence that Hayes,
if elected, would feel under any obligation to take up
Chandler's paper. In fact, the business he was engaged
in, and the means by which he and his confederates were
carrying it on, were not calculated to inspire the utmost
confidence in his promises, nor indeed a sufficient degree
of confidence to induce the average politician to disgrace
himself for such an indefinite consideration. He felt too,
probably, that for the security of his own share in the

22 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

harvest for which he was ploughing, as well as to strengthen
his credit with the Florida officials, he must be able to
show the existence of more direct relations between him
self and the candidate for whose election he was toiling.
For this or some other reason he telegraphed to the private
Secretary of Hayes " to send Stanley Matthews and others
of high character."

It so happened that when this note reached Columbus,
Stanley Matthews, ex-Governor E. F. Noyes, and Attorney-
General Little, all of Ohio, Senator John Sherman and
James A. Garfield, had already left for New Orleans " to
fix" the electors of Louisiana. Chandler's request was
promptly forwarded to them, and in response Noyes, ac
companied by John A. Kasson, of Iowa, and Lew Wallace,
of Indiana, started forthwith for Tallahassee, where they
arrived on the 20th. Now the magnetic circuit was com
plete. Noyes came direct from Hayes, and whatever
engagements he endorsed, it was correctly understood that
Hayes in the fulness of time would execute.1 Up to this

1 Subsequently Samuel B. McLin, Secretary of State of Florida, and
one of the members of the Returning Board, testified before a congressional
committee to the prevalent opinion among the Florida Republicans that
Mr. Noyes represented Hayes. He said :

"Looking back now to that time [of the canvass] I feel that there was
a combination of influences that must have operated most powerfully in
blinding my judgment and swaying my action." What the " combination
of influences " were he in part disclosed. " I Avas shown numerous tele
grams addressed to Governor Stearns and others from the trusted leaders
of the Republican party in the North, insisting that the salvation of the
country depended upon the vote of Florida being cast for Hayes. These
telegrams also gave assurances of the forthcoming of money and troops if
necessary in securing the victory for Mr. Hayes. Following these tele
grams trusted Northern Republicans, party leaders, and personal friends
of Mr. Hayes arrived in Florida as rapidly as the railroads could bring
them. I was surrounded by these men, who were ardent Republicans, and
especially by friends of Governor Hayes. One gentleman particularly,
Governor Noyes, of Ohio, was understood to represent him and speak with
the authority of a warm personal friend, commissioned with power to act
in his behalf. These men referred to the general destruction of the country
should Mr. Tilden be elected, the intense anxiety of the Republican party

THE CONSPIRATORS IN FLORIDA 23

time Chandler had received $15,000, besides what he took
with him. In one of his despatches, November 28th, he
asks for " $3,000 in large bills; probably shall not need it, —
majority about twenty, — but be ready for any emergency."

With a practically unlimited credit at Washington, and
the prospective patronage of the federal government hy
pothecated to the conspirators, the fate of the electoral vote
of Florida was not difficult to forecast.

Those who wish to know in ample detail to what foul
uses all these vast and complex resources were devoted for
the purpose of wresting from the State of Florida its right
to a voice in the choice for the presidency, I must refer to
the voluminous records of the forty-fourth and forty-fifth
Congresses. Even a concise detail of it would occupy more
space than I can venture to devote to the entire career of the
most conspicuous individual victim of the conspiracy which
is there laid bare. I must content myself with the briefest
possible summary of some of the transactions to which the
power and dignity of the federal government, and to a large
extent the honor of the nation, were deliberately prostituted.

The returns of the county canvassers in Florida when
footed up showed a majority for the Tilden electors, — 24,441
votes for Tilden and Hendricks, and 24,350 for Hayes and

of the North, and their full sympathy Avith us. I cannot say how far my
action may have been influenced by the intense excitement that prevailed
around me, or how far my partisan zeal may have led me into error ;
neither can I say how far my course was influenced by the promises made
by Governor Noyes, that if Mr. Hayes became President I should be re-
Avarded. Certainly their influences must have had a strong control over
my judgment and actions."

L. G. Dennis, the Republican boss in Alaclma county, also testified that
Noyes "often spoke of Mr. Hayes and referred to him as his intimate
friend, and gave us assurances of Mr. Hayes' fidelity to the Republican
cause, and of his special desire to take care of Southern Republicans."

When asked if Noyes Avas generally regarded by the people there as the
personal representative of Hayes, Dennis ansAvered, " We regarded him as
such. I cannot state by Avhat means I arrived at that conclusion, but he
Avas regarded by the people there as the special representative of Mr.
Hayes. It Avas generally understood that he Avas there at the request of

24 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

Wheeler. By the law of Florida and by a decision of its
Supreme Court the county returns were final, and the Can
vassing Board had merely the ministerial duty of tabulating
the votes and declaring the result. There was no resource
for the conspirators but to disregard the law and doctor the
returns to the extent necessary to meet the emergency.
This they unhesitatingly proceeded to do.

The votes of one precinct in Hamilton county, which
gave the Tilden electors a majority of 31, were all
thrown out on the affidavits of two Republican inspectors
that they had absented themselves at different times during
the day of election from the polls, and without any pretence
of fraud or illegal voting.

" The votes of another precinct of Jackson county, Florida,
which gave the Tilden electors 291 votes and the Hayes
electors 77, were thrown out because the inspectors went to
dinner after locking the ballot-box in a secure place and
leaving the key with f the Republican inspector, who cer
tified to the returns and testified that there was no fraud
nor wrong about the election.'

"The entire votes of Manatee county — 262 for the Til
den electors to 26 for the Hayes electors — were thrown
out on the ground that there had been no registration, when
the fact was that Governor Stearns would not appoint a
county clerk, that there might be no registration in this
strong Democratic county. There was no pretence of
fraud, or that any illegal vote had been cast. Governor
Stearns was rewarded with the appointment of Commis
sioner of Hot Springs, Arkansas, at $10 a day, within
thirty days after Hayes' inauguration.

" The votes of Key West — 401 for Tilden to 59 for Hayes
— were all rejected because the election officers failed to
complete the certificate of their returns on the day of the
election, without any imputation or pretence of fraudulent
voting. The ballots had been counted after the close of
the poll on the night of the election, the result announced,

THE CONSPIRATORS IN FLORIDA 25

and the certificate partly made out, when a bottle of ink was
upset and a new certificate had to be made. This was
postponed until the following morning, when the ballots
were recounted and found to tally exactly with the count of
the previous day, except that one more ballot was found
for the Republican electors.

" While no pretext was too flimsy to procure the rejection
of votes for a Democratic elector, no crime was so flagitious
as to exclude a vote for a Republican elector. The negro
clerk and negro inspector of Alachua county brought with
them to L. G. Dennis, the Republican boss of that county,
a blank for the returns of the election already signed and
sealed, the figures not yet filled in. When asked by Den
nis for the vote of their precinct, they said 178 Republican
and 141 Democratic. At this Dennis expressed great in
dignation and said the business had not been properly
managed. The blacks expressed contrition and were sent
to an upper room, supplied with a printed list of the voters
of the county, and from this proceeded to add 219
names to the poll list and as many votes for the Repub
lican candidates. Notwithstanding that one of the inspect
ors made an affidavit that the return was forged and false,
it was counted and allowed by the State canvassers. Den
nis procured one of the Democratic inspectors to corrobo
rate the returns of the negro inspector and clerk by a bribe
of $100, and another affidavit of the same character from one
Floyd Dukes was procured at the price of $25."

When the alter ego of Mr. Hayes, ex-Governor Noyes,
to whom was assigned the defence of this fraud before the
State canvassers, wanted Dennis subsequently to support
the transaction by his testimony before a congressional
committee, Dennis gave him to understand that he did not
propose to do any swearing. His own testimony upon
this point is worthy of reproduction.

" Q. Did Mr. Noyes ask you to become a witness your
self in regard to that precinct ?

26 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

"A. Yes, sir.

" Q. Were you a witness or had you made an affidavit
with reference to box No. 2 of Archer precinct, which
affidavit was to be used before the Returning Board?

" A. No, sir ; I never made any statement whatever
for that purpose.

" Q. State the conversation which took place between
you and Mr. Noyes in regard to your appearing as a
witness before the Returning Board in reference to box No.
2 at Archer precinct ?

r' A. He did express that desire several times. I do not
know that he ever spoke of it but once as though he in
tended to put me on the stand, and then I advised him not
to do it.

" Q> What did you say to him, and what did he say to
you?

"A. I do not recollect the exact words, but I think he
said in a familiar sort of way that he should put me on the
stand that day. I suggested to him that I should be a
detriment to his case if he did, and that I thought he had
better not do it.

" Q. Can you repeat the exact words which you used in
reference to your being a detriment to his case ?

" A. I cannot, but I made it strong. I may have said
that unless he was ready to abandon his case, he had better
not put me on the stand. I may have made it as strong as
that. I wanted to give him to understand that I did not
want to go on the stand to make any statement under oath.
I cannot repeat the exact words ; but it was said with suffi
cient force to have the desired effect.

" Q. Did Governor Noyes, after you told him in some
form of words that it would be inconvenient to his case to
put you on the stand, ever refer to that refusal on your
part to go on the stand in any form of words ?

n A. I think he jocosely said one day that I was not
very forward about swearing, or something of that kind.

" Q. Wasn't it something like this : 'You talk well
enough, Dennis, but you don't swear ' ?

" A. Something to that effect."

For his services in maintaining the validity of this
return, Noyes was rewarded, soon after Hayes' inaugura
tion, with the mission to France.

THE CONSPIRATORS IN FLORIDA 27

" The county judge and clerk of the Election Board of
the seventh precinct of Jefferson county stole a bundle of
one hundred Democratic tickets, which the inspectors had
tied up as they were counting the ballots, and left in their
place one hundred Republican tickets. The clerk con
fessed his crime and fled the State to avoid prosecution.
Though the facts were all proven before the Returning
Board, the return was accepted and counted. This county
judge and clerk were rewarded with clerkships in the
Land Office at Washington, with a salary of $1,200 each
per annum.

" In the Monticello precinct of Jefferson county all but
five of the Democratic ballots were stolen and Republican
ballots substituted and counted."

Joseph Bowes,1 who was inspector at Precinct No. 13,
Leon county, " procured a lot of small Republican tickets
to be printed in very fine type, and on thin paper. These
tickets, spoken of in Florida as ' little jokers,' he had
printed at the official Republican printing-office. Before
the election he showed them to Mr. McLin, and stated
his purpose of using them. The plan was to fold them up
inside the ballots that were voted, and have them surrepti
tiously cast, or otherwise to smuggle them into the ballot
boxes, which their small size easily admitted of. McLin
advised Bowes not to use them. After the election Bowes
stated that he had managed to smuggle seventy-three of
them into the boxes of his precinct, and he told McLin,
after the State had been awarded to the Democrats, and it
was known Drew was to be governor, that he was in a
scrape on this account, and that he had to clear out for
stuffing the boxes.2

" The evidence establishing this fraud of ballot-box stuf
fing was before the Returning Board, but the return for
Precinct No. 13, Leon county, was accepted."

1 H. B. Misc. Doc. No. 31, Part 2, 45th Cong. 3d Sess. pp. 79, 94-7,
129, 152, 153.

2H. R. Misc. Doc. No. 31, 45th Cong. 3d Sess. p. 11.

28 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

General Francis C. Barlow, ex-Attorney-General of
New York, was one of the visiting statesmen who went to
Florida at President Grant's request, "to witness a fair
count of the ballots actually cast." Dennis and Chandler
soon discovered that Barlow was not the sort of man they
required to deal with the Alachua case, and Noyes was
assigned in his place. Barlow continued, however, to
take an active part in making up the Kepublican case ; but
when the returns were all in, he became satisfied that,
applying the same tests to the Republican votes as the Re
publicans insisted upon applying to Democratic votes, the
result would be a majority for Tilden. He endeavored to
impress this view upon one of the State canvassers, — Cow-
gill by name, — whom he believed to be an honest man.
Why he' did not lay it before the Board, unhappily for
Barlow, if not for the country, does not appear. Barlow
swears that after a full discussion of the case Cowgill said,
" I agree with you. I cannot conscientiously vote the other
way. I cannot conscientiously vote to give the State to
the Hayes electors."

Governor Stearns, learning that Cowgill was closeted
with Barlow, joined them to learn what might be going
on, and was, told by Barlow what he had been saying
to Cowgill. Cowgill left with Stearns. Barlow and he
never met again. Cowgill came to Washington soon after
the inauguration, confident of recognition. He had been
promised an auditorship in the treasury, but was tendered
the position of special agent in the internal revenue ser
vice. This did not accord with his estimate of his services,
and he returned to Florida, a wiser if not a better man.

When McLin, who was Secretary of State of Florida,
and ex-officio member of the Returning Board, was subse
quently asked by a congressional committee " what prom
ises these visiting statesmen from the North made to the

O

Republican leaders and the Returning Board, if the State
should go for Mr. Hayes," he replied :

THE CONSPIRATORS IN FLORIDA 29

" Well, General Wallace told me on several occasions
that if Mr. Hayes should be elected, that the members of
the Returning Board should be taken care of, and no doubt
about that ; that Governor JSToyes represented Mr. Hayes
and spoke for him and was in favor of it.1 Then on one
occasion William E. Chandler came to me and stated that
he didn't like to say it to me, but he would say it to me,
and he spoke for General Wallace also, that if the State
went and was canvassed for Mr. Hayes, that the members
of the Returning Board, — at least he referred to a majority
of the board, — Dr. Cowgill and myself, would be well
taken care of, and there would be no doubt of it ; he said
he was authorized to say that."

McLin further testified that Dr. Cowgill told him that in
March, 1877, he was in Washington and saw Hayes fre
quently ; 2 " that he was received very kindly by the
President, and given free admission to the White House
at all times, and that he had expressed himself as being
under great obligations to him and me in the canvass, and
that he felt not only under political obligations, but per
sonal obligations, that he would certainly pay at an early
day."

McLin was appointed justice of the Supreme Court of
New Mexico ad interim, and failed of confirmation because
Senator Conover, of Florida, opposed it.

F. C. Humphreys, elector at large on the Republican
ticket, was appointed collector of customs at Pensacola.

Dennis Eagan, chairman of the Republican State Com
mittee, was appointed collector of internal revenue.

Governor Stearns was appointed commissioner of the
Hot Springs, Arkansas.

J. M. Howell, the deputy clerk of Baker county, who
assisted the county judge Driggers in getting up the fraud
ulent return from that county, was appointed collector of
customs at Fernandina.

1 H. R. Misc. Doc. No. 31, Part 2, 45th Cong. 3d Sess. pp. 100, 101.

2 H. R. Misc. Doc. No. 31, Part 2, 45th Cong. 3d Sess. p. 118.

30 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

Dennis was appointed to a sinecure position in the su
pervising architect's office at Washington at a salary of seven
dollars a day.

One of the negroes who assisted Dennis in making up
the spurious returns for Alachua county, and swore to
affidavits for him, was appointed night inspector in the
Philadelphia custom-house.

The other negro who rendered Dennis the same service
was appointed a clerk to the auditor of the treasury for
the Post-Office Department.

Joseph Bowes, who had the "little jokers" printed, and
voted seventy-three of them himself, and who was one of the
busiest manufacturers of affidavits, and who had to flee the
State to escape the legal penalties of his iniquity, took
refuge in Washington, where he was rewarded with a clerk
ship in the Treasury Department, on a salary of $1,600 per
annum .

W. K. Cessna, county judge of Alachua county, who
assisted Dennis in procuring Green R. Moore to make his
$100 affidavit, was appointed postmaster at Gainesville,
Fla.

Lewis A. Barnes, another of Dennis' assistants, was ap
pointed register of the Land Office at Gainesville.

Moses J. Taylor, the clerk of Jefferson county and in
spector of one of the polls of the Monticello precinct, who
got away with all but five of the Democratic tickets and
substituted Republican tickets, was also made a clerk in
the General Land Office at Washington.

John Yarnum, an affidavit maker and assistant general, of
militia, was appointed receiver of the United States Land
Office.

Manuel Govin, postmaster at Jacksonville, and an assist
ant affidavit manufacturer, was sent as consul to Leghorn.

M. Martin, acting chairman of the Republican State
Committee, was made surveyor-general of Florida.

George H. DeLeon, secretary to Governor Stearns, was

THE CONSPIRATORS IN FLORIDA 31

appointed a clerk in the Second Auditor's Office at Wash
ington.

George D. Mills, telegrapher at Tallahassee and one of the
clerks of the State canvassers, was appointed clerk in the
Pension Office at Washington.

John A. Kassori, who accompanied Noyes to Florida to
vouch for Hayes' gratitude for favors expected, was ap
pointed envoy extraordinary to Austria.

Lew Wallace, for like service, was appointed Governor
of New Mexico, declining which, he was sent to Constanti
nople as minister-resident.

F. N. Wicker, the collector of customs at Key West,
upon whose testimony the State canvassers rejected the poll
No. 3 of that town, was continued in office.

Thomas J. Brady, Second Assistant Postmaster-General,
who carried the money to Chandler, accompanied by H.
Clay Hopkins, agent of the postal division of New York
city, William T. Henderson, L. L. Tilball, B. H. Camp,
Alfred Morton, all post-office inspectors, were retained in
office by President Hayes. Tilball was subsequently pro
moted to the United States marshalship of Arizona.

William E. Chandler, not receiving a prompt reward for
his services, turned upon the chromo President he had hung
up in the White House for deserting his Louisiana and
South Carolina coefficients, and practically acknowledged^
that Hayes had never been elected President by the people.

General Barlow, the only one of the visiting statesmen
who seems to have believed that Grant and Hayes were in
earnest in professing a desire for a fair count, was the only
other one of the whole array whom Hayes failed to " recog
nize." He was charged with disloyalty to the party, and
put into Coventry, where it has since left him to chew the
cud of sweet and bitter fancies. Had he the same duty
committed to him again, I venture to doubt whether he
would not, by a timely disclosure of his convictions, have
assisted Tilden to take the office to which the people had

32 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

chosen him, instead of permitting that great office to be
sequestered to the base uses of a partisan conspiracy by his
forbearance.1

1 It is but just to Mr. Barlow to say that his support of Hayes for Presi
dent, in 1876, was not from any distrust of Mr. Tilden personally, nor from
any doubt of his superior fitness for the duties of a chief magistrate, but
from a distrust of the party which nominated him.

The apprehensions here expressed may have had its weight in determin
ing him to assume the passive attitude which he occupied after he had satis
fied himself that the electoral vote of Florida was wrested from Tilden by
fraud.

The general here, as Mr. William C. Bryant and many other distin
guished patriots had done before him, made the capital mistake of under
estimating the numbers and power of the Democratic party who supported
the Union during the war, and whose sacrifices in its behalf were not
made nor to be estimated by any partisan measure. Mr. Lincoln in select
ing for his cabinet advisers a majority of life-long Democrats, to say
nothing of his generals, of whom by far the larger proportion who distin
guished themselves were of the same party, displayed, in my judgment, a
wiser appreciation of the political forces upon which he had to depend for
the preservation of the Union.

Of THF

UNIVERSITY

OF

ILIFOKI

CHAPTER II

The conspirators' operations in Louisiana — William Pitt Kellogg — Visit
ing statesmen in New Orleans — The composition and operations of
the Louisiana Returning Board — Garfield — Sherman — Anderson —
Jewett — Eliza Pinkston — Fraudulent registration — The reward of
the conspirators.

THE methods by which Hayes electors were secured
from Louisiana were, if possible, more shameless and inde
fensible than those employed for the like purpose in
Florida.

William Pitt Kellogg, then Governor of Louisiana by
virtue of an illegal order of Judge Durell of the United
States District Court, enforced by federal troops under
orders from President Grant, enjoys the credit of having
concocted the measures by which the people of that State
were deprived of their choice of presidential electors.
His objective point was a seat in the United States Senate
for himself. He had already managed to subject all the
elective machinery of the State to his personal control.
He had the appointment of the supervisors and assistant
supervisors of registration for every parish and ward
in the State ; he dictated the appointments of all the com
missioners of election, the State register of voters and his
clerks.

Events subsequently disclosed a deliberate purpose on
the part of Kellogg and his Kepublican confederates to in
validate the election in seven parishes where they found
they could not control the negro vote, and by fictitious
registration of names to make up whatever number of
votes might be needed to secure a majority. To under
stand how this was to be accomplished it is necessary to

VOL. II.— 3

34: THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

notice some of the peculiarities of the Louisiana election
laws.

The Returning Board in Louisiana had no power to
reject the vote of any precinct unless the certificate from
such precinct came to them accompanied by a sworn pro
test signed by the supervisors, that intimidation had been
practised. The Commissioners of Elections in each parish
were required by law to make out their returns on the day
of the election, and if anything happened to affect "the
purity and freedom " of the election, they were to make a
statement thereof under oath and have three citizens vouch
for its truth, and forward this statement with their returns,
the tally sheets, registration lists, all made out in duplicate,
one to the supervisor and one to the clerk of the Parish
Court.

These returns from the commissioners the supervisors
were required by law to consolidate in duplicate ; have
them certified as correct by the clerk of the District Court,
according to the returns in his office ; to deposit one copy
of the consolidated statement with the said clerk and ''for
ward the other by mail, enclosed in an envelope of strong
paper or cloth securely sealed" to the Returning Board,
with all the returns made by the commissioners, including
their statement, if any, in regard to occurrences affecting
the " purity and freedom " of the voting. They had no
authority to reject the returns from any poll or to refuse to
compile them in their consolidated statements.

When these consolidated returns reached the Returning
Board, its duty was first to compile the vote from those
polls where there was presented no evidence that there had
not been "fair, free, and peaceable registration and election."
That done, they were to take up the cases where the com
missioners had reported that there had not been a fair, free,
and peaceable registration and election.

The law required this Returning Board to meet in Xew
Orleans "within ten days after the closing of the election,

THE CONSPIRACY IN LOUISIANA 35

to canvass and compile the statements of the votes made by
the Commissioners of Election," and to continue in session
till <f such returns have been compiled." The law also
required that this board should consist of " five persons to
be elected by the Senate from all political parties." The
Senate pretended to have complied with this law by
appointing four Republicans and one Democrat. The
Democrat that was appointed resigned. The law provided
that in case of any vacancy by death, resignation, or other
wise, by either of the board, then the vacancy shall be
filled by the residue of the returning officers." It was very
certain that the presence of a Democrat to witness the work
they had in hand would prove most inconvenient, and
therefore they refused to fill the vacancy.

The scheme upon which Kellogg finally settled for in
validating the election was by alleging intimidation of
voters, and upon that pretext throwing out enough Demo
cratic votes to give the electoral vote of the State to
Hayes.

During the two weeks succeeding the election, visiting
statesmen of both the great political parties had flocked to
New Orleans. Several of the more conspicuous repre
sentatives of the Democratic party there lost no time in
addressing a note to Stanley Matthews, James A. Garfield,
John A. Logan, William D. Kelley, John A. Kasson, Will
iam M. Evarts, E. W. Stoughton, and John A. Dix, each
and all of whom claimed to represent either the President
in esse or the President in posse, or both. In this note they
stated that having understood that the gentlemen they
addressed were there at the request of President Grant, to
see that the Board of Convassers make a fair count of the
votes actually cast, they invited a conference in order that
such influence as they possessed might be " exerted in
behalf of such a canvass of the votes actually cast as by its
fairness and impartiality shall command the respect and
acquiescence of the American people of all parties."

36 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

This invitation was declined by the Republican " visiting
statesmen " on the ground that they were indisposed to
reduce the function of the Returning Board " to the mere
clerical duty of counting the votes actually cast, irrespec
tive of the question whether they were fraudulently and
violently cast or otherwise vitiated." They further stated
that "it is, in our judgment, vital to the preservation of
constitutional liberty that the habit of obedience to the
forms of law should be sedulously inculcated and culti
vated, and that the resort to extra-constitutional modes of
redress, for even actual grievances, should be avoided and
condemned as revolutionary, disorganizing, and tending to
disorder and anarchy."

Such a plea in avoidance might be successfully demurred
to in any court of justice of competent jurisdiction. How
the habit of obedience to the forms of law was to be
compromised by the proposed conference, even though at
the worst it failed to secure concert of action, is not quite
clear. Be that, however, as it may, if " obedience to the
forms of law " was the motive of their long journey to New
Orleans and their protracted detention there, it proved a
singular waste of energy, for every one of the provisions
of the election laws we have cited was systematically and
repeatedly violated, not only with the knowledge of these
political purists, but with the undisguised cooperation of
most of them. We shall presently see that these travelling
statesmen took a very different view of their duty when
canvassing the votes of the States in the Electoral Com
mission.

The election was entirely peaceable throughout the
State. In the volumes of testimony subsequently taken by
Congress there was not a particle of evidence that on the
day of election there was any riot, tumult, or intimidation
at a single polling place in the State. The election
officers Avere all Republicans, and in accordance with the
programme of the Fifth-avenue conspirators they had

THE CONSPIRACY IN LOUISIANA 37

been all given to understand that their political future
depended entirely upon their faithful execution of their
party behests.1

There were fifty-six parishes, exclusive of New Orleans,
in the entire State, and nearly one thousand polling places.
There were seventy-four supervisors and assistant super
visors of registration, and three commissioners of election
for each poll, all selected by the Republican managers,
practically by Governor Kellogg.

And yet when the returns came to the supervisors, were
consolidated, and made ready for transmission to the Re
turning Board, only two supervisors had made any protests
affecting the fairness of the registration or the peaceable
and honest character of the election. In but one instance
was intimidation alleged. The exception was in the elev
enth ward of New Orleans, where two custom-house
dependants refused to sign the returns, alleging intimida
tion. This was a mere pretext for disfranchising four

1 The nature of these assurances may be gathered from the following
circular issued by the Secretary of the Republican State Committee :

HEADQUARTERS REPUBLICAN PARTY OP LOUISIANA,
ROOMS JOINT COMMITTEE ON CANVASSING AND REGISTRATION,
MECHANICS' INSTITUTE, Sept. 25, 1876.
SUPERVISOR OF REGISTRATION, PARISH OP ASSUMPTION, LA. :

DEAR SIR : It is well known to this committee that, from examination
of the census of 1875, the Republican vote in your parish is 2,200, and the
Republican majority is 900.

You are expected to register and vote the full strength of the Republi
can party in your parish.

Your recognition by the next State administration •will depend upon your
doing your full duty in the premises ; and you will not be held to have done
your full duty unless the Republican registration in your parish reaches
2,200, and the Republican vote is at least 2, 100.

All local candidates and committees are directed to aid you to the
utmost in obtaining the result, and every facility is and will be afforded
you; but you must obtain the results called for herein without fail. Once
obtained, your recognition will be ample and generous.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

D. J. M. A. JEWETT,

Secretary.

38 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

hundred and twelve respectable citizens living in the best
portion of the residence quarter of the city. The poll was
surrounded all day by deputy marshals and metropolitan
police, every one a Republican ; and the United States
supervisor, also a Republican, was present in the room
where the votes were received.

Of the two instances in which the returns of the super
visors stated objections to the votes of their parishes in
conformity with the law, one affected only the votes for
justices of the peace and constables, and the other was a
case where the supervisor declined to incorporate the votes
of two polls where he had established but one, and the
commissioners without authority had established two.

For one entire week after the election the Republican
managers in New Orleans were confident that their plans
had succeeded, and that they had carried the State. They
so assured their friends at Washington. But to make as
surance doubly sure, they instructed their supervisors of
registration to send their returns to New Orleans by mail.
The law required them to bring their returns in person.
As they came in, the supervisors deposited them at the
custom-house instead of delivering them, as the law re
quired, to the returning officers. Only seventeen supervis
ors of registration sent their packages, as the law required,
by mail ; and the registered packages containing these re
turns, instead of being delivered to the returning officers
as the law required, wrere stopped at the post-office, and
retained there or handed over to the Republican managers.

Had there been intimidation, of course it could only have
been expected from the Democrats ; but what had the Demo
crats to gain by intimidation ? They knew that the Return
ing Board had been established expressly to " annul votes
so secured and provide for votes so prevented." They
knew, too, that the Returning Board in 1876 consisted of
the same white members as in 1874, when in the parish of
Rapids, where Wells, the president of the board resided,

THE CONSPIRACY IN LOUISIANA 39

the whole vote of the parish was thrown out and four Re
publican members of the Legislature seated, upon a secret
affidavit of Wells as to occurrences in that parish on the
day of the election, when he ivas not there. The members
so seated had not claimed to have been elected, and subse
quently, upon the recommendation of the congressional
committee, were unseated, and the conduct of Wells was
officially denounced.

The most and the best the Democrats could hope for was
to offer the Returning Board no pretext whatever for set
ting aside the election because of intimidation, knowing as
they did full well by experience that such pretext would
be used against them without scruple or remorse.

The Returning Board consisted of J. Madison Wells,
chairman, Thomas C. Anderson, Louis M. Kenner, and G.
Cassanave, the last two colored.1

The Returning Board should have begun their labors by
the express terms of the law on the 17th of November, and
should have remained in session until the returns had been

1 Nine years before, General Sheridan had preferred charges against
Wells, the president of the board, while he was provisional governor of
Louisiana, for dishonesty, and subsequently — in 1877 — Wells was in
dicted with his three colleagues by the grand jury of Louisiana for falsely
and feloniously uttering and publishing as true a certain altered and forged
and counterfeited public record ; to wit, the consolidated statement of votes
of the parish of Vernon, made by the supervisor of registration for said
parish, whereby falsely and feloniously 178 votes were added to the num
ber of votes actually cast for the Republican electors, and 395 votes were
deducted from the number of votes actually cast for the Democratic elec
tors by the voters of said parish.

Wells took refuge in the swamps north of New Orleans to escape arrest ;
the two negroes were held to bail in $5,000 each; and Anderson was brought
to trial, convicted, and sentenced to two years at hard labor in the peniten
tiary, and to pay the costs of prosecution. An appeal was taken by his
counsel to the Supreme Court, where he was finally acquitted ; not on the
ground that he had not been guilty of all the forgeries and falsifications
alleged, but on the technical ground that the consolidated statement " made,
such as was required to be made, by a supervisor of registration, was not
the election return " contemplated by the Constitution, and therefore its
alteration was not the forgery and falsification of " a legal record."

40 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

compiled. The first open meeting for business was not
held until the 20th. The interval seems to have been
industriously utilized in ascertaining how many votes were
to be thrown out to save the Hayes electors, and from what
parishes the votes should be taken. Hence the direction to
the supervisors of registration to bring their returns in per
son, instead of sending them, as the law required, by mail.
The returns were opened and read by Anderson. What had
been going on between their delivery and their opening
may be inferred from the following incident which occurred
at the session on the 25th :

It had been remarked by the Democrats that very few of
the returns came by mail, and it was also a subject of com
plaint that the returns from many parishes had not yet
been received. The returns from De Soto, however, had
come by mail. Anderson in submitting them to the Re
turning Board was quite emphatic in stating this fact. He
read, "Consolidated statement of votes of the parish of
De Soto," and, after a pause, adding, " with any quantity of
affidavits attached." It happened that Mr. Burke and Mr.
Gloin, members of the bar of Louisiana, and counsel for
the Democrats, were in the room at this time, looking over
some papers in parishes laid aside as contested. Mr. Burke
asked, "When was that package mailed?" Anderson
replied that it was mailed at Mansfield, La., and received
on the 18th. "What is the date of the first affidavit?"
asked Burke. Anderson, with some hesitation, replied
"November 25th." — "How does it happen," asked Mr.
Gloin, "that affidavits made on the 25th were in a package
mailed on the 18th?" After considerable confusion and
hesitation, Abell, the secretary of the Returning Board,
bethought him to suggest that there were two packages,
one received on the 18th and the other that day ; that the
first contained the consolidated statement and the other the
affidavits. Visiting statesman Stoughton came to AbelFs
rescue.

THE CONSPIRACY IN LOUISIANA 41

S. "What return is this received to-day?"

A. " The return before the board now. I also received
a small package on the 18th, which I presume was a con
solidated statement."

S. "Was the evidence in the package you received
to-day?"

A. "Yes, sir."

S. "Oh, that settles it — merely a clerical error."

It did settle it, for it showed conclusively that the re
turns had been tampered with ; that the package Anderson
had opened, and which had been receipted for on the
18th, was the one from which he took the consolidated
statement " with any quantity of affidavits attached." The
evening before this exposure occurred there had been a
meeting of certain persons specially interested in the vote
of De Soto and two or three other parishes. Among them
were George L. Smith, the candidate for Congress from
the De Soto district ; the supervisors of De Soto, Bossier,
and Webster parishes ; and D. D. Smith, the cashier of the
post-office; and D. J. M. A. Jewett, secretary of the Re
publican committee, who had made himself conspicuous by
recommending the Governor to appoint no supervisors of
registration in New Orleans, and thus threw out the entire
vote of the principal city of the State. At this gathering,
the cashier, Smith, unlocked the post-office vault and took
out the returns from De Soto, Bossier, Caddo, and Webster.
Those from Bossier, Caddo, and Webster had been brought
by the supervisors of the parishes respectively, or by some
one selected by them for that purpose, and deposited at the
post-office for safe keeping until they were " fixed " for the
uses of the Returning Board.

The returns from De Soto, though they had come by mail,
instead of going to the Returning Board as they should
have done, were also in the post-office vault and under the
absolute control of the men most immediately interested in
tampering with the vote of that parish. The purpose of

42 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

this gathering is fully set forth in the following statement
made by D. J. M. A. Jewett, one of the witnesses to its
proceedings :

" C. L. Ferguson, supervisor, mailed his returns per reg
istered package to New Orleans from Mansfield, November
14th ; he reached New Orleans in person about the 23d ; on
the 24th I received from George L. Smith, in person, or
from some person in his interest, a notice that my presence
in the private office of the post-office would be desirable
about 9 or 10 P.M. that night. On my arrival I found
there George L. Smith, candidate for Congress, fourth dis
trict; D. D. Smith, cashier post-office; C. L. Ferguson,
supervisor De Soto parish ; T. H. Hutton, supervisor Bos
sier parish ; John S. Morrow, supervisor; Fred E. Heath,
candidate for House of Representatives ; and Samuel Gard
ner, citizen of Webster parish, with one or two others, I
think, whom I do not now remember. I had detailed Mr.
McArdle to attend, and he was there, but on account of
objections on the part of George L. Smith he was sent
away. The fact whether protest had been made or not,
etc., having been considered, D. D. Smith unlocked the
post-office vault and produced therefrom the returns of
De Soto, Bossier, Caddo, and Webster. Caddo, it was
stated, he had brought down himself. Bossier and Webster
he had, as I understood. On the De Soto package I noticed
the post-mark of Mansfield and that it bore evidence of
registration. It was, however, already open. It was un
rolled and examined by Smith and myself. It icas not pos
sible to create a Republican majority except by throwing out
polls 1, 3, 5, 7, and 8. These were selected for protest, and
Ferguson was asked for facts. I draughted a protest based
on such facts as he had knowledge of, either personally or
from information received, or as was suggested by George
L. Smith, or by the well-known conditions of the parish.
This Ferguson copied, and was directed to take the same
before F. A. AYoolfley for administration of the oath.

" It was suggested by me, that of course it was not pos
sible to attach this protest and various affidavits in hand
affecting the same parish (taken before Commissioner Le-
vissee, in Shreveport) to the consolidated statement of
votes, this having come forward by mail, and there being a

THE CONSPIRACY IN LOUISIANA 43

disagreement of dates, but they should be handed or sent in
under section 43, as per my circular letter of instructions.
" NotAvithstanding, the unbounded stupidity of somebody
rolled these up in the original package, which, restored ap
parently to its original condition, went forward by carrier
to the board, November 25."

Such was Visiting Statesman Stoughton's notion of a cler
ical error which deprived Tilden of his majorities at five
different polls in a single parish.

The returns from ten other parishes were doctored at the
same time and in like manner.

"The returns from Bossier," says Jewett, "were handed
by Captain Hutton, the supervisor, to George L. Smith
(the aforesaid candidate for Congress) for safe keeping,
upon his, Button's, arrival in the city, and were by
Smith placed in the vault of the post-office.

" T. H. Hutton had, on November 13 (the day that he
started from Bellevue for New Orleans), sworn his consoli
dated statement of votes (popularly known as the returns)
before George B. Abercrombie, clerk of court, and had
deposited with said clerk a copy, as required by law, at the
date named, and when the returns were examined by me in
the post-office, this document bore in the space for remarks
a protest of the Atkins Landing box (No. 1) and no other.

"In my presence, in the private office of the post-office,
the supervisor interpolated in the same space under the
protest noted above, and above the jurat, a second protest,
affecting the Red Land box (No. 3). There is no question
in my mind but that the protest and exclusion of this box
was an afterthought which first took shape at this time
(November 24).""

F. M. Grant, who brought the returns from Morehouse
parish about a week before the 25th of November, to which
there was no protest attached, declined, says Jewett, " the
solicitations of Blan chard to make one."

Jewett proceeds :

44 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

rf The evening of that or the following day, at the Gov
ernor's request, Blanchard and myself drove him out to
the Governor's residence, where we had a conference respect
ing his parish and testimony. This being without effect,
the Governor took him apart, into an adjoining room, and
they conferred together some time. The next day he was
again interviewed by Kellogg at the custom-house, and was
(as I was informed) taken to see the visiting statesmen.
Blanchard informed me that Grant was bulldozed by these
and other parties for several days before he would make the
protest which he made November 18.

" At this time I purposely avoided even seeing the visiting
statesmen except as I met them casually at Kellogg's, and
it was arranged between myself and Mr. Blanchard that he
should do everything which would require the slightest
connection with them.

" This was done because it was not proposed that Mr.
Blanchard should testify before either committee of Con
gress when they came, as was expected, and I desired
to be, myself, incapable of answering any inconvenient
questions which might be propounded to me touching these
gentlemen and their connection with our affairs."

Grady, the supervisor of Ouachita parish, was unwilling
to protest the election. "lam informed by Blanchard,"
says Jewett, " that Mr. Grady was bulldozed by Kellogg,
Sherman, Garfield, and others for a week before he would
sign the protest. He admitted to myself that he could
not stand the pressure. I do not charge or believe that
any fact stated by Grady was untrue or unknown to him,
at least by common report. The evidence was simply
obtained in a manner which deprived it of any legal value."

Clover, the supervisor of East Baton Rouge, refused to
compile the statements of votes cast at six different polls,
through a wilful disregard or ignorance of his duty. He
was " sustained in his refusal," says Jewett, " by Kellogg,
Campbell, and others, to whose advice he would have
yielded. Mr. Clover undoubtedly did this with the
promise or expectation of reward."

THE CONSPIRACY IN LOUISIANA 45

" It may be said," Jewett continues, " that I ought to
have corrected him. This it would have been useless for
me to do against the influence of those named, and, while
Mr. Blanchard and myself were practically in control of
the State registrar's office, and while Governor Hahn
would have undoubtedly signed an order (drawn by either
of us) to Mr. Clover, the law has expressly excepted
supervisors from obedience to the rulings or orders of the
State registrar of voters, who is at the same time deemed
their administrative chief."

Similar refusals of the supervisors of Orleans and La-
fourche were attended with similar results.

How another " clerical error " in East Feliciana was
corrected is thus stated by Jewett :

"James E. Anderson, supervisor, refused, upon his arri
val in New Orleans, to make any protest, alleging as a
reason his fear of being murdered if he did so. This, in his
case, I did not believe , having been convinced by his then
secret conduct that he was a corrupt scoundrel, who would
protest or not, betray one party or the other (he was un
questionably in the employ of both) , as he might conceive
to be for his interest.

" As Governor Kellogg was responsible for his being in
his parish to go through the farce of an election, I aban
doned to Governor Kellogg the task of getting him to
testify to notorious facts unquestionably within his knowl
edge, and washed my hands of him and of his affairs. I
was present on two occasions at Kellogg's house, when
Anderson and the Governor were in conference respecting
his testimony.

"On the 10th of November, immediately after his arrival,
Anderson had signed a protest drawn by Hugh J. Campbell,
which the following day he distinctly repudiated, and which
he stated to be at least in part untrue. This protest was
not finally accepted by him again until, as I was informed,
Anderson had been promised the position of deputy naval
officer, or something that should be a full equivalent. An
derson himself informed me while under the influence of
liquor (about November 20) that ' he had got what he was
after,' by which remark and its context I understood that

4:6 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

he had received pledges of reward for his testimony. I
have also been informed that Messrs. Sherman and
Garfield assisted in bringing Mr. Anderson ' to listen to
reason.' "

Jewett says, in conclusion, that " protests and evidence,
such as it was, which had been received and filed up to
November 27, excluded votes for Packard 1,620 and for
Nichols 9,700, leaving Mr. Packard elected by a clear
majority, with a Republican majority in the Senate and
House, and also elected three Hayes and five Tilden
electors."

Jewett adds that, in pursuance of a " conspiracy to
which he alleges that J. M. Wells, Thomas C. Anderson,
John Sherman, and J. A. Garfield, and others, were parties,
polls were excluded in the parishes of Caldwell, Natchito-
ches, Richland, Catahoula, Iberia, Livingston, and Tangi-
pahoa, with the result, and for the purpose, of returning as
elected five Hayes electors who were otherwise defeated ;
that the consideration of this conspiracy was the absolute
control of the federal patronage within the State of Louisi
ana by the said Wells and Anderson ; that the evidence
used to effect the object of the conspiracy was manu
factured without regard to actual facts and with the knowl
edge of the several conspirators ; and that the consideration
to be given to said Wells and Anderson had been delivered
up to date."

But the Returning Board did not rely entirely upon the
flexible consciences of supervisors. On the 28th of
November Eliza Pinkston, a disreputable negress, notori
ous in three States for mendacity and beastliness, was
borne into the presence of the board and of "the dis
tinguished gentlemen of national reputation " who were
there helping to cultivate and inculcate the sanctities of
the law. She swore that her husband had been taken from
his house in the night, shot seven times, run through and
through with knives, and mutilated in various ways ; her

THE CONSPIRACY IN LOUISIANA 47

child's throat cut while in her arms ; that she was twice shot
and her person violated more times than she could remem
ber ; and that all these outrages were committed by young
white men of the neighborhood, many of whom she professed
to know and identify — one of them a well-known and highly
respected physician. She also admitted that this medical
monster came the day following all these outrages, when
sent for, and dressed her wounds and ministered to her
wants.

There were scores of reputable gentlemen present who
could have exposed this preposterous story, but they were
not allowed to testify. The story would answer the con-
coctors of it better as it stood. Eliza Pinkston lived in
Ouachita parish, which gave a large Democratic majority.
The board Avanted a pretext for throwing it out, and here
they had it in a dramatic and thrilling piece of evidence
to which the telegraph and the press would delight in giv
ing the widest circulation. Absurd as the story was, it
was deemed of sufficient importance for a committee of
the House of Representatives to be sent down to Louisiana
to investigate it. It was ascertained that her statement
that her husband had been shot or mutilated was a fabrica
tion ; that the throat of her child had not been cut, and
that there was no mark of violence on its body except a
slight contusion on its head ; that the men whom she
charged with these outrages could not possibly have been
in her neighborhood on the night in question ; that she had
made an affidavit in Monroe county for use before the Re
turning Board, in which she charged the crime of murder
and other outrages on other persons, which was sent by
the supervisor of Ouachita to the Returning Board Novem
ber 23, but it was suppressed and withdrawn, and another
made in New Orleans, December 2, was substituted for it.

It also was ascertained that the Returning Board had
falsified its own record of the receipt of the returns from
Ouachita. The secretary announced that they had been

48 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

received November 24, but when opened, a letter was
found addressed to Mr. Abell, saying :

" Enclosed please find affidavit of Eliza Pinkston, which I
received too late to file with my returns. Please see that
it is brought in with the other evidence filed with my
returns."

This letter was dated November 23.

The character of this woman whose testimony was in
voked " to inculcate and cultivate obedience to law " was
thus summarized by the congressional committee :

"The character of Eliza Pinkston, as developed before
your sub-committee to the fullest extent, was such as to
render her a fit instrument in the hands of designing men.
She had been charged with the murder of the child of per
sons with whom she had but recently quarrelled. The
child died of poison. Eliza Pinkston, then known as Liz
zie Finch, in Morehouse parish, was arrested, and acquitted
only because the main witness to the crime was too young
to understand the nature of an oath. The general impres
sion was that she was guilty. When residing in Union
parish, she had shamefully beaten an old woman living
with her, death ensuing in a few days after. She had
abandoned one of her young children, leaving it to starve
to death in a fence corner. Another she made way with
shortly after its birth. She was an habitual abortionist.
She was in perpetual quarrel. Her testimony had been so
effectually impeached in the courts of Morehouse parish
that the Kepublican district attorney refused to call her as
a witness. Everybody who knew her considered her a
desperate character. Eye-witnesses proved that she lived
with her husband on very bad terms. She was about to
kill him at one time when she supposed him asleep. Upon
another occasion she assaulted him with an axe, intending
to kill him. He was in perpetual dread of harm, as wit
nesses testified. She was ugly, vulgar, indecent, and lewd
beyond the worst."

The rest of this description I am obliged to suppress as
too indecent for these pages.1

1 Report 156, Part 1, House of Rep. 44th Cong. 2d Sess. pp. 45-G.

THE CONSPIRACY IN LOUISIANA 49

According to this poor wretch's story, which Sherman,
Garfield, Stoughton, and Matthews professed to believe, a
number of malefactors had been guilty of a series of hide
ous crimes, not only against the laws of the State of Lou
isiana, but against the laws of the United States. Why
were not steps ever taken by either jurisdiction to arrest or
punish any one of the alleged criminals? The arrest, trial,
and hanging of a half-dozen of these murderers, if there
were any, would have been an object-lesson far more effica
cious for cultivating and inculcating obedience to law in
Louisiana, than employing the testimony of such an out
cast to compass the usurpation of the presidency.

Towards the end of November the Returning Board
thought they had rid themselves of enough Democratic
votes, by the methods of which we have given only a com
paratively few examples, to ensure the election of Hayes, of
Packard for governor, and a Legislature that would be
shameless enough to send Governor Kellogg to the United
States Senate. But when they canie to figure up the re
turns they found that they were still astray in their calcula
tions and that the guillotine must again be set to work ;
that they must throw out polls in nine other parishes, and
the entire vote of East Feliciana and Grant parish. They
threw out, in addition, sixty-nine polls from twenty-two
other parishes, and refused to include the polls which the
supervisors of East Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lafourche,
and the assistant supervisors of three wards in New Orleans
had, without any warrant of law, wantonly refused to com
pile.

In all, 13,214 Democratic electors were disfranchised and
2,415 Republican. The highest number of votes " actually
cast" for a Democratic elector was 83,817, and for a Re
publican elector, 77,332. Five of the Republican electors
ran behind the vote of their colleagues 1,141. The aver
age majority for the Democratic electors was 7,116.

1 H. R. Misc. Doc. No. 34, Part 2, 44th Cong. 2d Sess. pp. 790-794.
VOL. II.— 4

50 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

The extent to which the people of Louisiana were de
frauded by the Keturning Board and their accomplices can
be determined by another and very simple test, which no
amount of perjury nor partisanship can assail.

We have seen that the pretext for throwing out the re
turns from most of the disfranchised parishes was intimida
tion of the negroes, by which they were prevented from
registering and voting. The rejections from other causes
were insignificant in number, and, in their influence upon
the result, without importance.

The names of registered voters for the entire State in
1876, according to the statistics of the State register's
office, were 207,622, of which there were of

Colored 115,268

White . . 92,354

Majority of colored voters . . . . 23,914

According to the census of 1870, the colored males of
twenty-one years and upwards were 86,913, and white
males of like ages, 87,066.

The colored class included Chinese and Indians, who
had no votes.

In 1880 the white males of twenty-one years and over

numbered 108,810

Colored males of like age .... 107,970
showing that both classes had increased in about the same
proportion, and their relative proportion could not have ma
terially varied in 1876. If from colored males the Chinese
Indians, and foreign-born negroes are deducted, manifestly
the colored voters could not have exceeded the white.
Professor Chaille, who had made a special study of vital
statistics in Louisiana, expressed the opinion that there was
a small majority of white voters in the State. But, as we
have seen, there were 22,914 more colored than white
voters registered in the State in 1876. Five years after,
and five years before, the white voters were in an undis-

THE CONSPIRACY IN LOUISIANA 51

puted majority. Where did these 22,914 colored voters
come from, and what had become of the army of negroes
who were alleged to have been afraid to register? These
figures prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the names of
over 20,000 names were registered that had only this nomi
nal existence.

Again, by the census of 1870 the white population of
the parish of New Orleans was . . . 140,923
Of the negro 50,456

Whites over negroes ..... 90,467

By the census of 1880 the white population was 158,369
The negro 57,619

White over colored 100,750

When the registration was completed in 1876, the
57,619 negro population was found to yield 23,495 voters,
and the 140,923 whites, only 34,913 voters.

Again, the State census of 1875 gives an excess of
7,210 colored females over colored males in the parish of
New Orleans ; that is, in all, 36,013 females. Deducting
these from the total of 57,619, there remained but 21,597
colored voters in the whole State in 1880. The number
was doubtless somewhat less in 1876, and yet here were
at least 2,891 more colored names registered than there
could have been colored voters in the parish.

But not content with fraudulently registering nearly if
not quite three thousand fictitious names, the Kellogg man
agers deliberately struck off from the registration lists the
names of 7,738 white voters.1 And this was the way it
was done :

With the cooperation of Marshall, Pitkin, and the em
ployees in the post-office, some 30,000 circulars were sent
out by the letter-carriers, with instructions to return all

1 H. R. Misc. Doc. No. 34, Part 2, 44th Cong. 2d Sess. pp. 1031, 1032,
1033.

52 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

not personally served. About 11,000 were so returned.
The registration lists were then secretly taken to the cus
tom-house, where the supervisors were directed to strike
off the names of all not personally served.

Professor Chaille, after a careful study of all available
data, has expressed his conviction that an honest and com
plete registration of the voters of New Orleans would have
given about 40,584 white and 13,500 negro voters, instead
of 22,495 ; and, allowing for reasonable contingencies, such
as absence, sickness, etc., there ought not to have been of
these more than 12,000 registered.

But why accumulate further evidence of the nefarious
processes by which this foul conspiracy against the rights
of a sovereign State were consummated?

It is enough to have shown that the Tilden and Hendricks
electors were chosen in Louisiana and Florida by large
popular majorities.

That many thousand Democratic voters were fraudu
lently disfranchised.

That in no single instance had the commissioners of elec
tion shown or even alleged intimidation of voters.

That there was not from a single polling-place in the State
a statement of the vote returned in form required by law.

That no one of the supervisors of registration had made
objections to the registration of voters for a single voting-
place in the form required by law, nor had any of them
reported intimidation or violence.

That four supervisors had assumed judicial powers,
which the law conferred only upon the returning officers,
and by refusing to compile had thus rejected the commis
sioners' returns from twelve polling-places 3 while three
assistant supervisors for wards in New Orleans had illegally
refused to consolidate returns from three polls.1

1 Those who may desire to probe this iniquity to its profoundest deep
are referred to the investigations made by committees on the 43d, 44th,
and 45th Congresses, and to the more convenient compendium of A. M.
Gibson, entitled " A Political Crime," to which I have been greatly in
debted in making this synopsis of the evidence submitted to Congress.

REWARDS OF THE CONSPIRATORS 53

The distinguished statesmen who had assisted at this
carnival of lawlessness not only found nothing in the pro
ceedings to rebuke, but did not scruple to share in the
loot, presumably in proportion to the importance of their
respective services in securing it.

Senator Sherman was made Secretary of the Treasury,
then quite the most important office in the President's
gift.

Stanley Matthews was nominated to a seat on the bench
of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Senate
declined to confirm him. He was renominated, in 1881,
by President Garfield, who had been one of his coadjutors
in New Orleans, and through the influence common to all
new administrations, with all its federal patronage in
reserve, the opposition to him in the Senate was overcome,
and he was confirmed.

James A. Garfield, who had his headquarters in the
custom-house, where the affidavits were manufactured dur
ing the sessions of the Returning Board, was elected to the
United States Senate by an arrangement with Stanley
Matthews, and subsequently succeeded Hayes as the Re
publican candidate for the presidency.

William M. Evarts, who in 1875 had denounced the
illegal organization of the Louisiana House of Representa
tives with the aid of the military, and all the proceedings
and acts of that body as well as of the Returning Board of
1874, went to New Orleans in 1876, and lent the weight
of his personal and professional influence to assist — uncon
sciously, I would fain believe — the men who were harvest
ing the crop of crime he had denounced the planting. He
subsequently was the leading counsel for Hayes before the
Electoral Commission. He received the office of Secretary
of State.

E. W. Stoughton, who prepared the report to the Presi
dent justifying the conduct and fulsornely eulogizing the
character of the worthless creatures who constituted the

54 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

Returning Board,1 was rewarded with the mission to
Russia.

It required the disfranchisement of a less number of the
citizens of Louisiana to count in Packard as governor
than to count in the Hayes electors ; but then a governor
has less patronage than a president to bestow, and it be
came necessary to abandon Packard to secure a sufficient
number of Southern Democratic votes in the House of
Representatives, to ensure the ratification of the decision
of the Electoral Commission, of which I shall have to speak
presently. Packard was reconciled to his fate by receiving
the consulate at Liverpool, a place which, whether it was
worth fifteen or thirty thousand dollars a year, depended
mainly upon the character of the man who held it.

Kellogg was rewarded for his services with a seat in the
United States Senate, — by what means may be inferred from
the fact that of the members of the Legislature who voted
for him, eight senators, three officers of the Senate, thirty-
two members of the House, and four officers of the House,
making forty-seven in all, received lucrative appointments
from the federal government, and, curiously enough, all of
these patriots received their appointments from the de
partment of which John Sherman was the chief.

Of the persons connected with the canvass, election, and
negotiations in Louisiana, sixty-nine were appointed to
offices, and all but sixteen of these were treasury appoint
ments.

Wells, the president of the Returning Board, had one
son appointed deputy surveyor at New Orleans ; another
son and a son-in-law, to clerkships in the same institution,
on salaries ranging from $1,400 to $1,600 per annum.

Anderson, Wells' white colleague on the Returning Board,
was made deputy collector of the port of New Orleans ; his
son, C. B. Anderson, was made a clerk in the custoni-

1 This is known as the Sherman report, because his is the first name
signed.

REWARDS OF THE CONSPIRATORS 55

house, on a salary of $1,400; his son's father-in-law,
auditor, on a salary of $2,500 ; and his son's brother-in-law,
clerk, on a salary of $1,200.

Kenner, one of the negroes on the Returning Board, was
appointed deputy naval officer of the same port ; one of his
brothers was appointed to a $1,600 clerkship, and another
brother, a laborer, at a salary of $600.

Cassanave, the other colored member of the board, had
a brother who was an undertaker appointed to a place in
the custom-house. His own expenses, incurred in defend
ing himself and colleagues in New Orleans against criminal
charges, were defrayed in part by President Hayes and
Secretary Sherman.

Woodward, clerk of the Returning Board, who assisted
in falsifying the election returns, was appointed to a $1,400
clerkship, and was subsequently promoted to an assistant
deputy surveyorship, at a salary of $1,600.

Abell, the secretary of the Returning Board, was ap
pointed to a $1,600 clerkship in the custom-house.

Judge G. B. Davis, a clerk of the Returning Board,
and another man of equally easy virtue with any of his
associates, also found an asylum in the custom-house.

Green, a colored minute clerk of the board, in due time
reached the same port, and afterwards was appointed an
inspector, at $3 per day.

Charles Hill, another clerk of the Returning Board, and
therefore possessed of perilous secrets, was appointed store
keeper, at a salary of $1,460.

It is a fact not without significance that none of Presi
dent Hayes' cabinet ministers, save his Secretary of the
Treasury, availed themselves of the privilege of rewarding
any of the members of the Returning Board or of their
zealous subordinates.

Whether these dignities and emoluments were worth
what they cost ; whether the honors for which they were
beholden to the frauds and forgeries of the four pied and

56 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

speckled knaves who constituted the Louisiana Returning
Board in 1876 are such as their offspring and friends
will take pride in; and whether their names will be
cherished by their countrymen for their active and passive
parts in placing a man in the presidential chair who was
not elected to that office by the people, — are questions
which may be safely left to the final arbitrament of history.
"How far," said the Hon. Clarkson N. Potter,1 in his ad
mirable and temperate report, — the more admirable because
so temperate, — " the controlling visiting statesmen like Mr.
Sherman really believed there was any justification for the
rejection of Democratic votes by the Returning Board, men
will never agree. We are apt to believe in the right of
what we earnestly desire. Men who thought the welfare
of the country depended upon the continuation in power of
the Republican party would naturally have been disposed to
consider almost anything justified to retain it there. To
us it seems impossible that the flagrant and atrocious con
duct of the Returning Board was not realized above all by
the men of most political experience, or that the most dan
gerous and outrageous political fraud of the age was not
assisted and advised by those who next proceeded to take
possession of its best fruits."

1 Chairman of the select committee appointed by the House of Represent
atives u to inquire into the alleged fraudulent canvass and return of votes
at the last presidential election in the States of Louisiana and Florida."

CHAPTER III

The electoral count of 1877 — Senator Morton's scheme — Tilden's history
of the presidential counts — President Grant concedes Tilden's election
— Electoral commission created — Disapproved of by Tilden — Re
fuses to raffle for the presidency — Horatio Seymour's speech before
the New York electors — Dr. Franklin's advice to his son — The Florida
case — The Louisiana case — The Oregon case — Conflicting decisions
of the commission — The commission for sale — The forged certificates
from Louisiana — Decision of the commission condemned by the House
of Representatives — Letter of Charles Francis Adams — The Fraud
Blazon — Tilden's reply — Protest of the Democratic minority of the
electoral commission — Thurman and Bayard — James Russell Lowell.

AT the meeting of Congress in December the absorbing
question was the counting of the electoral vote. It had
been usual for Congress to define in advance the manner
in which this duty should be discharged. In the session of
1864-5 Congress provided that no electoral vote objected
to by either House of Congress should be counted except
by the concurrent votes of both Houses. This became
notorious as "the 22d rule." It was re-adopted at the
three successive electoral counts of 1865, 1869, and 1873.
This rule, after having been in force for three successive
elections, was abandoned by a resolution of the Senate in
December, 1875, on motion of Senator Edmunds, at whose
instance the Senate adopted " the rules of that body and
the joint rules of the two Houses except the 22d joint
rule heretofore in use." The House of Representatives was
at this time largely Democratic, and, had the 22d joint
rule continued in force, any electoral votes which it re
fused to count would have been rejected. The rule, which
was of doubtful constitutionality, had been originally
adopted, and subsequently renewed, for partisan ends ; for
partisan ends it was now dispensed with by the Senate,

58 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

thus leaving the two Houses without any rule to govern
them for counting the electoral votes in February, 1877.

Prior to 1865, and before the adoption of the 22d joint
rule above referred to, it had been the practice of the two
Houses of Congress, a little in advance of the day fixed by
the Act of 1792 for counting the votes, — the second
Wednesday of February, — to agree upon the place of meet
ing for the discharge of this duty and the order of proced
ure. Various efforts had been made from time to time, by
one House or the other, previous to the adoption of the 22d
rule, to appropriate to itself the power to determine the
validity of electoral votes ; but all had, for one reason or
another, proved abortive. The 22d joint rule, adopted by
the Republicans in 1865, assumed for the first time the
right to reject electoral votes, as the prerogative of either
House.

When the certificates of the electors of the several States
came to be opened at Washington in 1877, it appeared
that the certificates of thirty-four States were uncontested,
but that the remaining four were to be contested. These
were the certificates from the States of South Carolina,
Florida, Louisiana, and Oregon. The electoral vote of the
uncontested States was so distributed that the fate of the
presidential candidates depended upon the electoral vote of
the four contested States.

Congress having failed to make any provision before
hand, the mode of procedure in counting the electoral vote
was the first question to be dealt with.

The Republicans had the control of the Senate, the
Democrats, of the House. The Constitution provided that
"the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the
Senate and the House of Representatives, open all the
certificates, and the votes shall then be counted." Senator
Morton took the ground that the President of the Senate
should be invested with plenary authority " to determine
all disputes relative to certificates of the electoral votes ; to

SCHEME FOR COUNTING ELECTORAL VOTES 59

count them and to declare the result, which declaration
was to be accepted as final, conclusive, and irrevocable."
The President of the Senate at that time, Thomas W.
Ferry, of Michigan, owed that position to his party sub
serviency rather than to his fame as a statesman. The
adoption of such a rule would have been equivalent to
pronouncing Hayes President and making the counting of
the electoral vote an idle ceremony. To make it such was
obviously the motive of those who advocated it.

The Constitution assigned to the President of the Senate
no other specific duty but to open the certificates. Beyond
that he was but one of three coordinate bodies authorized
to count the votes, settle controversies, and declare the
result, as had been virtually the unbroken practice from
the foundation of the government. A year had not elapsed
since the same Senator Morton had introduced an electoral-
count bill which required that the affirmative action of
both Houses of Congress should be required to reject any
certificate of electoral votes, and if more than one return
was made, only that one should " be counted, which the
two Houses, acting separately, shall decide to be the true
and valid return." Nothing had occurred to the Constitu
tion which in the spring of 1876 required the concurrence
of the two Houses, acting separately, to count an electoral
vote, the President of the Senate to the contrary notwith
standing, that in the winter of the same year could transfer
this power to the President of the Senate, the two Houses
of Congress to the contrary notwithstanding. That is,
nothing but a presidential election which begat the tempta
tion to strike the House of Representatives with impotence
for the purpose of ensuring the success of the Republican
candidates. The inconsistency of these positions, and the
absurdity of attempting to reconcile the Constitution with
two modes of procedure so diametrically opposed to each
other, did not prevent Morton's scheme finding favor with
his partisans in Congress, who seemed to have reached the

60 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

conviction that the end of defeating Tilden would sanctify
any means necessary to accomplish it, and that the Con
stitution itself should yield to such an exigency. Such
threatening proportions did this scheme assume that Mr.
Tilden devoted more than a month to the preparation of a
complete history of the electoral counts from the foundation
of the government,1 to show it to have been the unbroken
usage of Congress, not of the President of the Senate, to
count the electoral votes.2

What influence, if any, this publication had upon the
ultimate abandonment of Senator Morton's scheme it is
difficult to say. Probably not much, for it taught the
Senators nothing of which they were ignorant ; but about
this time the leaders of that body became aware that Presi
dent Grant did not believe that Hayes was elected, and
several prominent Republican members of Congress, among
them Senator Conkling, of New York, were under the same
impression, and could not be relied upon to assist in up
setting one of the most venerable traditions of the govern
ment, nor in becoming accomplices in the fraud to which
it was intended to be contributory.

President Grant seems at no time to have had any doubt
about the electoral vote of Louisiana belonging to Tilden
and Hendricks, or of its being so ultimately decided. In
some reminiscences of the late George "W. Childs, pub
lished first in the " Philadelphia Ledger" in 1885, and
subsequently in a volume, that gentleman said :

" Just before General Grant started on his journey around

1 The Presidential Counts ; a complete official record of the proceedings at
the counting of the electoral votes in all the elections of President and Vice-
President of the United States ; together with all congressional delates
incident thereto or to proposed legislation on that subject ; with an analyti
cal introduction. New York, D. Appleton $ Co., IS 77.

2 The first election of George Washington, in 1789, was only an apparent
exception. The election was unanimous, the procedure a formality and
without debate or deliberation. See Presidential Counts ; also D. D. Fields,
" The Electoral Vote of 76," p. 5.

ORIGIN OF THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION 61

the world, he was spending some days with me, and at
dinner with Mr. A. J. Drexel, Col. A. K. McClure, and
myself, General Grant reviewed the contest for the creation
of the Electoral Commission, and the contest before and in
the commission, very fully and with rare candor ; and the
chief significance of his view was in the fact, as he stated
it, that he expected from the beginning, until the final
judgment, that the electoral vote of Louisiana would be
awarded to Tilden. He spoke of South Carolina and Ore
gon as justly belonging to Hayes ; of Florida, as reasonably
doubtful; and of Louisiana, as for Tilden."

Col. A. K. McClure and the late A. J. Drexel, who were
also guests of Mr. Childs on this occasion, have confirmed
his report of this conversation.

The plan, therefore, of gagging the House of Represent
atives in the electoral college received no encouragement
from President Grant. Whether he would have ever made
any serious opposition to such a consummation, or whether
the Senate would have deferred to him if he had, it is now
idle to speculate. Another more plausible, if no less un
constitutional, means of accomplishing the same result was
devised for them, the authorship of which has been ascribed
to President Grant.

On the 14th of December, 1876, the House of Repre
sentatives appointed a committee of seven of its members
to act in conjunction with any similar committee of the
Senate, "to prepare and report without delay a measure for
the removal of differences of opinion as to the proper mode
of counting the electoral votes for President and Vice-Pres-
ident of the United States, and of determining questions
which might arise as to the legality and validity of the re
turns of such votes made by the several States, to the end
that the votes should be counted and the result declared by
a tribunal whose authority none can question and whose
decision all will accept"

Four days later, and on the eighteenth of the same month,
the Senate created a special committee of seven Senators

62 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

with power " to prepare and report without unnecessary de
lay such a measure either of a legislative or other character
as may in their judgment be best calculated to accomplish
the lawful counting of the electoral votes and best dispo
sition of all questions connected therewith, and the true
declaration of the result," and also " to confer and act with
the committee of the House of Representatives."

This joint committee consisted of Senators George F.
Edmunds, of Vermont; Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, of
New Jersey ; Roscoe Conkling, of New York ; Allen G.
Thurman, of Ohio ; Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware ; Mat
thew W. Ransom, of North Carolina ; and Oliver P.
Morton, of Indiana; and Representatives Henry B. Payne,
of Ohio ; Eppa Hunton, of Virginia; Abram S. Hewitt, of
New York ; William M. Springer, of Illinois ; George W.
McCrary, of Iowa ; George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts ; and
George Willard, of Michigan. On the 18th of January
this committee almost unanimously — Senator Morton only
dissenting — reported a bill providing for the creation of
a tribunal to be composed of five Senators, five Represent
atives, and five associate justices of the Supreme Court of
the United States, four of the latter being designated by
their districts in the bill itself, the fifth to be subsequently
chosen by these four ; to which tribunal should be referred
the conflicting certificates and accompanying documents
from the contested States, and all questions relating to
the powers of Congress in the premises, with the authority
to exercise the same powers in ascertaining the legal vote
of each of such States. The bill further provided that the
decisions of such tribunal in every case should stand,
unless rejected ~by the concurrent vote of both Houses. Also
that objections which might be made to any votes from
States not presenting double certificates should be con
sidered, not by the commission, but by the Houses sepa
rately, and unless sustained by both, should be of no effect.

The bill, after a sharply contested debate in both Houses,

WEAKNESS OF THE DEMOCRATS 63

passed the Senate January 25, and the House of Represent
atives January 26. In the former the vote was 47 yeas to
17 nays; the Republicans voting 24 yeas to 16 nays, and
the Democrats, 23 yeas to 1 nay ; absent or not voting, 9
Republicans and 1 Democrat. In the House there were
191 yeas to 86 nays, the Democrats voting 158 yeas to 18
nays, and the Republicans 33 yeas to 68 nays ; absent or
not voting, 7 Republicans and 7 Democrats.

How so large a number of the Democrats in Congress
were induced to supersede the constitutional machinery
for counting the electoral votes, for a device not only
unknown to the Constitution, but in all its important
bearings inconsistent with it, can only be explained as we
explain most of the blunders which are woven into the web
of every human life. Some yielded through ignorance,
some for want of reflection, some to quiet a controversy
about the result of which they were indifferent or appre
hensive, some to serve personal ends at home that seemed
more important to them than the presidential issue, while
upon others, many, if not all, these considerations may have
been not without their influence.

Unfortunately for Mr. Tilden, the Senate swarmed with
Democratic aspirants for the presidency; the two on
the committee who negotiated the surrender having been
strenuous competitors for that honor before the convention
which nominated Mr. Tilden. Nor was the House of Rep
resentatives lacking in Democratic candidates wrho had not
been able to regard with satisfaction the triumph of a can
didate who had not been in the least indebted to Congress
for his nomination, nor much for his success at the polls.
Then again, there were perhaps no inconsiderable number
who indulged the expectation that the proposed tribunal
would elect their candidate, which was to them of more
concern than the means by which it was accomplished.
The latter class was recruited largely from among those
who supposed Senator Davis, of Illinois, who then occupied

64 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court, would be selected
as the fifth member from that bench, and of whose charac
ter and moral authority with his colleagues enough was
known to quench any suspicion of his lending support
to the fraudulent and unconstitutional devices upon which
he would have had to sit in judgment.1

Those who were seduced by this aleatory device were
rewarded as they deserved. Just as the electoral commis
sion bill became a law, the independent Republicans and
the Democrats in the Illinois Legislature elected Judge
Davis to the United States Senate. This afforded that
gentleman an excuse, of which he naturally availed himself
with a prompt alacrity, to decline the proffered place on
the commission, and gave to the four judges, two selected
from each party, the choice of the fifth, which resulted in
the selection of Justice Bradley, a New Jersey Republican,
and in leaving the rival candidates entirely at the mercy of
the Republican party. By whatever motive they were gov
erned, by whatever temptations seduced, it is now but too
evident that the representatives of the people in the lower
House inexcusably abandoned their coign of vantage and
shirked the most solemn and momentous of all their official
responsibilities, in a few short weeks to be marched through
the Caudine forks and take their seats of humiliation before
the inexorable tribunal of history.

It is hardly necessary to say that Mr. Tilden was too
large and experienced a statesman to approve of discharging
any constitutional duty by any but constitutional methods.
As soon as the action of the Returning Boards furnished a

1 It was supposed by many that Morton and others engineered the
selection of Davis with a full knowledge that he would not serve. It is
difficult to see why Davis did not serve on the commission in spite of his
election to the Senate, unless his absence from the commission was one of
the conditions of his election. However this may be, his retreat from the
field in the presence of the enemy effectually disposed of whatever ex
pectations of preferment he might have entertained from the Democratic
party.

TILDEN'S VIEW OF THE COMMISSION 65

suitable provocation for his interference, he urged his
friends in the leadership of the House to expose and com
bat in full debate the threatened, unwarrantable usurpation
by the President of the Senate of the right to count the
votes, and to take no further step until in both Houses the
great but pacific constitutional battle had been fought on
that issue. He was ready to accept all responsibility for
the outcome. He assured them that if properly resisted
the conspiracy must break down ; that it must not be ^en
couraged by the least symptom of concession, but fought
inch by inch on the floors of Congress, until the real char
acter of the proposed usurpation should become known
throughout the country and the nation's opinion of it could
reach Washington. Early in the session he prepared two
resolutions which raised the issue upon which he wished
the battle to be fought, and which, with some slight modi
fications by the House committee on " the privileges,
powers, and duties of the House of Representatives in
counting the electoral votes " that received his approval,
were adopted by that committee and reported to the
House.1

1 This committee consisted of Sparks and Burchard, of Illinois ; Tucker,
of Virginia; Marsh, of Pennsylvania; Seelye, of Massachusetts ; Monroe and
Lawrence, of Ohio ; and D. D. Field, of New York. The resolutions were
as follows :

Resolved, First, That the Constitution does not confer upon the Pres
ident of the Senate the power to examine and ascertain the votes to be
counted as the electoral votes for President and Vice-President of the
United States.

Second, That the only power which the Constitution of the United
States confers upon the President of the Senate in respect to the electoral
votes for President and Vice-President of the United States is to receive
the sealed lists transmitted to him by the several electoral colleges, to keep
the same safely, and to open all the certificates, or those purporting to be
such, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Third, That the Constitution of the United States does confer upon
the Senate and the House of Representatives the power to examine and
ascertain the votes to be counted as the electoral votes.

Fourth, That in execution of their power in respect to the counting
VOL. II. -5

66 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

Had the course there traced been followed, it is now ap
parent that the confirmation of Mr. Tilden's election would
have been assured beyond a peradventure. The controlling
voices of both parties in the Senate had over and over
again, and within a few months, asserted and insisted upon
the right of the two Houses to count the vote. They all
knew, and many had repeatedly assisted in adding to, the
imposing line of precedents under which a challenge of any
electoral certificate by either House had sufficed to exclude
its vote from the count. A challenge of a single one of

O O

the nineteen contested votes would have resulted in Tilden's
election, either by the concurring vote of the two Houses,
or, they failing to concur, in his election by the House of
Representatives, to which the Constitution has confided the
choice in such an emergency, and where the Democrats
Avere in the majority, whether voting by themselves or by
States.1

Happily we do not depend upon rumor nor oral tradition
for our knowledge of Mr. Tilden's views of this crisis and
the proper mode of dealing with it. They will be found
most carefully and fully stated as early as the 1st of Jan
uary, 1877, in the inaugural message of Governor Robin
son, of which the portion which appears under the rubric
of national affairs was written by Mr. Tilden. The
forecast and wisdom of this statement, and its direct

of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives is at least equal with
the Senate.

Fifth, That in the counting of the electoral votes, no vote can be counted
against the judgment and determination of the House of Representatives.

Sixth, That the committee have leave to sit again and report hereafter
further matter for the consideration of the House.

1 The Constitution of the United States, Art. 11, Sect. Ill, provides:
" The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President,
if such number be the majority of the whole number of electors appointed;
and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal
number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately
choose, by ballot, one of them for President ; and if no person have a
majority, then from the highest on the list the said House shall in like
manner choose the President.

TILDEN ON COUNTING ELECTORAL VOTES 67

bearing upon what had occurred and upon what was to
occur, time has only made more conspicuous. In the
course of this statement he says :

TILDEN'S VIEWS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL MODE or COUNT
ING ELECTORAL VOTES.

" The recent presidential election threatens to prove an
epoch of solemn portent in our history. For the first time
in the twenty-two elections which have been held for
President and Vice-President of the United States, the
result remains a subject of controversy after the canvass of
the votes within the States has been made and announced.
The two Houses of Congress have been heretofore repeat
edly required to pass upon the authenticity and validity of
electoral votes, but in no former instance has the election
turned upon the questionable votes. In every former case
the result has been determined by electoral votes which
were not in controversy. In the present instance one
candidate for President and one candidate for Vice-Pres
ident have received 184 undisputed electoral votes, as well
as a popular majority exceeding a quarter of a million.
Another candidate for President and another candidate for
Vice-President have received 165 undisputed electoral
votes. All the votes of three States, — four in Florida,
eight in Louisiana, and seven in South Carolina, — making
nineteen in all, are still in dispute ; also one of the three
votes in Oregon. In all these cases two sets of returns
have been f transmitted to the seat of government, directed
to the President of the Senate,' to await the action of the
two Houses of Congress, whose duty it is to verify, ascer
tain, and count the electoral votes.

" In a situation involving such momentous results as the
chief magistracy of this republic, all the baser as well as
the better forces of society are naturally embattled to
secure the prize. It is in such crises of history that the
controlling force of cardinal principles is liable to be
weakened, dangerous concessions to be made, perilous
precedents established, sacred traditions violated, and the
most important bulwarks of constitutional freedom rendered
less secure.

68 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

" In Louisiana we have seen a State government imposed
on the people by the military force of the federal executive
under color of a pretended order of a federal judge, which
order in itself was void, and which led to the resignation
of the judge who made it, to escape impeachment. We
have seen the government thus imposed by military force
condemned as illegal and a mere usurpation, by both Houses
of Congress, and the electoral votes given under its
auspices rejected in the counting of the presidential votes
in 1873 by the concurrent judgment of the same tribunal.
We have seen the government so imposed create ' a Return
ing Board ' practically vested with absolute power to
revise and, if they please, to reverse the results of the
election by the people of the State, and thus organize a
political mechanism under which an oligarchy in temporary
possession of the legislative power of a State might perpet
uate their ascendency indefinitely.

"I pause here in this statement to interpose, in behalf of
the people of this great Commonwealth, a solemn denial of
the power of any State government or of the federal gov
ernment to vest such powers as are claimed by the Louisi
ana Returning Board in any Canvassing Board whatever.

" In the first place, such powers in respect to the choice
of presidential electors are not warranted by, but are
repugnant to, the Constitution of the United States. The
provision of section 1 of article 2 of that instrument, 'that
each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature
thereof may direct, its presidential electors,' does not
confer on the Legislature of a State an unlimited power
over the subject. No one will pretend that a temporary
majority in the Legislature of a State could grant to an
individual, or, to a set of individuals, the power to appoint
presidential electors ; that it could make this grant for a
period of years, or indefinitely, or to his or their heirs or
assigns.

" What it cannot do in form it cannot do in substance ;
what it cannot do directly it cannot do indirectly. The choice
which a Legislature is authorized to make for a State,
in the mode of appointing presidential electors, is limited
to a mere selection between certain known forms of action,
recognized in the practice of popular government, and
consistent with the nature of popular government. It
is a choice of modes, but must not change or destroy the

TILDEN ON COUNTING ELECTORAL VOTES 69

essential character of the thing itself. It is subject to the
condition that ' the Slate shall appoint ' the presidential
electors. The State, that is, the political community known
in our jurisprudence and constitutional law by that name,
must ' appoint,' and in doing so it must act by and
through its known and rightful organs. At the time this
provision of the federal Constitution was adopted, it was
contemplated that the Legislature of a State possessing all
the governmental powers not withdrawn by the provisions
of the State Constitution, or transferred to the government
of the Union, might itself choose the electors. And,
indeed, that was the mode at first generally practised by
the States. The State Legislature at that time was regarded
as the most natural and the legitimate organ of the State.
The power to choose presidential electors might properly
be conferred upon the people of the State by a general
ticket, the voters throughout the State choosing all the
electors ; or they might be chosen by the people of the
State voting in districts, each district choosing one elector,
These were methods consonant with the principles of our
system of government, and by either of which it could be
properly said that the State did, in fact, 'appoint* the
electors.

" It is historically certain that these different modes were
in the contemplation of the convention which formed the
Constitution. Experiencing some difficulty, however, in
imposing this duty upon all the States by any one uniform
system, it devolved upon the Legislatures of each State the
authority to choose from among these methods, one for the
exercise of that power which it granted in declaring that
' each State shall appoint.'

" While the Legislature of a State may provide that presi
dential electors shall be appointed by an election of the
people, it cannot provide that that election shall not be a
reality ; that it shall be a sham, and that the actual power
of determining the choice shall be invested in a packed
committee, whether it be called a 'Returning Board,' or
by any other name.

" Neither can it invest a Board of Canvassers with indefinite
or with arbitrary powers, nor with any authority which, by
the principles and practice of our jurisprudence and the
policy of our elective system, is not fairly incident to the
function of ascertaining the vote of the people. This seems

70 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

to me to be the obvious, the wise interpretation of the Con
stitution of the United States and of its laws. Any other
doctrine will open the way to abuses, frauds, and usurpa
tions, which must end in destroying popular elections.
The moment we depart from a strict construction of grants
of power in derogation of the integrity and efficiency of the
elective system, we shall be able to find no rule that will
protect the rights of the people. We shall tempt transient
majorities to seek to prolong their power by tampering
with the machinery of elections, and the easiest, most con
venient, and most effectual method for such a purpose is by
the contrivance of Returning Boards, which shall be packed
and equipped with powers hitherto unknown to our laws
and practically subversive of the will of the people.

" In the particular case of Louisiana, other equally grave
illegalities are believed to exist. The powers vested in
the Returning Board are inconsistent with the provision in
the Constitution of that State, which guarantees the elective
franchise to voters, and also with the provision which con
fers the judicial power upon the courts. It is probable
that the powers of this board, by the law of Louisiana, do
not apply to presidential electors ; that the board itself was
not constituted in accordance with the law under which it
was created ; and finally, that a condition, without which
the Returning Board could not get jurisdiction in the cases
where it assumed to reject votes of whole districts, was not
complied with. There is every reason to believe that the
authority exercised by that Returning Board is void, as re
pugnant to the Constitution of the United States, and also
to the Constitution and laws of Louisiana.

"In this state of the law, that Returning Board, according
to public statements of conceded facts, by manipulations of
the returns, have changed a majority for one set of presi
dential electors of about 9,000 to a majority for another set
of about 4,000, which would be equivalent to a change of
over 80,000 votes in the State of New York.

" In Florida we have seen a Board of State Canvassers, sol
emnly adjudged by the highest court in the State to possess
none but ministerial powers, assume the authority to re
verse the choice of electors as shown on the face of the
returns made by the officers who conducted the elec
tions and received the votes ; and to do this in open dis
obedience and cejritempt of the judicial tribunal having

TILDEN ON COUNTING ELECTORAL VOTES 71

jurisdiction in such matters, and vested with the right of
final judgment.

" In South Carolina we have seen the Board of State Can
vassers fabricating a canvass in like disobedience and con
tempt of the Supreme Court having jurisdiction and the
right of final judgment ; we have seen federal soldiery take
possession of the capitol of the State, and a corporal at the
door determining who were the elect of the people, and
who were to be permitted to represent them as legisla
tors. Notwithstanding some of these acts have been
disavowed by the federal executive, no mark of dis
approbation has been put upon the authors of the out
rages ; the officer in command goes still unrebuked, and
when the Returning Board were committed to prison for
contempt, by the highest court in the State, a judge of the
United States District Court is sent down to South Caro
lina, and, without jurisdiction in the case, grants a writ of
habeas corpus, and discharges the offenders. These pro
ceedings are the more extraordinary and alarming when we
consider that such violations of law and of right have been
resorted to to overturn elections, all the officers conducting
which were of the same political party with the candidates
in whose favor these acts have been committed ; that the
elections were held under the surveillance of troops of the
United States, without any constitutional warrant for their
presence, and that the judicial decisions thus set at naught
cannot be suspected of any partisan bias, for they were
rendered both in Florida and South Carolina by judges, all
of whom were of the same political party with the Return
ing Board.

"These interferences of the military power have been
committed in flagrant violation of the Constitution and
laws. They were not provoked by domestic violence ;
they were not invited in the only way that wrould have
made them constitutional, by the Legislature of the State ;
and they were continued after the election was over and
during all the subsequent proceedings of the Canvassing
Board. Their tendency was to overawe the voters under
the pretence of keeping the peace, though by measures in
themselves unlawful, and to deliver dishonest officials from
the natural sense of responsibility and the natural timidity
in regard to the consequences of their acts, which are prov
idential limitations to men's conceptions of the crimes upon
which they may venture.

72 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

" While these things were going on in the South a member
of the cabinet at Washington was acting as chairman of a
partisan national committee, and with the cooperation of
some of his colleagues in the cabinet, counselling and sys
tematically stimulating these desperate measures.

" The result which these proceedings seem designed to
accomplish cannot be secured without one further step in
the processes of usurpation. The fabrication of electoral
votes amounts to nothing unless they can be counted by the
tribunal whose constitutional duty it is to verify and au
thenticate them. That inexorable necessity has given birth
to a new device for counting the votes, not only unknown
to the Constitution, but in conflict with the construction
hitherto always accepted, and with the invariable practice
and precedents. That device is for the President of the
Senate to usurp the power of determining what votes shall
be counted, and what shall not be counted, and to exercise
that power in disregard of the orders of the two Houses.
It would not be credible that so monstrous a claim as this
could be seriously asserted if leading Senators had not pub
licly avowed it.

" Nothing could be more abhorrent to the spirit of our
system of government than such a one-man power. The
President of the Senate is elected by the Senators, and
they in turn are elected by the State legislators. He is,
therefore, three removes from the people. If such a power
were to have been vested in a single man, a depository
would have been chosen not so far removed from popular
accountability. But the people of this country will never
vest such a power in any one man, however selected. They
will never consent to a new construction of the Constitution
and laws that bears such fruit. They will stand firmly in
the ancient ways, and insist that the electoral votes in this
emergency shall be counted as they have always been
counted, by the two Houses of Congress, and by nobody
else. They will look with just suspicion upon the purposes
of any who would propose to depart from the precedents
which have been hallowed by time, and the uniform prac
tice of the Republic from its foundation.

" The Constitution of the United States confers upon the
President of the Senate no power whatever in respect to
the counting of the electoral votes, except 'in presence of
the Senate and House of Representatives,' to ' open ' all

TILDEN ON COUNTING ELECTORAL VOTES 73

the certificates which may be transmitted by the colleges
to the seat of government, directed to him.

" The Constitution confers upon the President of the Sen
ate no power to determine the authenticity and validity of
an electoral vote, or to interfere in any wise with any such
question.

" No President of the Senate has ever claimed or exer
cised such a power at any of the twenty-one presidential
elections that have occurred under our Constitution.

" The mode of procedure for the counting of electoral
votes has been invariably regulated by the two Houses
of Congress, by concurrent resolution or standing rules
adopted before the count. Those resolutions or rules have
prescribed every step in the whole process ; every function
of the tellers and of the President of the Senate, whenever
any additional service, even of the most formal sort, has
been required of him.

" In every instance the counting has been conducted in
conformity with the procedure thus prescribed by the two
Houses ; by servants designated by the two Houses under
instructions and in the presence of the two Houses, and
with the entire concurrence and the implicit obedience of
every President of the Senate who has participated in these
ceremonies.

" So often as any question has arisen as to the authentic
ity or validity of an electoral vote, the two Houses have
assumed and exercised the exclusive power to act upon and
determine that question. They have, in contemplation of
law, themselves made every count ; they have from the
first assumed exclusive jurisdiction to regulate and govern
the whole transaction by temporary concurrent orders ad
opted for the occasion, by standing joint rules, and by the
enactment of laws. Such has been the uniform and unin
terrupted course of precedents, the invariable practice of
the government, and the official exposition of the Constitu
tion, which has been deliberately adopted, invariably acted
upon, and unive-rsally accepted.

"No fitter repository of all such powers as are vested in
or must of necessity be exercised by the government can be
found than the two Houses of Congress. They are not only
the general agents of the people under our representative
system, but in case of the failure of a choice of Presi
dent and Vice- President by the electoral colleges, they are

74 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

expressly charged by the Constitution with the duty of making
the election.

" The people of the United States will never consent to
have their Representatives in Congress stripped of these
powers, or tolerate this usurpation by a deputy of the Sen
ate, or by any single person, and still less by an officer
who is frequently interested as a candidate in the result of
the count.

" In this sentiment and purpose the State of New York
cordially concurs. Foremost among all our American
commonwealths in population, in the variety and extent of
her industries and interests, she has in every vicissitude of
public aifairs put forth all her strength, moral and physical,
to maintain the existence and the just authorities of the
Union, and she can never consent that the time-consecrated
methods of constitutional government shall be supplanted
or overthrown by revolutionary expedients."

Why Mr. Tilden's advice, so simple, so wise, so logical,
so sure sooner or later to enlist the sympathies and respect
of every law-abiding citizen in the land, was not followed,
is a question which I do not feel called to enter upon here.
Besides, it involves the discussion of motives which can
never be subjected to any undebatable test ; and if they
could be, the profit of such a discussion now is more than
questionable. I shall discharge my duty as his biographer
in reporting what Mr. Tilden did to save his party, without
dwelling more than is necessary for that purpose upon what
others did to wreck it.1

The electoral commission scheme was not disclosed to
Mr. Tilden until it was too late for any opposition on his
part to be effective in prosecuting his method, which was
the only constitutional method of settling the questions in
dispute. How it was first brought to his attention was

1 The late James G. Elaine, serving as one of the visitors at the West
Point Military Academy, a year or two after the inauguration of Hayes,
expressed himself to me as greatly surprised when the Democrats in Con
gress assented to the plan of an electoral commission. He added that if
the Democrats had been firm the Republicans had no alternative but to
yield, and such was the result which he had anticipated.

TILDEN'S APPROVAL, NOT HIS OPINIONS, WANTED 75

thus set down in a carefully considered communication
addressed by Mr. Manton Marble to the "New York Sun,"
on the 5th of August, 1878. The tenor of this communica
tion, as well as the circumstances under which it appeared,
leave little doubt that before it was given to the public it
passed under Mr. Tilden's eyes.

"On the evening of Saturday, January 13, the under
signed, calling upon Mr. Tilden, found him in receipt of
the McCrary House bill with proposed amendments, and a
letter from Mr. Hewitt advertising the Governor that his
counsel thereon would be asked the next day. Mr. Tilden
invited the undersigned to call on the morrow, when Mr.
Hewitt should be there, to consider this bill — the sup
posed axis on which the deliberations of the House con
ference committee were revolving.

rf The undersigned thus came to be present January 14,
the day and date when Mr. Tilden received from Mr.
Hewitt's lips his first information that other measures had
been abandoned ; that the Senate conference committee
had just disclosed to the House conference committee an
electoral commission bill it had been privately preparing ;
that the House committee wrere pressed to accept and
adopt the same, and that the subject he wished to confer
upon was that.

" Mr. Hewitt explained as the Senate committee's reason
for secrecy, that without it they could not carry the bill.
It had been adopted by arrangement between the three
Democratic and the four Republican members, and was so
strictly observed that when Senator Kernan made inquiry
of one of the former, he was told that nothing could be
disclosed to him without violating an honorable under
standing. So well was the secret kept, that Senator
Barnum, now chairman of the national committee, passing
through New York on Friday, the 12th, had expressed his
conviction that a majority of the Senate, as Mr. Tilden's
plan anticipated, would concur in denying the right of
Ferry to make the count.

" Before he read the new bill, Mr. Tilden was told by Mr.
Hewitt that the Democratic members of the Senate com
mittee were already absolutely committed to it, and would
concur with their Eepublican associates in reporting it to

76 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

the Senate, whether the House committee should concur or
not, and whether Mr. Tilden approved it or not.

r'Is it not rather late, then,' said Mr. Tilden, 'to con
sult me?'

' They do not consult you,' replied Mr. Hewitt. f They
are public men, and have their own duties and responsibili
ties. I consult you.' "

In other words, as Mr. Tilden expressed himself to me
at the time, the parents of this measure "have sent Mr.
Hewitt, not to consult me about it, but to get my approval
of it." This Mr. Tilden declined to give, and urged delay.
When its friends pretended that time pressed, he told them,
•' There is time enough. It is a month before the count.
It had best be used, all of it, in making the people and
their agents fully acquainted with their rights and duties."

To the statement that the Senate committee would not
delay for this to present their bill, with the unanimous ap
proval of its three Democratic members, to the Eepublican
Senate, Mr. Tilden replied :

" It is a panic of pacificators. They will act in haste and
repent at leisure."

To representations of the danger of a collision of force
with the executive, Mr. Tilden replied :

" Nevertheless, this action is too precipitate. The fears of
collision are exaggerated. And why surrender now? You
can always surrender. That is all you have to do after
being beaten. Why surrender before the battle for fear of
having to surrender after the battle is over? " l

1 This recalls the advice which Dr. Franklin gave to his son when Colo
nial Governor of New Jersey :

u Perhaps they may expect that your resentment of their treatment of me
may induce you to resign and save them the shame of depriving you, when
they ought to promote you. But this I would not advise you to do. Let
them take your place if they want it, — though in truth it is scarce worth
your keeping, — since it has not afforded you sufficient to prevent your run
ning every year behindhand with me. One may make something of an
injury, nothing of a resignation" — Bigelow's u Life of Franklin," under
date of Feb. 28, 1874.

DEFEAT WITHOUT A BATTLE 77

Unfortunately, the course of procedure which Mr. Tilden
had traced out and urged upon the party was no longer
possible. Their line of battle had been broken. The two
controlling Democratic Senators on the committee, by their
negotiations had practically surrendered the Democratic
fortress. The plain, square issue made by Mr. Tilden could
not be revived after a willingness to negotiate and make
concessions had once been manifested.

Even had it been still possible to defeat the proposed
scheme of arbitration, that would not have restored the for
tress ; it would not have made it any longer practicable to
resume Mr. Tilclen's plan of battle. To that, as Mr. Mar
ble justly remarks,

" The conditions of success were an indomitable and
united Democracy, and an unbroken favoring public opin
ion. But the mere proposal of the electoral arbitrament,
backed by great Democratic leaders, caused three illusions
to prevail : the illusion that such an arbitrament was the
only alternative to civil war ; the illusion that such a tri
bunal must establish truth in its decision and the people in
their rights ; the illusion of the business classes, oppressed
by long-suifering under ruinous tariffs and fluctuating cur
rencies, that it was the harbinger of new prosperity. So
that the rank and file would have been resuming a contest
abandoned by their familiar leaders as hopeless, and at
tempting recurrence to the earlier issue amidst a public
opinion now reversed and hostile."

Instead, therefore, of wasting his energies in useless
criticism of what had been done, Mr. Tilden directed his
attention to such modifications in the structure of this
projected court of arbitration as he thought essential.

If an arbitration is to be adopted, he insisted that the
members of the tribunal ought to be fixed in the bill it
self, not left to chance or intrigue.

That the duty of the arbitrators to investigate and decide

78 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

the case on its merits should be made mandatory, not left
to their discretion.

"With both these vital points left at loose ends," he said,
" you cannot succeed. You cannot afford to concede, and
you can exact, first, the selection of good men to com
pose the tribunal, which is the controlling point ; and,
second, define the nature of the function to be performed
by the tribunal, which is next in importance.

" Fix these two points, — good men ; explicit powers, -
and you might possibly get through. Leave them doubtful,
and it is happy-go-lucky, — the shake of a dice-box."

When pressed by suggestions of the improbability of the
House insisting upon its independent constitutional rights
without the support of the Democratic Senators w^ho were
committed to a compromise, he said :

" If you go into a conference with your adversary, and
can't break off, because you feel you must agree to some
thing, you cannot negotiate at all. Unless you are able to
break off, you are not fit to negotiate. You will be beaten
upon every detail."

On the 15th of January Mr. Hewitt telegraphed from
Washington to his brother-in-law, Edward Cooper, in New
York:

"The Senate committee will probably reject five and
report six judge plan immediately. Our Senators feel
committed to concur. House committee will not concur,
and for present will probably not report."

To this suggestion Mr. Tilden said, "I may lose the
presidency, but I will not raffle for it." To Mr. Hewitt he
telegraphed through Mr. Cooper :

" Procrastinate to give few days for information and con
sultation. The six-judge proposition inadmissible."

The next day Mr. Hewitt telegraphed again to Mr.
Cooper :

DEMOCRATS SURRENDER WITHOUT A FIGHT 79

"WASHINGTON, Jan. 16, 1877.

"After protracted negotiations Senate [committee] re
ceded from six-judge [scheme], declined five-judge, and
offered four senior associate justices, who are to choose
the fifth judge, excluding chief justice. Our Senate
friends earnestly favor acceptance, because they do not
believe it possible to pass over. The Democrats on House
committee believe this is the last chance of agreement.
We cannot postpone beyond 11 to-morrow, and if we
decline, Senate committee will report their original plan,
to which our friends are committed. Telegraph your
advice."

Mr. Tilden sent the followin answer :

YORK, January 16.
"Be firm and cool. Four-judge plan will not do. Per
haps worse than six. Complaints likely to arise of haste
and want of consultation with members, and embarrass
ment in exercise of their judgment after plan is disclosed,
by premature committal of their representatives. There
should be more opportunity for deliberation and consultation.
Secrecy dangerous. Probably mistake in itself, and if it
results in disaster would involve great blame and infinite
mischief."

The ni^ht of the day that the foregoing telegram, was

o «/ o o c?

sent, the foregoing telegrams were canvassed by Mr. Tilden
in the presence of several of his friends, at the conclusion
of which he dictated the following telegram :

"NEW YORK, January 16.

" No need of hot haste, but much danger in it. Some
days' interval should be taken. The risk of publicity [is]
harmless.

"No information here, nor any opportunity to get infor
mation which could justify abstinence from condemning
such an abandonment of the Constitution and practice of
the government, and of the rights of the two Houses and
of the people.

" Nothing but great and certain public danger, not to be
escaped in any other way, could excuse such a measure.

80 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

We are overpressed by exaggerated fears, and forget that
the other side will have greater troubles than we, unless
relieved by some agreement.

" They have no way out but by usurpation ; [they] are
bullying us with what they dare not do, or will break
down in attempting.

" So long as we stand on the Constitution and settled
practice, we know where we are. Consequence of new
expedient not enough considered.

" Only way of getting accessions in the Senate is by
House standing firm. And judicious friends believe in
that case we will go safely through. Opportunity to con
sult such friends should be given, before even tacit ac
quiescence [by House committee] , if that is contemplated.
Though details may be properly discussed, final committal
by House committee should be firmly withheld."

Before this telegram had reached, or at least been seen
by, Mr. Hewitt, the surrender had been consummated.

In no single particular from the beginning to the consum
mation of the transaction had the advice of Mr. Tilden been
acted upon. He advised the House of Representatives, with
a majority in sympathy with the majority of the people, to
stand upon its constitutional rights, and leave to the Senate,
if it dared, the responsibility of violating those rights.

Instead of which the House of Kepresentatives consented
to be made of no account, and exchanged positive and in
disputable powers, under the absolute control of friends,
for the privilege of attempting the persuasion of enemies.

Instead of exercising the rights and discharging the
duties imposed upon it in the most unequivocal terms, it
accepted a scheme for counting the votes which originated
with a body having no corresponding contingent authority,
and in political sympathy with the majority of a commis
sion recruited from and controlled by a bench every mem
ber of which had been appointed by Republican Presidents.

Mr. Tilden had urged publicity and discussion, insisting
that secrecy in respect to any plan involving the rights and
interests of a whole people w^as unwise, dangerous, and

"YOU CAN SURRENDER AT ANY TIME" 81

essentially undemocratic. The scheme adopted was con
ceived and begotten in a corner, and never exposed to the
light of day until it had wrought irremediable mischief;
still less was it submitted to such a discussion as befitted a
measure involving the chief magistracy of fifty millions of
people.

Mr. Tilden advised against the betrayal of any symp
toms of a possibility of concession. "You can surrender
at any time," he said. " It will be time enough to surrender
when you are beaten." They began their deliberations by
concession, and surrendered without an engagement, fully
a month before the time for discussion and for the arrival
of reinforcements of public opinion from their constituen
cies could have expired. They made indecent haste to
precipitate themselves at the feet of their adversaries, as
though they supposed their humiliation would be imputed
to them for righteousness.

Mr. Tilden advised them to trust the people, to stand by
them and the Constitution ; and no one American statesman
had ever a better right, from experience, to speak dogmati
cally on that subject.

Instead of trusting the people, they conducted all their
negotiations in secret, and suppressed discussion until
everything was surrendered worth saving, or that discus
sion might have saved.

When it was decided to submit the issue to arbitration,
Mr. Tilden insisted that the law creating the arbitrators
should require them to decide the issue on its merits, and
not leave to them the determination of what were to be
their duties. Firmness upon this point, to which the Re
publicans of the Senate, sooner or later, must have yielded,
would most certainly have resulted in confirming the elec
tion of the candidate of the people's choice.

This wise advice was rejected, and rejected, too, for
clowns' swords and Quaker guns. As the Hon. Henry
Watterson most fitly said :

VOL. II. — 6

82 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

"Mr. Tilden was the one man who took in the whole
case and provided a plan to compass it. That plan was for
the House of Representatives to exercise its constitutional
right to share in the count of the vote, no State to be
counted except by the concurrence of both Houses, pre
cisely as had been done in all preceding elections, each
State lacking the concurrence of the two Houses to be thrown
out ; in the event of a failure of either candidate by this
process of throwing out to secure a majority of all the votes,
the House to elect the President and the Senate to elect the
Yice-President. That was Mr. Tilden's plan, pure and
simple. It sprang directly from the Constitution, the law,
and the practice. To overreach it, the conspirators must
proceed openly to treason and usurpation. In that event,
the House still had its right to elect, and, ' if it elect me,'
said Mr. Tilden at the time, ' I will go to Washington and
take the oath if I am shot for it the next day.'

" Mr. Tilden's plan embraced no shilly-shallying or fool
ishness. It meant business. He had to move either by
force or by law. Force was out of the question. The
country was not prepared for war, and the party would not
follow him into war. All that a show of fight on his part
could do would be to inflame a few excited spirits and play
into the hands of the conspirators, who had the tools, and
only wanted the pretext to come down upon the unorgan
ized and helpless Democrats. Wisely he declined either to
raffle or to bluff for the presidency. He proposed to pro
ceed by law, — the law of every preceding electoral count,
— and to force the Republicans, if bent upon their work of
usurpation, to resort to violence and treason. He believed
they would break down before they got through with it.
Believing in the people, his idea was that the people
needed only to be educated in their rights to maintain them.
He presented a line of action. He prepared a magazine of
instruction. These were set aside, and, in lieu of them, a
bridge was constructed, over which the conspirators could,
and did, walk in safety."

On the 31st January the commission was elected, — three
Republicans and two Democrats being taken, by agreement,
from the Senate, and three Democrats and two Republicans
from the House.

THE CAUDINE FORKS 83

REPUBLICANS FROM THE SENATE.

George F. Edmunds, of Vermont.
Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey.
Oliver P. Morton, of Indiana.

DEMOCRATS FROM THE SENATE.

Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio.
Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware.

DEMOCRATS FROM THE HOUSE.

Josiah G. Abbott, of Massachusetts.
Henry B. Payne, of Ohio.
Eppa Hunton, of Virginia.

REPUBLICANS FROM THE HOUSE.

James A. Garfield, of Ohio.
George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts.

The justices of the Supreme Court designated in the
bill were :

DEMOCRATS.

Nathan Clifford, of Maine.
Stephen J. Field, of California.

REPUBLICANS.

Samuel F. Miller, of Iowa.
William Strong, of Pennsylvania.

The fifth justice elected by these was Joseph P. Brad
ley, of New Jersey.

In all, seven Democrats and eight Republicans.

It was determined by the Republicans in caucus to leave
Senator Conkling off the Electoral Commission, though he
had been more influential probably than any other Senator
in securing the passage of the bill creating it.1

1 Mr. Childs says : " Grant was the originator of the plan. He sent for
Mr. Conkling, and said with deep earnestness : k This matter is a serious

84 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE TV

Colliding was omitted because he was known to be in
accord with the President in thinking that the vote of
Louisiana rightfully belonged to Mr. Tilden. He was the
only Republican Senator on the committee who was omit
ted from the commission. Colliding had agreed to address
the Electoral Commission in opposition to its counting
the electoral vote of Louisiana for Hayes. Various explana
tions of his failure to do so are in circulation. I have not
been able to determine which of them all had the demerit
of securing his silence.

On the 6th of December the electors of the State of
New York assembled at the capitol at Albany, organized
by the election of Horatio Seymour, president of the col
lege, and proceeded to cast the electoral vote of the State of
Xew York for Tilden for President and Hendricks for Vice-
President.1 On taking the chair Mr. Seymour became
the interpreter of the profound concern which had been
awakened among the people of all parties in Mr. Tilden's
native State by the rumors which were coming from the
South. Time has given to Mr. Seymour's remarks a per
tinence and an importance which was hardly accorded to
them at the time of their utterance. After referring to the
fact that the year in which they were about to participate
in the election of a new President of the United States was
the hundredth anniversary of our existence as an indepen
dent people, he continued :

" At this moment of general congratulation the people
were startled by the assertion that there had been dis
covered in remote Southern States the exact number of

one, and the people feel it deeply. I think this Electoral Commission ought
to be appointed.' Conkling answered : l Mr. President, Senator Morton is
opposed to it and to your efforts. But if you wish the commission carried,
I can do it.' He said, 1 1 wish it done.' "

1 Tilden's popular majority over Hayes in the State of New York was
32,818, and the largest aggregate vote ever cast up to that time in that State.
It exceeded Grant's vote in 1872 by 81,298, and Greeley's of the same year
by 134,764.

85

electoral votes which would be given to and would elect the
presidential candidate who was not the choice of the ma
jority of the American people. This surprise was greater
because it was one of the charges made by the Republicans
in the canvass to excite the minds of the men of the North,
that the ' solid South ' would support the Democratic ticket.
It was also urged that every Southern State had a deep
interest in doing this, because they meant to make demands
upon the national treasury. While this charge was unjust,
no reason can be given why South Carolina, Florida, and
Louisiana should not act in accord with the overwhelming
majorities of the adjoining States. The public excitement
reached the highest point when it was learned that the men
who proposed to give these electoral votes to the candidate
of the minority had been for years past charged with grave
crimes, and that their personal security against legal pun
ishment depended upon their success in falsifying the
returns of their States. To them an honest count meant just
punishment. I cannot be charged with partisan prejudice
for any terms of reproach I may use in regard to the offi
cials of Louisiana. I have no words strong enough to
describe their unworthiness as set forth in official reports
made by their political friends. I cannot, if I would,
paint the aversion shown in the halls of the capitol by
honest Republicans, who shunned them as leprous men
whose touch and presence was polluting. Yet a few such
men, acting solely in reference to their personal interests,
and who believe that the blackness of their crimes strength
ens their claims upon the gratitude of their party, have
thus put in peril the interests, the honor, and the safety of
the American people. We have not the poor satisfaction
of feeling that the dangers that threaten us are even in-

c> O

vested with the ordinary diginity of danger. The pride
of our citizens is humiliated, and their feelings of security
under our laws and Constitution are lessened, when they
see that the solemn verdict of eight million voters may be
reversed by less than eight infamous men — men who have
been branded by the leading orators, statesmen, and journals
of their own political party as vile and corrupt, in terms more
vigorous than I can repeat. If, under our Constitution, the
majority of the electoral votes of the States had been fairly
given to the Republican candidates, although the popular
majority is against them, all would have acquiesced in

86 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

their election. Such results are to be regretted, as they
do not give administrations the moral power they should
have for their own dignity and the good of the country.
To elect men to govern the Union against the will of the
people by unfair methods is revolution. Such plots in
volve anarchy, distress, and dishonor. Those who engage
in them, when they have taken the first steps, must go on
at all hazards. They have staked their political fortunes
— it may be their lives or liberties — upon success.
Fear goads them on to darker acts of treason. The first
false steps forced a reluctant South into rebellion. In the
same way they now impel desperate politicians who upheld
usurpation in Louisiana in the past, to stand by them now,
regardless of the honor and safety of the American Union.
Will a free people trust such men with the reins of power ?
Will they consent to be dragged into danger and dishonor
by men who are goaded on by fears which always haunt the
guilty?

" The glory of this centennial year thus fades away and
darkens into this national shame and reproach. Aroused
patriotism can crush resistance to law, but corruption kills
honor, virtue, and patriotism, saps the foundations of
society, and brings down the structure of states and nations
in ruin and dishonor.

" While we implore all classes of citizens to enter upon
the duty of deciding what shall be done to avert threatened
evils, we respectfully appeal to the great Republican party
to see if the heaviest responsibility for a just decision
does not rest upon them. And we make this appeal with
confidence that a great organization, which has its full share
of virtue and patriotism, will not, when it calmly reviews
the events of the day, fail to do justice to us, to them
selves, and to the country. We do not complain that under
the excitement of the canvass, or that before the heat of
the election should have passed away, you may for a
moment grasp eagerly at a victory without seeing that such
a victory may prove a curse to you as well as to others.
But we beg you will reflect, now that you have had exerted
in your behalf, not only the whole power of the national
administration with its hosts of officials, but that the exe
cution of all the laws relating to the election of the officers
of the general government was entirely in the hands of
your partisans. If we look at the provisions of these

HORATIO SEYMOUR'S WARNING 87

laws, we find that they contain features of a startling
character, as they were framed before the passions excited
by civil war had been allayed, and with reference to States
still looked upon as hostile to our Union. The judicial
officers of every grade who interpret these laws, almost
without exception, belong to your party. The marshals
who execute them are heated politicians, the very tenure
of whose offices depends upon the success of your ticket.
They can summon a vast array of deputies, and all of these
may make arrests, in some cases without process, and by
express enactment are placed above the reach of the laws and
of the judiciary of the States. At the late election Repub
lican officials, at the expense of the general government,
could examine every registry in the principal toAvns and
cities. They could and did arrest men for accidental
clerical errors of others in giving the name or the number
of a house. In only one instance under these laws was
there a recognition of the party opposed to the administra
tion. They were entitled to one of the two supervisors of
election at each polling-place, but these were to be selected
by persons all of whom belonged to the party in power.
We do not complain of the enforcement of these laws. On
the contrary, we point with satisfaction to the fact that
they furnished the proof made by their partisan opponents,
that the Democratic vote was an honest one. If fraud is
suspected, it must be the work of others, not of the Demo
cratic party. Even if these election laws had been in all
cases fairly enforced, they still made a vast array of parti
san forces and power, supported by the common treasury,
but exerted against the party that carried with it a majority
of the American people. We hear much of coercion, in
timidation, and undue influences, but nothing approaching
this in power can exist in any part of our country. There
is no organization which could for a moment contend with
it, backed up as it has been by the American army.

" We also appeal to the Republicans to see if it is not
true that during the late election the officials at Washington
overlooked the fact that they were the government of a
country, and acted throughout merely as the administration
of a party. Has one step been taken, or the army moved,
save at the instance of their political friends ? Has there
been a recognition of or a consultation with a single citizen
who was not allied to them in interest and feeling ?

88 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

"There is a darker phase of the last election. The ad
ministration sent out a cabinet officer to take charge of the
canvass on behalf of the Republican party. His very posi
tion at the head of its managing committee made a forced
loan upon nearly one hundred thousand official dependents.
It proclaimed to them in louder tones than words, ' You
must work. You must vote. You must pay to aid the
election of a candidate who declares himself in favor of
civil-service reform.' It told them that if, believing and
acting upon his assurance, they followed their own convic
tions and voted for his opponents, they would be punished
by the loss of their positions. They were forced, in thou
sands of cases, to submit to extortion with smiling faces,
but with heavy hearts. If a like intimidation had been
used in a Southern State, it would have been seized upon by
the administration as a reason for declaring martial law, for
arresting and imprisoning every suspected citizen.

"I have too much respect for the characters of Messrs.
Hayes and Wheeler to think that they wish to be put at the
head of this Union against the declared wishes of a ma
jority of the American people. I do not doubt that if this
is to be done by men in Louisiana, of whom they think as
ill as we do, that they would feel that the highest offices of
state would be for them not positions of honor and dignity,
but political pillories, in which they would stand to Nbe
pointed at, now and hereafter, as the representatives of a
foul fraud. One thing all men see: The Republican party
cannot decide its own case in its own favor against the ma
jority of the American people, upon the certificate of branded
men in Louisiana, without making the body of our citizens
and the ivorld at large feel that it is a corrupt and partisan
decision. Such judgment will not only destroy our honor
and credit for the day, but will be a precedent for wrong
doing in the future. We cannot have Mexican politics with
out Mexican finances and Mexican disorders. The business
men in all civilized countries have been taught by recent
bankruptcies and disorders in governments, made unstable
by agitations, to be watchful and distrustful when they see
the slightest deviation from political honor, without which
there can be no financial honor. On the other hand, let the
party now in power yield to the popular will, demand
honest returns in accordance with the Constitution, bow to
the majesty of the law, and then every citizen will feel a

THE EIGHT TO SEVEN COMMISSION 89

renewed confidence in our institutions, and the whole world
will hold us in higher respect and honor."

The commission at Washington perfected its organiza
tion on the first day of February, and on the same day
received the contested certificates of the State of Florida.

I shall be brief in dealing with the deliberations of the
Electoral Commission, for the simple reason that the Re-
publican members of that tribunal controlled it ; and upon
every question, I believe without a single exception, bear
ing upon the success of their candidate, voted with their
party. Wherever his success depended upon going behind
the returns, they went behind the returns ; when his suc
cess depended upon treating the returns as sacred and
conclusive, they were treated as sacred and conclusive ;
and when his success depended upon counting the vote of
a federal office-holder, though disqualified by the Consti
tution from serving as an elector, his vote was counted.
They adopted no rule of law or constitutional construction
which was not compelled to yield promptly to party
exigencies.

The Florida case involved two vital questions :

First, The legality of the proceedings of the Return
ing Board in returning as duly chosen, and the Governor
of Florida in certifying, the appointment of Republican
electors from that State ; and,

Second, Was Frederick C. Humphreys, one of the
electors so returned and certified, being at the time holder
of an office under the federal government, eligible under
the Constitution, which provides that no "person holding
an office of trust or profit under the United States shall be
appointed an elector " ?

The commission disposed of the first question by decid
ing by a strict party vote, eight to seven, "that it is not
competent under the Constitution and the law as they ex
isted at the passage of said act to go into evidence aliunde
the papers opened by the President of the Senate in the

90 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

presence of the two Houses, to prove that other persons
than those regularly certified to by the Governor of the
State of Florida, in and according to the determination and
declaration of their appointment by the Board of State
Canvassers of said State prior to the time required for the
performance of their duties, had been appointed electors,
or by counter-proof to show that they had not ; and that all
proceedings of the courts or acts of the Legislature or of the
executive of Florida, subsequent to the casting of the votes
of the electors on the prescribed day, are inadmissible for
any such purpose.1

Here the rule is formally laid down that the commission
has no legal nor constitutional competence to go behind the
electoral certificates delivered to and opened by the Presi
dent of the Senate.

This rule held good only so long as it served the purpose
of the majority.

"As to the objection made to the eligibility of Mr.
Humphreys, the commission is of the opinion that, without
reference to the question of the effect of the vote of an
ineligible elector, the evidence does not show that he held
the office of shipping commissioner on the day when the
electors were appointed" 2

Here is the distinct admission that they did take evidence
aliunde the certificates, to prove that Mr. Humphreys was
not ineligible.

The reader is requested to note that this decision in
Humphreys' case is made " without reference to the ques
tion of the effect of the vote of an ineligible elector."
They declined to pronounce against the validity of such a
vote, for they already had reasons for apprehending that
other cases would come before them in which the electors
would appear ineligible on the face of the certificates ; and
as the loss of a single electoral vote would have been fatal

1 " Electoral Count of 1877," p. 19G.
8 " Electoral Count," p. 196.

THE EIGHT TO SEVEN COMMISSION 91

to their candidate, they did not mean to commit themselves
against counting the vote of an ineligible elector if his vote
should prove to be necessary. In other words, they had
undertaken to count Mr. Tilden out and their candidate
in, and they did not propose to deprive themselves of the
liberty of so construing the Constitution as to accomplish
their purpose.

When the Louisiana case was reached, it appeared that
two of the electors certified by the Returning Board were
disqualified by the Constitution of the United States, and
four others by the Constitution of Louisiana, which pro
vides that " no person shall at any time hold more than one
office." A. B. Levissee when elected was a United States
commissioner, and O. H. Bre water was surveyor of the
United States Land Office. They resigned their federal
offices temporarily, were substituted for themselves by
their colleagues, and voted for by Hayes and Wheeler.
Both these men were promptly reappointed to their re
spective federal offices and resumed their duties.1 When
their case was reached by the commission, it was manifest
that the majority could not elect their candidate under the
rule laid down in the Florida case. Accordingly they held
" that it is not competent to prove that any of said persons
so appointed electors as aforesaid held an office of trust or
profit under the United States at the time when they were
appointed, or that they were ineligible under the laws of

1 During the count of the electoral votes in 1837 the question of the
eligibility of electors was considered by a Senate committee composed of
Henry Clay, Silas Wright, and Felix Grundy, who reported that " The
committee are of opinion that the second section of the second article of
the Constitution, which declares that 4 no Senator or Representative, or
person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be
appointed an elector,' ought to be carried in its whole spirit into rigid exe
cution. . . . This provision of the Constitution, it is believed, excludes
and disqualifies deputy postmasters from the appointment of electors ; and
the disqualification relates to the time of appointment, and that a resigna
tion of the office of deputy postmaster after his appointment as elector
would not entitle him to vote as elector, under the Constitution."

92 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

the State, or any other matter offered to be proved aliunde
the said certificate and papers." l

The commission also decided " that the returning officers
of elections who canvassed the votes at the election for
electors in Louisiana were a legally constituted body, by
virtue of a constitutional law, and that a vacancy in said
body did not vitiate its proceedings." The constitution of
Louisiana, article forty-eight, prescribes who the returning
officers of elections shall be ; to wit, the officers of elec
tions at the different polling-places throughout the State.
Senator Edmunds, on the 16th of March, 1875, declared in
the Senate in unequivocal language that the election law
creating the Returning Board was in conflict with the con
stitution of the State. And yet Mr. Commissioner Ed
munds, on Feb. 16, 1877, voted that the election law of
Louisiana creating the Returning Board was not in con
flict with the constitution of the State. Representative
George F. Hoar made a report to the House of Represent
atives in 1875, in which he used the following language
in regard to the Louisiana Returning Board's conduct in
the election of 1874 : " We are all clearly of the opinion
that the Returning Board had no right to do anything

O t/ O

except to canvass and compile the returns which were law
fully made to them by the local officers, except in cases
where they were accompanied by the certificates of the
supervisor or commissioner provided in the third section."
How much more grossly had the Returning Board violated
the law in 1876 than in 1874 ; and yet Mr. Commissioner
Hoar voted, Feb. 16, 1877, that the presidential electors
returned as elected by that Returning Board were legally
elected.

When the Oregon contested case came up before the
commission, the electoral tribunal did not permit itself to
be in the least embarrassed by its previous rulings. By
the laws of Oregon its returning officers were the Governor

1 " Electoral Count," p. 422.

THE EIGHT TO SEVEN COMMISSION 93

and the Secretary of State. One of the Republican elec
tors was a postmaster, and consequently disqualified by the
Constitution for serving as an elector. The Secretary of
State, therefore, gave the certificate to his opponent, E. A.
Cronin, a Democratic elector. Cronin voted for Tilden
and Hendricks. One copy of a certificate of his vote as a
Tilden elector in clue form was forwarded by mail to the
President of the Senate, a second was filed with the United
States District Judge, and the third was borne by Cronin
himself to Washington and delivered to the President of
the Senate. His vote, therefore, for Tilden and Hendricks
was legally and regularly before the two Houses of Con-
gress. Cronin had unnecessarily gone through the form
of organizing an electoral college w^hich neither the laws
nor the Constitution of the United States require, and for
that purpose had appointed two persons to act with him.
As one vote for Tilden in Oregon would be as fatal to
Hayes as one in Louisiana or Florida would have been,
this vote had to be rescued as a brand from the burning.
But how ? Here was a Tilden elector regularly certified by
the authorized returning officers. To reject him was to
elect in his place a man certified to them to have been an
officer of the federal government. Was it to be prepared
for this emergency that they forbore in the Florida case to
decide whether the holding of a federal office disqualified
Humphreys as an elector? It was a very aggravating case
for the Republican commissioners to deal with, but they
rose to the level of the occasion ; " the hope was not drunk
wherein they had dressed themselves ; " they did not
weakly let "I dare not" wait upon "I would," but boldly
decided " that the Secretary of State did canvass the returns
in the case before us, and thereby ascertained that J. C.
Cartwright, W. H. Odell, and J. W. Watts had a majority
of the voles given for electors, and had the highest number
of votes for that office, and by the express language of the
statute are deemed elected." They further held "that

94 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

the refusal or failure of the Governor of Oregon to sign
the certificate of the election of the persons so elected does
not have the effect of defeating their appointment as such
electors."1

The commissioners made this decision in favor of "Watts,
the Eepublican elector, solely upon the ground that he had
" the highest number of votes." But if the highest number
of votes was sufficient for an elector in Oregon, why was it
not sufficient in Florida where the electoral ticket had an
incontestable majority of ninety-one, and in Louisiana
where it had an incontestable majority of over 7,000.
They altogether suppress the supreme fact that the Sec
retary of State had certified to the Governor that another
person had been elected and that Watts had not been ; and
the further fact that the Secretary of State and Governor,
and no one else, by law constituted the returning officers
of Oregon. This suppression was necessary because in
Louisiana they had held that an elector is not appointed
according to the terms of the Constitution until he has re
ceived the certificate of such appointment from the return
ing officers. Therefore the decision which elected Watts
in Oregon should have admitted all the Tilden and Hen-
dricks electors in Louisiana and Florida, and the decisions
in Louisiana and Florida should have elected a Tilden
elector in Oregon, had the commission attached any im
portance to the virtue of consistency in their rulings, or
felt that their appointment on that commission invested
them with any other function or imposed upon them any
other duty than to make Hayes President without violating
any more nor any less of the ten commandments and the
laws of their country than was necessary. Like Cassan
dra's lover, they adapted the ethics of the Pagan instead
of the Christian code for their purpose :

" Muteraus clypeos, Danaumque insignia nobis
Aptemus : dolus an Virtus, quis in hoste requirat ? "

1 " Electoral Count of 1877," p. 640.

UNIVERSITY

or

THE COMMISSION FOR SALE 95

There were at least nine Republican electors who were
disqualified by virtue of their holding offices under the
federal government at the time of their election. Only
in the cases of Florida, Louisiana, and Oregon, however,
could the question of their eligibility be raised before the
commission, and in no two of these cases were the decisions
the same. And yet the members of this commission were
severally sworn as the Holy Evangelists, " to impartially
examine and consider all questions submitted," .
" and a true judgment give thereon, agreeably to the Con
stitution and the laws."

It seems not inappropriate to insert here an entry which
I made in my diary on the 9th of February, 1877 :

" On Thursday (the 8th) Tilden told me a man had called
to say that the commission was for sale. When I ex
pressed an incredulous sort of astonishment, he said that
one of the justices (Republican) was ready to give his vote
for the Tilden electors for $200,000. I asked which one.
He said he thought he would not tell me that at present.
I told him it was improbable, for the judges were all wTell
paid and had life terms of their office. He said the jus
tice in question is reported to be embarrassed from old
engagements and obligations. . . . Tilden also told me
that the Florida Returning Board was offered him, and for
the same money. ( That,' he said, r seems to be the stand
ard figure.' "

In a notable debate in the House of Representatives in
February, 1879, the Hon. A. S. Hewitt, replying to a scur
rilous allusion to Mr. Tilden which Mr. Garfield, who had
been a member of the Electoral Commission, had been
betrayed into making, confirmed the report that the presi
dency had been in the market. Time has only added
significance and gravity to his manly expostulation.

" I think, however, that I can account for this extraordi
nary proceeding. During the progress of this debate, a
gallant soldier, an able lawyer who has been attorney-gen
eral of my State, and who is a stanch Republican, General

96 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

Francis C. Barlow, of New York, had given evidence on
the lower floor of this capitol that the vote of the State
of Florida had been unjustly counted for Mr. Hayes ; the
conclusion being that if it had been counted for Mr. Tilden,
he to-day would have been occupying the White House
instead of its present de facto and not dejtire tenant. This
evidence must have touched the gentleman from Ohio to
the quick ; it must have revived the memories of eight to
seven ; it must have reminded him how, when the electoral
bill was pending in this House, for one whole evening
he devoted himself to proving that the law creating the
commission was unconstitutional, but that if it should be
passed, it would be the duty of the commission to take
evidence of fraud and to go behind the returns. And yet
when he was made a judge, acting under a law which he
had declared to be unconstitutional, and which, as he had
affirmed, required evidence to be taken, he consented to
violate the Constitution and to deny the admission of the
evidence which was necessary to arrive at the truth. When
the great wTrong thus done by the vote of the gentleman
from Ohio — for it was his casting vote in every case that
excluded evidence — was thus made manifest by the testi
mony of General Barlow, did that feeling of remorse which
is the attribute of great minds force him to attempt to
drown the reproaches of conscience by alleging that the
man who to-day is of right President of the United States
was the 'author and finisher' of frauds, and therefore
should be excluded from the high office to which he had
been elected by the people ?

" ' High minds of native pride and force
Must deeply feel thy pangs, remorse !
Fear for their scourge mean villains have ;
Thou art the torturer of the brave.'

" Gentlemen on the other side realize fully that a great
wrong cannot be committed in this country without being
finally redressed by the voice of the people, for they re
member what took place in General Jackson's case in 1828,
and they know that the voice of the people is the voice of
God, who has declared, ' Vengeance is mine, I will repay,
saith the Lord.' They see no refuge from the coming
judgment but in destroying the character of the man whom
they have robbed. For months an uninterrupted stream

THE LOUISIANA CERTIFICATE DOCTORED 07

of abuse, misrepresentation, and calumny has been poured
out upon his devoted head, but the testimony of the last
few days has justified the assertion which I have never
failed to make when Mr. Tilden's character and integrity
have been attacked, that not one particle of dishonest action
can be traced to him, but, on the contrary, it is now mani
fest to all men that he scorned to purchase the presidency
which found a ready market elseiuhere"

Mr. Hewitt has more recently stated at a public meeting
in New York that the electoral vote of one of the contested
States had been offered to him for a price.

There is one more chapter in the history of this extraor
dinary tribunal, without which it would be incomplete.

. " Long a est injuria, longae ambiges"

When Anderson was selected to bring the certificates
of the Louisiana Returning Board to Washington, he
handed the package to Ferry, the President of the Senate,
on the 24th of December. Instead of accepting it as he
should have done, for better or for worse, Ferry called
Anderson's attention to the fact that the endorsement on
the outside, setting forth the contents of each envelope, had
not been signed by the electors as the law required, and
recommended Anderson to examine the law and see whether
the certificate had been made in accordance with it.

It was the duty of the President of the Senate to receive
the package, to open it only in the presence of both Houses
of Congress, and leave them to decide what to do with it.
He had previously received the duplicate of the package
handed him by Anderson ; and he knew that the electors
were functus officii and no more competent to repair any
defect of omission or commission in their returns, weeks
after their legal existence had ceased, than to recall the
cloud which had shaded them the preceding day. Con
trary to the Constitution, which required that the elec
toral return should be opened by the President of the

VOL. II. — 7

98 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

Senate in the presence of both Houses of Congress, Ander
son's package was opened in Washington by parties whose
names have not officially transpired, when, to the conster
nation of the Hayes engineers, it was discovered that the
lack of the electors' signatures on the envelope was by no
means the only, nor the most serious, defect of the return ;
that instead of voting separate ballots for President and
Vice-President, as required by the Constitution, they had
voted for both on one ballot, and had failed to make their
return of the votes cast for each candidate on distinct
lists with separate certificates, also express requirements
of the Constitution.

There was but one course left for them to save their candi
date. The certificates made out and signed by the electors
in triplicate on the 6th of December must be suppressed,
and false ones, purporting to comply with the provisions of
the Constitution, must be substituted for them. Anderson
left Washington the night of the day he reached there,
arrived in New Orleans on the morning of December 28th,
and repaired at once to the quarters of Governor Kellogg.
The Governor sent for his private secretary, Clark, who at
once set about the preparation of new certificates. There
was no time to waste. The forged certificates must be on
their way to Washington at 5.20 P.M. of the next day, —
one set by the hand of a messenger, and another set by the
mail, — in order to reach Washington within the time fixed
by law for their reception, the 3d of January, 1877.

Kellogg and Clark, however, with the aid of Anderson,
proved equal to the occasion. They had certificates printed
to correspond — paper and impression — with the certifi
cates of December 6th. The new certificates were spread
out on a large table in the third floor of the State House,
where they were to be signed. Such of the electors as
could be found were taken up to this room, one at a time,
in the order in which they had signed the original certifi
cates. Two, Levisee and Joffroin, were away fully three

FORGING CERTIFICATES OF ELECTORS 99

days' journey from New Orleans. Their autograph signa
tures, therefore, could not be had. But when the electors
who had originally signed below the signatures of these
absentees, went up to affix their names to the new certifi
cate, they found the names of the absentee electors in their
place. Who forged these names is a question now of sec
ondary importance. The accomplices in the fraud did not
agree in their testimony as to the actual perpetrator of the
forgery, though none pretended that the names had not
been forged. It would have been idle to have done so, as
the impossibility of either of the two electors being in New
Orleans either on the 28th or 29th of December was a
matter of common notoriety.

These forged certificates were not sent to Washington
this time by Anderson, who had taken the former certificates,
but by a clerk in the State auditor's office, named Hill,
who on his arrival went first to Zachariah Chandler, the
secretary of the treasury, and chairman of the Republican
national committee, to whom he bore a letter also from
Governor Kellogg. Chandler read Kellogg's letter, and
then directed Hill to go to the capitol and deliver the forged
electoral certificates to Mr. Ferry, the President of the
Senate. Senator Sherman was invited by Mr. Ferry to
come in and witness the delivery and receipt of the
package. That ceremony over, Sherman took Hill into
the room of the finance committee, and wrote a letter to
Kellogg, which he delivered sealed to the messenger to be
delivered to Kellogg in person.

Thus far it seemed as though this crevasse, which at first
threatened all their elaborate fabric of iniquity, had been
closed up, or at least gotten under control.

It was still necessary, however, to obtain from the United
States district judge in New Orleans the electoral certifi
cate which, in accordance with the requirements of law,
had been deposited with him on the 6th of December and
replace it with one of the certificates forged on the 29th of

100 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

December. The district judge declined to grant the appli
cation for this substitution, on the ground that he was the
custodian of the package merely, and without authority to
deliver it to any one except upon a requisition from the
Speaker of the House. This respect for the law on the
part of the judge seemed puerile to the Kellogg "combine,"
but it was none the less awkward.

When the two Houses of Congress in their call of the
States reached Louisiana, Mr. Ferry, the presiding officer,
first handed to the tellers the genuine Kellogg certificate,
which had come to him by mail. Next the McEnery
certificate, which had come to him in duplicate, — one copy
by mail and the other by messenger ; and next the forged
Kellogg certificate, of which two copies — one by mail and
the other by the messenger Hill — had reached him ; and
finally a certificate signed by John Smith, declaring that
the vote of Louisiana had been cast for Peter Cooper.

This burlesque certificate was read as the others had been,
but the convention unanimously ordered it to be suppressed
and no mention made of it in the record.

It is now generally understood that this burlesque certif
icate was sent in to create such a diversion of the attention
of the convention as to enable the irregularity of the other
certificates to escape observation. If so it was a complete
success, for not one of the Democratic lawyers, managers,
Senators, or Representatives remarked that there was one
certificate made by the Republican electors of Louisiana
which did not comply with the requirements of the Consti
tution, and duplicates of another, from the same electors,
which were in proper form, though forged, — a circumstance
which could hardly have been possible but for the con
fusion and distraction which resulted from the reading of this
Peter Cooper certificate and the discussion which it pro
voked.

No trace of this paper remained after the recess of the
joint convention on the day it was read. It was probably

FORGED CERTIFICATES OF ELECTORS 101

carried off by its author, who no doubt had more serious
motives for sending it than to perpetrate a practical joke,
and equally good motives for having it disappear when its
purpose was accomplished. The papers in the contested
case went to the Electoral Commission immediately after the
joint convention adjourned. When the secretary began to
read them, and before there had been an opportunity for
any one to inspect them, one of the Democratic commis
sioners moved that the reading be dispensed with and the
papers printed. The motion was not opposed. Thereupon
the Hon. Nathan Clifford marked the certificates severally
for identification as follows :

The first certificate of the Kellogg electors which did
not meet the constitutional requirements was marked "No.
1, N. C. ;"the Democratic certificate which was all right
was marked "No. 2, N. C. ;" and the forged certificate was
marked "No. 3, N. C." With these marks on -the certifi
cates, they were sent to the printer ; but not to the public
printer, not to the congressional printer, not to the gov
ernment printer, in accordance with the invariable rule be
fore and after this, but to a private job printer. When
they came back printed the distinguishing marks put on
them by Judge Clifford were found to have been omitted ;
and what is even more extraordinary, this job printer, in
stead of sending back the originals with the printed copies
to the secretary of the commission, who was their respon
sible custodian, sent only the originals to the secretary,
and had two of his press boys distribute the printed copies
among the members of the commission and the counsel.

It is no longer susceptible of demonstration that this job
printer did not distribute copies of the genuine certificate
marked " No. 1, N. C. ; " but if they were distributed, it
seems unaccountable that neither of the Democratic com
missioners, neither of the Democratic lawyers, — some of
them the ablest in the country, — nor any one of the two
hundred Democratic members of Congress, each and every

102 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

one of whom was already sufficiently familiar with the
means by which Republican electors had been returned in
Louisiana to be misled by no presumptions in favor of any
thing they did, — it seems, I repeat, unaccountable that
none of these gentlemen should have observed that the
copies of certificate No. 1 did not correspond with the
copies of the forged certificate No. 3.

Had printed copies of the genuine certificate ''No. 1,
N. C.," been distributed, it was practically impossible that
its defective form should have escaped detection. Its com
parison with the other forged certificate "No. 3, N. C.,"
must have been made, and the difference between them have
exploded the whole plot. Nothing of this kind happened,
however, and we are driven to the conclusion that two
copies of the forged certificate were distributed by this job
printer, instead of one copy of the genuine and defective
certificate, and one copy of the formally correct but forged
certificate.

This curious sequence of strange and unforeseen con
traries which beset the final action of the Louisiana Re
turning Board from the day that action was reduced to
writing, was destined to acquire additional proportion and
consequence at the hands of Senator Morton. When the
Electoral Commission had decided, by a strictly party vote
of eight to seven, to count the electoral vote of Louisiana
for Hayes and Wheeler, the Senator from Indiana was
careful in his motion to that effect to specify " the electoral
votes in the certificate 'No. 1, N. C.,'" the genuine but
constitutionally defective one. This was done, so far as
Mr. Morton was concerned, with full knowledge that the
other set of electoral certificates from Louisiana, and the
only ones made out in the form required by the Constitu
tion, " were not to be depended on."

When later the record of the proceedings in Congress
and of the Electoral Commission came to be made up, it
was made to appear that there were before Congress and

"HANGMAN'S DAY" IN WASHINGTON 103

the commission the certificate of the Democratic electors
and the genuine but defective certificate of the Republican
electors, and no others; whereas there is every reason to
believe that Congress and the commission had before them

O

and considered only two copies of the forged certificates
and no other Republican certificates, and that they never
had an opportunity of considering the defects of the gen
uine certificate which was put unchallenged upon their
record.

The decision of the Electoral Commission in the case of
Oregon, the last disputed State, was communicated to the
joint convention of the Houses of Congress on Thursday,
the first day of March. The convention then proceeded
with the count, which it prosecuted to its completion on the
following Friday morning at ten minutes past four, at which
hour the President of the Senate, Thomas W. Ferry, of
Michigan, announced that Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, had
received 185 electoral votes, a majority of the whole num
ber, and had been duly elected President of the United
States ; and that William A. Wheeler, of New York, had
received a like majority, and had been duly elected Vice-
Preside nt of the United States.

There was a ghastly sort of fitness in selecting " hang
man's clay " on which to stain the annals of the great Re
public with this ignominious record.

" Exciclat ilia dies aevo, neo postera credant
Saecula ; nos certe taceamus, et obruta multa
Nocte tegi nostrae patiamur criminis gentis." l

Republican institutions have never received a more seri
ous blow, nor one from which they will be so long in re
covering. If we do these things in the green tree, what
may we be expected to do in the dry ? We may go on for a

1 u May that foul day be blotted in time's flight
And buried in oblivion's gloom of night.
We will at least forbear the deed to name,
Nor let posterity believe our shame."

104 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

while, perhaps indefinitely, " grinding on the gudgeons," but
how restore the faith in our institutions, once delivered to
the fathers?

" I comprehend perfectly," said an eminent French jour
nalist, with as much wit as justice, "how we may depan-
theonize Marat, but I cannot conceive how you will ever
be able to demaratize the Pantheon." l

I here dismiss the story of this the most ignominious
conspiracy of which modern history has preserved any rec
ord. I regret, for the reader's sake as well as my own,
to have felt compelled to dwell upon it at such length,
though I have given only an imperfect summary, far from a
complete list of the varieties of crime by which it was con
summated. If there be any who care to pursue the investi
gation further, they are referred to the congressional record
of the investigations which those crimes provoked. I have
deemed it my duty to penetrate so far only into these

1 On the day previous to the 3d of March the House of Representatives,
by a vote of 137 to 88, adopted a series of preambles introductory to the
following resolution :

Resolved by the House of Representatives of the United States, u That it
is the duty of the House to declare, and this House does hereby solemnly
declare, that Samuel J. Tilden, of the State of New York, received 196
electoral votes for the office of President of the United States, all of which
votes were cast and lists thereof signed, certified, and transmitted to the
seat of government, directed to the President of the Senate, in conformity
with the Constitution and laws of the United States, by electors legally
eligible and qualified as such electors, each of whom had been duly ap
pointed and elected in the manner directed by the Legislature of the State
in and for which he cast his vote as aforesaid ; and that said Samuel J.
Tilden having thus received the votes of a majority of the electors ap
pointed as aforesaid, he was thereby duly elected President of the United
States of 'America for the term of four years commencing on the 4th day
of March, A. D. 1877; and this House further declares that Thomas A.
Hendricks, having received the same number of electoral votes for the
office of Vice-President of the United States that were cast for Samuel J.
Tilden for President as aforesaid, and at the same time and in the same
manner, it is the opinion of this House that the said Thomas A. Hendricks,
of the State of Indiana, was duly elected Vice-President of the United
States for the term of four years commencing on the 4th day of March,
A.D. 1877."

THE END MADE TO JUSTIFY THE MEANS 105

" corners of nastiness " as to satisfy all who may take the
trouble to glance through these pages, that electors favora
ble to Tilden for President were chosen by the people of
the United States in 1876, and that by a cumulative series
of frauds and crimes, in which leading national statesmen,
cabinet ministers, and persons occupying seats in the
highest judicial tribunal in the land were, some in a
greater, some in a Iqsser degree accomplices, that choice
was defeated and a usurper put in his place. It is due to
the memory of Mr. Tilden that these facts should be so
stated that future historians shall have neither difficulty nor
hesitation in taking note of them.1

AVhy men occupying the most exalted and responsible
positions in the country should have ventured to compro
mise their reputations by this deliberate consummation of
a series of crimes which struck at the very foundations of
the Kepublic, is a question which still puzzles many of all
parties who have no charity for the crimes themselves. I
have already referred to the terrors and desperation with
which the prospect of Tilden's election inspired the great
army of office-holders at the close of Grant's administration.
That army, numerous and formidable as it was, was com
paratively limited. There was a much larger and justly
influential class who were apprehensive that the return of
the Democratic party to power threatened a reactionary

1 The Democratic minority of the Electoral Commission directed the
Hon. Josiah Gardner Abbott, one of their colleagues from Massachusetts, to
prepare an address to the American people, protesting against the decisions
of the majority, in which he was to set forth the reasons for their action
which, under the laws establishing the commission, they had no opportunity
of reporting to Congress. This address is a vigorous and compact state
ment of the wrongs Avhich they and the country had sustained at the hands
of the majority, but, for reasons which have not transpired, was never pro
mulgated. It is understood, however, that the result would not have been
changed by protesting, and the minority did not wish to further weaken the
respect for the government from which there was no refuge but in revolu
tion. For a copy of this protest, which is an essential part of the history
of the Electoral Commission, see Appendix A.

106 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

policy at Washington, to the undoing of some or all the
important results of the war. These apprehensions were
inflamed by the party press until they were confined to no
class, but more or less pervaded all the Northern States.
The electoral tribunal, consisting mainly of men appointed
to their positions by Republican Presidents or elected from
strong Republican States, felt the pressure of this feeling,
and from motives compounded in more or less varying pro
portions of dread of the Democrats, personal ambition, zeal
for their party, and respect for their constituents, reached
the conclusion that the exclusion of Tilden from the White
House was an end which justified whatever means were
necessary to accomplish it. They regarded it like the
emancipation of the slaves as a war measure. In that way
they quieted their consciences for a time at least, and found
a peace which passeth all understanding, by virtue of a
course of reasoning which they might be suspected of hav
ing borrowed from one of Mr. Dickens' amiable heroes :

' I am glad to see you have so high a sense of your
duties as a son, Sam/ said Mr. Pickwick. — f I always had,
sir,' replied Mr. Weller. — ' That's a very gratifying reflec
tion, Sam,' said Mr. Pickwick approvingly. — r Worry, sir,'
replied Mr. Weller. ? If ever I wanted anything o' my
father, I always asked for it in a werry 'spectful and
obligin' manner. If he didn't give it me, I took: it for fear
I should be led to do anythin' wrong through not havin' it.
I saved him a world o' trouble in that vay, sir.'

" ' That's not precisely what I meant, Sam,' said Mr.
Pickwick, shaking his head with a slight smile. ' All good
feelin', sir, the werry best intentions, as the gen'lm'n said
ven he run away from his wife 'cos she seemed unhappy
with him,' replied Mr. Weller."

The President and Yice-President declared by the Elec
toral Commission to have been the choice of the electors
were inaugurated on Sunday, the 4th of March. On the
following day the Hon. Charles Francis Adams addressed
to Mr. Tilden a letter which, though brief, produced a na
tional sensation. It ran as follows :

THE STAMP OF FRANCE 107

"BOSTON, March 5, 1877.
"Hox. S. J. TILDEN, New York:

" MY DEAR SIR : On this day, when you ought to have
been the President of these United States, I seize the oppor
tunity to bear my testimony to the calm and dignified man
ner in which you have passed through this great trial.

" It is many years since I ceased to be a party man.
Hence I have endeavored to judge of public affairs and men
rather by their merits than by the names they take. It is a
source of gratification to me to think that I made the right
choice in the late election. I could never have been recon
ciled to the elevation, by the smallest aid of mine, of a
person, however respectable in private life, who must for
ever carry upon his brow the stamp of fraud, first tri
umphant in American history. No subsequent action,
however meritorious, can wash away the letters of that
record.

" Very respectfully yours,

"CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS."

The formal and public charge from the son of one Presi
dent, the grandson of another President, himself in one
important national crisis a candidate for the vice-presi
dency, and in another and yet graver national crisis our
minister to England, that the man who only the day previ
ous had been formally clothed with the chief magistracy of
the nation " must forever carry upon his brow the stamp of
fraud," conveyed with it throughout the land something
of the shock of the fire-bell rung in the night. Had such
a letter from such a source appeared the day following the
inauguration of any previous President of the United
States, its author could hardly have expected immunity
from personal outrage. The truth of the charge, however,
was so indisputable, that, so far as I am aware, no one
of Mr. Hayes' friends or partisans ever attempted to deal
with its author, as would have been natural had it been
questionable.

Among Mr. Tilden's papers the following fragment of
what purports to have been intended as a reply to Mr.

108 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

Adams' letter has been found. Though only a fragment
and never communicated to Mr. Adams, it is interesting
as a revelation of the state of feeling which the letter
had awakened, and of Mr. Tilden's deliberate view of the
frauds by which the rights of the nation had been violated.

"NEW YORK, April , 1877.

" MY DEAR SIR : The approving judgment expressed in
your letter of March 5th is esteemed by me as the best of
testimonies. The circumstances you mention, which char
acterize it as a mere judgment, free from the bias of par
tisanship, passion, or interest, enhance its value. So do
also, I may be allowed to add, the large experience, long
familiarity with and habitual thoughtfulness concerning
public affairs, and the high standards of right and duty,
in the lights of which that conclusion has been deduced.

'' I should have had little excuse for any want of the
qualities of personal demeanor which you commend ; for
I have not been conscious, in the vicissitudes of what you
speak of as c the great trial,' of any feeling of desire or
regret, separate from the public cause I have represented.

" That cause I do regard as the greatest that can interest
the attention of this generation of Americans.

" In advocating the creation of the Union, our wise an
cestors often predicted that intestine wars — if unhappily
we should fall into them — would end in a subversion of
constitutional government and civil liberty. Those who
thought, as you and I did, that the federal government
should be maintained and carried through the armed con
flicts in which it had become inevitably involved, did not
shut our eyes to the peril that in the process our institu
tions, in their spirit and practical working, might be
greatly and injuriously affected. Changes in the ideal
standards that govern men administering the government
and limit what they dare or do, and limit also what the
people will tolerate ; changes in the unwritten laws es
tablished by tradition and habit, often more controlling
than constitutions and statutes ; changes in the enormous
recent growth of perverting, abusive, and corrupting influ
ences, — these were evil tendencies, full of danger to every
thing really valuable in our political system.

" To curb and correct these evil tendencies ; to restore

TILDEN'S REPLY TO ADAMS 109

to the barren forms of government a spirit and substance
and practice in accord with the best ideals and original
models which had been formed under the fortunate circum
stances of our early history ; to remove the fungus over
growths engendered by civil war, while preserving what
ever of good it had saved or gained, — this was the first
of objects. A general reform of administration, reducing
burdens upon the people and facilitating a revival of
industries, would attend as incidents. A complete and
cordial reconciliation between estranged populations and
classes, the removal of unfounded distrust and fear of each
other, the inspiration of mutual confidence, was a neces
sary condition.

" Such was the work most needful to our country in its
present condition, the most beneficent that could engage
the efforts of patriotism or humanity, — such was that work
as it appeared previous to the late election. The events
which have happened since and to which you allude have
added a new element to that work. Or, perhaps, they
have disclosed how far we have drifted away in practice
from the theory of our government, and shown that we
have a more difficult task to get back than had been
apparent. The immense power which the corrupt influence
of the government has to perpetuate itself was never so
developed as in the late canvass. I was accustomed to say
that it was necessary to start in August with a public
opinion which would naturally give you two-thirds of the
votes in order to receive a majority in November. The
civil service was never so audaciously and so unscrupulously
used for electioneering purposes as in the late canvass.
The whole body of 100,000 office-holders were made to feel
their accountability for partisan service, and a large part
of them brought into great activity. The money contri
butions systematically exacted, and the sums drawn from
contractors, jobbers, and persons having business relations
with the general government, aggregated a large fund,
while the machine was openly worked by a cabinet minister
acting as the head of a partisan committee.

" The army, likewise, was used as an electioneering in
strument. In Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina the
carpet-bag governments — their robberies, oppressions, and
crimes — had so repelled public opinion, had so antagonized
all taxpayers, all men of business, property, social weight,

110 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

and personal influence, that the element that remained was
incapable of any cohesion, or of any action on its own
motion. The real object of the military display was not
to keep up a police, which was unnecessary and was no part
of the function of the federal army, but was to act on the
imaginations of the ignorant, disintegrated social atoms
and enable the agents of the administration to organize
and lead them. It was as true then as it is confessed now
that without its aid added to the other support of the gov
ernment, no Republican party could exist in those States.

" But all these odds were overcome by the mere moral
force of public opinion demanding better government ; and
a popular majority of 260,000 votes and an electoral ma
jority of twenty-three votes resulted.

"This was notwithstanding that California was carried
by fraud now ascertained, and several of the new States
by corrupt means.

" Then came the after frauds : the change of the actual
result declared at the polls, by governmental influence
falsifying the returns of two States and falsifying the
count of the electoral votes." C cetera desunt.

I was at Mr. Tilden's house when the news of his exclu
sion from the presidency was announced to him, and also
on the 4th of March, when Mr. Hayes was inaugurated.
I venture to quote the following contemporaneous entry
from my diary, relating to his bearing on that occasion :

" It was impossible to remark any change in his manner
except, perhaps, that he was less absorbed than usual and
more interested in current affairs. I spent a week at this
time a guest in his house, and I could not see that he was
as much disappointed as most of the people about him.
He has not been so cheerful at any time in the last three
years as since the 4th inst. My explanation of this is sat
isfactory to me. His notion of being President meant a
life of care, responsibility, and effort such as none of his
predecessors ever encountered. He never contemplated
the presidency except as a fearful struggle. When his
election was out of the question he was naturally more
sensible of his escape from the giants which he had seen in

WHY DID NOT TILDEN ASSUME THE PRESIDENCY? Ill

his path than of the honors which might have been his, but
were to be worn by another. This sense of relief and the
opportunity it oifers of looking after his health, which is
daily improving in consequence, have rather made him
happier than otherwise. When the giants shall have en
tirely disappeared, and his freedom from care and anxiety
become familiar to him, it is probable that he will feel
more keenly the loss he has sustained. He regards Thur-
man and Bayard as chiefly responsible for his miscarriage."

There have been occasional criticisms of Mr. Tilden, not
only by those who wished an excuse for their own dis
loyalty to their party or for their personal pusillanimity,
but also by some of his faithful friends, that he did not
take the oath of office and go on to Washington and claim

~ O

the presidency at all hazard and regardless of the title con
ferred by congressional authority upon another. I believe
Mr. Charles O'Conor was one of these friends, and I also
remember how signally I failed in an effort in 1877 to
make Victor Hugo comprehend Mr. Tilden's submission
to the decision of the electoral tribunal. He shook his
head at the close of my exposition, as if to say, "That is
not the way we do things here in France," which was very
true. But Charles O'Conor, with all his prodigious abilities
as a jurist, was never successful in forming or leading a
political party that embraced more than one person ; and
Victor Hugo resigned his seat in the only deliberative
political assembly to which he was ever chosen by his
countrymen, from sheer reluctance to prolong the exhibition
to the world of his utter impotence and insignificance in a
council of statesmen. Mr. Tilden had frequent applica
tions from all parts of the country, mainly from friends, for
information about his plans ; what he had done, what he
proposed to do, and what he expected his friends to do
towards reclaiming the office which had been wrongfully
wrested from him. These letters were, I believe, uniformly
referred to me, and I answered such as seemed entitled to

112 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

an answer. A few days before the fourth of March, when
the new President was to be inaugurated, a communication
appeared in one of the morning papers, — " The World," I
believe, — affirming, upon the alleged authority of General
Woodford, the United States District Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, that Mr. Tilden was about
to take the oath of office as President in New York, and
then to proclaim himself President of the United States.
A representative of one of the daily journals called upon
me to ascertain the truth of that statement. As the criti
cisms of Mr. Tilden's behavior, after the members of his
own party had, with comparative unanimity and against
his judgment, consented to refer the counting of the
electoral vote to a special commission, still occasionally
reappear where they can be made to palliate or excuse
other people's shortcomings, I will here cite flie substance
of my reply to the inquiries of the reporter, in which
is embraced all, I think, that needs further to be said on
that subject. After disposing of a few topics no longer
pertinent, I said :

" There were two contingencies in which it would have
been lawful and obligatory for Mr. Tilden to have taken
the official oath as President.

" First, If Congress had performed its constitutional duty
of counting the electoral votes and had declared that Mr.
Tilden was chosen by the electoral colleges.

" The two Houses of Congress have all the powers for
verifying the electoral votes which the Constitution or the
laws confer or allow. Nobody else in the federal gov
ernment has any such powers. This exclusive jurisdiction
of the two Houses has been exercised without interruption
from the beginning of the government. It is known to all
those wrho came in contact with Mr. Tilden at this period
that he concurred in this view of the powers and duties of
the two Houses of Congress exclusively to count the elec
toral vote. He was perfectly free and unreserved in the
expression of his opinions on this subject.

" This contingency, however, never presented itself. Con
gress, before the time fixed by the law for counting the

WHY DID NOT TILDEN ASSUME THE PRESIDENCY? 113

electoral votes, passed the electoral bill, wherein it substan
tially abdicated its powers and enacted that the Electoral
Commission should, in the first instance, make a count, and
that its count should stand unless overruled by the concurrent
action of the two Houses. The electoral tribunal counted
Mr. Tilden out, and counted in a man who was not elected.
Congress did not overrule their count ; consequently the
false count stood as law under the act of Congress.

"/Secondly, The other contingency, in which it would
have been lawful and obligatory on Mr. Tilden to have
taken the oath of office, was that the House of Representa
tives on the failure of a choice of President by the electoral
colleges had itself proceeded to make the election, voting
by States in the manner prescribed by the Constitution.

"This contingency, like the first one, never occurred.

" The House of Representatives is required, by the express
language of the Constitution, to elect the President when
neither of the candidates can command a majority of the
electoral votes.

"The right of the two Houses to count the electoral votes
and to declare that any person has a majority is a matter
of implication, precedent, and practice. But the right of
the House of Representatives to supply the failure of a
choice is a positive constitutional command. It is not only
a right, but a duty. The provision is mandatory. The
House is a witness at the opening of the certificates ; it is
an actor in counting the votes by its own tellers and in its
own presence.

"Having such and the best means of knowing whether a
choice has been made by the electoral colleges, it is also
expressly vested with a power and duty to act exclusively
and conclusively in the event that no person proves to
have been chosen by a majority of the votes of those
colleges. The House acquires jurisdiction by that fact.
The assent of the Senate to the existence of that fact is no
where prescribed or required. No judgment, certification,
or act of any official body is interposed as a condition to
the assuming of jurisdiction by the House. When the
House has once acted in such a case, no review of its action
nor any appeal from its decision is provided for in the Con
stitution. It is difficult to see why the House in such a
case, like all tribunals of original jurisdiction and subject
to no appeal, did not insist upon its rights as the exclusive

VOL. II. - 8

114 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

judge of the fact and the law from which it acquired juris
diction. It was, I am told, a fear that the Senate might lead
a resistance to the rightful judgment of the House, and that
General Grant would sustain such a revolutionary policy
with the army and navy and the militia of the great States
in which the Republicans had possession of the governments,
that deterred the House of Representatives from the assertion
of its rights and induced it to abdicate in favor of the Elec
toral Commission.

"But without speculating upon causes or motives, one
thing is certain : the House of Representatives did not
elect Mr. Tilden in the manner prescribed by the Constitu
tion. On the other hand, it did concur with the Senate in
anticipating and preventing the contingency in which it
might have been compelled to act, thus providing an ex
pedient which disarmed it. It adopted the electoral law
and went through all the forms required for the execution
of the electoral scheme. True, it afterwards passed a de
claratory resolution condemning the action of that tribunal
and asserting that Mr. Tilden had been duly elected ; but
the Constitution had not provided that a man should or
could take office as President on a declaratory resolution
of the House of Representatives merely. If that resolution
could have had full eifect to abrogate the electoral law
which the House had assisted to enact, it would have
created no warrant of authority to Mr. Tilden to take the
oath of office. A vote by States that he should be the next
President of the United States was still necessary to give
Mr. Tilden any more title to the succession than General
Grant, and that vote the House of Representatives never
gave him.

"I might have disposed of your question more briefly by
simply saying that no contingency provided by the Consti
tution ever existed in which Mr. Tilden could lawfully or
properly take the oath of office as President. I have dwelt
upon the matter at some length because of its future
as well as past importance. The idea that Mr. Tilden
ever thought of taking the oath of office illegally is in my
judgment quite as preposterous as is the other idea that he
would have omitted to take it if any contingency had
arisen in which it was his right or duty to take it, or that
any menace would have had the slightest influence in pre
venting his performing his whole obligation to the people.

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 115

I will venture to say that if it had been his right and
duty to take the oath he would not have done so at the City
Hall in New York, surrounded by the forces which, accord
ing to Mr. Mines, General "Woodford pictured to his imagi
nation, but at the federal capitol, even though he had
known that he would be kidnapped or subjected to a drum
head court-martial five minutes afterwards. It is doubtless
true that revolutionary ideas were entertained by the
hierarchy of office-holders in possession of the government.
General Grant did utter menaces in published interviews
and did make a display of military force in Washington
to overawe Congress. I presume this was a part of the
system of intimidation for which he allowed himself to be
used by the office-holders, and which was intended to act
upon public opinion through the fear of disturbance, as
well as upon Congress. But it is safe to say that whatever
the effects they produced, they did not prevent Mr. Tilden
from taking the oath of office. The fear that he would
do so, wrhich induced the Republicans to swear their
candidate into office privately on the Saturday previous to
the commencement of his term of office, besides repeating
the ceremony at the inauguration, was born of that con
sciousness which causes the wicked to flee when no man
pursueth. I was aware that about that time Mr. Tilden's
house was besieged by emissaries of the press and the
telegraph to know if the rumors to that effect which pre
vailed in Washington were true. This was a species of
curiosity which I believe Mr. Tilden did not consider it any
part of his duty to relieve."

The following lines from the austere muse of J. Russell
Lowell in a satire entitled " Tenipora Mutantur " were
widely quoted in the columns of the Massachusetts press
during the campaign of 1876 :

** The ten commandments had a meaning then,
Felt in their bones by least considerate men,
Because behind them public conscience stood,
And without wincing made their mandates good.
But now that statesmanship is just a way
To dodge the primal curse, and make it pay;

116 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

Since office means a kind of patent drill

To force an entrance to the nation's till ;

And peculation something rather less

Risky than if you spelt it with an S ;

Now that to steal by law is grown an art,

Whom rogues our sires, their milder sons call ' smart.'

The public servant who has stolen or lied,
If called on may resign with honest pride.
As unjust favor put him in, why doubt
Disfavor as unjust has put him out ?
Even if indicted, what is that but fudge,
To him who counted-in the election judge? l
Whitewashed, he quits the politician's strife,
At ease in mind, with pockets filled for life."

Mr. Lowell was one of the Republican presidential elec
tors of Massachusetts, and from the lofty moral standard
by which he had been in the habit of judging public men,
the suspicion obtained currency among his friends in the
press that he would refuse to cast his vote for Hayes,2
which would have resulted in electing Tilden.

The frauds disclosed after the election, by which a
majority of the electors was secured for Hayes, did not,
however, prevent Mr. Lowell's acceptance of the mission

1 u President " would not rhyme with u fudge."

2 In a letter to Leslie Stephen, written December 4, and nearly a month
after the presidential election, Mr. Lowell thus excuses himself for casting
his electoral vote for Hayes.

" There was a rumor, it seems, that I was going to vote for Tilden. But
in my own judgment I have no choice, and am bound in honor to vote for
Hayes, as the people who chose me expected me to do. They did not
choose me because they had confidence in my judgment, but because they
thought they knew what that judgment would be. If I had told them that
I should vote for Tilden they would never have nominated me. It is a
plain question of trust. The provoking part of it is that I tried to escape
nomination all I could, and only did not decline because I thought it would
be making too much fuss over a trifle." — u Letters of James Russell
Lowell," Vol. II. p. 185.

A LANDMARK OF HI STORY 117

to Spain at the hand of President Hayes ; to prove, per
haps, that the allegation of his muse,

" That statesmanship is just a way
To dodge the primal curse, and make it pay,"

has its honorable exceptions.

In further justice to Mr. Lowell it deserves to he
recorded that he had a very respectable precedent for
lending his name and reputation to bolster the administra
tion of the only spurious President in our annals.

In an old life of Charles James Fox I have read the
following written entry :

" 1781, June 20. Sold by auction, the library of Charles
James Fox, which had been taken in execution. Amongst
the books was Mr. Gibbon's first volume of Roman history,
which appeared, by the title-page, to have been given by
the author to Mr. Fox, who had written in it the following
anecdote :

' The author (Gibbon), at Brooke's, said there was no
salvation for this country till six heads of the principal
persons in the administration were laid on the table.
Eleven days after, this gentleman accepted the place of
Lord of Trade under those very ministers, and has acted
with them ever since.' '

If fame for its own sake, if to live long in the memory
of man, be an end in itself worth toiling for, Tilden was to
be congratulated upon the decision of the Electoral Commis
sion, for it was the means of conferring upon him an historic
prominence which the most successful administration of the
presidential office could not have assured him. The poet
Martial tells us that the name of Mucius Scaevola, who
thrust his right arm in the fire to punish it for having taken
the life of another by mistake for that of the royal invader
of his country, would have found its way to the " wallet in
which Time carries, on his back, alms for oblivion," had
the avenging dagger reached the heart of King Porsenna,
for whom it was intended.

118 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

" Major cleceptce fama est et gloria dextrae
Si non errasset, fecerat ilia minus." 1

So the action of the Electoral Commission has conferred
upon Mr. Tilden the unique distinction of being the first —
let us hope the last — President-elect of the United States
feloniously excluded from the chief magistracy ; a dis
tinction which, like the banishment of Aristides, the
assassinations of Caesar, of Henry IY. of France, of Lin
coln, and of Carnot, makes it one of the conspicuous and
indestructible landmarks of history.

1 u Greater the glory and eke the fame
Of Scaevola's hand deceived,
Had it not missed its patriot aim,
The less had it achieved."

CHAPTER IV

Revisits Europe — Blarney Castle — St. Patrick's Cathedral — Tom Moore's
birthplace — The cabman's criticism — Lord Houghton's story — General
Grant's reception in London — Elected an honorary member of the Cob-
den Club — Visits the home of his ancestry — Arrives in Paris —
Attends the funeral of Thiers — Talk with Gambetta — Louis Blanc's
account of his visit to Louis Napoleon when a prisoner at Ham, and of
the loss and recovery of his voice in London — The story of General
Cavaignac's brother and mother — Tilden's exposure in recrossing the
channel — Returns to the United States — The "Indian Corn Speech."

DURING the spring of 77 Mr. Tilden began to feel
serious concern about his health. The continued strain to
which his energies had been subjected for five or six years,
and especially during the preceding six or eight months,
had told severely upon his constitution. Arthritic symp
toms had begun to manifest themselves to such an extent
as to deprive him almost entirely of the use of his left
hand, and already slight indications were exhibited of the
paralysis agitans, popularly known as numb palsy, which
was destined to afflict him increasingly for the remainder of
his days. His medical advisers counselled abstinence from
all serious cares, with rest and recreation. As it was
practically impossible to secure either of these advantages
in his own country, after much deliberation he decided to
try the efficacy of a sea- voyage and a few months' sojourn
in Europe.

He made it one of the conditions of his going that I
should accompany him.

We sailed in the steamer w Scythia " on Wednesday, the
18th of July, landed at Queenstown on the morning of the
27th, and slept that night at the Imperial Hotel in Cork,
but not until we had visited the castle and groves of

120 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

Blarney. The following day we left for Killarney. On
our way we passed near to what, for Ireland, was some
thing of a mountain, the top of which was capped with
a cloud or mist, apropos of which a young Scotchman,
riding in the same car with us, quoted the following lines
which he said were current in his country :

" On Tinto's top there is a mist,
And in that mist there is a kist,
And in that kist there is a drap.
And every one must taste of that."

" Tinto " was the name of a mountain ; " kist," of a chest ;
" drap," a tear-drop, a sorrow.

The moral that we extracted from these lines, in which
Tilden might have found some consolation, was that there
is no position in this world so exalted as to be exempt
from tribulation and sorrow, and the higher the elevation
the greater was apt to be the tribulation.

We reached Killarney about noon. After lunch we
started for Dunlo gap and the lakes. As we approached
the gap we were obliged to do homage to a saucy creature
who claimed to be a granddaughter of the famous Kate
Kearney, whose charms were sung so sweetly by Tom
Moore. Whatever had been the charms of the original
Kate, it was very clear that none of them had descended to
the granddaughter.

Our carriage was equipped with a guide, whom they called
a "bugler." Soon after entering the pass he got down and
played two or three airs to awaken the echoes in which
Moore found the presage in " The answering future " of his
own enduring fame.

" 'Twas one of those dreams that by music are brought,
Like a bright summer haze, o'er the poet's warm thought.

TILDEN IN IRELAND 121

" He listened — while high o'er the eagle's rude nest
The lingering sounds on their way loved to rest ;
And the echoes sung back from their full mountain quire,
As if loath to let song so enchanting expire.

" It seemed as if every sweet note that died here
Was again brought to light in some airier sphere,
Some heav'n in those hills, where the soul of the strain
That had ceased upon earth was awaking again !

" Oh, forgive, if, while listening to music whose breath
Seem'd to circle his name with a charm against death
He should feel a proud spirit within him proclaim,
4 Even so shalt thou live in the echoes of fame.

" * Even so, tho' thy mem'ry should now die away,
'Twill be caught up again in some happier day,
And the hearts and the voices of Erin prolong,
Through the answering future, thy name and thy song.1 "

It was while passing through the pass of Dunlo that our
attention was directed to a lake about one hundred and fifty
yards long, into which, we were assured by our bugler (as
I suppose thousands had been assured before), St. Patrick
had drowned all the snakes in Ireland, and did his work so
thoroughly, that " divil a snake had been seen in the coun
try since."

We were left to infer that the water-snake had not been
evolved in St. Patrick's time, for there is no tradition, I
believe, of a water-snake being drowned.

We passed two other points which Moore's verse has
made familiar and famous. One was " The meeting of the
waters," where for a hundred feet or so the water falls
from one lake into another, through a narrow channel
beautifully shaded, and deep enough to admit of the pas
sage of a large boat. The other was " The fairy isle of
Innisfallen."

We arrived in Dublin in the afternoon of Monday, the
30th of July.

On the following morning we sallied forth at an early

122 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

hour to see what we could of the metropolis of Ireland in
a single day, for social engagements, already contracted
by telegraph, required us to set our faces towards London
the day following. Our first visit, of course, was to St.
Patrick's Cathedral — which proved, in some sense, a dis
appointment. We were expecting to see a venerable,
mediaeval pile, eloquent of age and historic suggestion.
Instead of which we found, it is true, a fine structure ; but
to all appearance it might have been finished the day before
we visited it. The stones were freshly cut. To our ex
pressions of surprise at its modern appearance, the verger
informed us that the cathedral had been entirely renovated
recently by Guinness, the world-renowned brewer of Dub
lin, at an expense to him, personally, of over £150,000.
He had left scarcely a trace, inside or out, to remind one
of the church commenced A.D. 1190, in which Dr. Swift
used to preach to his " dearly beloved Roger." Even the
places in which the mortal remains of the dean and Stella
reposed, had succumbed to the fiend of renovation. The
verger pointed to the place where he said their remains
were laid, but it is possible that to the next visitor he
named some other place. There was no mark or sign to
limit his choice. A stone pavement covered the entire
floor of the cathedral, bearing no record whatever of any
thing that lay beneath it. When asked how this came
about, the verger said, with a shrug of the shoulders : " Oh,
great folks will have their own way." No marks were al
lowed anywhere on the floor to show where people have
been buried.

Upon the walls, but so high that the inscriptions were
scarcely legible, were cenotaphs to Swift and Stella placed
side by side. While the verger was enlarging to us upon
the extent of the renovations, Tilden remarked to me, "It is
the old story of the jack-knife : it has had two new blades
and three new handles, but it is the same old jack-knife."

From the cathedral we drove to No. 12 Angier street,

TOM MOORE'S BIRTHPLACE 123

near by, the birthplace of Tom Moore. It was a plain,
three-story brick building. As we descended from our
carriage a young man, apparently about thirty years of age,
came to the door and said, with a smile, "I suppose you
would like to look at the chamber in which Tom Moore
was born." We gave him to understand that such was our
errand. We saw at once that we were about to enter a
drinking saloon, or what is more commonly and fitly de
nominated a gin-mill. In the course of our visit we learned
from our cicerone that such was the business which had
been carried on there by Moore's father, and that such was
the business which had been carried on there ever since.

The young man conducted us through the front room,
which was disorderly and dirty, into and through a middle
room, to which there was an entrance from a side street or
alley. This room was divided by partitions into stalls like
a stable, so that a person could approach the bar, and get
what he or she could pay for, in comparative privacy.
There were two or three haggish-looking women availing
themselves of the privileges of these pens as we passed.
They were covered with rags, filthy, and in the last stages
of brutal degradation.

We were then conducted upstairs and into the front
room of the third story, where we were told the poet was
born, and thence to the attic, where he began his career as
a writer. It was a low, dark room about eleven by four
teen feet in size, with one window. There was no part of
the house, save the front rooms in the second and third
stories, that was not reeking with dirt and suspicious odors.

The proprietor was neatly enough dressed, — which
made the filth, confusion, and disorder around him seem to
us the more surprising. We did not ask him for an expla
nation, but I incline to suspect that it was not to be found
in mere carelessness or indifference to order and neatness.
Would not neatness and order have affected his patrons
unfavorably, and driven them to places more in harmony

124 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

with their own condition? Outwardly the house looked
well and was in good condition ; but inwardly it seemed
to be full of dead men's bones. We could with difficulty
realize that a poet of Moore's genius and refinement could
have been reared in such a hell as this. And yet, was
not the poet's career a more or less logical sequence of
his youthful environment? He was not responsible for
his father's-dram shop, but did he not become the con-
cocter and dispenser of more subtle and more destructive
poisons?

Our driver affected not to know where the poet was born,
and, when mildly rebuked for his ignorance, said that
"Irish people do not care where Moore was born. English
and Americans go to see the house ; we Irish never take
the trouble." When asked for the cause of this indiffer
ence he said, "Moore never wrote anything for the people.
He liked to live with and to please the great people in
England. He did not, like Burns, write for his own
country people."

Manifestly the poet's popularity in England was his real
offence in the eyes of our Jehu, who probably did not
know how to read at all ; and if he did, the fact that Moore
was as much the national bard of Ireland as Burns was the
national bard of Scotland, or Beranger of France, would
not in the least have extenuated his crime of trying to please
and l)e popular on the other side of the channel. Be this
as it may, it was very clear that here was one at least of the
voices of Erin not disposed to prolong

" Through the answering future Moore's name and his song."

On the front wall of the house, between the first and
second story, a piece of white marble was let into the wall,
upon which was this inscription :

"In this house, on the 28th of May,
1778, was born the poet
THOMAS MOORE."

LORD HOUGHTON' $ STORY 125

Some two weeks after our visit in Dublin, Mr. Tilden
and I were guests of the late Lord Houghton one evening
at the Cosmopolitan Club, in London. While most of the
guests were gone to the refreshment-room, Houghton sat
down by my side on a sofa and made a few inquiries about
what we had been doing. I spoke casually of my visit to
the birthplace of Tom Moore ; he interrupted me, " Let me
tell you something." He then went on to say that in the
early part of this century one of the most eminent sur
geons in Dublin was sent for to come in great haste to
attend a young woman who was supposed to be dying.
Putting everything aside, he jumped into a cab and hastened
to the place, of which the address had been given him.
Beside the young woman for whose injuries he had been
called stood a young man with a face expressing the great
est anxiety and distress. He was alternately denouncing
himself for what had occurred, loudly invoking the Divine
forgiveness, and begging the doctor to spare no effort or
expense to save the young woman's life. The doctor found,
upon examination, that though somewhat bruised she was
not dangerously injured. After doing for her what seemed
in his judgment to be required, he turned to the young man
to know what had occurred, and why he held himself
responsible for it. The young man proceeded at once to
confide to him the story. In brief, the young woman was
an actress, then playing minor parts at one of the Dublin
theatres ; he became enamored of her, and in a moment
of passionate recklessness presumed upon her amiability
to solicit favors which a lady cannot and she would not
grant. He pressed his suit so pertinaciously that at last
she threatened that if he did not desist she would throw
herself out of the window.

The very extravagance of her threat rather encouraged
than discouraged her admirer, for it never entered his
mind that she could be so rash as to execute it, and to

126 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

threaten it implied to him that she was not more than half
in earnest in her resistance.

He persisted with his importunities. True to her word,
she sprang through the window, and was soon taken up
senseless from the pavement.

Thus far to the doctor. Lord Houghton went on to say
that the young man was so shocked by the immediate
consequences of his misconduct, and so impressed by the
virtuous firmness of the young girl, that as soon as she
was sufficiently recovered to entertain such proposals, he
asked her hand in marriage and was accepted. They were
shortly after married, and the young woman became Mrs.
Tom Moore.

I asked Lord Houghton if he considered that story as
entirely authentic. He said, " Certainly, the facts are well
known to many people still living in Dublin."

We afterwards visited the whilom residence of Daniel
O'Connell, the birthplace of the Duke of Wellington, and
the old Parliament House — the part in which the Commons
sat being then occupied as a banking-house. The Lords
sat in a smaller room, the furniture of which we found sub
stantially unchanged. A remarkably fine bust of Curran
in this room specially engaged Mr. Tilden's attention.

We left Dublin early on the morning of the 1st of
August for England, and after a flying visit to Eton Hall
and the Chester Cathedral, pushed on to London, where
on the 3d we found ourselves comfortably installed at the
Buckingham Palace Hotel. Here for the succeeding eight
or ten days we were obliged to devote ourselves pretty
constantly to social engagements, most of which had been
contracted for us before our arrival. We, of course, cm-
braced the earliest convenient opportunity of waiting upon
Mr. Pierrepoint, then our representative at the English
court. In the course of our visit he found occasion to give
us at some length the history of the measures he took to
secure for General Grant a reception in England such as

EX-PRESIDENT GRANT IN LONDON 127

had never before been aceorded to any American. He
said that he remembered being in London in 1854 or 1855
when ex-President Van Buren was there and Mr. McLane
was minister. Both were invited to a dinner at Lord Clar
endon's, then prime-minister. When Van Buren arrived,
Clarendon occupied himself with other guests, overlooking
Van Buren, who, when dinner was announced, found him
self relegated to the foot of the table. McLane complained
of this in official quarters on the following day, and the
reply was, " You give your ex-Presidents no official rank :
how can we?" Van Buren declined all further invi
tations.

Remembering this incident, Pierrepont said that when he
received from Grant the letter announcing his intention to
visit England, he promptly sought an interview with Lord
Derby, then minister of foreign affairs, to ascertain how
the ex-President would be received by the English author
ities. He received substantially the same reply that was
given to the expostulation of McLane. Pierrepont quoted
the case of the ex-Emperor Napoleon III., who had then
recently come to England without rank or title, but had
been received as a member of a royal or imperial family.
The like courtesy was extended to his son. Lord Derby
said there might be something in that, and asked Pierrepont
to put his wishes in writing, and meantime promised to con
fer with some of his colleagues. Pierrepont did as requested,
and in a day or two waited upon Lord Derby with his pro
gramme. Derby said there would be no difficulty so far as
the cabinet was concerned, but intimated that he might
have difficulty in persuading the ambassadors to yield their
precedence to a man without any official character or rank.
Pierrepont invited three or four of the ambassadors to meet
with him to consider the matter. Count Munster, the Ger
man ambassador, insisted that he had no right or power,
whatever might be his disposition, to yield precedence to
General Grant. Pierrepont argued the question at length ;

128 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

said that he should yield the precedence himself, and he
hoped they would see no impropriety in yielding it to an
ex-President. The first state dinner to which Grant was
invited in London was given by the Duke of Wellington.
Count Minister suggested that Pierrepont should make out a
plan of the table and the arrangement of the guests, which
was done. The programme was accepted substantially as
made ; precisely how, he did not make entirely intelligible.
He said that he also insisted that Grant should not make
any calls except upon the royal family, and at all entertain
ments should rank next the Prince of Wales, his precedence
being conceded, however, as a courtesy, rather than as a
right.

Two or three days after this conversation with Pierrepont,
we joined the Right Hon. W. E. Forster at lunch, when
Grant's reception became the subject of conversation. He
said quite openly, and in the hearing of the whole table,
that he did not think Pierrepont had accomplished any desir
able result by his stand for Grant; that it was a rather
undignified strife on the part of an American ex-President
who stood in no need of any homage from the English
people which would not have been cordially accorded. He
also remarked that the Duke of Wellington was not the
kind of man at whose table either Grant or Pierrepont could
afford to strive for precedence. Forster at the same time
recited a letter which he heard had been received by Pierre
pont from the duke, and which ran substantially as follows :
" That it would gratify him if the greatest general of the
United States would give the son of the Duke of Welling
ton the privilege of entertaining him first at dinner in
London." Forster laughed over this as if he thought it
the invention of a wag ; others regarded it as genuine.

I heard the opinion expressed, by some whose opinions
were entitled to respect, that the " London Times " had a
great deal more to do with the attentions paid to General
Grant than Mr. Pierrepont had ; a desire to repair some of

TILDEN AND THE COBDEN CLUB 129

the unpleasant impressions made in America by the English
government during the war being its ruling motive. I
presume the honors were easy.

Though Mr. Tilden's health had apparently been im
proved by his voyage and practical release from political
cares, he was still condemned to a very regular and almost
ascetic life, and compelled to decline all hospitalities which
were showered upon him, except such as were tendered by
old friends and acquaintances. It was impossible for him to
accommodate his hours of eating and rest to those of London
society. His admirers in England who were thus deprived
of the privileges of meeting him socially testified their
respect for him by extending to him promptly upon his
arrival the privileges of the Athenaeum and Keforrn Clubs,
for which, however, he had little use. The desire to avoid
attentions, which it became occasionally difficult to decline,
induced Mr. Tilden to leave London for Scotland somewhat
precipitately.

We reached Edinburgh on the 12th of August. We
spent ten days visiting scenes and places of greatest in
terest to us in Scotland, returning to London on the 22d.

Among the letters awaiting him at his hotel was one
advising him of his election as an honorary member of the
Cobden Club, to which he sent the following reply :

"BUCKINGHAM PALACE HOTEL, Aug. 23, 1877.

" DEAR SIR : On my return from Scotland yesterday I had
the honor to receive your favor of the 8th inst. advising
me of my election as an honorary member of the Cobden
Club. I hasten to assure you that I highly appreciate this
courtesy, and that I am most happy to have my name asso
ciated in any way with that of the illustrious statesman,
the usefulness of whose life it is the worthy purpose of your
club to prolong.

" Yours very respectfully,

" S. J. TILDEN.
" HON. THOMAS BAYLEY POTTER,

"Honorary Secretary of the Cobden Club."

VOL. II.-9

130 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

On the 23d we left for Canterbury, where Mr. Tilden spent
a few days making the acquaintance of his kindred, whose
names figure conspicuously in most of the parish registers
of that county for many centuries. From the beginning the
family appeared to have made its career in the army or in
the church ; and of the descendants of whom he made the
acquaintance while here, pretty much all had followed the
traditions of the elders. They were all cultivated and re
fined people with moderate incomes, but enjoying in a high
degree the respect and confidence of the community to
which they belonged.

I am glad to be able to give here extracts from some of
the very few letters which Mr. Tilden wrote to his family
during his stay in Europe. Never much given to letter-
writing, the difficulty and discomfort which he already ex
perienced in handling a pen prevented his writing at all to
any but his family, and rarely to them.

To Mrs. Augusta Pelton, the wife of his nephew, he wrote
from Canterbury, Aug. 8, 1877 :

tf We came here Friday evening. On Saturday we passed
the morning in the cathedral, which is in many respects
the most interesting of any in England. In the afternoon
we went out six miles to call on a Mrs. Tylden, the widow
of the late Vicar of Chilham. She had two weeks ago
written inviting me to call, and lunch at her house. Her
husband was by right the head of the Milsted branch of
the family, about which you will read in Burke's " Landed
Gentry," under that name. By some arrangement of the
grandfather, with the consent of the eldest son, the
landed estate had gone to the second son by a later
marriage, Sir John Maxwell Tylden ; a result no doubt in
duced by the imprudence of the father. Her son of nine
teen has just entered the artillery as a lieutenant. Her
daughter of twenty-one is the flower of the Tyldens here ;
that is to say, a girl of nice manners, and by much the
fairest complexion we have seen. Yesterday in their com
pany we went to Milsted, and saw several members of the
familv which succeeded to that place, though not living

AT THE HOME OF- HIS ANCESTRY 131

there at present. Gen. William Burton Tilden, who died
in the Crimean war, and who was the third brother, left
three sons. The youngest, now in Oxford University,
Itichard by name, came to meet us with his step-mother,
the widow of the general. As the place was rented, we
met at the residence of the Vicar of Milsted. He is a Mr.
Hilton, a genial and cultivated person, with a wife and three
maiden daughters, who, with one of his four sons, were at
home. And we all sat down to a very nice lunch ; vis
ited the manor-house and the church, and then went to a
neighboring church at Worm's Hill, which was an earlier
seat of the same family.

" A special interest was added to this occasion by the cir
cumstance that Milsted is off from all railroads, and in a
purely rural district. We saw the form of English life in
the middle class, well to do and cultivated, and in the depths
of the country.

"I must break off, for it is growing late, and we start early
in the morning for Tenterden. I am conscious that I am
writing too hastily to do justice to the picture as it exists in
our minds, and as I would paint it to yours."

Mr. Tilden returned to London on the 30th of August,
and on the 31st left for Lowestoft, on the east coast of
England, for the purpose of consulting Dr. Garrod, who had
been recommended to him as specially qualified to deal
with troubles like those with which he was contending.

The following letter was addressed to his sister, Mrs.
Pelton, from Lowestoft :

" LOWESTOFT, Sept. 3, 1877.

"DEAR MARY: This is a sea-shore place, on the eastern
coast of England, washed by what is called the German
ocean. It is rather a select spot, ten miles south of the
larger town, Yarmouth. The house in which I am is within
two hundred feet of the water, and my room, a little one in
the fourth story, fronts upon the sea. Of course, the ful
ness of the house has elevated me to such a place. We left
Canterbury on the evening of Friday, slept in London, and
at twelve the next morning I started for this place, one hun
dred and seventeen miles from London.

w Mr. Bigelow went the same afternoon to see some friends

132 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

in Surrey, and is expected here this evening, — for it is
now six, of a rainy day, and I can scarcely see to write.

" The motive of my coming here is not for the public, but
may be mentioned to the family. Dr. Garrod, who is, no
doubt, the best man on gout, rheumatism, and the peculiar
malady (arthritis) which affects a joint of my first and
second fingers of the left hand, whom I had one consulta
tion with in London, has come here for two months of recre
ation, extending to October 1. It is difficult to see much of
him in London, but he consented to see me here, where he
is perfectly at leisure. It was a special opportunity for
him to learn all possible of my case, and for me to draw
from him the results of all the knowledge, reflection, and
experience he is capable of applying to it. So I thought
at this stage of my journey ings, to discard everything else
and come here, and stay as long as I can to contribute to
that object.

"He has a nice family, with whom I have become quite
well acquainted. He appears to take a special and personal
interest in me, and I have come to a clear conclusion that he
has more knowledge, experience, reflection, and judgment
on such cases — very far more — than any man I have known.
As I have the opinion that the malady, though specially
affecting only two small joints, is, in all probability, the
result of a general cause, and the improvement would affect
the general health, and the deterioration would be likely to
touch other joints and probably many, besides injuring
the general constitution, — if I can get real benefit from this
gentleman, it is the most important thing that concerns
me — altogether out of the dimensions of mere ordinary
travel.

" So I have thought it best to come here now, and stay a"s
long as seems useful, and then go on my way, returning to
London early in October, — say a week or ten days before
I sail, — to take a final observation of the condition of
things.

"This statement is very long, and seems tedious, but per
haps you may like to know all about the matter.

"My general health is improving all the time. I can take
more exercise, and am growing stronger. The tendency is
for the physical discomforts which attend such a malady,
and which, between us, — I don't say that except to very
few, — rob existence of almost every recreation and capacity

AT THE HOME OF HIS ANCESTRY 133

of a pleasurable nature, to diminish slowly, by irregular
steps, in which you sometimes doubt all real improvement,
but which yet, measured at intervals, show some decided
progress. The opinion has been growing upon me that I
shall find it expedient to keep from everything which inter
feres, and to continue the process for a year or more. I
must remember that it is now but two months since I began
the measures which looked to bettering my condition at
Sea Girt.

"Resuming my letter this morning (September 4), I have
crowded the rest of the topic on the last sheet and begin
anew.

" I gave — in a letter to Augusta, I think — some account,
hurried and imperfect, of our visit to Milsted, and of the
people we saw there. I intended to make a better sketch,
but it is not easy to return to a topic once passed, or to turn
from what follows it in the current of events.

" On Wednesday, I believe it was, we made an excursion
to Tenterden, — Mr. Bigelow, Mrs. Tylden, and her son,
the young lieutenant of the artillery. The young lady was
detained at home by some visitors.

" Passing from Canterbury to Ashford, some sixteen miles,
by rail, we took a landau at the latter place for Tenterden.
Our ride was through a beautiful country, perfectly rural,
and having in it all the elements of picturesque loveliness.

"The fields, as you know, are generally separated by
hedges ; the moisture of the climate preserves and renews
the verdure, and the cloudy film that nearly always veils the
sun, and softens the light, lends an aspect to nature like
that you will see in twilights under our skies or in objects
under shadow.

" We stopped at the White Lion, a quaint old tavern, that
would be at once pulled down in our country as being a
century or two behind the times, but which was interesting
as a relic of the past. A\re visited the church and its yard
before lunch. Mr. Bigelow reclined upon the grass and
read, while the rest of us ascended the narrow, spiral, stone
staircase of the steeple. I will hear record that the plat
form is reached at one hundred and twenty-two feet by
one hundred and forty steps. From it, the view on every
side was fine.

" The town is antique, mostly in one street, the houses of
brick and the roofs of tiles, with everywhere an appear-

134 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

ance of age. It is in a sequestered, agricultural region, not
much invaded by modern inventions.

" By the aid of the ordnance map, which is on a very large
scale (twenty-four inches to the mile), I was able to
select the place most worthy of being looked at ; and went
to see a large and ancient farm-house close to what is called
on the map Tilden's Gill. That is a depression on which
water runs, except when the period is dry. It is wooded in
a narrow strip. The farm is called the Belgar farm, and
was sold in 1873 or 4. It contains about one hundred and
forty acres. The portions of the land sold are described
in the advertisement and conveyances as Tilden's Gill, and
embrace the most opulent part of the area called by that
name. The farm-house also seems to have a geographical
relation to the Gill, to make it more probable than any other
place that it was the residence of the man from whom the Gill
took its designation. The house is a large and old structure,
of an apparent age corresponding with this theory. It is of
brick, or mainly so, with some accessories of plaster. My
recollection is that the will of Nathaniel Tilden in 1641,
an extract from which is found in Dean's " History of Scitu-
ate," speaks of the house as stone ; but it is said that brick
houses are sometimes in the local usage spoken of as stone,
and that there are, strictly speaking, no stone houses, that
material not being used.

"In the main room of the house, in which we were most
of the time, the beams stood out from the ceiling and were
numerous and uncased, and at the large windows were
propped by an iron standard. A part of the house was
neat and comfortable, while some was used for inferior pur
poses. There is a nice garden and flowers, and a pear-tree
trained against one of the walls, large, full of fruit, and
vines were abundant. The house is quite a distance from
the public road, being reached by a lane.

" The occupant is Thomas Coveney, who is recently upon
the place — a respectable, middle-aged farmer.

" He had quite a hunt for a map on which the names of the
tracts composing the farm were expected to be found, and
at length discovered the advertisement and the accompany
ing map for the recent sale of the property. That map he
insisted on leaving out and giving me, negating my in
quiry whether it might not sometime be found useful to
them.

AT THE FUNERAL OF TRIERS 135

" I will add that the farm of which I have been writing was
bought at the recent sale by F. T. Carey, Esq., Stanbrook
Villa, Gravesend, Kent.

" On the whole it is probable, but not certain, the house I
saw was the house of our family before 1634, or two hundred
and forty-three years ago.

" I must now close, for I have scribbled over the last of
the six sheets to which the varieties of the Canterbury im
prints are limited. Much affectionate regards for Willie,
Gussie, Laura, yourself, and all.

"I am truly yours,

"S. J. TILDEN."

While at Lowestoft, and on the 5th of September, the
news reached us of the death of M. Thiers. On the fol
lowing day we left for London, and on the 7th for Paris,
where we took rooms at the Westminster Hotel in the Rue
de la Paix. Early on the following morning, and while we
were breakfasting, my old and valued friend, the late Will
iam H. Huntington, called to say that Mr. Snialley, the Lon
don representative of the " Tribune," was in town and had
secured a capacious carriage for the purpose of witnessing
the funeral solemnities of the illustrious French statesman
of the Place St. George, and if it would be agreeable to
us, he would be glad to have us join him. Mr. Smalley
was good enough to call for us about eleven. Our party
was fortunate in being promptly recognized by one of the
gentlemen who during our Civil war had been, and still
continued to be, attached to the ministry of foreign affairs.
He gave us tickets which entitled us to all the privileges of
the Diplomatic Corps.

After the religious ceremonies at the church we resumed
our seats in our carriage ; and when the cortege began to
move were rather surprised to find ourselves placed among
the chief mourners, and our carriage next but one to the
hearse — where by virtue of our position we became objects
of the sympathy of the largest crowd of people I ever saw
in any one day. For several miles on our journey to Pere

136 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

la Chaise, every window, balcony, roof, pavement, indeed
every standing place commanding a view of the procession,
was beaming with faces; even the street was solid with
people almost up to the wheels of our carriage, leaving
scant room for the police to walk their patrol. We could
not get within fifty feet of the tomb, and of course heard
little of the discourses, which were delivered in conversa
tional tones by speakers invisible to any who were more
than twenty feet distant.

The question whether the mortal remains of the wily old
politician belonged to the Eepublicans or to the McMahon
administration was settled by the demonstration we had
witnessed. There could be no mistaking the political signif
icance of the vast but orderly, respectful, and sympathetic
crowd which lined the way of the dead statesman on his
last journey, and which had been gathered without the aid
or apparent sympathy of a single government drum or
place man. It was a spontaneous and eloquent admission
that in his death France had lost what Paris at least re
garded as her most important, if not her most illustrious,
citizen.

On the 12th of September Mr. Tilden and I called upon
Mr. Ganibetta, with whom I had a slight acquaintance,
contracted before he had become one of the controlling
forces in French politics. He had been condemned, only
the day before our visit, by one of the tribunals, to fine or
imprisonment for some act of omission or commission, the
nature of which I cannot recall. In reply to our inquiries
about it he gave us to understand that there was more pol
itics than law in the judgment ; that it gave him the least
possible concern ; that "judicial delays" would throw the
final decision of the questions at issue over the election,
then close at hand, when his parliamentary privileges would
protect him from arrest. He took his election for granted,
which, as events proved, he was entitled to do. To the
question whether the new assembly would meet soon

INTERVIEW WITH GAMBETTA 137

enough to clothe him with parliamentary privileges, he
replied that the legislative bodies would meet immediately
after the election under a new law, enacted since the organ
ization of the provisional government and for the sole pur
pose of embarrassing the Republicans, but which seemed
destined, he said, to be useful to the Republicans only.

In reply to an inquiry of Mr. Tilden, Mr. Gambetta
said that the Republican voters in France numbered a little
less than five millions, and their opponents a little less than
two millions ; that the Republicans consisted, in a large
proportion, of the ouvriers, or wage-earning class, and of
the very large and more intelligent class of people with
their ptcule or small capital who work on their own
account — that is, are not salaried, but to a great extent
independent of masters or of capitalists. This class he
regarded as made up of the most independent voters in
France. He described them as palentts, or men who had
licenses to pursue their respective trades or business on
their own account. The third quotum were acquisitions,
not very numerous, from other parties. The whole number
of registered voters was about eleven millions. The officers
of the civil service, exclusive of the army and navy, he
estimated at about three hundred thousand; the mayors
of cantons numbered about thirty thousand, who, until
recently, had been named by the government. They were
now, he said, elected by the cantons, but the necessity of
having men for these places possessed of some official
experience and cultivation forbade rapid changes ; conse
quently popular influence was not yet much felt by them,
though it was gradually penetrating their circle. He
thought there were many Democrats among the lower
clergy.

As our interview was in the editorial rooms of the
journal, of which he was editor and proprietor, our con
versation naturally drifted toward the press. Among other
things he said that the circulation of the newspaper press

138 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

in France had decupled in ten years. This extraordinary
statement, which there is no reason to suppose exaggerated,
is rather an illustration of the restriction and oppression
which weighed upon the press under the Empire, than of
the multiplication of readers, though their numbers, of
course, had been steadily on the increase.

Mr. Gambetta professed to have no apprehension of the
army ; he said it was now thoroughly national in its feelings
and sympathies ; it understood and kept posted on the various
political problems of the day, and he was persuaded that it
could not be used for mischief. In this respect he said the
army now is very much changed from what it was under the
Empire : it is animated by fresh and more elevated purposes.
He exhibited the utmost confidence in the future of the
Republic, and made light of the opposition, from whatever
source it came.

Such was the substance of an interview which lasted about
an hour. Gambetta had become quite fleshy, and I was
told could not be persuaded to take exercise. It was mani
fest even then, though riches and honor might be, length
of days was not in store for him.

On the 17th Louis Blanc was one of our guests at din
ner, in the course of which he gave an interesting account
of his acquaintance with Louis Napoleon, which, as I have
never seen it in print, I am sure I need make no apology
for setting down here. He said that in consequence of
Louis' attempt to escape from his prison at Boulogne, he
was tried and condemned to imprisonment at Ham. On
this occasion he was treated, not only by the press, but by
the senators or peers of France who tried him, with great
severity ; the vilest epithets and grossest indignities were
showered upon him. Louis Blanc, who was then pro
prietor of a journal in Paris, wrote an article expostulating
with his uncharitable colleagues, closing with the remark,
in substance, "That many of those who now abused the
prisoner would, had he been successful, have cheerfully

LOUIS BLANC AND LOUIS NAPOLEON 139

licked his boots." Napoleon, who was allowed every com
fort and even luxury at Ham, addressed a letter to Louis
Blanc, thanking him for the article, and asking him to come
and spend a few days with him at Ham. Louis Blanc
wrote in reply that he could not associate himself in any
way or degree with the august prisoner's schemes of ambi
tion, past or future, but he would come to him with pleas
ure as to a fellow-citizen in trouble. He went accordingly
and spent three days, shut up with him in the prison, where
they had no resource but conversation, which Louis Blanc
spoke of as something of a hardship, inasmuch as Napoleon
was not at all fluent of speech. " He seemed ever to be
seeking the word to express his idea, that did not come.
This made conversation with him tedious."

Napoleon spoke at great length of his political plans, and
while he professed to be a friend of universal suffrage, and
ready to do whatever the people of France desired their
ruler to do, when asked by Louis Blanc in what direction
and to what ends he would use his influence to bend or
direct the national will, whether he would strive to give it
a Democratic or a despotic tendency, Louis Blanc said he
could never get from him a reply. He repeatedly tried
him on this subject, but always without success.

Louis Blanc had been addressing some of his constituents
during the afternoon, and he amused us by enumerating
some of the points of his speech which had proved most
successful. The one he made upon President McMahon, he
said, was applauded with frenzy. He told the story of one of
the first Napoleon's generals addressing his soldiers on the
eve of an election. " Soldiers," he said, "you will vote as
you please ; you are perfectly free to act according to your
convictions ; but if any man does not vote this ticket, I will
run my sabre through him." The story had at least the merit
of antiquity, and with the audience he was addressing his
version probably did not seriously compromise his credit as
an historian.

140 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

During his exile in London, after the fall of the govern
ment in '48, and after he had acquired a tolerable command
of the English language, Louis Blanc said he was invited
to deliver a lecture for the first time in English. He was

O

to dine that day with Edward Dixon, then editor of the
" London Athenaeum." The prospect of meeting a distin
guished London audience, and attempting to talk to them in
what to him was a foreign tongue, made him very nervous ;
and the more he heard about the audience, the more nervous
he became. During the dinner he suddenly lost his voice,
and found himself incapable of uttering a word in a tone
above a whisper. He was in despair. What was to be done ?
Who was to do it ? There seemed to be but one course to
pursue, and that was to tell the truth and dismiss the audi
ence ; but it was well known that the audience was to
consist of everything most distinguished in London society,
where Louis Blanc had become already a great favorite.
The more they told him of the audience, the worse he felt
and the more feeble became his voice. Finally it was
decided that he and Dixon should show themselves on the
stage and let the audience see, if they could not hear, that
he was unable to speak audibly. They accordingly ascended
the stage together. Dixon proceeded to make Louis Blanc's
excuses, and, when he had done, Louis Blanc stepped for
ward to verify his friend's statements. Dixon's remarks
had been received with sympathetic applause by the entire
audience, but when Louis Blanc appeared, the applause
was deafening. When it had subsided suificiently, he
attempted to say a few words, mainly for the purpose of
showing his dephonetized condition, when to his utter
surprise his voice sounded clearer and louder than ever
before in a public assembly. He said he was never able to
speak more effectively, and went on for two whole hours
without the slightest inconvenience. Evidently the applause
with which he was received cured the nervousness which
alone was responsible for his temporary aphony.

GENERAL CAVAIGNAC AND HIS MOTHER 141

Of the mode in which the Church influenced the politics
of France in those days Louis Blanc told a curious story.
The brother of General Cavaignac was a libre-penseur , as
well as a very intimate friend of Louis Blanc, in whose
arms, in fact, he died. He came one day to consult Louis
Blanc about what he characterized, properly enough, as a
most delicate matter. He said that his mother for the past
two weeks had been pressing him every day to go to the
priest and confess himself. It was no use to tell her, he
said, that he did not believe in a priest pardoning sins ; that
he did not wish to act like a hypocrite by pretending to.
These protestations only redoubled her pertinacity and
anxiety. She asked if he was willing to embitter her
remaining days, not only by refusing her request and the
assurance of his salvation, but was intent upon persisting
in a course which assured hor of his damnation. This,
with sobs and weeping and tearing of hair and getting
upon the knees to him, had been his daily discipline for
more than a fortnight. He begged his friend to tell him
what he ought to do. Louis Blanc replied to him that the
question he had asked him was one which he must decide
for himself, and declined to accept the responsibility of
advising him. Two days later Louis Blanc heard that he
had been to the confessional ; and the clerical journals
immediately after his decease had a general glorification
over his "conversion," and his experiences in the presence
of death,, especially of the consolation which the Church
only could provide, and of which Cavaignac had till then
always made light. It is in this way, he said, that the
priests retain their power through the women, through the
mothers and the sisters of the men, that no man had
more often dwelt upon this fact than Cavaignac himself.

We left Paris, and returned to London on the 8th of
October. In crossing the channel we found the sea very
rough. When about half the way over, a sea struck our
steamer with such violence as to carry away one of the

142 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

davits and the boat suspended on it, and deluged the deck
and Mr. Tilden as well. He was obliged to sit in his wet
clothes, not only until we arrived at Dover, but in the cars
during the rest of our journey to London ; in all more than
four hours. It was a fearful exposure for a person in his
condition, and filled me writh alarm. He arrived at his
hotel in London chilled through and almost insensible.
After a warm bath and some supper he felt somewhat re
freshed ; about half-past ten, however, and immediately
after he retired to his bed, he had a chill, which was soon
followed by a fever. I sent for Dr. Garrod, who was then
in London, and who prescribed for him. He said the lower
tips of Mr. Tilden's lungs were slightly congested, and that
he must remain in bed for a day or two. For two days
we were in doubt whether he would be well enough to sail
for home in the " Scythia," in which we had taken passage
for the 12th. Happily, however, he continued to im
prove, and we were enabled to reach Liverpool in time to
sail as had been arranged, arriving in New York on the
25th.

On the evening of the 27th Mr. Tilden was serenaded
at his residence in Gramercy park by the Young Men's
Democratic Club, whose presence, of course, attracted a
crowd. In reply to a few words of welcome from the late
Augustus Schell, Mr. Tilden made a short speech which,
because of his allusions to our great national staple, came
to be known as the Indian Corn Speech. In the course
of it he said :

" I predict a great increase in the consumption of our
corn by Great Britain over the 60,000,000 bushels which
it reached last year. It is the most natural and sponta
neous of our cereal products. Our present crop ouo-ht to
be 1,500,000,000 bushels against 300,000,000 of wheat.
It is but little inferior to wheat in nutritive power. It
costs less than one-half on the seaboard, and much less
than one-half on the farm. It can be cooked, by those

THE INDIAN CORN SPEECH 143

who consent to learn how, into many delicious forms of
human food. Why should not the British workmen have
cheaper food ? Why should not our farmers have a great
market ? Why should not our carriers have the transpor
tation ?

"Let us remember that commercial exchanges must have
some element of mutuality. Whoever obstructs the means
of payment, obstructs also the facilities of sale. We must
relax our barbarous revenue system so as not unnecessarily
to retard the natural processes of trade. We must no
longer legislate against the wants of humanity and the
beneficence of God." [Applause.]

He also referred to what he termed " the greatest po
litical crime in our history " in impressive terms.

"In the canvass of 1876 the federal government em
barked in the contest with unscrupulous activity. A mem
ber of the cabinet was the head of a partisan committee.
Agents stood at the doors of the pay ofiices to exact con
tributions from official subordinates. The whole office-hold
ing class were made to exhaust their power. Even the
army, for the first time, to the disgust of the soldiers and
many of the officers, was moved about the country as an
electioneering instrument. All this was done under the
eye of the beneficiary of it, who was making the air vocal
with professions of civil service reform, to be begun after
he had himself exhausted all the immoral advantages of
civil service abuses.

" The step from an extreme degree of corrupt abuses in
the elections to a subversion of the elective system itself is
natural. No sooner was the election over than the whole
power of the office-holding class, led by a cabinet min
ister, was exerted to procure, and did procure, from the
State canvassers of two States, illegal and fraudulent certifi
cates which were made a pretext for a false count of the
electoral votes. To enable these officers to exercise the
immoral courage necessary to the parts assigned to them,
and to relieve them from the timidity which God has im
planted in the human bosom as a limit to a criminal au
dacity, detachments of the army were sent to afford them
shelter.

144 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

"The expedients by which the votes of the electors
chosen by the people of these two States were rejected,
and the votes of the electors having the illegal and fraudu
lent certificates were counted, and the menace of usurpation
by the President of the Senate of dictatorial power over all
the questions in controversy, and the menaced enforce
ment of his pretended authority by the army and navy, the
terrorism of the business classes, and the kindred measures
by which the false count was consummated, are known.

" The magnitude of a political crime must be measured by
its natural and necessary consequences. Our great Repub
lic has been the only example in the world of a regular and
orderly transfer of governmental succession by the elective
system. To destroy the habit of traditionary respect for
the will of the people, as declared through the electoral
forms, and to exhibit our institutions as a failure, is the
greatest possible wrong to our own country. The Ameri
can people will not condone it under any pretext or for any
purpose.1

" Young men, in the order of nature we who have
guarded the sacred traditions of our free government will
soon leave that work to you. Within the life of most who
hear me our Republic will embrace a hundred millions of
people. Whether its institutions shall be preserved in sub
stance and in spirit, as well as in barren forms, and will
continue to be a blessing to the toiling millions here and
a good example to mankind, now everywhere seeking a
larger share in the management of their own affairs, will
depend on you.

" I avail myself of the occasion to thank you, and to thank
all in our State and country who have accorded to me their
support, not personal to myself, but for the cause I have
represented, and which has embraced the largest and
holiest interests of humanity."

Writings and Speeches," Vol. II. p. 488.

CHAPTER V

The trials and temptations of a bachelor millionaire — Proposals of
marriage in verse and prose.

MR. TILDEN'S political opponents gave an involuntary
but unequivocal recognition of his singularly unassailable
public and private character by their exaggeration of his
wealth, and by their misrepresentations of the use he made
of it. Failing to find any political doctrine that could be
successfully challenged on moral grounds, or any personal
infirmities or delinquencies upon which they could make
a combined attack, they condescended to appeal to one of
the basest sentiments of our unregenerate nature by making
a party shibboleth of " Old Tilden's barrell." This gave
great notoriety to his wealth and a proportionate annoyance
to himself, for every mail brought him proffers of assistance
in distributing it, not only from all parts of his own coun
try, but, not infrequently, from foreign lands.

Of the number and variety of these communications only
men of large wealth are apt to have any idea, nor they,
unless their stores have had the factitious advertising which
the Eepublican press and touters gave to Mr. Tilden's ac
cumulations. Churches wanted their debts paid ; parents
wanted children adopted, or educated, or established in
business ; debtors wanted their farms cleared of mortgages ;
unsuccessful speculators wished help to try their luck again ;
inventors appealed to him to buy an interest in their
patents ; mothers invited him to marry their daughters ;
gentle maidens of marriageable age asked for his photograph
in exchange for their own, and the honor of a correspond
ence with him ; cranks wished him to let them cure him ;
promoters wanted, some 'to have him join them in great

VOL. II. -10

146 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

mining enterprises, others in draining swamps, and others
in cornering the timber of the country. The largest number
of applications came from men and women wishing to mar
ket their political influence for his.

The late George Bancroft is reported to have said that his
experience in teaching the Round Hill Academy at North
ampton removed whatever doubt he had ever entertained of
the total depravity of human nature. But neither priest nor
pedagogue are often, if ever, forced into such a disgusting
familiarity with the morbid anatomy of human society as
a notoriously wealthy and successful candidate for popular
favor. In this respect Mr. Tilden's experience was unique,
for he was the first candidate for the chief magistracy of the
United States whose wealth was sufficient to attract public
attention, and whose heart and hand were unappropri
ated. There were times when, had Mr. Tilden listened
to all the appeals that were made to him, with all his wealth,
he would have been himself a beggar at the end of any week.
To comprehend the nature and extent of this species of
annoyance, I will give a few specimens of such appeals as
were made by post, and were most readily disposed of;
though personal appeals were nearly as numerous, and,
unless made by absolute strangers, usually consumed
more time and therefore proved more serious interrup
tions. The names and addresses of the writers are of
course suppressed.

A Kentuckian, who, though blessed with a large family,
thought he was poor, wrote :

" I am a poor man with a large family and am not able
to bring them up as I would like. My three youngest are
girls aged respectively about thirteen (13), ten (10), and
eight (8) years old ; and I am anxious that they be decently
brought up and respectably educated. How would you
like to take charge of the education and rearing ? and if you
should be so disposed, I will give you full charge of them.
. I know this proposition sounds cruel and un-
parental, but, sir, it is my overpowering anxiety about

TRIALS OF A MILLIONAIRE 147

them and their future that induces me thus to write to
you." . . .

One of the F. F. V's wrote :

" HONORED SIR : In these times of unusual exigency
unusual expediency suggests itself, and the train runs not
with the extremity. Your own high and unquestionable
position is such as to bear the light of a mid-day sun, but
the same elevation weakens, sometimes, your best purposes
by exposing to your adversary the very movement made
with the best intent. To meet this emergency, do you not
want a secret emissary who can go from point to point at
a moment's notice to convey and secure information, — one
who can accomplish diplomatic interviews without being
suspected as your representative, and who can contrive
movements without their being heralded to the reading and
gossiping world? I am a woman old enough to be dis
creet, ugly enough not to be noticed, intelligent enough
to sift, compare, and reason, wit enough to evade, wise
enough to be silent, and ready enough to report, and if
you can or will employ me in this official capacity, you will
find IRQ faithful, trustworthy, and efficient. I can give you
the best reference in the city and in any part of the country,
especially in the South. I am a Southern-born woman,
familiar with all Southern influences, especially acquainted
with carpet-bag rule, having been a victim of their oppres
sion in taxation. I am personally acquainted with politi
cians of both parties ; and, having the entrance to all
circles, I have an advantage not usual. I have lived in a
political atmosphere all my life, but have now no family
ties to restrict my movements, or to give my confidence.
My large landed estate in the South is now almost worth
less ruins, owing to the working of the new regime ; con
sequently I would seek employment of a remunerative kind,
— not extravagantly so, but sufficient to my simple needs.
The employment I suggest would be congenial to my taste ;
and in peace or war I am sure that I can be useful. The
times are portentous of discord ; and if strife should prevail,
such service as I could render I know will be in demand.
If you will entertain the proposition, I will call to see you
at any time. The very proposition is a secret with my 'self \

148 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

and I hope you will also respect it in any event. I only
purpose to be in town a day or two."

A widow from Illinois, with four children, two boys and
two girls, wrote :

"I cannot keep my children in school and give them
food and clothing; therefore I write. I beg you to
adopt one of my fatherless children, a boy thirteen years
of age, the oldest boy, change his name to Samuel J.
Tilden, place him in one of the best schools, watch his
progress in his studies, and your generosity shall be re
membered for years and years. Please write me when you
can come or send to this city for the boy."

A hoosier from Indiana wrote :

" . . . If you will send me some money ill help you
along with a grate many more votes as there is a grate
maney around here that will sell there votes fore anything
then if you send; Express to Brownsville Union Co.
Indiana."

Another hoosier, who may be presumed to have passed
the early part of his life in the land o' cakes, wrote :

" i have written you three letters and i think you election
is very dootful in the Western States i have traveled threw
indiana illinois, niasura, iway cansas peter cooper and
hayes and you name is scarcely mentien and you haf to do
something soon or you air beet i can sell you twenty eighty
hondred votse for eight hundred dolars myself if you air
willen to hep you self i Will hep you i have pledge myself
to the people that i Woold give four hundred dolars por-
vided you would give me four hondred dolars i think that
is the best i cando for you now jus send me the for hun
dred dollars if you think best to do so and if you send it i
Will use it fur your lection, if you send it you had better
send it in a register letter they air all watching me at the
expres ofis and Peter Cooper friends has ofered me a thou
sand dolars to throw my influence to him and I wouldent
noy axsept it."

TRIALS OF A MILLIONAIRE 149

A man who was not at all proud wrote from Yankee-
town :

" As you are a man that goes in the best and highest of
society you must have a great many old clothes that is
good but out of fashion and you cant ware them in High
Society, i wish that you would send them to me as im
have a hard time to git along and winter is adrawing neare
. all the way that i can pay you is at the November
election that is the ticket i have voted the last 20 years."

An assiduous member of a Tilden and Hendricks club
wrote :

" I have been out every night and I am out of work and
cannot get any. my shoes are all worn out carrying the
Tilden banner and I cannot carry it any longer unless you
will send me a new pair."

A Kentuckian who adds Rev. to his name, but whose
early education had hardly been what it should have been
for one of his profession, wrote :

" As i antisipate a Short tower through the mountains of
Ky and should like to have from five to seven hundred
dollars more than i have i will therefore ask you to send
it to me forthwith By adams express and if i dont make a
show of the same i will double the same five times, if
convenient Send Silver fore it looks Quite pleasant all is
Rite here, you shall hear from me Soon after the elec
tion, your. O.B.T."

A Pennsylvania!! who was " anxious to free our govern
ment from a mass of corruption," and " is foreman of a
factory of 37 men of which 11 are Republicans," wrote :

"I am prepared to buy their votes at $5. each. If you
can remit me the required amount my influence is at your
command and the rights of our country."

A Jersey patriot of a frugal mind, but trusting he was
honest, and who believed in fighting fire with fire, knew

150 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

" of over one hundred persons in Trenton who will vote for
Hays because they will get 1 dollar a piece for doing so.
there never was a time when such a little money could get
so many votes. I am a poor man, yet I trust I am honest,
yet, I cannot see ware it is wrong to give a man a dollar
to vote for the one he wishes to get in Avhen if he dose not
do so, the other party will give him the money and get
his vote."

" A friend and a brother " of the negro wrote :

" Mr. TILDEN :

"SiR : I wish you to send mez as much as $5. to Buye
Whiskey to get all the colored votes I can for you."

A friend of the laboring man from New York writes that
he " is president of a secret society which cast more than
13,000 votes in 1874, and almost 17,000 in 1875." He re
bukes Mr. Tilden for not having responded to his applica
tion for $2,395.20 to save himself and party from defeat.

"Our votes," he says, " will be cast in view of resulting
benefits to labor and to securing legislation in that direction
rather than from the ordinary motives of party men. If in
the end you and the party which has put up your nomina
tion are defeated by us, you must remember that the work
was entirely your own, and that we gave you a fair oppor
tunity to have avoided that result."

A patriot from Minnesota wrote :

" I feel very confident that with $10,000 I can get seven
thousand votes."

Another patriot from Ohio informs Mr. Tilden that two
of the " electoral commissioners " are relations of his, one a
school-mate, and all three Republicans ; that he asked them
privately what they would take to throw their influence for
Mr. Tilden ; that they answered him confidentially if he
would give them $5,000 each they would give their vote all
the time for his man. Mr. proposes to give $5,000

TRIALS OF A MILLIONAIRE 151

out of his own pocket if Mr. Tilden would give the other
$10,000 in greenbacks, not in checks, as they might create
suspicion.

An editor writes that he publishes a religious paper in
Virginia, which is burdened with a debt of $500. " It
did all a religious paper could do to promote Mr. Tilden's
election."

A gentleman who had spent $100 on the election asks
Mr. Tilden "to palliate his temporary difficulties with a
remittance, which he promises to return in six months."

A Xew Yorker asks for the loan of some money with
which to purchase bees from Brazil.

A modest mamma from Missouri named her third daugh
ter, who was born in 1870, Maggie Tilden . "You

would admire her," she writes ; "she is an interesting child
and in possession of more than ordinary talent ; and in order
to cultivate her mind, I make a special request of you, and
that is to make her a present. You will confer a very great
favor upon our little daughter. You are in possession of
millions of dollars and would never miss, say, $10,000 ; in
fact any sum you may wish to give. You are a bachelor
and should render assistance."

Another Missourian, a confederate, but with more zeal
than discretion, says he met with a man in Douglass county
who claimed that Hayes was elected President. The con
federate claimed that Tilden was elected. The Douglass
county man said, " The Republicans have had the reins of
govt. too long in their hands to give it up to a Rebel
like you. So," adds the confederate, "Igiv him a billet
of wood ; he soon recovered and come at me for a tussel
and the result was I was left a blind man forever.

"You can see from my picture which I send you in this
letter, the condition my eyes are in. If you are willing to
help me I would be very glad."

His statements were fortified by four certificates as to
their truth, all apparently in the same handwriting.

152 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

A man from Alabama, of literary aspirations, desires to
dramatize " The Great Crime " by which Mr. Tilden was
defrauded of the presidency, and asks him " if not too
inconvenient" to furnish a history of the whole aifair, as
well as the names of the conspirators, for that purpose.

A political enthusiast wrote, "Fifty thousand dollars will
carry the State of New York for Mr. Tilden," and asks to
have the money sent " with a wrapper round it as you would
a newspaper, roll up the ends."

A New Yorker, who admired a cheerful giver, wrote :

" If you would give of the millions of which God has made
you the Steward, but two to the cause, New York and Vic
tory would be ours, and Right would prevail. . . . I have a
right I repeat to ask this when one poor man draws $56. his
all from the Savings Bank and sends it ; when one family
are going without tea and coffee for a year, to help that
much to the right ; when my sister and I give what was to
have given us a long dreamed of pleasure-trip ; when my
brothers go shabby and are pinched and poor but give far
more than they can spare to help Hancock. I know you
will give most freely but I want you to give as we poor
people have, so as it will hurt. Can you see those pitiful
sums published and still keep back that hand that is grow
ing old and can hold what the Lord has given it bit a few
years longer."

A Missourian damsel, whose moral development seemed
to have hardly kept pace with her physical, having received
a circular in regard to the Royal Havanna lottery, invites
Mr. Tilden to procure one of the circulars, and see if there
would be any chance for one of the prizes, and if so to se
lect for her " a ticket that will be sure to draw a prize," and
send it to her, and she will send him the money. She
kindly adds : " If I draw a good prize they can use my
name. It might be, if they knew my condition that they
would sell you a ticket that they knew would draw a good
prize."

Another Missourian informs Mr. Tilden that his " letter

TRIALS OF A MILLIONAIRE 153

declining a renomination has been read by thousands in the
West with sorrow," and that he has several valuable inven
tions in which he will give Mr. Tilden a half interest if he
will aid him in putting them on the market.

A New Yorker " knows how the third party in the field
could be withdrawn, and will meet Mr. T.'s agent to make
a satisfactory arrangement."

Another New Yorker asks Mr. Tilden to return to him
the axe which he presented to him in the canvass of '76, that
he might present it to General Hancock, as Mr. Tilden had
retired to private life. The writer of this letter was notified
that he could have the axe by calling for it.

" Joanne of Arc " sends Mr. Tilden a magic ring. " Put it
on your finger immediately, and do not remove it. It con
veys to you a healing power from God. When taking it
from my finger I saw a bright star over it."

A West Virginia lady desires to open an acquaintance by
correspondence ; has three relatives in Congress, and " will
patiently look forward with expectations of receiving a
little < billet-doux.'"

M. M., of Ohio, informs Mr. Tilden that with $1,500 or
$2,000 he can secure the votes of 3,000 miners in his
district.

A Republican from Ohio, having lost $1,000 through the
failure of a friend, will give Mr. Tilden his influence this
fall if he will accommodate him with a loan of $1,000.

Another Ohioan will work for Mr. Tilden if he will give
him a land warrant for sixty acres of land.

A lumber man from Michigan wrote :

w SIR, If you want to doo anney thing in the pine woods
of Michigan you will have to send some money. This
stump specking dos for some folks but not for the Boys in
the whoods. They whant a more excitement then that. I
have no money and we air all poor but we have a vote just
the same. I can do more on the day of election with some
monney then all the stumping your great men can do in a
year."

154 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

Another man from Michigan informed Mr. Tilden that
if he will be so kind as to give him a deed of a quarter
section of land in the North-west he will vote for him.
" I have always voted the Demicratic ticket ; now, if you
can't give me that lot, I cant vote for you ; but if you will
give me the lot I will send you a certificate from the Co.
Clerk that I cast my vote for you."

A Tennesseean informs Mr. Tilden that he is working
hard for his election and would be pleased to receive a suit
of clothes as a birthday present.

A friend of Senator Voorhees, of Indiana, informs Mr.
Tilden that the certainty of his being President of the
United States is greatly due to the untiring determination
of his friends, and therefore he says, " As I am very fond of
a good horse and one that can trot some, I ask you to say
you will present me with one of that kind after you are
declared elected. To-morrow we make a grand rally to
hear Hon. Daniel Voorhees."

U. U., of Missouri, says : " I have bet everything I have
in this world on your being elected. Beat thini if you can
is my best wishes."

A New Yorker wrote :

" MR. TILDEN, DEAR SIR, I thought I would Rite to you
to let you know How we are situated. On this Canipain
we have used up all our money in working for you and we
Have mad promises that we can't foolfil on this campaign
and hope that you Will Oblige us by sending us some
money We want to use some on Musick Band and also we
have promised six cags of Bear after the closing of the
Pols, allso other items that we want Paid this time also
We Have Never asked anything of you before and am
sorry to ask you know But the way we are fixed we cant
Help it. We are doing all that Lays in Our Power for
you in Our town we Have Brought over Three Hundred
persons On our side and we can get more by working hard
for them and Our money Has give out and we Hope that
you will oblige us By sending us some. This is from

TRIALS OF A MILLIONAIRE 155

and and also we are well known Through this county

Rocklane

" PLease answer this as soon as you receive this

"With Out fail"

A fire-insurance agent wrote :

" TILDEX, Will you please give me your opinion as to
your prospects for election ? this state being pretty well
supplied with Rads and some of them anxious to bet on
Hayes. I want to make some paupers among them if there
is a strong probability of your election. I need some of
their money in my biz. and can get it, provided I will put
up.

" Assuring you that I am an ardent supporter of yours,
hope you will wTrite me opinion."

A patriot from Ohio informs Mr. Tilden that

''what is needed now is not the speaking to influence
public sentiment, but the almighty dollar to draw the mass
of voters with us.

" In this free country it is not expected to carry the day,
per-vim to drag men to the election house, but to persuade
their minds, and this can be done with them by simply buy
ing them. Send us money to the amount at least 2, 000 and
we will see wiiat we can do."

A New York Republican, " but not a bigoted one," in
forms Mr. Tilden that he and nine of his comrades had
always voted the Republican ticket, but this year, he
writes, " If you think worth while to buy our votes we
will go Democratic, — $50 apiece is the price. If you will
send to my address before election $500 you will receive in
return ten sound votes."

A laborer in Ohio, who thought he was worthy of his
hire, wrote that :

"the lawyers and doctors get paid mighty big for mak
ing speeches and i think i can make as many votes as

156 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

some of them and get nothing for it i think i ort to have
something for my work i have worked every election yet
and i never got anything i think i am working for a good
cause and i would like to here from you i think i ort to
have something."

Such are types of a class of letters which reached Mr.
Tilden by every mail, from his own sex mostly. The imag
inations of the other sex seem to have been equally, if not
more, inflamed by the report of Mr. Tilden's great wealth,
with neither wife nor chick to help him spend or enjoy it.

Mr. Tilden had never married. His early associations
and delicate health seem to have conspired together to ded
icate him to the public service, which became the most
constant and engrossing subject of his study and of his
meditations from early youth to the very close of his life.
He occasionally laid himself open to the suspicion of enter
taining matrimonial intentions, by the frequency of his
visits to houses where the attractions were such as to war
rant such suspicions ; but on the occasions of his visits he
usually became so much absorbed in talking politics with
the senior members of the family that the neglected juniors
were apt to retire to rest long before their turn had come.
He cared less for the society of women than any gentleman
possessed of anything like corresponding powers of enter
tainment I have ever known, and he never seemed to miss
such companionship until during the later years of his life,
when his infirmities had rendered him comparatively help
less. His sister, Mrs. Pelton, presided over his household
until her granddaughter married, when he provided them
with an elegant home in New York and an income suited
to their needs and station. In his sister's place he invited
two of his maiden nieces, daughters of his brother Henry,
to live with him, which they continued to do until his
death.

When Mr. Tilden was nominated for the presidency he was
sixty-two years of age, — a period of life when bachelors

TRIALS OF A MILLIONAIRE. 157

have generally abandoned all thoughts of matrimony. His
wealth and rank and prospects, however, caused him to be
regarded by the other sex more than ever in the lisrht of

o *J ~

a matrimonial speculation. There were multitudes of the
daughters of Eve who would cheerfully and, alas ! in
many instances might advantageously have accepted the
hand and shared the society of a man of his wealth and
position, to whatever extent he might be weighed down by
age or infirmity. At least Tilden could hardly have failed
to reach this conclusion. Nor will the reader be surprised
if he did, when he reads a few of the letters which I propose
to cite as specimens of the weapons by which his domestic
solitude was assailed.

A widow from Michigan wrote :

" DEAR SIR : I trust you will excuse me for writing to
you, a stranger, but having been so greatly interested in
your success a few years ago, I have so often thought of
you since, that to me you seem more like a dear friend and
acquaintance, though I have never had the pleasure of meet
ing you. I wish you (not your secretary) would write to
me just once in answer to this request. I should like to
make my home in New York or near there, in the capacity
of book-keeper or private secretary, where, if agreeable to
my employer, I could remain several years, having little
ones to educate. I cannot marry again, but must work if I
can. My little boy is a bright little fellow of nine years.
I wish him to enjoy the advantages of good schools and
training. That he may have these with kind treatment, I
have decided to remain single the rest of my life, — though
now but twenty-nine, — that I may earn the means to accom
plish this purpose. Now that I have confided to you my
greatest wish, will you do this for me? If not in need of
such services yourself, will you tell me of some one that is,
or give me directions that will enable me to obtain per
manent work of this kind in a place suitable for a lady?
I cannot give references for competency, having never
worked, but think I can prove it by trying. Can give best
of reference in regards to respectability and honesty, and I
will try to improve in writing."

158 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

A Virginian writes :

"I see from the ' Cincinnati Gazette ' you are a bachelor
and one most anxious to marry, and will give to your wife
the amount of $500 in money per week. I write, not to
make a proposition of marriage, but one which will no
doubt meet with much greater favor in your kind and
generous heart ; which, if acceded to, will procure for you
the love, not only of all the single ladies, but the love of all
the married ladies as well, of congregation."

The way all this was to be accomplished was to give five
or six hundred dollars of his pin-money to pay off the debts
of the church. The writer adds :

" If you should visit 1 promise you shall see many

of its fair beauties. You might gain the affection of some
beauty for a wife, and you know the Virginia girls make
noted wives."

A damsel from California writes, on a sheet illustrated
with the portrait of a dove carrying a billet-doux in its
mouth :

" MY DEAR SIR : Allthough in the past the pleasure and
honor of your personal acquaintance have been denied to
Mama and I, yet we have heard of your noble qualities of
mind and heart, and I can assure you, Mr. Tilden, the only
wish of my heart is to see you. I would highly appreciate
your visit and warmly Thank you for it. The magnificent
and beautiful residence which you have erected and which
would be an ornament to any city in the w^orld, so success
fully brought to completion by means the most commenda
ble, stand forth as enduring energy and indefatigable zeal,
will perpetuate your memory and transmit your name to
generations to come.

"Mr. Tilden, in regard to my reputation Avould respect
fully refer you to Bishop , Ex-Governor , Senator

— . Mr. Tilden, I would dearly love to be able to see
you, though distance separated us ; yet in my prayers I
always think of you. Accept these slight expressions of
regard, and be assured of our good wishes and Prayers that

TRIALS OF A MILLIONAIRE 159

your years may be many Peaceful, and happy. I cannot
allow this Christmas to pass without wishing you a very
merry Christmas and many Happy New Years. Hoping you
will receive this with the same intention that I have in
tended, I shall feel grateful for any kindly consideration
you may be pleased to accord to this, my letter. Accept
this with my highest regards and everlasting friendship."

A young lady from Michigan pours forth her soul in
verse. Her communication was accompanied with the
photograph of a face of rare beauty.

" IIox. SIR:

" Inclosed please find a photograph
Of one who comes to make you laugh.
For this is the year accorded by law
For ' maids ' to propose in, and ' baches ' to jaw.
Now, when the great question rose over the nation
And shook the stout hearts of the Lords of Creation,
And claimed, in spite of money's sway,
The Democrats would gain the day,

" * Xo, no,' I cried, * it can't be true ;
For during my life, one score and two,
There's not been a Democrat president ;
But we've bent to Republicans quite content.'
And when it was said, ' In spite of pelf
Cleveland will get it,' I said to myself,
* If Cleveland gets this fall's election,
I'll propose to S. Tilclen and meet with rejection.'

" Wouldn't it be a joke to the nation ?
Wouldn't it cause a great sensation ?
When I think of it, sir, I almost wish
I had not set to fry so big a fish.
It is one thing to talk and another to do,
And I almost lack courage to carry it through.
I live so much within myself,
That none would believe it, except yourself.

" I only can offer my heart and my hand.
A heart, none more tender in the land.
A hand that ne'er lifted itself to do wrong ;
But has done all it could to help mankind along.
Only these, yet a man like yourself
Would look more to virtue than worldly pelf.
I refer you to any one here you may find,
Who will say aught about me, 'cept which is kind.

" I trust you, sir, as a Democrat,
That you'll not take advantage of that ;

160 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

But my letter and picture never will show,
So no one but you and I shall know.
Now ponder well and study my face.
Can you not every bit of my character trace ?
Would it not be bliss, by your fireside
To claim its original as your bride ?

" Sweet pleasure to me to be the wife
Of a noble man in the eve of his life,
All passions subdued, at peace with the world,
Obliged not to be into politics hurled.
Has not this life seemed vacant to you
With no loving wife, and no fond children too ?
O what would you give, had you only a son
To bear your own name when your work here is done ?
This world indeed is bleak and drear,
If we have none to us most dear,
Whom we know love us for our very self,
And not what we have of paltry pelf."

" I hold the respect of all who know me ; am a worthy
graduate, and pride myself on my good character; so,
though you would not get a wealthy bride, you would get
one who cares not for the world, who is not tainted witli
the vices of society, and whose whole soul will be wrapt up
in the interests of her husband and home. I anxiously
wait the issues of my strong fancy. Should you favor it,
let me know, and I will send my right name, and any cre
dentials you desire. If you decline, I trust you will send
back my letter and picture, with your best wishes for a
simple girl."

A Pennsylvania maiden wrote :

"Mr DEAR SIR: I am making a silk quilt (where is the
lady who is not?) and write to solicit a piece of your neck
tie. It matters not if it is plain and black (I fancy that's
the kind you wear), so it comes from you.

" Each lady thinks her quilt, like each mother her baby, is
the prettiest in existence. I am no exception to that rule.
My aim is to make my quilt as rich in its associations as I
am trying to make it beautiful in design. This being my
object, you will, I trust, excuse my request.

" I want a piece of your tie, not because you are a million
aire, not because you excelled as a corporation lawyer, not
because you stand deservedly high as a political leader, nor
yet because you were elected President of these United

TRIALS OF A MILLIONAIRE 161

States, but because, though a bachelor, you have always,
both in private (so I am informed) and in public utterances,
paid woman the tribute she ought to have. A man who
does that has a clean mind.

" I am, my dear sir, etc."

A lady of a certain age proffers marriage, in a letter with
a postage stamp enclosed, presumably to encourage a
prompt and favorable reply.

" DEAR SIR : I take the liberty of addressing you on a
delicate subject, though one of the utmost importance, as it
engrosses the mind and attention of the majority of the
human race, at some time, either in youth, middle age, or
later in life. This subject is matrimony. I think we may
find, by observation, that marriages contracted later in life
are often a source of greater happiness and usefulness
than those entered into earlier in life. We know that it is
the rule for the ladies to wait for the gentlemen to make
the first advances, though it is merely a matter of custom,
sanctioned by the usages of society. If it were the custom
for ladies to make the first advances, it would seem just as
proper, and any candid mind will concede that it is per
fectly right and proper for a true, virtuous woman to offer
a proposition of marriage to an honorable man. There are
many who have done this. For instance, we have the ex
ample of Queen Victoria, who proposed to Prince Albert,
and lived a very happy matrimonial life. I suppose it will
l>e necessary for me to give you a description of myself. I
have dark-brown hair and eyes, dark complexion, good
features, am considered good-looking. Medium height,
good form — neither thin nor too fleshy. Thirty- three years
of age, though look much younger; am taken to be not
over twenty-five. Am even-tempered, warm-hearted, and
affectionate. I am a lady of refinement and education.
Am of a good family, and well connected. Have a sister,

married to a lawyer in , whose father is one of the

wealthiest men in . Also have a brother in ,

who is also a wealthy man. I can give the best of refer
ences and letters of introduction from the most respected,
influential citizens. I have had good offers of marriage,
but prefer to choose my own husband. The young men

VOL. II.— 11

162 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

have too many ' wild oats ' to sow, and are apt to be un
settled. There are exceptions to this, as well as to every
other rule. Still I would much rather marry an elderly
gentleman, one who is true and honorable. I am naturally
intelligent and well-informed, especially in regard to politics
and business matters. As a wife, I feel that I could be a
great help to a husband, by making his interest my own, in
regard to any thing or object he most desired to accomplish.
As you are a gentleman in public life, I have heard and read
so much about you that I have almost felt acquainted ; at
least have felt that you were perfectly upright and honor
able ; a gentleman in every sense of the word, and one who
would be a loyal husband. I have felt that I could love
such a character with a true devotion, so have thought that
I would take advantage of leap year by following Queen
Victoria's example and say, 'Will you marry me?' Now,
a housekeeper, or relations, however desirable, cannot fill
the place of a wife. There is no relationship so close or so
endearing as that of wife. And in sickness and old age,
who will care for a husband so tenderly as a loving, de
voted wife? The Bible says, 'It is not good for man to be
alone,' and ' Whoso findeth a wife, findeth a good thing,
and obtaineth favor of the Lord.' Now, in regard to my
self, you do not need to take my word alone, but you
have the privilege of becoming acquainted with me, and of
judging for yourself. As I wish to visit my sister in
Chicago you can meet me there if you choose, or any other
place you might name. And now I am perfectly sincere
and in earnest about this matter. I submit this matter to
you for your perusal and thoughtful attention. Hoping
my suit will meet with favor, and a reply,

" I remain yours very respectfully."

A young lady from Indiana who weighs about one hun
dred and twenty-five pounds, and is a detester of dudes,
wrote :

" DEAR SIR : You are, I've no doubt, surprised to get a
letter from a village in the Hoosier State.

" As it is Leap Year, and the ladies have the privilege of
proposing marriage, I have come to you. Unmaidenly :
did I hear you say : Well, I suppose it is, but when I tell

TRIALS OF A MILLIONAIRE 163

you it is unsophisticated love that prompts me to write this
I hope for your forgiveness.

" Since quite a child I have been a great admirer of yours.
During the time that you were candidate for President I
was very anxious that you would be elected.

" I have never seen you, but having heard such glowing
accounts of your generosity and good worth, how can I
help but admire you ? Please be generous to me and give
me a favorable reply.

"I do not want a husband I cannot admire and be
proud of; if there is any one thing I do detest it is a Dude.
It has always been my ambition to marry some great states
man or a man of unusual intellect and culture. Now, my
dear Mr. Tilden, will you be my husband? I assure you,
you will never regret it, for I will do everything in my
power to make you perfectly happy.

" You, perhaps, would like to know who and what I am.

My name is . I weigh about about one hundred and

twenty-five pounds, have dark-blue eyes, fair complexion,
and dark-brown hair. I suppose I am a brunette. I do
not know just exactly how tall I am, but a little below the
medium height, and was twenty years old last March.
Don't say too young for me : you know it is better to be
petted by a young girl, than to be fussed at by an old
woman, or worse, a society belle.

" If I had a photograph of myself I wrould send it to you,

but if you get a good profile of , the actress, that will

do as well, for every one says I am her perfect facsimile.

So if you are an admirer of that will be a great

deal in my favor.

" My family are highly respectable. My Papa and Mama
are both living and I am an only child.

" If you are favorably impressed with this letter please let
me know as soon as possible as it is a matter of great im
portance to me."

A young lady from Missouri asks for his hand and
"pfotos."

" MY DEAR FRIEND : I send you a few lines as it affords
me pleasure in doing so and at the same time hoping to
find you enjoying the fruits of health and Happiness I am a
young lady of twenty-two summers and hearing so much

164 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

talk about you and to see if it is all true I thought I would
write and see if it was as the parties stated will you please
state if you ever engaged yourself to some St. Louis Belles
and they refused you may think it very impudent but they tell
every body that and if it is not so I would let them know
about it. Dear Sir, as I am an admirer of beautiful pictures
will you please do me the honor of presenting me with one
of your pfotos. as I am going to the store, I will bring this
note to the Post Office. Hoping this will reach you and
hoping to get an answer I remain,

"P.S. Direct my answer to the Post Office or to

Street, if directed to the P.O. the full name and if at

the first name.

Yours Respect?

"Please answer as soon as possible.

" Were you a flower,

And I a bee ;
A honied kiss

I'd steal from thee.
Fresh as the morn

Bright as the sun
To me you are

The sweetest one."

A stanch little Democrat from Georgia wrote :

" DEAR SIR : If you pardon the liberty I take in so
addressing you, you will pardon one among many of human
weaknesses.

" This letter is from one of the stanchest little democrats
in dresses in the land. A southern girl, who during the
eventful time of your candidacy for the President, almost
r laid down her arms ' and dug for you. I was but a child,
and last year it so happened that I wrote for a juvenile
paper here, in which I mentioned my ' wild and eventful
Tilden days,' which were much enjoyed.

" In my own heart today you are the same dear Mr.
Tilden, who grew dearer to me, as I grew older, and read
of your noble qualties.

" I was disappointed that you did not come south. Mr.
Hendricks came, and I enjoyed a most delightful chat with
him. He still has a sacred spot in all our hearts. I told

TRIALS OF A MILLIONAIRE 165

him my love for Tilden and Hendricks only ripened as they
grew older.

" Ah well, I doubt your patience with girls, especially
left handed ones, whose writing one cannot readily decipher.

" My request is simple. (Please give your Sec'ty a
few moments' recess) I only ask you to send me something
that you consider trivial, for a souvenir of one I love and
admire most dearly. I care not what it may be, so it be
longs to you. Enclose within a word or two so that I may
know my missive is not in vain.

" It's awful for a democrat to feel badly, and as I am such
a persistent one, I shall feel like poor Elaine (?) if I do
not hear from you. Trusting all reporters are at Salt Lake
and cannot spy this

"Yours in all respect and sincerity."

A miss from Kentucky, with a red head, and weighing
136 pounds, wrote :

" MR. TILDEX : While sitting all alone this evening, hav
ing just written to all my friends, I concluded to write to
you. I heard that you said the first lady that addressed
you, you would send her a present. I hope the present
will be a photograph, as I would like to see it very much.
Pap came from Virginia, and he has often told me what a
clever man you was. I heard that you was a batchelor
and intended to live a different life ; I thought you nient
a married life ; I would like to correspond with you very
much. I have fair complexion, black eyes, and a red
head. I am 18 years old, and I weigh 136 pounds.

"If my letter is accepted write me a answer in return.
I am tired of writing so I will close by saying give my love
to your sister.

" Remember me when far away and thinking of the past,
remember I am a friend of yours that will last forever.
Write soon."

A young lady from Illinois sent Mr. Tilden a proffer of
marriage, with a lock of her hair and an eloquent analysis
of her charms. She handed her letter to her younger sister
to enclose in an envelope and post. The younger sister,
thinking Mr. Tilden might perhaps prefer a younger bride

166 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

— she was about nineteen, and the elder twenty-three —
or prefer a lighter shade of hair, enclosed a lock of her own
hair, with a note imparting her willingness to share his bed
and board in case her sister could not.

Another wrote that her parents had been unfortunate,
had lost their money, and requested Mr. Tilden to send
them $25,000 to reestablish themselves.

Another, from North Carolina, sent a bedspread, the
work of her own hands, and warranted to last thirty
years.

Another, from Michigan, proposes he should adopt the
child of a virtuous widow in the neighborhood, and marry
her when she is fifteen years old. Meantime employing
the mother at monthly wages, who is to die after four
years of a broken heart.

Another had heard of a generous wedding present Mr.
Tilden had made one of her cousins, and wishes him to buy
of her a silver salver and goblets to match, which, if she
were wealthy, she would not take $2,000 for, but which
Mr. Tilden might have for $1,000. She adds:

" You go out of town every summer. It would give me
pleasure to invite you to spend three or four weeks or
more with me, but I cannot afford it. If you will come and
give me a remuneration sufficient to cover expenses, I will
do everything in my power to make your stay enjoyable.
Shall I bring the silver salver to you or send it by express,
C.O.D.?"

She proposes also to invite several young ladies to meet
him if he visits her, and gives him a catalogue of their
charms.

Mr. Tilden rarely paid any attention to missives of the
character here cited — never unless he chanced to know
something of the writer or of her kindred. Those who
called in person — as many did who had failed to get satis
factory responses to their communications — were pretty

TRIALS OF A MILLIONAIRE 167

uniformly disappointed. The pleasure of receiving them
was generally given to one of his clerks or attendants. He
had the least possible taste for gallantries with any class ;
but he was far too wise and prudent to give to any woman
a pretext for speculating upon her intimacy with him.

The volume of this kind of predatory correspondence was
almost incredible. That he passed through this epoch of
peculiar temptation without provoking a breath of scandal
was a distinction which, unfortunately, can be claimed for
few men in public life of equal eminence, in this or any
other country.

CHAPTER VI

The cipher despatches — Tilden's address to the people of the United
States in regard to them — His examination by a congressional commit
tee — A calumnious report corrected — Repudiates a reported arrange
ment between the Senate and House committees to exempt his bank
account from examination — Letter to Senator Kernan.

MR. TILDEN did not realize all the advantages to his

o

health from his European trip that he had hoped for. His
adventures in crossing the English channel undid much of
the very considerable benefit which he seemed to have
derived from it. While his general condition was im
proved, he could not disguise from himself the fact that
his tremulousness was increasing, that his vocal organs
were losing their flexibility, and that his left arm and hand
were less useful to him than when he left his home.
Though his health had now become a somewhat more
serious preoccupation than formerly, he did not yet regard
it as entitled to interfere materially with his future plans
or customary occupations. His renomination for the presi
dency in 1880 was regarded as a matter of course by both
parties, not only because he was immeasurably the most
capable and popular candidate his party could present, but
because he was the only candidate through whose election
the nation could properly resent the wrong it had sustained
at the hands of the Electoral Commission in 1877. He was
now regarded by the administration, not only as a more
formidable candidate than in 1876, but the consequences
of his election now were regarded as more alarming than in
1876, especially to those who had participated in the frauds
which put Hayes into the presidency. He was treated,
therefore, from the very beginning of the Hayes adminis
tration as the one man in the nation who, at all hazards,

THE CIPHER DESPATCHES 169

must be destroyed. This could not be accomplished by
assailing his public life, his opinions, or his public teach
ings. That had already been tried pretty faithfully and
had proved unsuccessful. A second attempt was certain
to prove even less successful. There was one course left.
The Potter investigation had satisfied the nation that Hayes
had not been elected by the people, and that the majority
of electors for him had been secured by fraud. To this
there was no longer any defence, not even the benefit of
a doubt. The only thing to do under those circumstances
was, not to attempt to justify the installation of Hayes, but
to persist in efforts to leave upon the public mind an im
pression which should stay there until after the next elec
tion at least, that Tilden and his party were just as bad
as Hayes and his party, plus the risk of Tilden's being
overruled by his party, and that the people had nothing to
gain by a change of dynasty. As the administration had
control of all the judicial, civil, and military forces of the
government, and necessarily exerted a prodigious influ
ence over all the organs of public opinion, this did not
seem at the time a hopeless endeavor.

It is no exaggeration to say that the administration used
all these forces with the energy and recklessness of despair.

I am aware that this is a grave allegation, — quite too
grave to rest upon the unsupported dictum of any individ
ual. I do not propose to leave it thus unsupported, but to
produce such evidence as will, I think, bear conviction to
any unprejudiced reader, that during the whole four years
of Hayes' administration, and regardless of Mr. Tilden's
age, his physical infirmities, his priceless public services,
and the place which he occupied in the hearts of his coun
trymen, he was pursued by the agents of that administra
tion with a cruelty, a vindictiveness, an insensibility to all
the promptings of Christian charity, which men are rarely
accustomed to exhibit except in their dealing with wild
beasts.

170 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TIL DEN

Early in the month of October of 1878 a series of tele
graphic despatches in cipher, purporting to have been
addressed to well-known partisans of Mr. Tilden during
the electoral crisis of November and December, 1876, ap
peared with translations in the "New York Tribune."
These despatches conveyed the impression that persons
holding more or less familiar, not to say confidential, re
lations with Mr. Tilden had been entertaining propositions
for the purchase of the electoral vote of one or more
of the contested States. The fact that the votes of many
of the electors were notoriously in the market at prices
which would scarcely have been a month's income to Mr.
Tilden, and that he needed but a single one of them to
secure the presidency, helped to give currency to this
abominable suspicion, which received additional aliment
from the appearance of the name of his sister's son, who
with his wife and child was a guest with her in Tilden's
house at the time, among the alleged negotiators.

To show the motive which animated the parties through
whose agency these despatches — legally as well as morally,
in the strictest sense of the word, confidential — came to be
public property, it is necessary to go back about two years
and trace their history from the time their hallowed privacy
was first violated, until they were spread out in the columns
of an intensely partisan journal.

On the 23d and 24th of January, 1877, certain tele
graphic despatches relating to the election in Louisiana
were delivered to a committee of the House of Representa
tives, of which Mr. Morrison, a Democrat, was chairman,
and certain other telegraphic despatches relating to the
election in Oregon were delivered to a committee of the
Senate, of which Mr. Morton, a Republican, was chairman.

Pursuant to the direction of Mr. Sargent, chairman of the
sub-committee of the Morton committee, on the 25th day
of January, about thirty thousand telegraphic despatches,
purporting to be all the residue of the despatches relating

THE CIPHER DESPATCHES 171

to the election in the possession of the Western Union Tele
graph Company, were delivered to Mr. Burbank, a brother-
in-law of Mr. Morton, and also the clerk of his committee,
or to his temporary substitute.

Mr. Orton, the president of the Western Union Company,
whom Mr. Tilden did not hesitate to characterize as an un
scrupulous Republican partisan, had previously permitted
his party friends to withdraw some of the despatches, and
appears to have facilitated the surrender of the rest to the
control of the chairman of the Republican senatorial com
mittee, thereby practically excluding everybody else from
the privilege of inspecting them. The particular de
spatches, sent to the Morrison committee, were returned.
The other despatches were retained by the officers of the
Morton committee until some time after the inauguration of
Mr. Hayes, and were then, except such as in the meantime
had been abstracted, returned to the telegraph company,
and afterwards burned by its order.

Some of the despatches which had been abstracted were,
more than a year afterwards, in the possession of one
George Edward Bullock, of Indiana, who had been a mes
senger of the senatorial committee, and was a protege of
its chairman, Mr. Morton. This Mr. Bullock obtained
from Mr. Hayes the appointment of consul at Cologne,
upon the recommendation, among others, of Thomas J.
Brady, of Indiana, the Second Assistant Postmaster-Gen
eral, afterwards so notorious as the head of the fraudulent
Star Route ring. Upon the eve of his departure, and after
the appointment by the House of Representatives of a com
mittee of investigation into the election frauds in Louisiana
and Florida, of which Mr. Clarkson N. Potter was chairman,
Mr. Bullock passed over to Mr. Brady — who, while
Second Assistant Postmaster-General, had, with three
special agents of the Post Office Department, attended the
canvass in Florida, and must have been acquainted with
everything done there — such of the abstracted despatches

172 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

as had not been destroyed, and such others as they did not
prefer to suppress.

The facts developed subsequently to the inauguration of
Mr. Hayes — viz. : 1st, The acknowledgment by the ad
ministration of Mr. Hayes that the Democratic State officers
in Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina had been legally
elected, although in the two former States they received
fewer votes than were given to the electoral ticket of Tilden
and Hendricks ; 2d, The appointment by Mr. Hayes, to
most important offices, of the members of the Returning
Boards of Louisiana and Florida, and of all the persons who
had been actors and instruments in the frauds perpetrated
by those boards, including the two electors whose names
were forged in the corrected electoral votes of Louisiana,
and the persons who were privy to those forgeries — led to
a new investigation by a committee of the House of Repre
sentatives, of which Mr. Clarkson N. Potter, of New York,
was chairman.

After this committee had been some six months pursu
ing its investigation, and had developed facts which carried
conviction to the minds of fair men of all parties as to the
gross nature of the frauds which were made the basis of
a false count by the Electoral Commission, it was manifest
that something had to be done, and at once, to counteract
the moral effect upon the country of these disclosures. The
publication of some and the suppression of the rest of these
despatches proved to be the only weapon within their reach,
and ignominious and lawless as they knew such a violation
of private correspondence to be, they did not shrink from
resorting to it.

The despatches that were published show, what was con
firmed by the uncontradicted testimony of the witnesses
examined before the Potter committee, that unequivocal
offers were made by persons representing, with every
appearance of authority, the Returning Board of South
Carolina, and a majority of the State canvassers of Florida,

THE CIPHER DESPATCHES 173

to give to the Democratic candidates for presidential elect
ors, official certificates that they were duly appointed, for
money considerations to be paid after the delivery of such
certificates. It was proved that the agent of the South
Carolina Returning Board, after his offer was rejected, went
to the city of New York to repeat and press his offer, and
stayed there several days in the vain endeavor to have his
offer accepted. It was also proved, by unimpeachable tes
timony, that the offer in behalf of certain of the State can
vassers of Florida was repeatedly made through various
persons. It was further proved that similar offers in behalf
of the Returning Board of Louisiana were made to Mr.
Hewitt, chairman of the National Democratic Committee,
and to others. These offers were prefaced by statements
that, if not accepted, pending transactions with the Repub
licans would be consummated, although involving more
risk, because in that case the certificates would be contrary
to truth.

All the powers of the Hayes administration, vainly
struggling to justify its own existence, and all its means of
influencing the press, were exerted to create a suspicion
against Mr. Tilden that in some instance he had entertained
or given countenance, directly or indirectly, to such nego
tiations.

These efforts totally failed. They were not only desti
tute of the slightest foundation, but they were so contra
dicted by every intrinsic probability as to be absurd.
Besides, they were disproved by the concurrent testimony
of every witness who was examined. Their only pretext
was, that the South Carolina and Florida offers had been
communicated to one of the nephews of Mr. Tilden, though
the fact had been kept secret from Mr. Tilden.

How far that gentleman was led into this indiscretion by
a desire to learn the tactics of the adversary, or to gain
time and means to prove and to defeat their strategy when
it should be completely developed, or to secure the oppor-

174 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE 'N

tunity of submitting the matter to members of the Demo
cratic National Committee, whenever it should assume a
definite form, does not clearly appear. It is certain, how
ever, that he took no second step, and all negotiations of
this character were rejected and abandoned.

The great controlling fact stands, that none of these
offers were accepted, nor their conditions complied with, by
any of Mr. Tilden's friends, nor were the certificates of any
of the Returning Boards or State canvassers given to the
Democratic electors, to whom they rightfully belonged.
On the other hand, those certificates were all given to the
Republican electors, although at the expense of numerous
frauds in the canvasses, false authentications by the gover
nors of three States, and the forging of the signatures of
two electors.

Whether for these felonious transactions bribes in money
were paid according to the offers which the actors in them
professed to have received, has not been proved. But that
bribes in the more effectual form of appointments to lucra
tive offices were actually given to all the felons is now a
matter of authentic history. Mr. Potter, in his report,
makes the following sagacious remarks : " If a man be
bribed by a sum down, he may lose it or waste it, and
then the control it gave over him will be gone. But in an
office which he holds at the pleasure of the person who
appointed him, he is under continuing control."

When the first publication was made, about October 7,
I went to see Mr. Til den. I found him very much affected.
He was very indignant that the existence of such compro
mising communications should have been kept from him so
long. He begged me to stay with him a few days. He was
more completely overcome than I had ever seen him before.

He regarded these despatches as I did, as the reply of
the administration at Washington to the Potter invesfea-

o o

tion. It having been established by the Potter committee
to the conviction of the whole nation that Hayes was not

THE CIPHER DESPATCHES 175

elected, the administration, instead of continuing the de
fence of Hayes' title, determined to show, if they could, that
Tilden was bad enough to have been elected by the same
means that Hayes had been. Fortunately, facts that were
no longer in dispute protected Tilden's character.

1. Only one vote was required to elect Tilden. It was
in proof that the votes of three States were in the market,
and at a price which would have been but a trifle to Tilden.

2. Tilden did not get that vote. Nor was there a parti
cle of evidence that any money was ever furnished to any
one by Tilden, or any one else on his account, to secure the
one needed vote.

3. Hayes needed all the votes of three States. All
were for sale. Hayes got them all and was elected, and
within six months after his inauguration every person
known to have been concerned in securing or giving those

o o O

notes, from the highest to the lowest, received an office or
the offer of one.

The position in which Mr. Tilden found himself placed
by the publication of these telegrams subjected him to the
humiliating necessity, for the first time in his life, of mak
ing a public defence of his personal character. He lost no
time in preparing and sending the following statement to
the press :

" NEW YORK, Oct. 16, 1878.
" To TIIE EDITOR OF THE ' HERALD : '

" SIR : I have read the publications in the r Tribune ' of
the 8th instant, purporting to be translations of cipher
telegrams relating to the canvass of votes in Florida at the
presidential election of 1876, and have looked over those
printed in the ' Tribune ' of this morning relating to the
canvass in South Carolina. I have no knowledge of the
existence of these telegrams, nor any information about
them, except what has been derived from or since the pub
lications of the r Tribune.'

" So much for these telegrams generally. I shall speak
yet more specifically as to some of them.

176 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

" 1. Those which relate to an offer purporting to have
been made in behalf of some member of the State Board
of Canvassers of Florida, to give, for a pecuniary compen
sation, certificates to the Democratic electors who had been
actually chosen.

"None of these telegrams, nor any telegram communicat
ing such an offer, or answering such an offer, or relating to
such an offer, was seen by me, translated to me, or the
contents of it in any manner made known to me. I had no
knowledge of the existence or purport of any telegram re
lating to that subject. Nor did I learn the fact that such
an offer of the Florida certificates had been made until
long after the 6th of December, at which time the certifi
cates were delivered and the electoral votes cast ; and when
the information casually reached me, as of a past event, it
was accompanied by the statement that the offer had been
rejected.

" 2. As to the publications in the ' Tribune ' of this morn
ing, purporting to be translations of cipher telegrams relat
ing to the canvass of votes in South Carolina in 1876, which
I have seen since I wrote the foregoing, I can speak of
them no less definitely and positively. No one of such
telegrams, either in cipher or translated, was ever shown
to or its contents made known to me. No offer or negotia
tion in behalf of the State canvassers of South Carolina, or
of any of them, or any dealing with any of them in respect
to the certificates to the electors, was ever authorized or
sanctioned in any manner by me directly or through any
other person.

" I will add that no offer to give the certificates of
any returning board or State canvassers of any State to
the Democratic electors in consideration of office or
money or property ; no negotiation of that nature in behalf
of any member of such board or with any such member ;
no attempt to influence the action of any such member,
or to influence the action of any elector of President
and Vice-President by such motives, — was ever enter
tained, considered, or tolerated by me or by anybody
within my influence by my consent, or with my knowledge
or acquiescence. No such contemplated transaction could
at any time have come within the range of my power with
out that power being instantly exerted to crush it out.

" A belief was doubtless current that certificates from the

THE CIPHER DESPATCHES 177

State of Florida conforming to the actual vote of the peo
ple, were in the market. ' I have not the slightest doubt
in the world,' said Mr. Saltonstall, who was in Florida at
the time, in a recent interview with the 'Herald' corre
spondent, ' that that [Florida] vote could have been bought,
if Mr. Tilden had been dishonorable enough to desire it done,
for a great deal less than fifty thousand dollars or twenty
thousand dollars/ It was known that either one of the
two members who composed a majority of the Florida
State canvassers could control its action and give the cer
tificates to the Democrats. Either one of them could settle
the presidential controversy in favor of the Democratic
candidates, who lacked but one vote.

" How accessible to venal inducements they were, is shown
by the testimony of McLin, the chairman of the Board of
State Canvassers, in his examination before the Potter
committee in June last. He admitted that the true vote
of the people of Florida was in favor of the Democratic
electors, and that the fact even appeared on the face of the
county returns, including among them the true return from
Baker county, notwithstanding the great frauds against
the Democrats in some of the county returns. He also
confessed that in voting to give the certificates to the
Republican electors he acted under the influence of prom
ises that he should be rewarded in case ' Mr. Hayes be
came President ; ' adding that * certainly these promises
must have had a strong control over my judgment and
action.'

" After the certificates of the Louisiana Returning Board
had been repeatedly offered to Mr. Hewitt and others for
money, they were given in favor of the Republican electors,
who had been rejected by a large majority of the voters ;
and the members of this Returning Board now possess the
most important federal offices in that State. The pregnant
fact always remains that none of these corrupt boards gave
their certificates to the Democratic electors, but they all
did give them to the Republican electors.

"I had a perfectly fixed purpose, from which I never de
viated in word or act, — a purpose which was known to or
assumed by all with whom I was in habitual communica
tion, — if the presidency of the United States was to be
disposed of by certificates to be won from corrupt return
ing boards by any form of venal inducements, whether of

VOL. II. -12

178 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

offices or money, I was resolved to take no part in the
shameful competition, and I took none.

" The main interest of the victory which resulted in my
election was the expectation that through the chief magis
tracy a system of reforms, similar to that which had been
accomplished in our metropolis and in our State adminis
tration, would be achieved in the federal government.
For this object it was necessary that I should be untram
melled by any commitment in the choice of men to execute
the official trusts of the government, and untrammelled by
any obligations to special interests. I had been nominated
and I was elected without one limitation of my perfect
independence. To have surrendered or compromised the
advantages of this position by a degrading competition for
returning-board certificates would have been to abandon all
that made victory desirable, everything which could have
sustained me in the larger struggle that victory would have
imposed upon me. I was resolved to go into the presidential
chair in full command of all my resources for usefulness, or
not at all.

" While thus abstaining from an ignominious competition
for such certificates, I saw these certificates obtained for the
Republican electors, who had not been chosen by the people,
and denied to the Democratic electors, who had been chosen
by the people. These false and fraudulent certificates, now
confessed and proved to have been obtained by corrupt
inducements, were afterward made the pretexts for taking
from the people their rightful choice for the presidency and
vice-presidency. These certificates were declared by the
tribunal to which Congress had abdicated the function of
deciding the count of disputed electoral votes to be the
absolute and indisputable conveyance of title to the chief
magistracy of the nation.

" The State of Florida, which had united all her execu
tive, legislative, and judicial powers to testify to Congress,
long before the count, who were her genuine agents, which
had by statute caused a re-canvass, the issue of new certifi
cates, and a formal sovereign authentication of the right of
the true electors to deposit the votes entitled to be counted,
was held to be incapable of communicating to Congress a
fact which everybody then knew and which cannot now be
disputed.

" Congress, though vested by the Constitution with the

TILDE N BEFORE A COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS 179

authority to count the electoral votes ; though unrestricted
either as to time when it should receive evidence, or as
to the nature of that evidence ; and though subject to no
appeal from its decision, — was declared to have no
power to guide its own count by any information it could
obtain, or by any authority which it might accept from
the wronged and betrayed State whose vote was about to
be falsified.

" The monstrous conclusion was thus reached that the act
of one man, holding the deciding vote in a board of State
canvassers (for without his concurrence the frauds of the
other returning boards would have failed), in giving cer
tificates known at the time, and now by himself confessed,
to be false and fraudulent, and confessed to have been ob
tained by the promise of office, — certificates whose char
acter was known months before Congress could begin the
count, — must prevail over all the remedial powers of the
State of Florida and of the Congress of the United States
combined, and must dispose of the chief magistracy of this
Republic.

"S. J. TILDEN."

Not content with this formal disavowal of any knowledge
of or participation in any negotiations for the exercise of
any improper influence over the Returning Boards, Mr.
Tilden addressed a sub-committee of the Potter committee,
then sitting in New York, the following note :

"15 GRAMERCY PARK, Feb. 7, 1879.
" To THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE :

" DEAR SIR : I learn from the public press that it is the
desire of your committee to terminate its session in this
city during the current week. I take the liberty of re
questing that before you leave an opportunity be permitted
me to appear before you to submit some testimony which I
deem pertinent to the inquiry with which you are charged.

" Very respectfully,

"S. J. TILDEN."

The sub-committee consisted of Hunton, of Virginia, the
chairman; Springer, of Illinois; Stenger, of Pennsylvania ;

180 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

Hiscock, of New York ; and Eeed, of Maine, — the first three
Democrats and the last two Republicans. On Saturday,
the 9th of February, by special arrangement Mr. Tilden
appeared before the committee.

It was a fearful ordeal. He was very feeble. His voice
was scarcely audible above a whisper. By the treachery of
political foes and the folly of political allies he had been
suddenly cast down from a popular eminence rarely attained
by any American, to the degrading abyss of a quarter ses
sions criminal, with the popular sentiment of the nation
more or less infected by the poisonous breath of a hostile
partisan press. The situation was enough to have paralyzed
and crushed a man of less nerve, less conscious of his
ability to demonstrate the factious motives which had
placed him in that position, and with less faith than his in
the ultimate triumph of innocence and justice. The audi
ence chamber was crowded almost to suffocation. Since
the examination of Dr. Franklin by the Privy Council in
London, in 1774, there has been no public hearing, I
believe, in which there have been such vast and grave inter
ests at stake upon the testimony of a single individual. The
occasion was one of unusual inipressiveness, especially when
the cross-examination commenced. It soon became ap
parent that the Republican examiners were in the hands of
their master. Before they had finished, Tilden had changed
places with them, and put them on the stand in defence of
the administration. The following graphic account of the
scene appeared in the " New York Herald " of the following

"At half-past eleven o'clock Mr. Tilden appeared, in com
pany with his brother, Henry A. Tilden, and ex-Secretary
of State Bigelow. Mr. Tilden was dressed in black, and
had an air of great solemnity on his face, which looked as
imperturbable and sphinx-like as ever. Since his last public
appearance he seemed to have aged considerably, and yes
terday he looked quite ill and feeble. As he afterward

TILDEN BEFORE THE COMMITTEE 181

explained, ho was suffering from a severe cold. It was,
indeed, quite a painful spectacle to see the slow, halting,
lame walk with which he passed the table and reached his
seat. His figure was stiffly drawn up and seemed incapable
of bending, as though he were suffering from a paralytic
contraction of the limbs. As he entered, every e}re was
curiously turned upon him. Not a muscle of his face
relaxed with animation or expression as he stiffly extended
his hand to Mr. Reed, of Maine, who received the saluta
tion with something like a profound bow. Then Mr.
Tilden gave his hand to Mr. Hiscock, the other Repub
lican cross-examiner, and after saluting the Democratic
members took off his elegant, silk-lined overcoat, stiffly
turned round and seated himself at the table, while set
tling at the same time a large handkerchief in his breast
pocket.

"Ex-Governor Tilden sat erect in his chair for over two
hours and a half, and during the greater portion of thi$
time he gave his testimony in that calm, quiet, imperturb
able manner peculiar to him, and without hardly moving a
muscle or changing the expression of his countenance. His
voice, which was hoarse, started very feebly, almost inau-
dibly. But as Mr. Tilden came to the corrupt negotiations
alluded to in the cipher despatches, his hoarse voice rose sud
denly to a pitch of loudness, vehemence, and dramatic inten
sity hardly ever observed in the ex-Governor during the most
exciting periods of his life. During these portions of Mr.
Tilden's evidence there was a flush of deep feeling over his
face, and the mental excitement had such mastery over him
that his lips twitched, and one of his hands, said to be
smitten with paralysis, trembled in a most painful manner.

" And when Governor Tilden dramatically called on
heaven and earth to witness the protestation of his innocence
of all knowledge of the ciphers, bringing his clenched fist
heavily down upon the table, there was a sympathizing
outburst of applause. There was only one relieving
glimpse of humor during his entire examination, lasting
over two hours and a half; namely, when Mr. Reed, of
Maine, questioned him about ' corrupt attempts,' and the
Governor returned dryly, ' Attempts to sell or to buy,
which?' at which there was some laughter. When the
cross-examination had been concluded Governor Tilden
held quite a, whispered conversation with Mr. Hiscock.

182 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

The moment Mr. Tilden withdrew, which he did in the
same slow, halting, imperturbable manner in which he
entered, the interest of the day seemed to have ended, and
the audience thinned out within a few minutes."

The official report of his examination was as follows :

TESTIMONY OF MR. TILDEN BEFORE A SELECT COMMITTEE OF
CONGRESS IN RELATION TO THE CIPHER DESPATCHES.

"After Mr. Tilden had been sworn, the chairman of the
committee said : Governor Tilden, we received your note
requesting permission to appear before this committee and
testify, and we shall be glad to hear anything you have to
say upon the subject of these cipher telegrams, subject to
cross-examination when you are through.

"Mr. TILDEN. — I have not had an opportunity to see the
lithographic copies of the cipher telegrams.

" The CHAIRMAN. — Will you be kind enough, Governor
Tilden, to speak a little louder ?

"The WITNESS. — If you will excuse me, I have a slight
cold ; but I will speak as loud as I can. Upon the publi
cation of the cipher telegrams in the 'New York Tribune'

— those relating to South Carolina, on the 16th of October,
1878 ; those relating to Florida on the 8th of October, 1878

— I read those translations ; I did not recognize among
them a single one that I had ever seen in cipher or transla
tion, or the contents of which had in any way been made
known to me. With respect to those of them that relate
to negotiations to induce members of the Canvassing
Boards of South Carolina and Florida to give the Demo
cratic electors their certificates, I swear positively that
I never saw one of those telegrams, either in cipher or
translation ; the contents of no one of them, nor the pur
port of any one of them, was communicated to me in any
manner whatever.

"I had no knowledge, no information, no suspicion that
such a correspondence, or any similar correspondence, had
existed until their publication was announced in the ' New
York Tribune,' followed by the publication a few days
later. No offer, no negotiation in behalf of any member of
the Returning Board of South Carolina, of the Board of

TILDEN'S TESTIMONY. 183

State Canvassers of Florida, or of any other State, was ever
entertained by me or by my authority or with my sanction ;
no negotiations with them, no dealing with them, no deal
ing with any one of them was ever authorized or sanctioned
by me in any manner whatsoever.

" The first information I ever received that any such nego
tiations had ever existed between any Democrat and any
member of the Board of State Canvassers of South Carolina
to give their certificates to the Democratic electors was on
the 20th day of November, 1876. I am not able to fix that
day positively by my own recollection, but I fix it by cir
cumstances. It was the day that Colonel Pelton was in
Baltimore. I remember the fact, and fix the date from the
circumstances that have appeared during this investigation.
On the morning of the 20th of November, 1876, Mrs. Colo
nel Pelton mentioned in my presence that her husband had
gone to Philadelphia. It was a casual mention. I did not
know that he was going to leave the city, or that he had
left the city until she mentioned it ; and her mention of it
was so casual as not to attract any attention. A little later
in the morning —

" The CHAIRMAN. — Do you mean Philadelphia ?

"The WITNESS. — Philadelphia. A little later in the
same morning I was called on by the treasurer of the
National Democratic Committee, Mr. Edward Cooper, ap
parently on his way down town. He told me that Colonel
Pelton was in Baltimore. He told me that Colonel Pelton
had received, or was receiving, an offer in behalf of some
body representing, or claiming to represent, the canvassers
of the State of South Carolina to give their certificates to
the Democratic electors for a sum of money. I immedi
ately said that no such offer should be entertained ; that no
negotiations of that nature should be tolerated ; that not a
cent of money should be furnished for any such purpose ;
and that Colonel Pelton must be immediately telegraphed
to return to New York.

" I did not at that time know that Mr. Smith M. Weed
had gone to South Carolina, or that he was there, or that
he had been there at any time. I had not seen him after the
election, and had no information of his whereabouts at that
time.

"The conversation with Mr. Cooper was very brief. The
whole matter was disposed of within five to ten minutes.

184 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

I made no inquiry into details, and there was no discussion
between us. Mr. Cooper concurred with me entirely in the
measures to be taken ; and although I took it for granted
that he would make every necessary communication on that
subject, I did not leave it to that. I obtained from him
Colonel Pelton's address in Baltimore, and caused him to
be immediately telegraphed to in a peremptory manner
to return to New York. My despatch was in ordinary
language. I had no cipher; I could not read a cipher; I
could not translate into a cipher. It never occurred to me
that there was any reason for any concealment. My belief
is that the despatch was sent in my own name. I think it
was sent within ten minutes after Mr. Cooper's communica
tion to me. Colonel Pelton returned that night to New
York.

" With respect to Florida, I never saw any one of the
Florida telegrams either in cipher or in translation. The
contents of no one of them, so far as I know, were ever
communicated to me, — I mean the telegrams relating to
this subject ; and I do not think that the contents of those
relating to the course of the controversy down there were
communicated to me. I am not able, in looking them over,
to recall any one of them that I have ever seen. I did not
know — I was not informed — that there had been any offer
from anybody claiming to represent the Florida board or
any member of it to give their certificates to the Democratic
electors, until after the certificates had been delivered and
a vote of the electors deposited for transmission to Wash
ington.

" My first information on the subject was subsequent to
that — after the 6th day of December, 1876. Sometime
after Mr. Marble returned — I do not know when, whether
it was before I went to England or not — he mentioned to me
one day, as a bygone affair, that the vote of Florida was
offered, or rather the certificates that would yield us the
vote ; but he said that the offer had* been declined'. Some
time last summer, about the time that the letter of Mr.
Marble on the Electoral Commission appeared, I made a
remark about the matter — I spoke to Colonel Pelton about
this offer from Florida. He answered in a single sentence,
that all offers had been declined. That is all the knowl
edge I had on the subject until the publication of these
despatches.

TILDEN'S TESTIMONY 185

" With respect to Oregon, I never saw any one of those
despatches. I now refer to despatches that are contained
in the 'Tribune' Extra, No. 44.

"Mr. SPRINGER. — This pamphlet?

" Governor TILDEN. — Yes, sir. I never saw any one of
those despatches in cipher or in translation. The substance
of no one of them was ever communicated to me, except a
despatch from Governor Grover stating that he would give
the certificate to the Democratic electors. The substance of
that despatch was communicated to me by somebody. I did
not know that it canie in cipher until after it appeared in
the examination by Mr. Morton's committee ; and in what
form that communication was made, I cannot now state, but
I was aware of the fact.

" Some of the telegrams appear to have been addressed to
Colonel Pelton at No. 15 Gramercy park, which is my
residence. I asked one of my young men to look them over
and tell me how many there were. I think he told me there
were fifteen of the Florida despatches so addressed, chiefly
sent from Mr. Marble. So far as I know or believe, none
of those despatches were ever delivered at my house.

" Mr. STENGER. — Do you say chiefly sent to Mr. Marble ?

" The CHAIRMAN. — He says chiefly sent from Mr. Marble.

r' The WITNESS. — Chiefly sent by Mr. Marble. So far as
I know, no'ne of these were ever delivered at my house.
Colonel Pelton's habits and hours and my own were entirely
different. I was still Governor of New York, and had
many executive duties to perform. I was burdened by the
daily reception of people coming from all parts of the
United States. From three to five hours a day w^ere, I
think, usually devoted to these receptions by me. Colonel
Pelton seldom came into the house until after I had been
long in bed. He was very busy at the committee-rooms,
and I saw very little of him. I think if any considerable
number of telegrams had come to the house, I should have
found it out in some way. I do not believe that any of
these cipher telegrams ever came into my house. At any
rate, they never met my eye or came within my knowledge.

ft Now, one word as to the gentlemen who went to the
South, to the disputed States, to watch and guard the can
vass in behalf of the Democratic party. That measure
originated with either Mr. Hewitt or General Grant.
Within a day or two after the election, I think, General

186 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

Grant wrote a letter in which he proposed such an expe
dient. Mr. Hewitt either had started it before, or embraced
it immediately after. I did not select or send the gentlemen
who went to those States. With few exceptions, they were
not selected or sent after consultation with me. I did not
attempt to supervise their action. I did not communicate
with them. In no instance during the whole of that time
did I ever communicate, directly or indirectly, with any
gentleman who was in the South on that business ; I never
received any communication from them or any of them,
except one, signed by Mr. Randall, Mr. Ottendorfer, Mr.
Lamar, and Mr. Watterson, suggesting that some kind of
a proposition should be made by me to Mr. Hayes. I never
answered that despatch except verbally to Mr. Ottendorfer,
after he returned and called on me. I was very busy all
that time. I took it for granted that these gentlemen un-

O c>

derstood their business, and I did not undertake to direct
them. The idea that they were my personal agents in any
sense has no foundation in fact. They were the repre
sentatives and delegates of the Democratic partv, chosen
generally by its organization. No man, so far as I know,
ever went to any of those States with any commission,
authority, or any contemplation to do anything that a gen
tleman ought not to do, or to do anything but defend the
interests of the Democratic party, and to watch and guard
those interests against apprehended fraud.

" During the whole time, from the 7th day of November,
1876, which was the day of the election, until the 6th clay
of December of the same year, which was the day on which
the electors met and deposited their votes for transmission
to Washington, I maintained a uniform attitude. My pur
pose was under no circumstances to enter any competition
to obtain the votes, the certificates of the Canvassing Boards
of the disputed States, even those to which I believed we
were entitled, except by discussion, argument, reason, truth,
justice. There never was a time — not a moment, not an
instant — in which I ever entertained any idea of seeking
to obtain those certificates by any venal inducements, any
promise of money or of office to the men who had them to
grant or dispose of. My purpose on that subject was per
fectly distinct, invariable ; and it was generally assumed
by all my friends without discussion. It may have been
sometimes expressed, and whenever the slightest occasion

TILDEN'S TESTIMONY 187

arose for it to be discussed it was expressed. It was never
deviated from in word or act.

"To the people who, as I believe, elected me President
of the United States, to the four millions and a quarter of
citizens who gave me their suffrages, I owed duty, service,
and every honorable sacrifice ; but not a surrender of one
jot or tittle of my sense of right or personal self-respect.

" Whatever the disappointment to those who voted for
me ; whatever the public consequences of suffering a sub
version of the elective system, by which alone free govern
ment — self-government — can be carried on ; by whatever
casuistry a different course might have been advocated or
defended, — I was resolved that if there was to be an
auction of the chief magistracy of my country, I would
not be among the bidders. [Applause.]

" The CHAIRMAN. — The room will be cleared if this ap
plause does not cease. It is expressly understood that
there is to be no manifestation of approbation or disappro
bation on either side.

" The WITNESS (continuing) . — I was determined in
such an event, or in the apprehension of such an event,
that I would meet such a degraded condition of public af
fairs, not by sharing it in any degree, not by acquiescence,
not by toleration, but by an unqualified and perpetual pro
test, appealing to the people to reassert and reestablish
their great right — the greatest of their rights, the right
without which all others are worthless — their right to elec
tive self-government. I have done so.

" The Cross-examination.

"The CHAIRMAN (to Messrs. Eeed and Hiscock). — Will
you ask Governor Tilden any questions ?

" The cross-examination was begun by Mr. Reed.

"Mr. REED. — Governor Tilden, who was your private
secretary at the time of these transactions? A. George
W. Smith. Do you mean my private secretary personally,
or as governor?

" Q. Personally. A. George W. Smith.

" Q. I find among these telegrams in the f Tribune,' one,
No. 40, addressed to George W. Smith, No. 15 Gramercy
park, in the cipher which was used in these incriminating
despatches. It relates to a suggestion in regard to Oregon,

188 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

and was transmitted by Mr. Manton Marble to George W.
Smith, No. 15 Gramercy park. Did you ever see that de
spatch? A. I do remember having seen it.

"§. Have you any impression in regard to it — whether
you did receive it or not? Will you kindly look at the
translation of the original? A. I have no doubt Mr.
Smith can tell. He is here. He has been summoned by
the committee.

"Q. Well, sir, can you? A. I have no recollection of it.

"Q. None whatever?

" The WITNESS (reading) . — ' The Governor suggested ' —

" Mr. KEED. — The translation follows it. Will you
look over the translation and see if that recalls to your
mind having received that despatch? A. Mr. Smith
may have shown it to me. He will no doubt tell himself;
but I have no recollection of it.

"§. Doesn't that suggestion in it about O'Conor's opinion
recall anything to your mind? A. I do not remember that
Mr. O'Conor was ever applied to for an opinion on that
subject.

"$. Or that any suggestion was made that Mr. O'Conor's
opinion should be obtained on the subject? A. I do not
remember; it might have been made.

"Q. You have read these various publications in reference
to these despatches? A. I read them immediately on their
publication.

"§. Do you recollect one despatch in this same cipher
from Louisiana which began, ' Bigler to Russia,' and was
translated Bigler to Tilden — do you recollect that ? A. I
do not remember it.

" Q. Do you remember that which was also sent to George
W. Smith, your private secretary — do you remember if
that despatch was submitted to you? A. I should think it
likely that if Mr. Smith received the despatch, he would
have submitted it to me.

" Q. He was your private secretary, and if he had received
either of these despatches, it would have been his duty to
submit them to you ? A. I think so.

"§. Have you any doubt that he did? A. He was my
personal secretary.

"Q. Your personal secretary, precisely; that is what I
mean. A. Mr. Charles Stebbens was my secretary as
governor.

TILDEN'S TESTIMONY 189

"Q. It would have been Mr. Smith's duty to have sub
mitted them to you. Have you any doubt that he did sub
mit them? A. I do not know anything about the existence
of such a despatch ; I have no recollection about it.

"§. It would seem, Governor Tilden, that your personal
secretary had this cipher. Do you know whether he did or
did not have it, of your own knowledge? A. I do not
think that he did have it.

"§. How, then, were these despatches translated if he did
not have the cipher. A. He may not have been able to
translate them. He may have had to get somebody else to
do it.

"$. What do you know about this cipher? A. I do not
know anything about it.

"Q. You never had it? A. I never had it.

" Q. And you do not know what it was? A. I could not
have put any message into cipher if I had tried ; I could
not have got any one out of it.

"§. I am merely suggesting that these despatches seem to
indicate that your personal private secretary had this same
cipher which has been used in these incriminating de
spatches in order to give you an opportunity to state any
facts in connection with them which will throw light upon
that circumstance which seems to be indicated by these
despatches. Have you any facts with which you can assist
us? A. He is here. He has been summoned by the com
mittee.1

"Q. Well, I want to know whether you ever knew that he
had it? A. I do not think he had the cipher at all — the
cipher that was used at the Everett House.

"§. When Colonel Pelton returned from Baltimore, did
you have an interview with him? A. I suppose I did.

"§. Do you recollect whether you did or not ? A. No
doubt I did.

"§. Will you be kind enough to state what that inter
view was? A. I cannot recall it in detail. I have no
doubt I expressed impatience.

" Q. Will you give your best recollection as to the sub
stance of that interview? Of course I am not expecting

1 Mr. George W. Smith afterwards testified that he never received this
despatch ; that he never knew of its existence, or anything about it, except
that he had seen it in the publication in the hands of the committee, and
in the regular issue of the " New York Tribune."

190 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

you to repeat words, because none of us can do that ; but
will you give us the substance of what you said to him, and
what he said to you? A. I do not think he said any
thing to me. I think it was a mere outburst of impatience
and displeasure that he had had anything to do with the
Baltimore transaction.

"§. To which he made no reply? A. I think he made
no reply.

" Mr. SPRINGER. — I did not hear what you said, Mr. Til-
den. A. I said my impression was that it was a mere
outburst of displeasure and impatience on my part that he
had had anything to do with the transaction.

"Mr. REED. — You knew, Governor Tilclen, the position
which Colonel Pelton occupied in relation to the Democratic
National Committee? A. I suppose so; yes, sir.

"Q. You knew he was acting secretary, and that these
telegrams in large numbers were coming to him, did you
not? A. I knew that a great many telegrams were com
ing to him.

"§. He was residing then at your house? A. He was.

"Q. Did you, after this Baltimore transaction came to
your knowledge, make any effort or suggestion that he
should be removed from the position in which you knew he
was? A. I don't think I did.

"§. Why not? A. In the first place, I did not know
of the Baltimore transaction, except to this extent, that he
had been receiving an offer there. I did not know that he had
made any negotiations or given any encouragement. I did
not acquire any knowledge that these despatches had passed
backward and forward until their publication. In the con
versation with Mr. Cooper I did not acquire any informa
tion on the subject, except in a general way. I thought the
best way to deal with the thing was to stop it ; and I did
stop it, and stopped it effectually. I did not believe it pos
sible that any such transactions could be afterward renewed.
Besides, I knew that Colonel Pelton had no power. He
was sometimes called acting secretary, but he had command
of no money. He had no actual power ; he was not able
to do anything without the concurrence of other men. I
did not imagine he would attempt to do anything of the
sort again.

"§. Did not the fact that he had once attempted to do
it give you an idea that he would be likely to do it again ?

TILDEN'S TESTIMONY 191

A. I did not suppose that he had attempted to do any
thing ; I simply supposed he had received an offer.

"§. Will you be kind enough to give us the conversa
tion which you had with Mr. Edward Cooper, as nearly as
you can recall it? A. I have given it to you in a general
way.

"Q. I should like to press the question. I should like
to have it as fully as you can give it ; and if you will be
kind enough to put it in the form of what he said, and
what you said, I shall be obliged. A. The conversation
with Mr. Cooper did not occupy more than five or ten
minutes.

"y. Did he begin the conversation? A. He began the
conversation.

"§. What did he say? or if you cannot give that, what
was the substance of his opening remark? A. He commu
nicated to me the fact that Colonel Pelton was in Balti
more ; the fact that Colonel Pelton was receiving an offer
of this nature.

"§. Did he tell you the amount of the proposition? A.
I think he probably gave it.

"§. Did he tell you that he had received a telegram
from Colonel Pelton asking for money? A. I do not know
whether he told me that or not ; he may have done so.

"§'. What further conversation took place? A. The
substance of the conversation was that Pelton was in Balti
more, and that the certificates of the canvassers of the State
of South Carolina were offered, and that he was down there
doing something, — dealing with them, or looking into it in
some way.

"Q. Did he tell you anything about Colonel Pelton's
having cautioned him not to tell you? A. No.

"§. Nothing of that sort was mentioned? A. No; he
did not mention that he had seen him the night before.

"Q. Where were you the night before? A. I don't re
member.

"§. Do you remember whether you were in New York
or not? A. I think I was; I did not know that Colonel
Pelton was going away.

"Q. When did you next hear of corrupt attempts, after
this, in any of the States? A. What do you mean by
corrupt attempts?

"§. I mean these corrupt transactions that are depicted

192 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

here. A. Do you mean attempts to sell, or attempts to
buy?

"§. Both, Governor, or either. A. I never heard of
any attempt on the part of our people to buy ; the atmos
phere was full of rumors.

"§. Have you not read these Smith- Weed despatches,
and the whole account which your nephew gives of them ?
And after that do you say that you never heard of any at
tempt to buy? Do you mean to say that? A. I mean to
say that I did not hear at that time.

"$. Will you say that you have never heard of any
attempts to buy? A. I meant up to the time of the pub
lication of these despatches.

"§. But since then you have heard of it? A. I regard
those as attempts to sell rather than attempts to buy.

"§. It is a distinction which you, of course, have a
right to make. With regard to these attempts to sell, when
did you first hear of corrupt attempts to sell, subsequent to
this Baltimore transaction ? A. I cannot say ; the atmos
phere was full of rumors.

"§. At what time did you become conscious of this ful
ness of the atmosphere, Governor Tilden? A. There
were rumors at the investigation before Field's committee
about cases of that kind. I met, last summer, a gentleman
in the cars —

"Q. Well, I am not after this. I think I expressed it
clearly — these criminal attempts either to buy or to sell,
which are mentioned here in the ' Tribune ' Extra ; when
did you first hear of them after the Baltimore experience ?
A . I did not hear anything more about Baltimore or about
South Carolina. That was the end of that. I did not hear
anything about Florida till after the vote was given.

" Q- Who first told you of the Florida performance ? I
will use a neutral term. A. I cannot remember; I first
heard of it after the gentleman that went to Florida had
returned.

«Q. Did Mr. Marble tell you? A. Mr. Marble told me
some time ; I think it was later.

"§. Are you aware that Mr. Marble has testified that he
never told you of it ?

"Mr. STENGER. — He cannot be aware of that, because
Mr. Marble did not so testify.

"Mr. REED. — I understood him so.

TILDEN'S TESTIMONY 193

" Mr. STENGER. — I think you are mistaken.

"Mr. TILDEN. — I said I do not know whether it was
before I went to England or not. Mr. Marble mentioned
to me, some time, that the certificate of Florida was offered.

"Mr. REED. — Was it before what is called the 'Ark and
Shekinah ' letter ? A. Yes, sir.

"Q. Did he tell you the particulars of the transmission
of those despatches? A. He did not.

"§. Did he make any talk to you about this being a
danger-signal that he transmitted? A. He did not.

"(). He never alluded to it in those words or anything
like it? A. He merely mentioned the circumstance.

"$. How did he mention it? A. He mentioned it as a
past transaction.

"Q. In what terms, as nearly as you can recollect? Will
you give us the conversation? A. He said the Florida
certificates were for sale. I did not inquire into particulars,
for several reasons. In the first place, it was long past, and
he mentioned it like any other fact in bygone history.

"$. He did not give you the details, and you did not ask
for them? A. I did not make any inquiry.

*'Q. Did you make any inquiries of your nephew as to the
particulars of this South Carolina matter? A. I did not.

*'Q. Why not? A. I did not think it was necessary.

f*Q. Did you not feel any interest in it? A. I only felt
an interest in stopping it.

"Q. Then you did not regard that as a danger-signal?
A. Regard what as a danger-signal?

"Q. The transmission of the propositions in any way?
A. You are speaking of South Carolina?

"(?. Yes, sir.

"Mr. SPRINGER. — Mr. Marble's despatch was with refer
ence to Florida.

'' The WITNESS. — I do not know what you mean by
danger-signals.

"§. It would not occur to you that the transmission of a
proposition to sell would be a danger-signal ? A. I should
think that a man who had the power to sell, and made the
proposition, wanted to sell.

" Q. And the man who transmitted it would transmit it
rather for the purpose of purchase than as a danger-signal ?
A. That would depend on the motives of the man who
transmitted it.

VOL. IL - 13

194 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

"§. Colonel Pelton is a nephew of yours? A. Yes, sir.

" Q. When did he first begin to reside in your house ?
A. About nine years ago, I think.

tfQ. When did he cease his residence there? A. About
the 1st of July.

" Q. He had been your military secretary while you were
governor, and was at the time of these transactions your
military secretary? A. He was.

" Q. And with your knowledge and consent was the acting
secretary of the Democratic National Committee? A. He
was not with my consent, though he was with my knowledge.

"§. You knew it? A. I knew he called himself acting
secretary.

"$. You knew he was really acting secretary? A. I
knew he was very active in the business.

"Q. And that he was really acting secretary? A. I
came down from Albany in the latter part — the third or
fourth week — of September. The canvass was two-thirds
or three-fourths completed while I was in Albany. When
I came down here I found Colonel Pelton acting as sec
retary.

"Q. Did you make any objection to his acting as secre
tary? A. I did.

"Q. To whom? A. To several gentlemen of the com
mittee.

"(J). Will you kindly name them ? A. I cannot now.

"Q. Cannot you name any of them? A. No.

"Q. Did you make any objection to him, and request
him to cease acting in that capacity? A. I did not request
him to cease, but I was not pleased with it, for several
reasons.

"Q. Did you manifest your displeasure to him? A. I
manifested my regret.

"Q. To whom? A. To him.

"$. What did he say? A. I cannot tell you.

"Q. But you did not go to the extent of insisting on his
ceasing to act in that capacity? A. I did not. I have no
hesitation in stating to you all about it.

" Q. Of course I cannot go into the whole matter ; I
only want to go into certain aspects of it. Did you know
Mr. Smith M. Weed? A. Yes, sir.

" Q. How long have you known him ? A. I cannot say ;
some years.

TILDEN'S TESTIMONY 195

"Q. Has he been in confidential relations with you ? A.
No more than many prominent Democrats.

"Q. But as much as other prominent Democrats ? A.
As much as some and less than others.

" Q. When did you first know he was in South Carolina ?
A. Not till after he came back.

"Q. Was it concealed from you? A. I do not know.
No, I guess not.

"§. How did it happen that you did not know he was
there? A. Because I did not undertake to know all that
was being done by the committee.

" Q. Did you not undertake to keep the general run of
it, and of what was going on in the South? A. Not a
very close run.

"Q. Well, you undertook to keep the run of it, didn't
you? A. When the legal proceedings in Florida were in
agitation I gave particular attention to them. I did not
undertake to keep much run of these visiting statesmen.

*(Q. Not even to know their names? A. I knew their
names when I heard them through the public journals.

"Q. And you say now you knew nothing of Mr. Smith
Weed's presence in South Carolina until after his return?
A. I say so positively.

"Q. Did you have any talk with Mr. Weed about his
transmittal of this proposition? A. I presume I did.

"Q. What was that conversation? A. It was a very
brief conversation.

"§. Well, sir, state it. A. In which I took him to
task for taking part in such transactions ? I did not feel
particularly responsible for Mr. Weed.

"Q. At what time was the Oregon affair published,
Governor Tilden? A. Published as the result of an in
vestigation by a sub-committee of the Senate.

"Q. About what time? A. I cannot tell you the date.

"§. About what time? Tell as nearly as you can.
A. In the winter of 1877.

"Q. Mr. Pelton remained in your house during that
time until July, after the publication of the Oregon de
spatches? A. He did.

"<J. Mr. Manton Marble occupied confidential relations
with you, did he? A. He occupied relations with me
which to a certain extent were confidential.

"§. He stopped to bid you good-by before he started

196 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

to Florida. Do you remember that interview? A. I
recollect seeing him before he went to Florida.

"§. What transpired at that interview ? A. Nothing
more than leave-taking. I gave him no instructions as to
what he should do, — no suggestions.

"Q. You say you did not keep a very close run, and
did not pay much attention to what the visiting statesmen
were doing there, if I understand you right, in South
Carolina and Florida. Do I? A. Yes.

"§. Did you have any purpose in not doing that? A.
I had not ; I supposed they had been selected by the com
mittee of the Democratic party to do a particular duty, and
were competent to do it, and I did not undertake to super
vise or direct them. I did not give any human being any
advice or instructions in that connection. •

"§. Did Mr. Edward Cooper, when he told you of that
South Carolina proposition, inform you that he had given
your nephew any encouragement that he would furnish the
money? A. He did not.

"§. Did he make any suggestion of any kind which
conveyed that idea in any way to your mind? A. He
did not. As I before said, the conversation was very brief.
It opened by a mere statement of facts, and I responded so
quickly that there was no chance for any discussion. I was
irritated at the idea of Pelton mixing himself up in any
such transaction. If I had felt disposed to engage in such
a transaction, Pelton would have been the last man in the
United States that I would have commissioned to have any
thing to do with it, or allowed to have anything to do with
it. I considered his interference to be a piece of officious
meddling.

"§. You published a card on or about October 18, relat
ing to these despatches, did you not? A. I did.

" Q. In that card you made no allusion to these particu
lars of your knowledge of the transaction which failed at
Baltimore, did you? A. I did not.

"§. Why not? A. There was no occasion to do it.

" Q. I ask the question — why you did not state in this
card of explanation to the public, the particulars that you
did know of this Baltimore transaction? A. Because it
was not pertinent to what I was stating.

"§. In one paragraph in the letter you say, f I have no
knowledge of the existence of these telegrams, nor any

TILDEN'S TESTIMONY 197

information about them, except what has been derived from
or since the publications of the "Tribune."5 A. That is
true.

"§. Yes, sir; but were you not aware at the time that
that would convey, and did you not intend it to convey, the
impression to the public that you knew nothing about these
transactions until the publication of the despatches in the
'Tribune' ? A. I did not intend to convey anything of
the kind.

"Q. Do not you see that it does convey that? A. No; I
do not.

"§. I mean to a reader who does not know as much as
you do? A. Read the phraseology, and you will find it as
I say.

"(^. 'I have no knowledge of the existence of these
telegrams, nor any information about them, except what
has been derived from or since the publications of the
" Tribune." ' That is literally true, you say ? A . Certainly.

"Q. You say it is literally true ; but don't you see that it
conveys, and did you not intend it to convey, to the public,
at the time, the impression that you knew absolutely noth
ing about the transactions themselves? A. No ; I did not.

" Q. You at least concealed the fact, or at least you did not
make public the fact, that you had information with regard
to the transactions themselves? A. Will you be good
enough to read the next sentence ?

"Q. ' So much of these telegrams generally' — but then
you proceed to speak of Florida ; I am confining myself to
the South Carolina ones. You can see the letter; I want
to be perfectly frank with you. A. You will observe that
the two States of Florida and South Carolina are treated
separately in this publication . The paragraph immediately
following deals in detail with South Carolina.

"§. Oh, no; it deals with the Board of Canvassers of
Florida. A. No; it deals with South Carolina.

"§. It does in the copy I have. A. Read the next para
graph under * secondly.'

"§. Very well, I will call your attention to that. You
say : ' Secondly, as to the publications in the " Tribune "
purporting to be translations of cipher telegrams relating
to the canvass of votes in South Carolina, I can speak of
them no less definitely and positively. None of such tele
grams, either in cipher or translated, was ever shown to me,

198 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

or its contents made known to me.' There you confine
your denial that you knew anything about it to the tele
grams, and do not deny the fact that you knew of the
transaction. A. Well?

"$. Well, now, does it not strike you, and did it not at
the time, that that was calculated to convey to the public
the impression that you not only knew nothing of the tele
grams, and their contents as such, but also that you knew
nothing of the transaction ? A.. No.

"§. Will you look at it and see if that would not l)e the
natural conclusion from that? A. The question was what I
knew about these telegrams. I knew nothing about them.

"§. Was not the ultimate question what you knew about
the transaction ? A. That was a separate question.

"(J). Was not that the question which you were replying
to before the public ? A. I will deal with that in a moment.
If you observe, my language is different in the case of South
Carolina, and of Florida.

"§. But it is a difference that one would not notice until
after this discussion ? A. I cannot help your understanding
of the language. The language is used with perfect accu
racy and perfect truth. The proposition was this : I could
not say I knew nothing about any negotiation in South
Carolina, for I knew a very little. I knew nothing that
was contained in any of these telegrams ; I knew no details
of any of these negotiations ; but I did know there had
been an offer, and I knew the offer had been refused
through my intervention. That is all I knew. I did not
know that there had been any further negotiations than to
receive the offer and finally to refuse it. I did not know
that there had been any offer in Florida ; so the language of
the statement had to be different.

"§. That is, you were avoiding a misstatement on
account of certain facts which you knew, and which at the
same time you knew the public did not know. Isn't that
true? A. Certainly.

f(Q. And so you made your denial in such shape and
form that it would avoid this fact when it became known,
did you? A. I made my denial —

*Q. (Interrupting.) Consistent with this fact when it
should become known? A. Strictly consistent with the
truth.

"§. But you say, 'No one of such telegrams, either in

TILDEN'S TESTIMONY 199

cipher or translated, was ever shown to me, or its contents
made known to me.' Were you not conscious, then, at
that time, that that matter which you were explaining to
the public was not the telegrams after all, but the negotia
tions? A. I cover that in my next sentence.

"Q. But you don't cover it in this? A. I did not do
everything in one sentence. Be good enough to read the
next sentence.

"§. Yes, I am very familiar with it. Why did not you,
Governor Tilden, when you came to make this answer to
the public, say frankly that you knew of the transaction,
so far as you did know of it, and that you then stamped it
out instead of using language which, as you see, might con
vey to the public the impression that you not only knew
nothing about the telegrams, but nothing about the trans
action itself? A. I do not see anything of the kind. On
the contrary, any intelligent man who understands the
English language would understand that.

" Q. In the light of the present testimony, do you mean ?
A. Without reference to that.

"Q. Would anybody infer from this letter that you had
any information with regard to the transaction at all? A.
No man would infer that I had no knowledge of the offers.
There might have been a thousand offers made without my
knowledge.

" Q. Did you intend to convey the impression that no
offers had been made to you? A. I did not; I intended to
avoid that assumption.

"§. Then why did you not frankly state what was the
fact? A. Because, if there had been a hundred men talk
ing to me about such transactions, suggesting and advising
them, I was under no obligation, and had no occasion, to
state it to the public.

" Q. But there were not a hundred men ; there was one
particular transaction to which your attention had been di
rected by these ' Tribune ' disclosures. Why did not you
mention that one transaction? If you intended to deal
frankly with the public, why did you not mention that one
transaction ? A. I had not seen any of these parties, and
did not know whether the despatches were true or not. I
did not know anything about them. When I drew this card
I had not seen a human being with regard to them. I had
not seen Mr. Weed ; I had not seen Mr. Pelton. I was

200 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

not going to inculpate them on subjects which I did not
know anything about.

"§. But at that time you did not know that Mr. Pelton
had gone to Baltimore to engage in a transaction of that
kind? A. I did not say that.

"§. Why did you conceal from the public your knowl
edge of that fact? A. I knew only that Mr. Pelton had
gone there to receive a proposition.

"§. Why did you keep that fact from the public? That
would not incriminate anybody except those whom you
knew deserved to be incriminated. A. I did not know
that.

"Q. Why did you not state that? A. It was not neces
sary ; it was not pertinent.

"$. Was it not necessary for the information of the
community? You undertook to inform the community as
to what you knew about this matter. Now, undertaking to
inform them by sitting down and writing that letter on the
subject, how did it happen that you omitted this fact, of
which you knew? That is what I want to get at. A.
Because that fact was not pertinent to my discussion.

"Q. Was it not pertinent to the information which you
were giving to the public as to your knowledge of this sub
ject? A. It was not pertinent to the things I undertook
to state.

"§. That is, among the things you undertook to state
this was not? A. No.

" Q. You say that the transaction of the Board of Caiv
vassers to Florida was mentioned to you casually, as a past
event, accompanied by the statement that the oifer had
been rejected? A. Yes.

"Q. By whom was that made ? A. By Mr. Marble.

"Q. Why did you not, in your card, inform the public
who stated that to you? A. It was not necessary.

"(J). Did the non-necessity of withholding that informa
tion arise from the fact that on the face of those despatches
Mr. Marble was very severely incriminated, and your own
statement that he had mentioned it to you would tend to
confirm the public impression of that transaction? A.
Not in the least; I should not have hesitated to put his
name in.

"Q. You cannot state why you did not ? A. No.

" Q. Why was it omitted ? It looks to me as if it had

TILDEN'S TESTIMONY 201

been studiously omitted. What have you to say with re
gard to that? A. It was not.

"$. You did not keep it out on purpose, or in further
ance of any design that you then had in your own mind ?
A. No.

(fQ. Nor did you keep out this Baltimore transaction
in furtherance of any design that you had in your own
mind? A. The Baltimore transaction stands on a different
basis, and it was not consummated.

"§. That you did intentionally keep out? A. I did not
intentionally keep it out ; I had no intention of putting it in.

"§. Did you not very carefully draw these sentences
so as to avoid coming in conflict with that fact after it came
out, if it should come out? A. No; I drew these sen
tences very carefully so as to conform to the exact truth.

"§. Not only to the exact truth so far as the public
knew it, but also to the exact truth as far as you knew it?
A. Yes.

"§. Did you have any interview with Mr. Weed before
he left for South Carolina? A. I did not; I never saw
him after the election until after he got back from South
Carolina.

"§. Do you remember having an interview with him at
any bank? A. I do not.

"§. Nor any conversation with him at any bank? A.
I do not.

"§. Do you recollect the bank that was named in con
nection with the Oregon affair? A. The Third National?

" Q. I think that is it ; Mr. Jordan's bank ; the bank that
kindly advanced, on the suggestion of Colonel Pelton, or
of somebody else, eight thousand dollars for legitimate
legal expenses in Oregon. Did you have an interview
with him at that bank ? A. I do not think I did ; I do
not remember any.

*(Q. Can you tell us whether you did or did not?
A. You mean at what time?

"§. With Mr. Smith Weed, prior to his departure to
Florida, after the election. A. I do not think I did.

"Q. Can you not put it any stronger than that you do
not think you did? A. I do not believe that I did.

"Q. Don't you know whether you did or not? Be
frank with us. A. I am perfectly frank with you, sir; I
have no recollection or belief of any such interview.

202 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE 'N

"§. Did you ever see him there? A. I do not recol
lect ; I may have seen him there.

"§. Do I understand you to say that you have no recol
lection, distinct and positive, of meeting him there at any
time ? A. I do not remember meeting him there at any
particular time.

"Q. Do you remember meeting him there at all, at any
time? A. I have no distinct recollection of it, though
very possibly I may have met him there at some time.

"§. Did you not have a long conversation with him prior
to his departure for Florida, at the Third National Bank?
A. Florida?

"Q. North Carolina or South Carolina? A. I don't
think I did.

"§. Can you not state it any more positively than that?
A. I feel sure that I did not see him at all.

" Q. You feel sure that you did not see him and did not
have the conversation with him to which I alluded? A.
Yes.

" Q. Did I understand you to say that as to Florida you
did not know that there had been an offer? A. Until
after the Gth of December.

" Q. About what time was it that Mr. Marble communi
cated this fact to you? A. I cannot state definitely.

"Q. But I understood you to say that it was before the
publication of his ' Ark and Shekinah ' letter? A. Yes.

"$. Did Mr. Marble consult you with regard to the
publication of that celebrated piece of rhetoric? A. He
probably talked to me on the subject.

"§. Did he read to you any of the sentences in it?
A. I think very likely he may have done so.

"Q. The publication was with your assent? A. Not
with my assent, nor with my disapproval.

"Q. Nor with your disapproval ? A. No.

*Q. Did you make any comments, after your knowledge
of the Baltimore transaction, that it was rather a harsh
sort of letter for him to write? A. I did not.

"Q. Nor any suggestion that there was anything hypo
critical about it? A. No, sir; there was not, so far as I
knew.

"$. You had not then arrived at that full knowledge
which you possess since the publication of the ' Tribune '
despatches? A. No.

UNIVERSITY I

OF J

TILDEN'S TESTIMONY 203

" Mr. HISCOCK. — Do I understand you to say that you
saw the telegram to George W. Smith, dated November 27,
from Tallahassee? A. I do not remember anything about
it.

"§. Have you any doubt that you did see it, it having
been addresed to your private secretary at Gramercy park ?
A. I do not know that any such telegram existed or was
ever received ; I don't remember anything about it.

" Q. Do you remember the contents of it as it has been
read to you here by Mr. Reed? A. I remember seeing it
here.

" Mr. HISCOCK (reading) . — 'It has been suggested from
here to Governor of Oregon to refrain from issuing cer
tificate in favor of ineligible elector until advised thereon.
Why not obtain and telegraph him O'Conor's opinion?
See my despatch to Spain.' Have you no recollections of
seeing that at all? A. I have not; I may have seen it.

*'Q. Have you any doubt that a despatch of that kind,
addressed to your private secretary, was shown to you?
A. I think if he received it he probably showed it to me.

"§. In that despatch occurs this phrase: r See my
despatch to Spain.' If you saw that despatch, would not
the phrase have attracted your attention? A. It might.

"Q. Have you any doubt that it would? A. It may
have done so.

"§. I ask you whether the phrase in that despatch,
' See my despatch to Spain,' would not have attracted
your attention? A. Perhaps it would, and perhaps it
would not.

"Q. You felt intensely interested over the result in
Florida? A. I felt interested, of course ; not intensely.

"Q. You felt interested as a presidential candidate, and
as the representative of your party, did you not? A. I did.

"Q. And you were watching the proceedings in those
States with very great interest? A. I was watching the
proceedings with a certain amount of interest.

"§. Do I infer from that that you were watching the
proceedings with indifference ? A . Not absolute indiffer
ence.

"Q. Did not you keep yourself advised, so far as you
were able, as to the steps that we re being taken there? A.
I did not occupy myself about things which I knew I could
not control.

204 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

"Q. Were you not sufficiently interested to keep your
self advised as to what was going on and the steps that
were being taken there? A. Not very fully.

" Q. If a despatch were shown you containing the phrase,
f See my despatch to Spain,' would not the very language
of the phrase and the words that were employed in con
nection with it, one of them being a cipher word, have
attracted your attention? A. It might have done so.

"Q. And especially a despatch of that kind, coming
from such a discreet, trusted, and influential member of the
party as Manton Marble. Have you any doubt that it
would have attracted you* attention, coming from him?
A. I do not think it at all certain I should have paid much
attention to it.

"Q. Now, preceding that despatch and the one to which
it must refer is this despatch : ' You are imperilling result
here by causing divided counsels and neglecting to answer
telegrams. I advise that you find one person to trust, and
then trust him for at least one calendar week, — possibly
two. I will stand in nobody's way, and do my best to
transfer to him authority. About one hundred majority on
certified copies ; Republicans claim same upon returns.
Rome needless now ; should be recalled.'

" Mr. TILDEN. — Whom does Rome mean ?

" Mr. HISCOCK. — I do not know.

"Mr. TILDEN. — You ought to know.

" Mr. HISCOCK continued reading : r Rome needless now ;
should be recalled. Parris and detectives always useless ;
ditto Woolley, here as in Lousiana a nuisance and imped
iment, trusted by nobody. I decline to commit Tilden with
men so indiscreet. Smith concurs in all aforesaid. Ses
sion begun.'

"Q. Have you any recollection of having ever seen that
despatch? A. I know that I never did.

"§. Have you at anytime during the progress of the
contest in Florida understood that upon certified copies of
the returns the Democrats had, or that you had, one hun
dred majority for your election? A. Ninety-three or
ninety-five.

" Q. Then you did understand at one time that upon cer
tified copies of the returns the Democrats had the majority
on the Tilden electoral ticket of from ninety-three to one
hundred? A. Including Baker county, undoubtedly.

TILDEN'S TESTIMONY 205

"§. Do you know how that information was conveyed
here? A. I do not; I think I saw it in the newspapers.

" Q. Do you mean to say that you had no earlier informa
tion than that which appeared in the newspapers upon that
subject? A. I do not believe that I had.

"§. And this despatch you are entirely confident that
you never saw, although it was a despatch sent to Gramercy
park? A. I know that I never saw it.

"Q. And do you believe that any such despatch as that
was ever received at Gramercy park ? A. I do not.

"(J). And you believe that none of your friends at that
time would have taken the liberty of intercepting any de
spatches which were sent to Gramercy park, and upon a
subject on which you were certainly as vitally interested
as any one else? A. The despatch was not addressed
to me.

"Q. No, it was not addressed to you; but it, or one
other, is the despatch which is referred to in the despatch
of November 27, which was addressed to George W. Smith.
A. I understand that the despatches addressed to Colonel
Pelton, at the house in Gramercy park, were delivered by
the telegraph people, by standing order, at the committee-
rooms.

"§. I understand that either this or a subsequent de
spatch, which I will soon read, is the one referred to in the
phrase, f See my despatch to Spain.' This is the one.
There is a despatch, which I have been calling your atten
tion to, addressed to George W. Smith, which has in it the
phrase, ' See my despatch to Spain.' A. What despatch
is that?

"Q. The one which I have been reading, or one other
which I will read, must be that despatch. I will now read
the second one to which that phrase may refer :

" To COLONEL PELTON, No. 25 Gramercy Park, New York :

"Please yourself about economies suggested; Coyle exceedingly useful
hitherto. You did not answer my inquiry about Parris, and only mention
him at this late date; that promotes unity of action, I suppose. Mention
names of Florida friends when you wish to learn how much weight their
several requests deserve. Fox impedes daily; it is no relief that you
assume responsibility for difficulties he makes. Do not fail to read mes
sage to Smith, 15 and 20 cipher. M. M.

"§. Did you see that despatch ? A. I did not.
"Q. You never saw that despatch? A. No, sir.

206 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

"Q. Then, if I understand you, you took no steps to see
the despatch which is described in this phrase, ' See my
despatch to Spain,' and you have no recollection of its
ever having been shown to you, although the despatch re
ferring to it was directed to your own private secretary?
A. I have no recollection of taking any steps to see any
of these other despatches, if I saw this one.

"Q. How old a person was George W. Smith? A.
About twenty-five or thirty.

"§. You have no idea that he would have taken the
responsibility of intercepting or failing to exhibit to you
any despatch which he received? A. No.

"Q. You have no idea of that kind ? A. No.

"$. You have no idea but that a despatch which was
sent to him in cipher, and which he could not understand,
or which he could not read, if he had procured it to be
translated, that he would have furnished you the transla
tion? A. I should think he would.

"Q. He resides here in New York city at this time, as
I understand? A. Yes ; he was my personal secretary.

"Q. Is he now? A. He is now, at this time.

" Q. Do I understand you to say that the first intimation
that you had of the closeness of the contest in Florida was
through the newspapers? A. I do not remember what
my first information was.

"$. You have no recollection upon that subject? A. I
think if you will look at the newspapers of the same date
as the despatch, you will find the same information. The
newspapers generally get ahead of private despatches.

"Q. I find this despatch sent from New York to both
Colonel Woolley and Mr. Manton Marble, directed to them
both at Tallahassee : f Reported here that board have given
us one vote.' Do you remember hearing that? A. I do
not.

" Q. Do you remember hearing any rumor of that kind ?
A. I do not.

"§. This is a despatch which was sent by Colonel
Pelton to both of these gentlemen as to a rumor which had
reached New York, and which they had received, that your
electoral ticket had received one vote ; and you never
heard that? — that one of your electors was elected? A. I
do not remember ever hearing that.

"§. Do you remember ever having heard it even sug-

TILDEN'S TESTIMONY 207

fested? A. No. You mention Mr. Woolley; I had no
nowledge or information of his having been there.
"Q. I am only examining you now upon the question
of whether so important a fact as that contained in a de
spatch requiring an answer, addressed to two gentlemen in
Florida, that it was rumored here in New York that one of
Mr. Tilden's electors was elected — whether you did not
learn that? A. I think I did not, as far as I remember.

"§. Can you say that you did not learn it, or do you
say that it is very likely that you have forgotten it, if you
did not know it? A. I say that I have not the slightest
recollection of ever hearing it.

"§. There was this despatch, dated December 4, of
which I have only read a part. I will read the whole de
spatch :

" Reported here that board have given us one vote. If so, you will not
need to use acceptance. Advise fully.

You never heard of any such despatch as that having been
sent to these men? A. I never did.

"§. During this canvass, who here in New York did
you understand were in consultation with these gentlemen
in South Carolina and Florida by telegraph? A. I sup
pose the committee or some of their agents.

" Q. Didn't you advise yourself on the subject ? A. I did
not particularly.

"§. Did you not learn the fact — was it not communi
cated to you — who it was at this end of the line that was in
consultation with the gentlemen who were sent to South
Carolina and Florida ? A. I did not consider that anybody
was there especially in consultation.

"§. What Democratic gentlemen were there here in New
York that you understood that the visiting statesmen in
South Carolina and Florida were in communication with ?
A. I assumed that they were in communication with the
National Democratic Committee, or with their subordinates.

"§. That is, you assumed that the Democratic National
Committee, or some members of it, were here in New York,
and in consultation with and being advised of the steps
which were being taken by these gentlemen in South
Carolina? A. I supposed that some consultations and
communications existed ; I did not suppose an extensive
consultation did exist or could exist.

208 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

"Q. Did you understand at any time that legal proceed
ings were being taken in South Carolina to restrain the
Returning Board in South Carolina? A. I did.

f(Q. Who communicated that fact to you? A. I do not
remember.

" Q. Do you remember whether it was communicated in
cipher? A. Not to me in cipher. Nothing was ever com
municated to me in cipher.

" Q. Did you understand during the progress of this can
vass that proceedings were being instituted (and success
fully instituted), restraining the Governor of Florida from
undertaking this canvass ? A. I had general information on
that subject ; I do not know that I had anything more than
I got from the newspapers. That proceeding was not dic
tated from New York, so far as I know; certainly not
by me.

"§. Did you understand that that was advised by the
visiting statesmen to the South, who were in Florida at
that time? A. I think it was very likely done by local
lawyers.

" Q. Did you not understand that there was a strong array
of counsel from the North in the South? A. Yes.

"§. On both sides? A. Yes, sir.

"Q. From whom did you understand that fact? Who
were they? A. I understood that Mr. George W. Biddle,
one of the first lawyers in the United States, was there ; and
Mr. David Sellers, of Philadelphia, Mr. Malcolm Hay,
and others.

" Q. Did you not understand that there was a large array
of counsel from outside of the State who were in charge of
the scheme of procuring returns from the different canvass
ing boards scattered throughout the State of Florida ; and
that there was some confusion existing with reference to
Louisiana and South Carolina ; and that these three Southern
States at that time were supposed to be very poor indeed,
and the Democratic party very poor ; and did you not under
stand that there was somebody here in New York who was
looking after the expenses of the gentlemen who were sent
there, and after the expense of sending out gentlemen to

fet in these returns ? A. I understood nothing about it;
supposed that the committee would take care of their
expenses.

"§. But you did not trouble yourself to inquire what

TILDEN'S TESTIMONY 209

members of the committee, if any, were here ? A. I did
not ; they changed from day to day.

" Q. Did you understand at that time that substantially
the responsible head of the committee — that is, the one
who seemed to act for the committee — was Colonel
Pelton? A. No, I did not, and it was not the fact.

"Q. Is it not the fact that substantially all of the de
spatches which passed between these visiting statesmen in
these several States and New York were addressed to
Colonel Pelton? A. I do not know how that is.

"§. Did you ever investigate that question? A. I
never did.

"Q. So far as Mr. Marble was concerned, instead of
communicating with Mr. Hewitt or Mr. Cooper, he ad
dressed his despatches to Colonel Pelton ? A. Mr. Marble
is one man.

" Q. Did you not understand that all the gentlemen in
Florida addressed their despatches to Colonel I3elton? A.
I never knew to whom they addressed their despatches.

" Q. Did you not understand the fact to be that all the
despatches sent by them from South Carolina were sent to
Colonel Pelton? A. I knew nothing about it until their
publication.

"Q. Does it not strike you now as singular, with the
light you now have, as a remarkable circumstance, that all
of these visiting statesmen held communication with New
York through despatches addressed to Colonel Pelton, and
to him only? A. I do not know that that is the fact.

"$. Do you know that that is not the fact? A. I do
not ; Mr. Hewitt was the chairman of the committee, and
they had an executive committee, and some of the members
of the committee were there almost every day.

"Q. Do you know that fact, or is that simply what you
understood? A. That is simply what I understood.

"§. Did you make inquiry? A. I don't believe I did ;
I think the information came to me casually.

"Q. When Colonel Pelton returned from Baltimore I
suppose that you saw him immediately? A. I saw him
the next day.

"Q. He had been to some extent dependent upon you, I
suppose ; that is, as a member of your family, and to some
extent provided with a position for the support and main
tenance of himself? In other words, you were a patron of

VOL. II.-ll

210 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

his? A. Tosome extent; he had a business of his own,
but was unfortunate in it.

"§. You learned from Mr. Cooper, and you could have
learned from Colonel Pelton, that he had been to Baltimore
for the purpose of consummating a plan for a purchase, by
the action of the Canvassing Board of South Carolina,
which would ensure the election of the Tilden electors in
that State. Did it not occur to you, upon that being com
municated to you, that you ought immediately to find out
in what relation he stood to the Democratic National Ex
ecutive Committee? A. Your question assumes more than
is true. I did not hear that he had gone to consummate
an arrangement ; I only heard that he had gone there to
receive an offer.

"§. Is there any difference between the way that you
state it and the way that I stated it? A. Considerable.

" Q. Would you not infer from his having communicated
to Mr. Edward Cooper that he would probably draw upon
him the next day for from sixty thousand to eighty thou
sand dollars, and that he had gone to Baltimore to meet Mr.
Smith M. Weed and another gentleman, who had come
from South Carolina to meet him there, — would you not
fairly infer from that that he had gone there to consummate
a purchase? A. I did not understand that he said he
would draw.

"§. Did you understand from Mr. Cooper the sum of
money which he stated? A. I presume I did.

"§. Do you recollect the amount? A. I do not know
that I do ; I understood that he had gone there in order to
receive or to look into a proposition.

"§. Now, understanding that he had been indiscreet
enough to go to Baltimore even to look into a proposition
for the sale of the certificate to the electors of that State,
did you not think that you were called upon to ascertain
his relations to the national committee, and to ascertain
how far he was committing that body, and how far he was
committing himself? A. I thought the best way to deal
with such a transaction was to stop it ; not only to have
nothing to do with it myself, but to stop everybody else
from having anything to do with it. I think the same
thing in Florida would have been better than what was
done. I think instead of appointing Mr. Xoyes, who did
not stop it, minister to France, and McLin who did it —

TILDE NrS TESTIMONY 211

"§. Don't let vis go off on to that question. A. Let me
illustrate it. [After a pause.] Mr. Hiscock is evidently
trying to probe and search my moral standard.

" Q. No, I am not addressing myself to that at all ; I am
only investigating the relations which existed between you
and Colonel Pelton, so far as you were committed by his
action. A. The object is to impute to me some failure of
duty. If I answer that question, I propose to answer it
fully ; I propose to raise the standard as high as I can, and
we will see whether the other gentlemen adopt it.

"§. It seems to me that, in this examination, the true
way to answer a question is to answer it, so far as you can,
directly, and not to seek to answer it by assailing any ono
else. A. I do not desire to assail anybody; but when a
sublimated standard of morals is set up, I propose to
analyze it, and to see whether the party that set it up stands
up to it.

"§. Well, now I will call your attention to another an
swer you have made here. You have said that if you had
entertained any idea — I am giving your idea as conveyed
by your answer, and not your words — that if you had con
ceived the idea of influencing these boards venally, or by
venal considerations, the last person in the world that you
would have chosen for that mission would have been
Colonel Pelton. Xow I ask you to bear that answer in
your mind for a moment, and then to state why, after you
learned of his visit to Baltimore, you did not deem it
proper, and perhaps your duty, to call the attention of Mr.
Edward Cooper or of Mr. Hewitt (both of them distin
guished and very able men) to the fact that they must take
charge of this matter ; that Colonel Pelton must be left out
of the correspondence ; and that they must give it their
personal attention, lest you and the Democratic party
should be embarrassed, and perhaps scandalized, by the
action of Colonel Pelton. A. In the first place, I supposed
that those gentlemen were giving it their personal attention.
Those gentlemen had the real power, and Pelton had not ;
they Avere able to supervise and control it whenever they
chose. Mr. Cooper, in particular, had custody of the
money, without which Pelton could not involve the com
mittee in the expenditure of a cent. In the next place, Mr.
Cooper was the gentleman from whom I derived my in
formation of what was done in Baltimore, and from him

212 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

exclusively. Mr. Hewitt was his brother-in-law. I did not
think that they needed any warning on the subject. In the
third place, I regarded the Baltimore thing as very foolish
and very wrong, but still as an inchoate transaction. By
my intervention it was stopped while there was a locus
pemtenlice. Now, the civil law does not recognize purposes
until they embody themselves in action ; the church pun
ishes those purposes merely as sinful thoughts. Pelton
had not, so far as I knew, done anything except to receive
a proposition from a set of Republican electors to sell the
certificates. There was no consummation of the plan ; the
thing perished in embryo ; and it did not strike me as being
of such enormous importance as it would, had there been
any possibility of the thing succeeding, or of any similar
transaction succeeding. I say this without meaning in the
least to excuse Pelton. for I do not mean to excuse him.
The atmosphere at that time was filled with rumors and as
sertions of the venality and fraud of these returning boards
in those three States and of their offers. I declare before
God and my country that it is my entire belief that the votes
and certificates of Florida and Louisiana were bought, and
that the presidency was controlled by their purchase.
Pelton, seeing that condition of things, committed a fault;
he committed an error ; he committed a wrong ; he adopted
the idea that it was justifiable to fight fire with fire ; he
adopted the idea, when he saw the presidency being taken
away from the man who had been elected by the people and
according to the law and the fact, that it was legitimate to
defeat the crime by the means he took ; he was inexcusable.

" I adopted an entirely different system — an entirely dif
ferent code of ethics. I scorned to defend my righteous
title by such means as were employed to acquire a felonious
possession.

" Pelton did not act rightly. He may be tried ; he may
be condemned ; public opinion may punish him. At the
same time, even that fault is to be judged of according to
the facts, according to the times, according to what was
being done and what was done. His act was an inchoate
offence. On the other side, the act that was done was a
completed and consummated offence ; it built up a posses
sion of the presidency of the United States in the man who
was not elected. And the representatives and champions
of that condition of things are the men whose consciences

TILDEN'S TESTIMONY 213

are troubled with the inchoate wrong-doing of Pelton, which
I stopped and crushed out in the bud !

" Q. Now, Governor, you will state upon what informa
tion you based that belief; and in giving your information
you will please give the name of the party communicating
it to you. A. I have no private information on the sub
ject; I believe it on evidence before this committee, which
is accessible to the public.

"Q. Do you mean to say that there is any evidence
before this committee that either of these returning boards

G

was bought? A. I think so.

*'Q. Will you do me the kindness to point out the wit
nesses who testified to it, and the evidence to that effect?
A. McLin testified that he held the casting vote of the
State of Florida ; he testified that he gave a false certificate,
contrary to fact, and contrary to law. The whole matter is
in a nutshell and easily discovered.

" Q. You are mistaken ; McLin has sworn to nothing of
the kind. A. I think I am not mistaken. McLin said
further that his mind was probably influenced by the
promise of office. He was immediately afterward appointed
to a judgeship in New Mexico ; and Mr. Noyes, who was
down there, but did not stop the transaction, was appointed
minister to Paris.

"§. Are you entirely clear that McLin swore that he was
influenced by the hope of being appointed to office? A. I
think he said so.

" Q. Do you swear that he said so ? A. I swear that it is
my recollection that he substantially said so. Have you the
record? — that will show. [The committee refer to the
record.] Now, gentlemen, I believe that I am competent
to be the custodian of my own honor. I do not think that
my virtue is of so delicate a texture that it needs that I
should practise any brutality toward anybody. I may err
in judgment or in conduct ; but I think that in all my deal
ings with Mr. Pelton I have been able, and shall be able, to
do about what is right, — to protect everybody from any
wrong so far as I have any control ; and at the same time to
be just. You have been pursuing a course of examination,
the object of which was to ascribe to me some failure of
duty, and you have intruded yourself into my domestic
and family relations.

"Q. If you had any information at that time that either

214 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

the Returning Board of South Carolina or the Returning
Board of Florida was being corrupted by the Republicans,
or being influenced in their official action by venal consider
ations, you will state from whom you received that infor
mation. A. I had no personal information.

" Q. You cannot give me the name of any man ? A. No ;
I stated my belief, and I state it on evidence ; that, in my
judgment, would convict anybody before a common jury.

"Q. You state it upon evidence, as I understand you,
that would convict any one before a common jury. Will
you give me now again the name of the person who con
veyed that evidence to you? A. The evidence is public.

"§. Oh, it is public ! Then you mean to say that you
have made that serious charge against these returning
boards upon what you saw in the papers and upon public
rumor? A. No, not upon public rumor.

"$. Upon what you saw in the papers? A. I make
that charge upon the fact and evidence before your com
mittee and other committees.

"Q. Now I ask you again to give me any evidence which
you had that those boards were being corrupted by the
Republicans, outside of rumors that you heard on the
street or assertions which you saw in the newspapers? A.
Those two boards did not act until two weeks afterward.

"$. No, they did not; but I said about the time. A.
They had not made their decision or given their cer
tificate.

" Q. Very well ; I will accept that as the fact. I will make
my question more specific than that. Up to the time of the
final announcement of the decision by those two boards re
spectively, please communicate to this board any evidence
which you have that they were corruptly influenced by
Republicans, besides the rumors which you heard in the
streets and the facts which you saw alleged in the news-

«/ O

papers. A. You will find in the Field committee —

"Q. I am not speaking of that time ; I am not speaking
of so late a period as the Field committee. I am limiting
you to the time of their final action. A. That is, up to the
6th of December?

"Q. Yes; we are not after any congressional investiga
tion. That will speak for itself. A. I have no proof up
to that time.

"Q. You have no evidence up to December 6, 1876.

TILDE NrS TESTIMONY 215

Have you any evidence except what you saw in the news
papers ? Did you see any evidence except what you saw
in the newspapers? A. I did not personally.

" Q. Do you know of anybody who did have at that time
any evidence ? and if so, give his name. A. The testi
mony before the Field committee discloses.

"§. So that all that you know of it you subsequently
learned by the investigation before the Field committee?
Then, as I understand it, at the time when Colonel Pclton
went to Baltimore for the purpose of hearing a proposition
on the part of the Returning Board of South Carolina to
sell themselves or to give a certificate to the Tilden elec
tors of that State, — up to that time you had no informa
tion except the rumors which you saw in the newspapers
that they were being venally influenced by Republicans?
A. I had no proof.

" Q. You had no evidence except what you saw in the
newspapers ? — that is my question. Did you have anything
except what you saw in the newspapers? A. Up to the
6th of December?

"Mr. HISCOCK. — Yes, sir. A. I do not think that I
had.

"§. Then you had nothing except newspaper reports at
the time when Mr. Pelt on went there for that purpose ?
Then in your mind you must withdraw, as a justification
for Pelton's conduct at that time, the statement that he was
ransoming goods from thieves, or that he was fighting fire
with fire? A. I did not say that he was justified, but that
he thought he was.

"§. And that was predicated upon rumors in the news
papers? A. He was perhaps acting upon a belief in his
own mind which subsequently proved to be true. I did
not say that I defended his position.

" Q. I did not understand you to say that you defended
his position, but I understood in part your answer to be an
apology for his position? A. No; an alleviation.

" Mr. HISCOCK. — My word was f apology.'

" Mr. HUNTOX. — The only difference about that is that
he is testifying and you are not.

"The WITNESS (continuing). — The danger of tolerat
ing a wrong on either side is its tendency to grow. One
man does a thing because another man does it. By action
and reaction abuses and wrongs grow until they become a

216 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

common practice. That was one of the reasons that im
pelled me to put my foot down against every approach to
anything of this kind.

"Mr. HISCOCK. — Now I desire to call your attention to
one other despatch in this case, which came from Mr.
Marble. It is on page 17, No. 34, addressed to Colonel
Pelton, No. 15 Gramercy park.

" Woolley asks me to say, Let forces be got together immediately, in
readiness for contingencies either here or in Louisiana. Why do you not
answer?

Did you ever see that despatch before it was published ?
A. I never did.

"§. Of that you are clear ? A. Positive.

"Q. If you had seen it, the phrase f let forces be got
together immediately for contingencies either here or in
Louisiana ' would have attracted your attention? A. It
might have done so.

"§. Have you any doubt that it would? A. I do not
now understand what it means.

"$. I will ask you this question in that connection, —
If you know or have heard that about that time any con
siderable sum of money was raised by anybody connected
with the National Democratic Committee? A. I have not.

"§. Have you known, or have you learned since, that
at any time after the election any considerable sum of
money was raised by any Democratic parties here in the
city of New York or elsewhere which might be used in
those States for political purposes? A. Of that I have no
personal knowledge.

"§. Have you ever heard so? A. I cannot say that I
have.

"Q. Has any communication of that kind been made to'
you ever, — that any considerable sum of money was raised
by Democratic parties which might be used for political
purposes ? I am now speaking of the time after the election
was over.

"Mr. SPRINGER. — Are you referring to the despatches
developed in the f Tribune ' ?

"Mr. HISCOCK. — I have said distinctly, after the election
was over. A. I cannot undertake to say, because the com
mittee may have been in debt.

" Q. I speak with reference to money which was raised

TILDEN'S TESTIMONY 217

by any one. A. I think the committee was pretty largely
in debt.

" Q. You think it was in debt ? Is that what I under
stand you to say ? A. Yes ; I think it was more or less in
debt for a year.

"Q. My question was, whether you knew of any moneys
having been raised which might have been used in those
States"? A. I do not.

"§. Or of any moneys having been raised during the
period of time when this correspondence was going on?
A. I cannot say whether that was so or not; I cannot tell
you.

" Q. Does that mean to imply that you have heard some
thing of the kind? A. It means I did not keep track of
the committee.

"Q. Will you be kind enough to look on page 28 of the
* Tribune ' Extra, No. 44? The last telegram here you will
see is from f Denmark ' [Pelton] to Smith Weed :

" Last telegram here. There is undoubtedly good ground, upon which
favorable decision could be had; but to be consistent and sustainable, it
would and should involve electing Hampton, or else it would be involved in
inconsistencies impossible to sustain.

M. Well?

"Q. Did you ever see that telegram? A. I never did.

" Q. That sentence that I have read to you is rather in
the nature of a legal opinion, is it not ? A. It appears to be.

nQ. Did you ever communicate that legal opinion to
Colonel Pelton? A. I don't think I did.

w Q. Do you not think you did ? Is that as strong as you
want to put it ? I call your attention to the fact that you
simply say, ' I don't think I did.' A. I have no recollec
tion or belief that I did.

" Q. Do you know with whom Colonel Pelton did advise
as to legal questions of that sort? A. I do not.

w Q. Did he ever advise with you as to these legal ques
tions? A. I have no recollection of his ever doing it.

"Q. You knew all this time that Colonel Pelton was in
direct communication with these gentlemen, did you not?
A. What time? What gentlemen ?

"Q. At the time with these gentlemen in Florida and
South Carolina. A. I do not think that I knew he was in
any special communication with them.

218 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

"Q. Did you not know he was receiving numerous tele
grams from the visiting statesmen? A. I did not.

"Q. Not when he was living at your house, and they are
directed to your house? A. They were not directed to my
house ; no, sir.

"Q. They were directed to your house. A. No, sir;
only the fifteen Florida ones.

" Q. Did you not know that others were sent there ? A.
Sent where?

"§. Sent to your house ? A. I do not think they were
ever sent there.

"Q. What makes you think they were not ? A. I think
I should have heard of it if they had been. I have already
told you those telegrams were not delivered to my house,
according to the best of my knowledge and belief.

nQ. How do you know? A. I live there, and it would
sometimes happen that a telegram would have come within
my knowledge.

" Q. But none of them ever did ? A. None of them ever
did, so far as I recollect or believe.

"Q. Does it not impair your certainty on that subject
that you cannot tell whether or not certain telegrams were
received by your private secretary which obviously came
there ? Might not you have had a similar lapse of mem
ory as to these as to those directed to your private secre
tary? A. It might have been so as to one telegram; but
I do not think a large number of telegrams could have come
there without my knowing it.

"Q. What were Colonel Pelton's hours? What time did
he spend at your house? A. He generally came in after I
was abed and asleep, and generally went out before seeing
me in the morning.

"Q. Generally before ? A. Not always before.

"Q. Late to bed, and early to rise? A. Not always be
fore ; he was hardly ever at breakfast.

" Question by Mr. REED. — I will ask one other question :
Did there a great many telegrams come to your house,
Governor Tilden? A. I cannot say.

"§. Did a great many telegrams come to your house at
Gramercy park during these days? A. My impression
would be there were not a great many.

"§. Do not you know there were a great many messen
gers arriving constantly from the Western Union Company

TILDEN' S TESTIMONY 219

at your house? A. I cannot remember. My impression
is there did not a great many arrive. Messages to me
would generally come there ; messages to Pelton were not
delivered there, but went to the national committee room.
Of course I cannot undertake to say none came to him
there. I should think on election night there came a good
many.

" Mr. HUNTON. — I should like to ask Governor Tilden a
question. Telegram 34, on page 17, purports to be from
Marble to Colonel Pelton. According to the f Tribune'
translation this telegram is :

lt Woolley asks me to say, Let forces be got together immediately in
readiness for contingencies either here or Louisiana. Why do you not
answer?

" MARBLE.

" Do you know of any forces, in the sense of military
forces or otherwise, that were being used, or that were
ready to be used, or that there was any intention at that
time to use? A. No, sir; I do not.

"§. You knew nothing about forces in that sense? A.
No, sir; I thought it meant influence, friends.

" Q. You state your belief that the returning boards in
one or more States were purchased. You had information
that led you to believe, and if true would convince you,
that at least one of those boards offered itself for sale to
the Democratic side. A. It was not sold to the Demo
cratic side ; and is not the conclusion legitimate and proper
that if not purchased by one side it was by the other ?

" Mr. REED. — Oh ! oh ! oh ! Ill ask for the ruling of the
chairman on that question.

"Mr. TILDEN. — That is a matter of logic.

" The CHAIRMAN (laughingly to Mr. Reed) . — Do you
expect the Chair to rule out a question he has himself
asked ?

"Mr. REED. — Yes, sir; that one, with confidence.

" The CHAIRMAN. — Well, he said it is a question of logic ;
and as that is not a matter of investigation, I will rule out
both question and answer. That is all, Governor Tilden."

At the conclusion of Mr. Tilden's examination, the com
mittee went into executive session, when they decided to
adjourn and return that evening to Washington.

220 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

This proved to be practically the end of the cipher de
spatch explosion. The men who plotted it had succeeded
in disturbing the peace and domestic relations of an infirm
old man for several months ; they had sent forth reports
vitally compromising the private as well as public character
of the most eminent statesman of the country, which reports
would leave their impression upon the minds of millions,
of whom the evidence of his innocence would reach only
thousands and an impartial posterity, to whose judgment,
however, they were indifferent. Their object was accom
plished. They had impaired Mr. Tilden's health ; they had
persuaded many that he was as unscrupulous in his political
methods as Mr. Hayes had been, and to that extent fancied
they had rendered him less formidable as a candidate for
the presidency.

Dante, who had been one of the priori or six first men
of Florence, was summoned to answer a malicious charge
of peculation ; he was not allowed sufficient time to ap
pear and defend himself; was condemned, as contumacious,
to a heavy fine, and banished forever from his native city
upon which he had conferred its greatest glory. In such
company political persecution confers distinction.

I will venture to close what it has seemed proper for me
to say of this barbarous effort to degrade Mr. Tilden in
the estimation of the world, with an entry made in my
diary on Thursday the 13th of February, and four days after
the examination of the Fifth-avenue hotel.

" Went around yesterday to Tilden's and found him in a
state of unusual irritability. He had heard that Ellis, the
president of the Third National Bank, had said that Tilden
and Smith Weed passed an hour in close conversation at
their bank between ten and one o'clock of the day previous
to Weed's departure for the South. This, if true, would
convict both Tilden and Weed of perjury, for both had
sworn that they did not see each other between the day be
fore the election and some time after Weed's return from
the South. Weed was sent for, and this morning I met

PENALTIES OF ANTAGONIZING RINGS 221

him there. Meantime the papers of the day in question
were looked over and both the ' World ' and ' Herald ' show
that Tilden did not go down town that day, by accounting
for all his time elsewhere. Weed also has documents to
show that it was impossible for Ellis to be correct. After
getting these proofs arranged and the papers marked,
Tilden got into his coupe and went down to the bank. He
returned about 4.30 P.M. to get me to go with him to an
art reception given by the late William H. Vanderbilt, and
on our way told me that if he had been a half-hour later
Ellis would have been gone ; that when shown the papers,
Ellis decided to write Cox that he had been mistaken, and
that he had since been satisfied that neither Mr. Tilden nor
Mr. Weed were in the bank that day. Tilden saw that
letter and then came off.

"It is curious what devices are resorted to, to destroy
this poor man's character. I was thinking this morning
that no one but a man of large fortune ought to think of
running for the presidency as an independent man. Had
Tilden been a man of moderate means he would have
been ruined in character long ago. But for his having
files of all the daily papers for years back, and clerks to
assist in searching them, he would not have been able to
collect the proofs of his whereabouts on the day in question
in time to stop Ellis going on to Washington ; still less the
wider range of proof requisite to undo Ellis' erroneous
testimony after it had been given.

"The whole of Tilden's time, and the services of several
eminent and costly lawyers and a number of clerks, have
been constantly required by him since the election to defend
him against the prosecutions and the persecutions of the
administration. There is no prominent candidate for the
presidency at present, nor ever was there one, whose in
come is or ever was sufficient to provide for these expenses
alone.

"The men who will 'run with the machine,' who will
form combinations with rings and treat with the baser ele
ments of society, have no such friction to contend with.
Those baser elements stand ready to provide all the means
necessary for their instruments. But when a man antago
nizes rings, refuses to make bargains or to give promises,
provokes the hostility of all the selfish interests which
thrive under a corrupt government only, he has to contend

222 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

with an amount of feebleness and acquiescence on the part
of the class who profess to desire good government and a
hostility from those who prefer a bad one, which will crush
any one who cannot at a moment's notice put his hand upon
almost unlimited resources."

Early in 1877 a report was put into circulation in
Washington that Mr. Tilden or his friends had been ne-

O

gotiating for the exemption of his bank account from
inspection by the Investigating Committee of Congress.
Justly indignant at such an imputation, he addressed the
following letter to Senator Kernan, the last sentence of
which betrays the perfidious origin of the report :

GOVERNOR TILDEN TO SENATOR KERNAN.

"NEW YORK, Feb. 21, 1877.
"THE HON. FRANCIS KERNAN, Washington, D.C.:

"A telegram to the Associated Press, published this
morning, states that a harmonious agreement has been
brought about between the Senate committee, of which you
are a member, and a committee of the House, by which it
has been decided not to go into an examination of my bank
account on the one hand, or the accounts of the chairman
of the Republican National Committee on the other hand.

" I repudiate any such agreement, and disclaim any such
immunity, protection, or benefit from it. I reject the
utterly false imputation that my private bank account con
tains anything whatever that needs to be concealed. Under
the pretence of looking for a payment in December, the
demand was for all payments after May and all deposits
during nine months.

" The bank was repeatedly menaced with the removal of
its officers and books to Washington.

"A transcript of entries of private business, trusts, and
charities, containing everything but wThat the committee
was commissioned to investigate, but nothing which it was
commissioned to investigate, because nothing of that sort
existed, has been taken, with my knowledge, to Washington.
Of course there is no item in it relating to anything in

TILDEN TO KERNAN 223

Oregon, for I never made, authorized, or knew of any ex
penditure in relation to the election in that State or the
resulting controversies, or any promise or obligation on the
subject.

" Mr. Ellis, the acting president of the bank, himself a
Republican, some time ago told the chairman of the com
mittee and several of its members, that there is nothing in
the account capable of furthering any just object of the
investigation. I am also informed that a resolution was
passed to summon me as a witness, but have received no
subpoena. 1 had written before this telegram appeared, re
questing you to say to the committee that it would be more
agreeable to me not to visit Washington if the committee
would send a sub-committee or hold a session here, but
that otherwise I should attend under the subpoena. As to
this arrangement now reported, I have only to say that I can
accept decorum and decency, but not a fictitious equivalent
for a mantle of secrecy to anybody else.

"S. J. TILDEN."

CHAPTER VII

Income-tax returns — New persecutions by the administration — The capit
ulation of the administration — The ignominious end of seven years'
persecution — Letters of Edwards Pierrepont, special counsel for the
government; S. L. Woodford, United States District Attorney; Green
13. Raum, United States Commissioner of Internal Revenue; Charles J.
Folger, Secretary of the Treasury; and Benjamin H. Brewster, Attorney-
General of the United States.

THE INCOME-TAX SUIT.

THE administration at Washington, not content with
violating the sanctity of private correspondence for material
with which to discredit the candidate of the Democratic
party, did not scruple to avail itself of other resources
exclusively within its own control, and with despotic reck
lessness.

In the latter part of August, 1876, an article appeared
in the "New York Times," the favorite New York organ of
the administration, charging Mr. Tilden with having sworn
to false returns of his income ; and giving various specious
statements of his sources of income purporting to show a
substantial discrepancy between its amount and the amount
which Mr. Tilden returned. The time selected for this
assault betrayed the unworthy motives which inspired it.
It was in the high noon of the presidential canvass, in
which, of course, all of Mr. Tilden's energies were enlisted ;
his brother Moses was lying on what in a week or two
proved to be his death-bed ; Mr. Tilden had not found time
to complete his letter accepting the nomination of the St.
Louis convention, to which his spare moments, usually
taken from hours that should have been given to repose,
were devoted. It was under these peculiarly trying condi-

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 225

tions that he was suddenly and altogether unexpectedly
called upon to review the history of transactions already
fourteen years old, of which he had preserved scarcely a
scrap of memoranda. More than six years had elapsed
since he had retired from the active practice of his pro
fession, subsequently to which he had rarely visited his
office even formatters of private concern. Add to all these
embarrassments, the ruthless hand of one of the same cab
inet ministers who subsequently engineered the electoral
frauds in Florida and Louisiana was here visibly directing
the blow that was aimed at his honor through the columns
of the "Times."

Of course such a charge with what appeared to be official
specifications, including a facsimile of Mr. Tilden's income-
tax return, which could only have come from the Depart
ment of the Interior, of which Zachariah Chandler was the
official head, produced a profound sensation throughout the
country. Mr. Tilden's character was of more importance
to him than the presidency, and inconvenient and laborious
as it was, he felt himself compelled to devote several weeks,
with the aid of three or four clerks, to evoke from the
scattered records of the past, evidence of the false and
malicious character of these imputations. With the aid
of Judge Sinnott, who had been his confidential law clerk
during the period covered by the " Times," he prepared a
statement which was published on the 20th of September.
The "Nation" of the 28th of that month summoned up
the whole case, so far as the main charge of making a false
return, perjury, etc., was concerned, in the following
table :

226

THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

"TIMES "CHARGE. TILDEN'S ANSWER.

1. Fee $5,000

2. Fees, etc 2,000

3. Fee 5,000

4. Fee 2,500

5. Fees 4,500

6. Fee 5,000

7. Fee 5,000

8. Fee..

9, Fee..

10. Fees.

11. Fees.

..10,000
..10,000
, .20,000
,.15,000

12. Share of bonds
for services .25,000

13. Salary 1,000

Total.... $108,000

14. "Obviously false"

return for 1863.

15. Omission to make

returns in subse
quent years.

1. No such fee ever received.

2. No such charge ever made.

Work done by another
man.

( No such charge ever
3-6. < made. Services end-

( ed before 186-2.
7. No services in 1862.

10. «• " "

11. Never received; the com

pany not a client of Mr.
Tilden's.

12. No bonds retained for ser

vices in 1862. Services
rendered included in re
turn.

13. Correct except as to date.

14. No answer.

15. Permitted by kn

1-6.

"TIMES" REPLY.

f No proof. Items declared
to have been made up by
affixing to the titles of
" certain instruments "
certain charges " believed
to have been approxi
mately correct." No. 2
" withdrawn."
7. No" proof; defence irrelevant,
because offered by a man
" well disposed to take refuge
in a suggested falsehood."
c Q ( No proof; one item of
°' J- I $10,000 " withdrawn."

10. No proof.

11. No proof; answer admitted to

be conclusive; charge " with
drawn."

12. No proof. Charge " reiterated

with renewed emphasis."

13. No proof. Charge repeated.

Whole answer pronounced
" disingenuous " and " char
acteristic of its author," but
total amount of " true in
come " cut down to $76,000,
or $5,882 less than the amount
originally said to be " fraudu
lently concealed."

14. No proof.

15. No proof of illegality.

For the period subsequent to that covered by this table
the " Times " had charged Mr. Tilden with allowing the in
come-tax assessor to assess his income at less than its value.
The absurdity of this charge leaped to the eyes of every
reader. In the first place, not only in New York, but in
every State of the Union, property is assessed for taxation
by an official assessor, and the taxpayer is never required
to make a statement of the amount or value of his property
except in pleading for a reduction of his assessment. In
the second place, the income-tax law expressly provided
that in case the taxpayer omitted to make a return of his
income, it should be assessed by the assessor. It was so
assessed and paid. The terms of the law had been com
plied with, and, as Mr. Tilden confidently affirmed, he paid
more those years than would have been required had he
made his own returns, which he neglected to do only

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 227

because the difference was not worth the time and trouble
it would have cost him, to apportion to each year the
precise amount saved during that period, in litigations
covering a series of years.

Mr. Tilden's answer effectually disposed, for the time
being, of these charges, which in the somewhat emphatic
language of a journal of the period " can be characterized
in no milder terms than a vicious lie, a base slander, and a
diabolical calumny." The assault had utterly failed of its
purpose so far as any effect upon the election was con
cerned, upon which, if it had any, it seems to have been
a favorable one ; but the extra toil and worry to which it
subjected Mr. Tilden for several weeks during the hottest
season of the year, told seriously upon his health and no
doubt contributed to shorten his days, in that respect
serving the purpose of his tormentors by contributing to
disqualify him for the duties of the chief magistracy four
years later, to which, had his health permitted, he would
unquestionably have been chosen.

Unhappily for Mr. Tilden's peace, he was still too for
midable apolitical force to be neglected. He was regarded
by his party, with practical unanimity, as its inevitable
candidate for the presidency in 1880. Though the assault
upon his character had thus far ignominiously failed, the
resources of the administration's arsenal of defamation had
not yet been exhausted. It had charged Mr. Tilden with
making false returns of his income. He had denied it, and
the public had accepted his denial, but the administration
had prosecuting attorneys and a judiciary all of its own
appointment ; why not institute proceedings for the money
of which it was alleged the government had been defrauded ?
That course would at least vindicate in a measure the part
which the administration had had in promulgating the orig
inal calumnies ; it would keep the question of Mr. Tilden's
innocence measurably open for partisan uses ; it would
worry and wear upon their victim, who had no health to

228 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

spare for litigation ; it would induce some who wished to
be confirmed in their fanatical hostility to the Democratic
party, to believe that where there was so much smoke there
must be some fire, and that by wily procrastination, of
which the law officers of the federal government have
almost unlimited control, the innocence of Mr. Tilden
could not be established until after the suspicions thus
propagated of his guilt might have accomplished their per
fect work. Accordingly a suit was instituted at the instiga
tion of the Hayes government against Mr. Tilden, shortly
after the election in 1876, to establish what subsequently was
admitted to have been a purely imaginary liability for un
paid income tax. The commencement of this suit was duly
heralded through the press. Several months elapsed before
Mr. Tilden was furnished with any statement of the grounds
of the government's claim. No serious attempt was ever
made to bring the case to a hearing, but it was nursed
along to be used as a convenient means of presenting Mr.
Tilden to the country from time to time in the attitude of
a culprit. These knavish tactics were pursued throughout
the term of the Hayes administration. When the suit had
been pending for a year or more the government was
forced to admit that it was not in possession of any evi
dence upon which to sustain its suit, and then had the
effrontery to file a bill of discovery to compel Mr. Tilden
himself to furnish evidence upon which their prosecu
tion could be sustained. To this Mr. Tilden of course
demurred, regarding it as practically an admission that the
government had no cause of action. Judge Blatchford,
who was sometimes a judge and always a politician, decided
against the demurrer.

Pending the litigation over these proceedings, President
Hayes and his associate beneficiaries of the frauds by which
he had been installed in the presidency were dismissed
from the public service, and a new government replaced
them. Meantime Mr. Tilden's health had been steadily

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 229

declining. He had ceased to be regarded as a candidate
for the presidency, and there was no longer, therefore, any
motive, if there had been any disposition on the part of the
new administration, to persecute or defame him. The ques
tion now was how to get rid of the suit without compro
mising those who instituted it. That story may be best
told in the language of the parties who conducted the
retreat. We will commence with the following memoran
dum of facts prepared for the counsel by Mr. Tilden
himself :

TILDEN'S MEMORANDA FOR COUNSEL.

" In compliance with your request a memorandum of
certain facts involved in the income-tax case, discussed in
our recent conversation, is furnished.

" 1. The action against me is, so far as is known or can
be ascertained, the only suit of this nature which has been
instituted and prosecuted.

" The suit against Mr. Hazard was for taxes accruing
during a portion of the period when the income tax ex
isted. The amount claimed was over one hundred and
fifty thousand dollars, and the interest enlarged the claim
to at least two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. In the
settlement, the United States amended its declaration so as
to embrace the whole ten years of the income tax, and to
fix the judgment, including principal and interest, at one
thousand dollars. Judgment was taken by consent, and
the appeal was waived. Mr. Hazard told me that he
settled it because it was cheaper to pay such a judgment
than the cost of counsel fees.

" (See letter of Hon. Charles Bradley, Mr. Hazard's coun
sel, Points for Defendant, page 21.)

rr The allegation on which the United States rely in the
action against me is merely that the assessor did not make
the assessment large enough. That naked proposition is
aided by no other statement whatsoever.

' The claim as stated in the declaration applies equally
in the years in which I made a return and in the years in
which I omitted to make a return. No distinction is inti
mated whether the taxpayer makes a return or leaves the
ascertainment exclusively to the assessor.

230 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

" The consequence is that the pretensions in behalf of the
United States, to review by a court and jury the action of
the assessor, extends to every case in which an assessment
was made during the whole ten years. Mr. Harland, who
is familiar with such subjects, estimates that there were some
four or five millions of assessments. In every one of them,
on the theory of this suit, an action could be brought,
treating the assessment as a nullity, and making a new
assessment by a court and jury.

" As there is no limitation against the United States of
the time for bringing an action, every citizen once liable to
the income tax remains exposed to such an action as long
as he lives, and his property remains subject to it as long
as anything of his estate can be traced.

" Other grave questions arise. For instance, the Statute
of 1864 expressly declares that 'the amount due shall be
a lien in favor of the United States from the time it was
due until paid,' and the lien follows the property into and
through the hands of innocent third persons.

"3. By section 3214 of the United States Eevised
Statutes such an action could not be ' commenced ' unless
the commissioner of internal revenue authorized or sanc
tioned the proceedings.

"The letter of Commissioner Eauni, giving his formal
approval of the action against me, was dated Jan. 25, 1877.
The capias, unaccompanied by any declaration, was issued
elan. 22, 1877, and served on the 27th.

" It is noteworthy in this connection that under date of
Jan. 3, 1877, Commissioner Eauni had addressed to Mark
Bangs, United States District Attorney at Chicago, in
answer to a letter dated October 27th previous, an elabo
rate opinion that the decision of the assessor, 'when an
assessment is in the scope of his jurisdiction, cannot be
questioned collaterally.'

"You will find the whole opinion on pages 17-22 of
Defendant's Points.

"The commissioner thus appears as having authorized
this suit nineteen days after he had given a formal official
opinion that such a suit is not maintainable in law. His
opinion is published in the ' Internal Revenue Record' of
elan. 8, 1877, and was accessible to the district attorney
more than two weeks before the suit was commenced.

" 4. Not only did the district attorney who brought the

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 231

action, and the commissioner of internal revenue who au
thorized the action, know at the time, by such high and, to
them, conclusive authority, that there was no basis in law
for the action, but they were equally destitute of any evi
dence in their possession to constitute a basis of fact on
which to justify the action if it had been maintainable in
law. They had nothing but newspaper fabrications, got up
in August, September, and October, 1876, during the presi
dential canvass, every item of which on being analyzed
fails to be probable cause or was disproved at the time.

" I will not go over these in detail. One illustration will
suffice. The main attack was made on my return for 1862.
The only tangible fact alleged was that in one case I had
collected during that year sums for compensation and dis
bursements which had accrued wholly, or almost wholly,
during previous years beginning as far back as 1857. Now,
I happen to have in my possession the identical copy of
BoutwelFs 'Manual,' used by my managing clerk in making
out the return for 1862, and it contains an express decision
of the commissioner of internal revenue, announced in
May, 1863, that the earnings of a lawyer during the pre
vious years are to be excluded from the return, although
collected during the year for which the return was made.

" Mr. Harland, at the time he put in a plea forming an
issue of law in the case, mentioned to me that Mr. Sherman
said to him that if he had had the management of the
defence, he should have waived the issue of law and gone
to trial, because the district attorney's office had no evidence
to sustain the action.

" 5. The capias was issued by District Attorney Bliss
two days before his successor, District Attorney Woodford,
was sworn in. It was served on the 27th. It claimed the
round and exact sum of one hundred and fifty thousand
dollars as taxes and penalties ; it was unaccompanied by
any declaration specifying details of which the claim was
composed. The complaint was filed on the 14th of April,
or about three months later. It aimed to make up the
gross claim stated in the capias, by alleging an income
sufficient to produce the tax. It alleged $2,703,600 of in
come over and above all on which taxes had been paid, and
over and above all lawful deductions. It distributed this
immense sum over the ten years, except $100,000, which it
claimed for 1861 when there was no tax. It made this

232 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

distribution on conjecture or arbitrarily. To 1865, which
was a year of universal disaster, following the fall of gold
and collapse of values resulting from the close of the war,
and a year in which unquestionably my income was less
than the sum I paid on, it absurdly assigned $333,000 of
the excess of income.

" This immense pretended excess of income is a mere
myth. For 1862 and 1863 I submitted returns. They
were carefully made out by my chief managing clerk, who
was a counsellor-at-law, and the habitual expert of the office
on questions under the revenue laws. He had access to
every source and means of information, and no instructions
except a caution against assuming any doubtful question for
me to verify. He has now no doubt that the returns were
correct, except that they leaned towards the government.
Nor have I.

" In the years when no return was made, I do not feel
responsible for the assessment of the assessor. It is the
universal practice in the State of New York for State,
county, and city taxes to be computed on assessments made
by the public officers on their own information and judg
ment. The citizen has a statutory privilege to interfere for
the purpose of obtaining a reduction of the assessment ; but
never interferes for any other purpose. I never heard it
suggested, even if the assessment were less than the real
value of the subject of taxation (such assessment being
made by the assessor on his own information and judgment
without interference by the taxpayer), that the taxpayer
would be held to be morally culpable. I never heard it
suggested that the State, county, or city could afterwards
sue the taxpayer for a larger sum than that which it had
so assessed and collected by its own officers. The United
States income law expressly provided the alternative for the
taxpayer, if he chose to leave the assessment to the pub
lic officers, and to accept the enhancement of the assess
ment as a consequence of making no return. It was the
policy of the revenue laws to make the discretion of the
assessor supreme and conclusive. Even if returns were
made, the assessor had the power to add to return or to
disregard it, and generally to make his own assessment from
such information as he might choose to rely on, and to be
governed absolutely by his own judgment.

"I discontinued making returns in 1864 because of the

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 233

total impossibility of solving questions of law which they
involved, and at a time when I believed I would pay, and
did pay, under the fiat of the assessor, a larger tax than I
was properly liable to pay.

" In point of fact, however, I generally paid a larger tax
than I ought, and probably did so in every year, unless that
result should be changed by eccentric constructions of the
law.

" It is my belief that during every one of the ten years I
was holding railroad bonds and stocks and other securi
ties, on which the tax was deducted from the interest and
withheld before the income reached me, to so large an
amount that the income thus taxed was a greater sum than
my whole real income from investments.

" In other words, the interest paid out by me was always
larger than the income from that portion of my investments
on which the tax was not collected by the government
through the corporation that issued the securities.

"During the eight years, 1864 to 1871 inclusive, the aver
age amount imposed by the assessor, including his additions
for the omission to return, was about $27,000. I estimate
the aggregate amount of office expenses which come out of
the gross receipts before the net income is ascertained, and
of taxes and interest paid out, which are lawful deductions
from income, could not be less than $30,000 a year. I
estimate that the amount of income on which the tax was
collected through corporations issuing securities ranged
between $20,000 and $100,000, and could not be less on
the average than something between $40,000 and $50,000
a year. That would make the gross receipts over $100,000
a year, and the income-paying tax between $70,000 and
$75,000 a year.

" Growth of values of property not sold, whether real or
personal, is not income. Gains from real estate converted,
unless the real estate has been purchased within two years,
were excluded by statutory definition. Accretions from the
conversions of bonds and stocks, unless they were bought
within the same year, were deemed not to be taxable by the
Supreme Court of the United States in Gray v. Darlington,
15 Wallace. Excluding those three classes alone (and there
are other classes of exemptions from the tax), I believe the
growth of all my property during the eight years did not
make good the actual realized losses incident to the unsound

234 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

finance of the time, and furnished the amount on which I
paid the income tax, less the cost of living.

"The Parthian arrow of the retiring district attorney
was aimed at his successor, and was so understood by Mr.
Woodford. It had the additional purpose of lending an
appearance of reality and consistency to the electioneering
devices used during the canvass of 1876.

" 6. As early as the last of August, 1876, the then dis
trict attorney indulged in an interview menacing the suit,
and later during the canvass he published a report to the
commissioner of internal revenue on the subject. Those
officers freely used and abused their official characters and
official functions to give credit to the electioneering false
hoods of the canvass.

" 7. After the amazing decision of Judge Blatchford was
rendered, — that in every case whatsoever where there was
a return and where there was no return the United States
may at any indefinite time afterwards impeach the quasi
judicial decision of its own assessor, set it aside on the
naked allegation that the assessment was not large enough,
and re-try the questions of the amount of a man's income
by a court and jury, involving countless issues of fact and
of law, — my counsel sought the speediest review of his
decision by the Supreme Court of the United States. The
technical difficulty was interposed that an appeal could not
be had except after a judgment. To obviate that, niy
counsel offered the district attorney to let judgment be
taken on the last count, which was for one hundred thousand
dollars of income that never existed ; providing by stipula
tion that the action might be renewed as to the other counts,
and that the United States might take testimony de bene
esse at its option.

" They were not able to obtain this arrangement or any
arrangement without allowing a judgment to be taken on
an enormous amount of fictitious income. The government
and defendant are therefore brought to confront a hypothet
ical trial in a case where it is believed that there is no legal
ground of action, even if the government could prove its
allegations of fact. That hypothetical trial involves every
transaction during a period often years, every item of in
come, and every item of deduction for expenses, for taxes,
for interest, for losses by bad debts, by bad investments. It
is claimed that such an impalpable element as the increased

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 235

value of the assets of a company which never made a
dividend during the ten years, nor was ever able to make
a dividend during that time, or able to collect enough of its
means to pay its debts till the last year, is to be counted as
income of an individual stockholder, estimating his share in
the ratio of his stock. That item alone would involve all
the transactions of a mining company for eight years. I
mention this as an illustration to what interminable collat
eral inquiries and controversies such a suit so carried on
may lead if the plaintiff chooses to give it that character.

"8. It is impossible to conceive of a case in which every
reasonable consideration is more urgent than in the present,
in favor of settling the questions of law in advance of the
trial of the questions of fact.

"In the first place, it must be admitted that there is an
extreme improbability that the Supreme Court of the United
States would sustain the decision of Judge Blatchford, and
overrule the immense series of cases in the courts of the
United States, of the different States, and of England,
establishing the principle that the quasi judicial decision of
the assessors and similar officers is conclusive. I cannot sup
pose that the attorney-general, still less that such a jurist
as Mr. Evarts, would have any doubt upon the subject.

"In the second place, a rule which subjects every citizen
of the United States liable to the income tax in any one of
the ten years to have his tax reopened by a suit, which
continues that exposure indefinitely, cannot but be con
sidered a question of great public importance to the mass
of taxpayers as well as of great interest to the government.
Such a question ought to be settled at the earliest moment
by the highest tribunal, and put forever at rest. The
offer of my counsel was immediately to carry a judgment
to that tribunal, and to unite with the attorney-general in
an application for an immediate argument, which would no
doubt be granted on motion of the attorney-general. As
the United States were not ready at the December term,
and recently intimated in court that they would probably
not be ready for the February term, no loss of time would
result.

" In the third place, there would be a great convenience to
the United States and the court in avoiding a hypothetical
trial. The case has uniformly been spoken of by the dis
trict attorney and by Judge Choate as 'a long case.' How

236 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

long it will be will depend on the district attorney. It is
quite capable of being ramified to take a whole term or
a great many terms. The pretension was set up by the
Marquette testimony that the defendant's income should
involve, not the dividends declared, not the profits ascer
tained or adjudged by a corporate act, but the unrealized
constructive profits of a company that had at no time been
able to pay dividends. That one item would bring into the
case all the corporate books for eight years, and more is
sues of fact than would be comprised in fifty ordinary law
suits. On such a system, a case which includes all the
transactions of ten years ought to take a lifetime. The
very existence of such a case illustrates the utter absurdity
of the notion that assessment of income is a thing fit to be
done by a court and jury.

"In the fourth place, to insist on a hypothetical trial
because of the technical difficulty of appeal, or to impose
onerous or impracticable conditions not necessary to the
interests of the United States, indicates a purpose to con
duct the suit merely in such a manner as to harass, oppress,
and defame the defendant. The case has been suspended
over the defendant for two years. It is noticed for each
successive term, but the United States is never ready. The
defendant returned from Europe in October, 1877, influ
enced largely by necessity of attending to and the expec
tation of disposing of this case. He will some time or
other Avant to be liberated from the necessity of being in
attendance at each successive term. The expenses and
other burdens of such a controversy, with roaming commis
sions such as those at Boston, Pittsburg, Chicago, and
Marquette, ought not to be imposed upon a citizen unless
the action is sustainable in law.

"9. The attorney-general, in section 362, United States
Revised Statutes, is commanded to exercise a general
superintendence and direction over the district attorney.
The function of the commissioner of internal revenue is
limited to an assent to the bringing of a suit. After the
suit is brought, the power and responsibility belong to the
attorney-general. Nor can it be doubted that all ques
tions as to the legal rights of the government and its
public policy are within the domain of the attorney-general.

" 10. Such a case ought to be acted on with reference to
general considerations of public policy. If the millions of

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 237

cases in which an income tax was paid are all open to
review as a matter of law, and it is wise and right and
conformable to public policy to undertake a revision of
them, there ought to be a systematic inquiry by a competent
machinery applying alike to all citizens. The whole action
of the government ought not to descend into a mere raid
on one citizen."

A few days before the meeting of the first Congress after
the accession of Garfield to the presidency, the following
letter was addressed by Vanderpoel, Green, and Cuining,
of counsel for Mr. Tilden, to the Hon. Edwards Pierrepont,
special counsel of the United States :

VANDERPOEL, GREEN, AND CUMING,
No. 2 WALL STREET,

YORK, Dec. 3, 1881.
" HON. EDWARDS PIERREPONT, Special Counsel:

"Sm: In reference to the case of the United States
against Tilden, while believing that the action must result
unfavorably to the United States, upon the law, if ever the
case can reach the Supreme Court, and upon the facts,
whenever a trial shall be had, I recently expressed to you
my conviction that the United States ought now to be will
ing to discontinue the action on their own motion, but that
I could yet understand that some embarrassment might
exist by reason of expenses for whic%h the United States
may have become liable relating to the future as well as
past conduct of the case.

" I have considered the very great burden to both parties
of a futile trial, in a case which theoretically involves an
inquiry into every transaction of an active professional and
business life, during the ten years, beginning twenty years
ago, — a futile trial which would swamp a court and jury
for an indefinite period, unless the controversy should be
limited by the inability of the United States to produce
evidence except as to a very small fraction of the things
they draw in question by their claims, as asserted in their
complaint.

" I have considered, also, that next month it will be five
years since this action was commenced ; that, as I suppose,

238 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

at no time have the United States been really ready for
trial ; that when the present district attorney inherited
this action, he found in his office no facts or evidence by
which to frame a complaint ; that two years later the United
States, in a bill of discovery, placed on the files of the court
an avowal that they then had no evidence on which they
could safely proceed to trial ; that at the present time, I
believe, the United States have not at all improved their
condition in this respect ; that, nevertheless, the defendant
may be subjected, for years to come, to the necessity of
preparation for each successive term, while totally unable to
obtain a final termination of the trial ; and that the defend
ant has been frequently compelled, at great expense and
inconvenience, to send counsel five hundred or a thousand
or fifteen hundred miles to attend upon fishing excursions
in the form of commissions to take testimony de bene esse,
in which extended investigations have been made into the
affairs of corporations and masses of testimony taken which
the commissioners could not exclude, but which are not
admissible as evidence in the case.

" I have also considered that, notwithstanding the inex
pediency of subjecting either party or the court to the
trouble or costs of a hypothetical trial, in a case in which
there is every probability the Supreme Court will hold
as matter of law that there is no cause of action, every
expedient for first presenting the question of law to that
tribunal has failed ; that, notwithstanding the concurrence
of all the leading cases in England, in the several States
and in the United States, that the quasi judicial judgment
of a taxing officer fixing the amount of the tax is conclusive
upon the government, as well as upon the citizen, and an
elaborate opinion of the commissioner of internal revenue,
dated Jan. 3, 1877, to the same effect, the interlocutory
ruling of the district judge on the demurrer in the case
debars an appeal to the Supreme Court until after final
judgment at the trial ; that, in the ordinary course of things,
it would probably take from three to five years to obtain a
decision of the Supreme Court on the case, — and that
could be obtained only in the contingency that a judgment
should be rendered for the United States.

"Considering all these matters, I repeat the suggestion
made to you that the United States proceed to discontinue
their action, and that they be relieved, by arrangement with

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 239

me, from the expenses, including counsel fees, which the
United States have incurred or become liable for; the
amount of such expenses, whatever they are, cannot but
be small compared with those which each party must here
after incur, if the case goes on.

"Very respectfully yours, etc.,
"(Signed) A. J. VANDERFOEL."

The successive stages of the government's capitulation
will be found set forth with sufficient detail in the several
communications following :

Edwards Pierrepont, Special Counsel for the United
States, to the acting Attorney- General of the United

States.

"To THE HON. SAMUEL F. PHILLIPS, Acting Attorney-
General of the United States:

"In the suit of the United States against Samuel J.
Tilden to recover income tax, I have the honor to report
that after my retainer, on the 8th of March, 1880, 1 devoted
most of my time for an entire month to the investigation
of the statutes, the judicial decisions, the very long dep
ositions, the examination of witnesses, the laws relating
to the admission of evidence in the case, and to very many
consultations with the United States attorney, General
Woodford, and his assistant, Mr. Clarke, aided by Mr.
Arnoux, who is especially retained, and by Mr. Webster, of
the internal revenue service, to whose intelligent activity
and zeal is largely due the discovery of the more valuable
evidence in the case.

" The matter is complicated, and the difficulties of reach
ing a satisfactory conclusion are increased by the great
lapse of time.

"Mr. Tilden's first return is for the year 1862.

" After Mr. Tilden was nominated for the presidency by
the Democratic convention in June, 1876, this action was
commenced. Up to that time no charge had been made by
any officer of the government that the defendant was in
default.

240 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

" The summons was served under the order of the late
district attorney just before he went out of office, and the
suit came by inheritance to General Woodford, the present
district attorney, who prepared the complaint.

:f The complaint contains twelve counts, and demands
judgment against the defendant for $128,442, besides
interest for many years, and costs of the action.

"Prior to my retainer in the case, in March, 1880, the
district attorney, General Woodford, having collected and
examined all the evidence within his reach to warrant him
in proceeding to trial, accordingly filed a very long bill
of discovery against the defendant, as the only means
left by which " sufficient evidence could be obtained.
The bill specifically states that there is not sufficient evi
dence to be had without resort to a bill of discovery.
To this bill a demurrer was interposed, and the ques
tions raised by the demurrer are now pending before the
Supreme Court.

"In the bill filed for discovery, the plaintiff avers that for
the years 1862 and 1863 the defendant made returns of his
income, but that the same were not true returns ; and that
for the years 1864, 1865, 1866, 1867, 1868, 1869, 1870,
and 1871 the defendant neglected to make any returns,
and that in default of such returns the proper officers
' estimated the amount of the defendant's income for said
years, and assessed the tax thereon, together with the addi
tional penalties prescribed by law, ivhich tax, additions, and
penalties so assessed, the defendant paid to the officers
authorized, etc.''

"The Act of 1864, as amended by the Act of March 3,
1865 (13 Statutes at Large, 480), provides, 'That it shall
be the duty of all persons of lawful age to make and render
a list or return of the amount of their income, gains, etc.
. and in case any person shall neglect or refuse to
make and render such list or return, or shall render a false
or fraudulent list or return, it shall be the duty of the
assessor to make such list, according to the best informa
tion he can obtain, by examination o/ such person, and
his books and accounts, or any other evidence, and to add
twenty-five per cent, as a penalty to the amount of the duty
on such list, in all cases of wilful neglect, or refusal to make
and render a list or return ; and in all cases of a false or
fraudulent return, to add one hundred per cent, as a penalty:

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 241

" The penalty for neglect to make returns was increased
to fifty per cent, by the Act of March 2, 1867 (14 U.S.
Statutes at Large, page 479).

" There is no charge that the returns made were false and
fraudulent for the years 1862 and 1863, when under oath
the returns were made, and I find no evidence that they
were not correct ; and if the case rested on those years
alone, I am clearly of opinion that the government would
dismiss the suit. I, therefore, consider the question only
which relate to the years 1864, 1865, 1866, 1867, 1868,
1869, 1870, and 1871, when the plaintiff alleges that the
defendant ' neglected to make returns' and f paid the tax and
penalties prescribed by the statutes.''

" The act above cited prescribes in definite terms f the
duty ' of the citizen relating to returns of income ; and in
case of neglect imposes a penalty, and specifically directs
how the assessor shall make a list for return and imposition
of the penalties.

" The defendant denies all the material allegations con
tained in the various counts of the complaint, and (as a
specimen) adds : ' And for a further and separate defence
to the seventh, eighth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth causes
of action contained in the complaint, the defendant alleges
that he neglected to make a list or return, and that after
said neglect for each of said years the assessor made a list
of defendant's annual income, and did assess the duty
thereon, and did add fifty per cent, as a penalty, all of
which tax and penalties the defendant paid to the col
lector.'

"To these pleas the plaintiff demurred, and Judge
Blatchford, in a very elaborate opinion, sustained the
demurrer, thus holding that the payment of the tax as
sessed, and the penalties imposed, did not discharge
the defendant from further liabilities, notwithstanding
the lapse of time and the absence of any charge that the
assessor had been deceived or misled by any concealment
or other act on the part of the defendant.

" I am not aware that this direct question has ever been
decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, and
until it is thus passed upon, there is likely to be much
difference of opinion as to the law of this case.

" The question will of course arise on the trial, and its
discussion in presence of the jury will (however irregular

VOL. II. - 16

242 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

it may be) tend to bias their minds in favor of the defend
ant, on the ground that when the citizen had paid all the
tax that the law seemed to require, with heavy penalties
for his neglect, added exactly as the statute directed, and
no charge of fraud, deception, or concealment is made, and
the money is received and the receipt given, and years had
been allowed to pass without any suggestion of the assess
ment or penalty being too low, it would not be equitable
or just, so long after the repeal of the law, to impose a new
burden. Of course, as this is a pure question of law, the
jury would have no right to consider it, except as directed
by the court ; but I have had too much experience with
juries not to be aware that they will consider it, and that
it may be an excuse in some of their minds for refusing to
find facts necessary to a recovery by the plaintiff.

" If it be decided that the payment of the tax and penalty
is no bar to the action, then a legal question will arise as
to the burden of the proof.

"As a sample of the counts take the sixth. The com
plaint avers that the defendant in the year 1865 had gains,
profits, and income from various sources, ' amounting to
three hundred and thirty-two thousand dollars, in excess
of the sum of six hundred dollars, and in excess of the
sum which was subject by law to a duty at a lower rate
than ten per centum, and also in excess of the sums wrhich
he was entitled by law to deduct from his said gains,
profits, and income in estimating the amount thereof upon
which he was required by law to pay a duty, and also in
excess of the amount of gains, profits, and income upon
which said defendant paid a duty for said year, and also
over and above the sum paid within said year, by said
defendant, for national, State, county, and municipal taxes
upon his property or other sources of income, and also above
the sum paid by said defendant for the rent of the home
stead used or occupied by himself or his family, and above
losses sustained by the defendant upon sales of real estate
purchased by him within said " year." '

"The defendant takes issue. If the plaintiff must prove
the charge as laid before we can get judgment, then the
chance of success is not encouraging. If we prove that the
income of the defendant for a given year was fifty thousand
dollars, and there rest, and the defendant says nothing, for
what sum can we demand judgment? We sue for a sum

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 243

over and above the statutory deductions, which is all that
the law allows. We should be in difficulty unless the court
held that the burden of proving deductions was thrown
upon the defendant. Would the court so hold after the
taxes and penalties imposed by the proper officers had all
been paid?

"After this great lapse of time there is much difficulty in
getting at such evidence as the court will receive. Every
witness who knows anything of value is unwilling ; some
fear exposure of their own delinquencies, others profess
forgetfulness, and the difficulty in reaching legal and relia
ble testimony is nearly insuperable, and it is quite certain
that the tendency of the jury will be against overhauling
stale claims for taxes when the defendant has paid all that
assessors impose, with heavy penalties added, and especially
as no charge is made of deceptive concealment ; and since
the suit was not commenced, and no fault found until so
many years after, when Mr. Tilden was nominated for
President, political considerations will be likely to enter
into the trial of the cause and may influence the verdict.

" The report of Mr. Webster, an officer of the internal
revenue service, upon whom we rely to furnish the only
valuable evidence, was strongly against risking a trial in
April, 1880, as his report on file shows ; and after a very
careful examination of all the evidence which wre can now
produce, our case is in no respect stronger, but rather
weaker than in 1880.

" The district attorney, General Woodford, in a late
communication to the President, is of opinion, in which I
concur, that the action ought to be dismissed ; which com
munication of the district attorney to the President, and
which is referred to the attorney-general, I ask leave to
make a part of this report.

" We had hoped to elicit very valuable, though most un
willing, testimony from Mr. Lanier, a banker of New York,
and on account of his infirm health we tried repeatedly to
take his testimony conditionally, but we failed by reason
of his feeble condition of health. Last July we obtained
an order for his examination, but he was still too ill to be
examined, and soon after he died. We had expected to
obtain valuable evidence from a cross-examination of the
defendant, but his physical condition makes success in that
way quite improbable.

244 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE 'N

" If the action is to be tried, a laborious preparation is
essential and should begin forthwith. The trial will take
from six weeks to two months and will be attended with
very large expenses to the government. If the case is to
be dismissed, the terms of dismissal will require your con
sideration.

" The defendant offers to reimburse the government its
expenses. It has been suggested that the government
should dismiss the action without costs. I should be of
that mind if convinced that there was no reasonable ground
for commencing it ; but I do not entertain that view.

" I regard this as a case where for various causes we fail
to obtain the legal evidence to maintain the action, and I
think it would be just for the government to exact as a con
dition the payment of expenses incurred.

" In the suit against Hazzard, in Rhode Island, the govern
ment claimed over $150,000, which with interest amounted
to some $250,000. It was settled for just $1,000.

" So far as I can learn, this suit is the only one in the
entire United States which has been prosecuted, except the
Hazzard suit above mentioned.

" My opinion is that the suit ought to be dismissed on
the terms proposed.

"I have the honor to remain, etc.,
" (Signed) EDWARDS PIERREPONT,

" Special Counsel for the United States.

" NOTE : There seems to be evidence that for the year
1868 Mr. Tilden made returns, but neither the complaint,
answer, or the bill of discovery so treat it."

United States District Attorney to the Commissioner of
Internal Revenue.

"OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK.

"NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 1881.
"TiiE HON. GREEN B. RAUM, Commissioner of Internal

Revenue :

" GENERAL : Enclosed please find (1) original proposition
by Mr. Vanderpoel, of counsel for Mr. Tilden, for settle
ment of the income-tax suit against the latter on payment
of the expenses which the United States have incurred or

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 245

become liable for in bringing and preparing this case, and
(2) copy of letter from Mr. Pierrepont enclosing such
proposition to me for transmittal to you.1

"In Mr. Pierrepont's report to the acting attorney-gen
eral, dated November 27 ultimo, and referred to in the
enclosed letter from him to me, Mr. Pierrepont advises
that this action be dismissed on condition of payment of
expenses incurred. I suppose that a copy of that report has
been or will be sent to you from the attorney-general's
office, with copy of my letter to the President, of Novem
ber 19 ultimo, in which I agreed with Mr. Pierrepont in
advising discontinuance of this suit.

"I advise the acceptance of this proposition of settle
ment, and beg to accompany this recommendation with the
following statement :

"On Jan. 24, 1877, I entered on the duties of this office.
On Jan. 22, 1877, two days before that date, the capias
was issued by my predecessor, and this suit was then
formally commenced. The complaint was subsequently
drawn. Then the defendant answered, both denying any
indebtedness and setting up as an affirmative defence that
as to all the years during which income taxes were due,
except 1862 and 1863, he had made no returns, but had
been assessed and had paid the taxes so found due by the
United States assessors, with added penalties, and claiming
that such assessment and payment satisfied the claim of the
government. To that defence I demurred. That demurrer
was argued and sustained. This left the cause at issue on
the allegations of the complaint and the denials of the
answer. Subsequently, after full examination of what
details of evidence were then within my reach, and after
full consultation with the then attorney-general, I filed a
bill of discovery in May, 1879. To that Mr. Tilden de
murred. He was again unsuccessful and appealed to the
Supreme Court. That appeal is now pending unheard.

"Meanwhile the spring of 1880 had come. Special

1 1 was assured by Mr. Tilden that the letter containing what is here
designated as a proposition originating with Mr. Vanderpoel, of counsel for
Mr. Tilden, for settling the income-tax suit, by his paying the expenses
incurred in prosecuting the suit to date, so far from originating with him,
was actually propounded to Mr. Vanderpoel by the government's counsel.
When the proposition was submitted to Mr. Tilden he said, u I can afford
to settle this suit upon these terms, but Mr. Folger [the Secretary of the
Treasury] cannot. He cannot afford to make me pay the expense of insti
tuting the suit for which he admits that he had no cause of action." — J. J3.

246 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

Agent E. D. Webster had, about Aug. 1, 1879, been
assigned by you to ascertain as far as possible the real facts
in the case and to assist in preparing for trial. Although
sufficient evidence was not in our possession when we filed
the bill of discovery in May, 1879, 1 thought in the spring
of 1880, with the additional help of being then able to put
Mr. Tilden on the stand and examine him in person, wTe
could try the case as well as w^e ever could. Mr. Webster,
who had worked with great energy and skill, and to whom
I owed most that I really knew about the probable facts,
did not think the government ready for trial on the facts,
and strongly advised against trial at that time. On my
application for special counsel to assist in preparing the
case and in the trial, Mr. Pierrepont and Mr. Arnoux were
retained for the government.

" There seemed to me then an additional reason for the
trial of the case then. Mr. Tilden had been candidate of
one of the great political parties of the country for the
presidency in 1876. During that canvass the allegations
were made, out of which this suit grew. In January, 1877,
after that election had occurred, the suit was commenced.

" In the spring of 1880 his name was again frequently
mentioned in connection with a presidential nomination in
the following summer. It seemed to me that the case
should then be tried and Mr. Tilden relieved from its im
putations, or the claim of the government established in
court. Mr. Tilden, however, himself applied for post
ponement until the autumn.

" That postponement was granted by direction of the gov
ernment, communicated to me through Mr. Pierrepont on the
29th day of March, 1880, on which day I accordingly con
sented to the adjournment for which Mr. Tilden had applied.

" Since then there has been no term of the court at
which this case could be tried consistently with the engage
ments of our judges and the condition of our calendars.

" It can now be put on the calendar for the next February
term of the District Court, and possibly can then be tried.

" Its trial will occupy from four to eight weeks.

" Mr. Lanier, who was living in spring of 1880, and
whom we thought a valuable witness for the government,
is dead. Others, and important witnesses, whom I then
thought willing and available, now remember nothing and
are not available.

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 247

" The appeal at Washington on the bill of discovery is
still pending unheard. Whether Mr. Tilden's health is
such as to enable him now to be examined for continuous
days, and in matters going into minute details running
over many years long past, I do not know. I am told he
is not. At all events, I doubt our practical ability to
secure or compel his attendance for such examination ; I
seriously doubt our ability to succeed.

"As to all the years except 1862, 1863, and 1868, we
must confront the fact that our assessors fixed what tax
Mr. Tilden should pay, and he paid it. As to 1862 and
1863 and 1868, he made returns. As to 1862 and 1863
we have no proof. As to 1868, we can perhaps show that
his taxable income exceeded what he stated it to be in his
return, by $48,405.59. Tax on this is $2,420.26.

" If Mr. Tilden is right in his view of the law, shared
by many, and even accepted, I think, by your bureau in
1877, as to the years when he made no returns, but al
lowed the assessors to fix his income and then paid his tax
as fixed by them, then the year 1868 is the only one on
which we can recover. If the view as argued by me and
sustained by the opinion of Judge Blatchford is the correct
one, then we are left to prove his income for the years
1864, 1865, 1866, 1867, 1869, 1870, and 1871. Of course,
on the trial in the District Court here, Judge Blatchford's
decision will control, but I fully agree with Judge Pierre-
pont in thinking that arguments and references in the
presence of the jury to the assessments by government
officers, and payments thereon by the defendant, will affect
the opinion and the verdict of the jury.

rt Our case is not as strong as it was in the spring of
1880. The passage of time steadily weakens it. It should
be dismissed or tried.

" I believe that the pecuniary interests of the government
will be best served by accepting the offer of Mr. Tilden's
counsel to have the case dismissed, on repayment to the
government of all expenses incurred, or for which the
government is liable in bringing and preparing the case
for trial.

"Very respectfully, etc.,
" (Signed) S. L. WOODFOED,

" United States Attorney.

" (Two enclosures.)"

248 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

Green 13. Raum, United Slates Commissioner of Internal
Revenue, to Stewart L. Wbodford, United States
District Attorney.

"TREASURY DEPARTMENT,
" OFFICE OF INTERNAL REVENUE,

"WASHINGTON, Dec. 23, 1881,

" HON. STEWART L. WOODFORD, United States Attorney,
JVeiv York :

" SIR : I acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the
10th instant, enclosing copy of letter of Hon. Edwards
Pierrepont, of December 6th, and the letter of A. J. Van-'
derpoel, Esq., of December 3d, in regard to the case of
the United States against Samuel J. Tilden.

" The suit against Mr. Tilden was instituted because of a
belief founded upon the recognized fact of his great wealth,
much of which was understood to have been accumulated
during the tax period ; that he was largely indebted to the
United States for taxes upon income.1 This suit was not
instituted until after one of the justices of the Supreme
Court of the United States had held in a similar case that
the United States had a right to sue for the recovery of
unpaid income tax.

"If an investigation into this case has developed the fact
to the attorneys of the government that there is no cause
of action against Mr. Tilden, then the suit should be
dismissed at the cost of the United States. If the at
torneys for the United States are satisfied that a good
cause of action exists, but in consequence of the death
of some of the witnesses and the difficulty of establish
ing the facts in the case, are of opinion that the govern
ment cannot recover, then a compromise for costs and

1 Here we have an official admission that the most prominent individual
in the nation had been summoned by its government to answer to charges
of perjury and fraudulent accounting, not upon any evidence in its posses
sion of any such specific crime having been committed, but solely "upon
the recognized fact of his great wealth, much of which was understood to
have been accumulated during the tax period."

By whom was the fact of his great wealth recognized in 1867? By
whom was much of it understood to have been accumulated during the tax
period? And how much? On these crucial matters not a ray of light for
court or country.

It is shocking to think that the vast inquisitorial powers of the judiciary
of such a nation as ours should by any possibility ever lapse into the hands
of men who ought to be cutting stone or picking oakum with felons.

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 249

expenses would seem admissible. If, upon the other hand,
the district attorney and his associates are satisfied that
Mr. Tilden is indebted to the United States, and if put
upon the witness stand by the government that he would
disclose such facts as would secure to the government a
verdict, then, in my opinion, if a compromise is effected,
it should be upon the basis of the payment of a considera
ble sum of money in satisfaction of the claim for taxes.

" If the case could be brought to trial, it seems to me
that Mr. Tilden should be made the first witness, and if
his testimony failed to make out a case for the govern
ment I would dismiss the suit. I respectfully submit
whether this would not be the best plan to pursue. It
certainly would be no hardship to Mr. Tilden to have him
spend two or three hours in the witness box to testify, in
regard to his income for which the government claims.
He could be given ample notice of your intention to call
him as a witness, so that he could prepare the necessary
memoranda in advance. My impression is that should you
pursue this course you could get through with Mr. Tilden
as a witness in thirty minutes, and test before the court
and the country the question as to his liability for taxes.

" Very respectfully,
" (Signed) GREEN B. RAUM,

" Commissioner."

Edwards Pierrepont, Special Counsel of the United States,
to the District Attorney of the United States.

"156 BROADWAY,
"NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 1882.

"GEN. STEWART L. WOODFORD, United States Attorney,
etc. :

" SIR : I returned from Washington a week ago this
day, having seen General Raum the day before I left. I
promptly saw Mr. Yanderpoel, Mr. Tilden's counsel, and
he assured me that Mr. Tilden is in a very feeble condition
of health ; but at Mr. Tilden's house Mr. Yanderpoel has

discussed the matter thoroughly, as he last night at my

& j > & j

house assured me.

"Mr. Tilden asserts, and will swear, if he is ever able
to take the stand, that it is utterly impossible for him, or

250 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

for any one else, to find out whether or not he paid all
the tax which the law might have exacted; that he had
no partners, and was not obliged to, and did not, keep
regular books ; that when he was regularly assessed, and
paid, with full penalty, all that the officers of the govern
ment demanded, for which they gave receipts, he supposed
that he had paid all that any law could require, and gave
himself no further trouble about it; that his first return
was twenty years ago, and that lapse of time, if nothing
else, would make it impossible, without books, for any
human ingenuity to discover what gains, profits, and in
come he had, in the three years mentioned in the com
plaint, r in excess of the sum of six hundred dollars, and in
excess of the sum which was subject by law to a duty at a
lower rate than ten per cent., and also in excess of the sum
which he was entitled by law to deduct from his gains,
profits, and income in estimating the amount thereof, upon
which he was required by law to pay a duty ; and also in
excess of the amount of gain, profits, and income upon which
he paid a duty for those years, and also over and above the
sum paid within said year, by said defendant, for national,
State, county, and municipal taxes upon his property or
other sources of income, and also above the sum paid
by said defendant for the rent of the homestead used or
occupied by himself or his family, and above losses sus
tained by the defendant upon sales of real estate purchased
by him within said years.'

" He further states ' that he did not make returns, because
it was impossible from the nature of his transactions to
make such returns as he could swear to, and because (like
many others) he was not willing to disclose his affairs to
all persons, some of whom would be likely to make un
reasonable claims upon his bounty ; that he cannot tell
whether, even under the decision of Judge Blatchford, he
would be liable for anything or not, if all the facts could be
ascertained ; but that he is willing to pay, as proposed, if
that will end the matter.'

" I append a copy of an elaborate report which I made to
the attorney-general, in which I fully discussed the difficul
ties of the case, which report I beg that you will send to
General Raum.

" I Avrote that report after full consideration of the ques
tion whether the case ought to be dismissed without costs.

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 251

" I think that the commissioner of internal revenue will
feel it due to us, either to take the responsibility himself
of ordering the case to be dismissed without costs, or to
accept the compromise offered, or to direct the cause to be
tried, or to throw the responsibility upon us.

"I am very truly yours,
" (Signed) EDWARDS PIERREPONT,

" Special Counsel for the United States."

The Secretary of the Treasury to the Commissioner of
Internal Revenue.

" (Copy.)

" TREASURY DEPARTMENT,
"WASHINGTON, D.C., May 23, 1882.
"HoN. GREEN B. EAUM, Commissioner Internal Revenue:

" SIR : You have placed before me a letter from Hon.
Edwards Pierrepont, and one from the United States
attorney at New York city, in the matter of the suit of
the United States v. Samuel J. Tilden. It is a case that
should not be brought to trial without a reasonable prospect
of success. It is one also in which, if there is no reason
able prospect of success, there should be no attempt to try
it ; nor should any terms be insisted upon, or sought, upon
throwing it up. Of course I intend to place upon the
counsel for the government the responsibility of advising
as to the prospect of success, or rather, I intend to leave
that responsibility upon them, as of right it belongs there.
I suppose that you have given to counsel all the facts that
you are able to supply. It is for counsel to determine and
advise whether they are enough to warrant the trial of the
suit. If they furnish a fair prospect of success on a trial,
it should be had at once. If they do not, the case should
be discontinued. It is due to the citizen that he be brought
to trial, or that he be freed from the expectation of it.
And if there is not enough in the facts to refuse him the
latter, it does not seem to me just or worthy of the govern
ment that it exact or take from him a price for the privilege.

"Respectfully, etc.,
" (Signed) CHARLES J. FOLGER,

" Secretary Treasury."

252 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

The Attorney- General to the Secretary of the Treasury.

" (COPY.)

"DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE,

"WASHINGTON, July 21, 1882.

"Sm: On the 21st of June were sent to me the papers
pertaining to the suit of the United States against Samuel
J. Tilden for my further examination. With this I return
those papers to you, having given the subject my consider
ation. Among the papers I found your letter of May 23,
1882, to Hon. Green B. Eaum, Commissioner of Internal
Revenue. I will not undertake to review the subject, as I
cannot express in more plain and direct terms the convic
tions that I entertain and the conclusions I have arrived at
than you have expressed them in that letter. I concur in
all you say. You explain the true policy and principle
that should regulate the proceedings on behalf of the gov
ernment against Mr. Tilden. The last sentence of your
letter propounds the rule by which the case should be
regulated. You say : ' It is due to the citizen that he be
brought to trial, or that he be freed from the expectation of
it. And if there is not enough in the facts to make it proper
to refuse him the latter, it does not seem to me just or
worthy of the government that it exact or take from him a
price for the privilege.'

" I am positively opposed, as a point of principle and in
tegrity of governmental action, in cases like these, to have
them pursued when they should not be, and to surrender
them only on condition of receiving from the defendant
compensation to pay the counsel of the government. It is
beneath the dignity of the government to stoop to such a
settlement of any such case. It would result in corrupt
practices of the most frightful kind if the legal officers of
the government could institute suits which they could not
maintain, and then compound them by exacting large sums
of money from the defendants ; selling their peace to them
as a purchasable commodity. The mere thought of such
things is odious.

"Your letter is addressed to Mr. Raum. As the district
attorney is directly under my control, is it your desire
that I shall communicate these views to him? Mr. Raum
may hesitate to do so. It seems there have been private

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 253

counsel employed upon behalf of the government. To
that gentleman Mr. Raum may have conveyed your ideas.
If he has not, I will do it if you so instruct me.

"I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedi
ent servant,

" BENJAMIN HARRIS BREWSTER,

" Attorney- General.
"HoN. CHAS. J. FOLGER,

" Secretary of the Treasury."

Secretary of the Treasury to the Attorney- General.

"TREASURY DEPARTMENT, July 25, 1882.
"HoN. BENJAMIN HARRIS BREWSTER, Attorney- General,
Department of Justice:

" SIR : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of
your letter of the 21st instant, in which you are pleased to
express your concurrence in all that was said in my letter
of the 23d of May last to Commissioner Eaum, in regard
to ' the true policy and principle that should regulate the
proceedings on behalf of the government,' in the suit
pending against Samuel J. Tilden.

" In reply to your inquiry as to communicating those
views to the United States attorney, and to the private
counsel employed by the government in this case, I have
the honor to say that my letter to Commissioner Rauni
has been made known to Judge Pierrepont ; and, there
fore, all that is now needed, in my judgment, is for the
attorney-general to inform the United States attorney at
New York, and Judge Pierrepont, that the Department of
Justice and the Treasury Department concur in the views
put forth in my letter to Commissioner Raum, and that
it is for counsel and the court to say what shall be done
with the case, according to the rules and practice of the
court.

" Very respectfully,

" (Signed) CHAS. J. FOLGER,

Secretary.

254 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

United States Attorney Stuart L. Woodford to Green B.
Raum, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

11 OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK,

"NEW YORK, Oct. 7, 1882.

" THE HON. GREEN B. RAUM, Commissioner of Internal
Revenue :

" GENERAL : Having determined as to the final disposition
of the income-tax case against Mr. Tilden, I beg to present
this report of the case.

"It was commenced by my immediate predecessor in
office, the Hon. George Bliss, by filing a prcecipe in our
District Court on Jan. 22, 1877, two days before he went
out of office.

" The case continued through various stages of intricate
litigation until Aug. 1, 1879, when Revenue Agent E. D.
Webster reported to me by your direction to investigate
the facts and procure necessary evidence.

"He was engaged on this duty until the spring of 1880,
when I came to the conclusion that the case was as well
prepared as was within our then power, and should be
tried at the April term, 1880. Witnesses were subpoenaed
and arrangements made for the trial.

" There seemed to me an additional reason for the trial
then.

"Mr. Tilden had been candidate for the presidency in
1876. During that canvass the allegations were made, out
of which this suit grew. In January, 1877, after that can
vass had closed, the suit was begun.

" In the spring of 1880 his name was again frequently
mentioned for a like candidacy. I thought the case should
be tried then and decided. This seemed to me most dig
nified for the government, and most just to Mr. Tilden.

" Mr. Webster, however, reported that we were not then
ready on the facts. Of the special counsel for the govern
ment, Judge Pierrepont did not think we could safely go
to trial, while our other associate, Judge Arnoux, advised
trial. The then attorney-general, Mr. Devens, agreed
with Judge Pierrepont.

" Meanwhile, Mr. Tilden's counsel applied for postpone
ment on ground of his poor health. Then, against my

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 255

judgment, and on the direction of the attorney-general,
communicated through Judge Pierrepont, the case was
postponed, on March 29, 1880, to the November term of
that year.

" Since then there has been no term of our District
Court at which this case could be tried, consistently with
the engagements of our judges and the condition of the
calendar, until February, 1882.

"In September, 1881, President Garfield died.

"In the preceding July, after he had been shot, and
while the entire country was forgetting old differences and
uniting in sympathy, I felt and advised Judge Pierrepont
that it would be wise for President Garfield, on his expected
recovery, to stop this suit himself.

" On the accession of President Arthur it seemed to me
still more wise, as matter of public policy, to discontinue
this litigation, and to do this without exacting any costs or
conditions, but simply as an act of grace from the govern
ment to a citizen.

"After full consultation with Judge Pierrepont, he
came to the further decision, that owing to lapse of time,
death of witnesses, payment by Mr. Tilden of such taxes as
the government officers had assessed against him, and for
other reasons fully set forth in his subsequent report to the
attorney-general, dated Nov. 27, 1881, it would be unwise
to try the case.

"These two methods of discontinuance were open. One
was to discontinue without costs. This I then advised.
The other was to accept an offer which was about that time
made by Mr. Vanderpoel to Judge Pierrepont, that Mr.
Tilden would pay all the costs and expenses incurred by
the government in bringing and preparing the suit for trial.
Judge Pierrepont favored accepting this proposition because
he feared that if we dismissed the case without taking the
costs which were voluntarily offered to be paid, we should
run the risk of rendering Mr. Bliss and the government,
which he represented, liable to the suspicion of having
threatened a groundless action against Mr. Tilden during
the canvass of 1876, and which suit was in fact commenced
two days before Mr. Bliss left office. Both Judge Pierre
pont and I thought, as lawyers, that there had been proba
ble cause for bringing the suit, and were unwilling to do so,
to allow anything to be done that should be in any manner

256 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

professionally unjust to Mr. Bliss who began, or myself
who had continued, the case which I had found in the office
so begun.

"But I did not share in this fear. The case was here.
I was responsible for its conduct, and was willing to face
whatever just criticism my management of it might in
volve .

" Thus differing in opinion as to what we should advise,
and feeling that at the outset of a new administration the
President should be himself consulted (as Mr. MacVeagh
had resigned as attorney-general), I wrote the President,
on Nov. 19, 1881, stating that for reasons fully dis
cussed between Judge Pierrepont and myself, and which he
would fully present to the President, I agreed in advising
the discontinuance of the suit against Mr. Tilden in such
manner and on such terms as the President might think
wisest.

" Judge Pierrepont presented that letter to the President,
had full consultation with him, and was by him referred to
the then acting attorney-general, Mr. Phillips. The latter
considered the entire subject, having before him the full
report made by Judge Pierrepont on Nov. 27, 1881,
and then, under date of Nov. 29, 1881, he wrote me
officially that the case should be submitted to the commis
sioner of internal revenue with my opinion and that of
Mr. Pierrepont as to the chances of recovery, and also with
any proposition of arrangement suggested by the defend
ant. The acting attorney-general added that this was a
suit for money, the recovery of which had been obstructed
by accident, and that the preponderance of reasons appeared
to favor such arrangement as should be attended with least

O

pecuniary loss.

" Such were my instructions from my official chief.

"The case and the desired opinions, with Mr. Tilden's
proposition to pay the expenses of the suit, were subse
quently submitted to you. You expressed your disinclina
tion to exact costs or terms if the case was to be discon
tinued.

"The papers subsequently went to the Secretary of the
Treasury. He returned them to you with a note dated May
2, 1882, of which you sent me a copy on May 18, 1882.

" This note stated that the proposition was to pay the
costs and expenses of the suit and have it discontinued ;

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 257

that the government recovers nothing ; that if there is any
proof on which the government has an expectation of re
covering, it ought to go on with the suit ; that if it has no
proof upon which it expects to recover, it ought to discon
tinue the suit ; that in either case it seemed to the secretary
solely a question for the counsel for the government ; that
they should decide whether to go on or whether to discon
tinue or ask leave of the court to discontinue ; that there is
nothing for the Treasury Department to pass upon in such
a proposition as this.

" On May 20, 1882, I wrote you, acknowledging receipt
of the foregoing and asking whether I was to understand
that if after consultation with Mr. Pierrepont we both
agree that this action cannot now be prosecuted with any
reasonable prospect of success, we are authorized to discon
tinue it without costs. I added that as we construed the
secretary's note this was his decision. I wrote you thus,
because under the printed regulations of your bureau I
could not legally discontinue this suit without your express
instructions.

" On May 23, 1882, you again wrote me, enclosing
copy of a second letter from the secretary, in which you
gave me the express authority required. This letter of the
secretary also stated that the case should not be tried with
out a reasonable prospect of success.

"These letters were received on May 24, 1882. They
were submitted to Judge Pierrepont at once. Almost im
mediately afterward, on the same day, I received a telegram
from you directing me to take no action upon your letter of
the day before in the Tilden case until I should hear further
from your office and asking me to answer. Accordingly I
telegraphed you in reply that day, acknowledging receipt
of your order and promising to obey your instructions and
take no action until I heard further from your office.

" The next day, May 25th, I received a letter from
Secretary Folger, dated May 20th, but evidently written
May 24th, stating that he would probably be in New York
city the next week, when he would try to see me on the
matter of the Tilden case. He added that there were con
siderations which had come to him since writing his letter
of the day before to General Raum which he desired to
confer with me upon. He also stated that you (General
Raum) had just shown him my telegraphic message in

VOL. II.-17

258 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

answer to your message sent to me that morning, which
latter was sent at his suggestion.

"Although Secretary Folger came to New York soon
afterward, we did not meet. He never stated to me the con
siderations on which he had ordered me, through you, to
take no further action on your letter of May 23d, in regard
to the Tilden case until I should hear further from your
office. Nor have I ever had the advantage of the confer
ence with him that he so considerately suggested.

" After the receipt of your telegram of May 24, and the
secretary's said letter, I did not hear further from your
office until July 27th last, when I received your letter of
July 26th, covering copies of letters from Attorney-General
Brewster to Secretary Folger, dated July 21, 1882, and from
the secretary to the attorney-general, dated July 25, 1882.
These letters were of the same general tenor as the secre
tary's letter of May 23d last, and left the matter to my
final decision after consultation with Judge Pierrepont.

"I ought here to say that as Judge Arnoux, the other
special counsel, went on the bench of our Superior Court
on Jan. 1, 1882, I have not consulted with him as to this
case since that date.

" As the secretary arrested the operation of his instruc
tions of May 23d last from May 24th to July 25th, for
considerations that must have seemed to him serious and
weighty, I feel that I ought to reexamine the case care
fully, and I asked Judge Pierrepont to do the same.

" Yesterday I received his carefully reconsidered opinion,
in which he adheres to his former advice that the case
ought now to be discontinued.

" After thinking the whole matter over I have decided
that there is not a sufficient prospect of success to justify
the long, expensive, and difficult trial which will be neces
sary to present this complicated case fully to the court.
The trial would necessarily occupy from four to eight
weeks, and the result would be very doubtful.

" I accordingly have this day sent to Mr. Tilden's coun
sel a consent to discontinue without costs.

" Very respectfully,
" (Signed) STEWART L. WOODFORD,

"United States Attorney."

THE INCOME-TAX PERSECUTION 259

ORDER OF DISCONTINUANCE.

"At a stated term of the Circuit Court of the United
States for the Southern District of New York, held at the
United States Court Koonis in the Post-Office Building, on
the twenty-third day of October, 1882.

" Present :

"HoN. CHARLES L. BENEDICT,

" Judge.

"THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA

AGAINST

SAMUEL J. TILDEN.

" The original action of the District Court of the United
States for the Southern District of New York between the
same parties having been discontinued, and the appeal
heretofore taken from the decree entered in this action
having been dismissed and the proceedings remitted to this
court, now, on reading and filing the consent of the
United States attorney, it is

" Ordered, That this action be and the same is hereby
discontinued without costs to either party as against the
other.

" (Signed) CHARLES L. BENEDICT."

Thus ended a vexatious litigation instituted solely for
the purpose of defaming and discrediting the most em
inent statesman in the countiy; instituted, too, without
any evidence, at the instigation of a painfully notorious
public officer, " because of a belief founded upon the recog
nized fact of Mr. Tilden's great wealth, much of which
was understood to have been accumulated during the tax
period."

For six long years Mr. Tilden was subjected to the
expense of employing counsel and holding himself con
stantly ready for a trial of a suit, on the admission of
its own officers, the government never had any evidence

260 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

upon which it could be prosecuted with any prospect of
success.

A Republican form of government has always the power,
and sometimes the disposition, to be despotic and oppres
sive. Of this a more flagrant illustration than the one just
recited had rarely occurred.

CHAPTER VIII

The purchase of Gray stone — Dinner to J. S. Morgan — Mr. Tilden rebukes
third-term candidates for the presidency — Withdraws from public
life — Letter to Mr. Manning declaring the presidential nomination
in 1880 — The Cincinnati convention — Urged for a renomination
in 1884 — Second letter of declension.

IN the summer of 1879 Mr. Tilden thought to benefit his
health by establishing a home, for at least a portion of the
year, in the country. He leased for the summer, and be
fore the expiration of the lease purchased, the noble estate
since widely known as Gray stone at Yonkers, on the Hud
son, then about three miles beyond the northernmost limit
of New York city. The property consisted of sixty-three
and one-third acres of land, and a palatial stone dwelling
which had been recently finished, on the highest ground on
the river's bank south of the Highlands. To this estate
he subsequently added forty-eight adjoining acres. The
structure, the view, the air, the facilities of access to the
city, everything about the place, was suited to his taste
and his needs. If he had not by this time abandoned all
thought of returning to public life, he had ceased to regard
such a prospect with pleasure. He found all the employ
ment and recreation he required in improving and stocking
his new home. Thither he transported a portion of his
library, in the seclusion of which he now enjoyed a wel
come exemption from the incessant interruptions to which
he was exposed in Gramercy park. Gray stone soon be
came, to a far greater extent than he had anticipated, his
home. Here he received his friends with a generous
hospitality. Though ceasing to take any responsibility for
the leadership of the party, his views of public matters
continued to be sought and his judgment deferred to as

262 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

much as ever. He appeared rarely before the public,
though scarcely an editor in the land ventured to send his
paper to press without some allusion to him.

In the fall of 1877 he consented to preside at a dinner
given to the late J. S. Morgan, then head of the banking

t3 O 7 O

house of J. S. Morgan and Company, of London. In the
course of the speech, in which he proposed the health of
Mr. Morgan, he referred, in a humorous way, to the very
small share that the proprietors of colossal fortunes can
appropriate to their personal use. It is the only instance,
I believe, of his ever alluding in a public discourse or paper
to the burdens or perquisites of wealth.

"I remember, when I was quite a young man, being sent
for by one of the ablest men I have ever known, — a great
statesman and a great thinker, — Martin Van Buren, who
wanted to consult me about his will. Well, I walked with
him all over his farm one afternoon, and I heard what he
had to say, with the previous knowledge (not from him)
that I was trustee under his will. The next morning, as I
stood before his broad and large wood-fire, I stated the
result of my reflections. I said : ' It is not well to be wiser
than events ; to attempt to control the far future, which no
man can foresee ; to trust one's grandchildren, whom one
does not know, out of distrust, without special cause, of
one's children, whom one does know.' I came home, and
after a week I received a letter from him stating that he
had thought much about the suggestion as to attempting
to be wiser than events, and had abandoned all the com
plicated trusts by which he had proposed tying up his
property ; and he submitted to me a simple form accord
ing to the laws of the land and the laws of nature, which
was approved and adopted.

" I went down to Roehampton last summer to see the
beautiful country home of my friend Mr. Morgan, a few
miles out of London. He was well pleased to show me
about everywhere. No man could help being delighted
with what I saw, and he was curious to know what were
my impressions. Well, I had, while inspecting with pleas
ure the appliances of comfort and luxury, been thinking
how much, after all, he got for himself out of his great

PRESIDENT GRANT AND THE THIRD TERM 263

wealth and great business ; how much he was able to
apply to his own use ; what sort of wages he got for
managing the great establishment at No. 22 Old Broad
street, in London ; and I said to him : ' I don't see but
what you are a trustee here : you get only your food, your
clothing, your shelter.' Of course a man may have some
delight in a sense of power, in a sense of consequence ; but
I rather thought his coachman beat him in that particular.
And, on the whole, I thought aloud — I could not help it.
I told him he was a trustee with a very handsome salary,
doing very well ; but I could not see that he got much
more than any of the rest of the people about the place.
Well, I did hear, when, soon after, I went down to 22
Old Broad street, that he was rather late to business the
next morning. But I will do him the justice to say that he
faithfully applied himself to his duties as trustee, and that
he was as diligent as though he had some personal interest
in the great aifairs he is managing."

Mr. Tilden was invited to dine with the Democratic
Association of Massachusetts, on the anniversary of Wash
ington's birthday in 1880. General Grant was still a
candidate for the presidency for a third term, and was
warmly supported by the Kepublicans of Massachusetts.
In his letter excusing his absence, Mr. Tilden took an
opportunity of repeating his views of third-term candidates
for the presidency. He said :

" Nothing could be more fit at the present time than to
commemorate that day. It was the Father of his Country,
' first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his
countrymen,' who set the original example against a third
term in the presidential office. He made that memorable
precedent as a guide to all his successors, and as an un
written law of the American people. He did so in the light
of a prevalent fear in the minds of the most ardent of the
patriots who have achieved our national independence, and
created our system of free government, that indefinite re-
eligibility would degenerate into a practical life-tenure.

"The vast power acquired by the federal government
over the elections by its office-holders, its patronage, the
money it levies, and its various forms of corrupt influence,

264 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

have developed this danger, until it darkens the whole
future of our country.

" In the choice between the republic and the empire, we
must believe that the people will be true to their ancestry
and to mankind."

Mr. Tilden continued to be regarded as the necessary
and inevitable candidate of his party for the presidency in
1880. The name of no other candidate was seriously dis
cussed. He was persecuted with unrelenting virulence by
the administration, and the Republican press neglected no
opportunity of refreshing the memory of its readers in
regard to his imputed capacities for wickedness, and the
wholly imaginary value of his public services. The Dem
ocratic press and politicians, on the other hand, continued
to speak of his nomination as a matter of course, though
without any authority from Mr. Tilden that he desired, or
even would accept, a renomination if tendered. They
knew, of course, that he would accept a renomination if
his health would permit ; and the evidences of unimpaired
mental power and political resource he was constantly
displaying caused his health to be regarded by the public
as a very insignificant factor in the case. It was not so with
Mr. Tilden, however. He wished a renomination and an
opportunity of proving, by his reelection, that the country
had been fraudulently deprived of its choice for the presi
dency in 1876. He was slow in making up his mind that
he was unequal to the worries of a candidate, or for the
more serious responsibilities of a chief magistrate. But
however blind his partisans and friends were or pretended
to be about his health, he had no longer any illusions upon
the subject himself. He was fully conscious, in the winter
of 1879-80, that his health had been steadily failing since
1876, and that the most his medical advisers had done or
hoped to do was to retard a little the ravages of the
disease which was held by the profession generally to be
an incurable though usually a lingering one.

NO LONGER WISHES TO BE PRESIDENT 265

I had been trying to assist him one day, early in the
spring of 1880, in one of his vexatious litigations. I ob
served that he did not seem to have the full command of
his resources. At last he rose from his seat, and with an
air of discouragement on his face as well as in the tone of
his voice, said, "Let us go and take a ride." As we rode
up the avenue and after a protracted silence he spoke of the
decline of force and intellectual endurance, of which he
had just experienced such unequivocal evidence, and then
added in a rather querulous tone, as if responding to some
unwelcome pressure from without, " If I am no longer fit
to prepare a case for trial, I am not fit to be President of
the United States." He then turned and looked at me as
if I was his persecutor and he expected me to tell him what
I had to say in my defence. " Governor, " I replied, "I am
the last person in the world to urge you to run for the
presidency. No one has a right to ask you to accept such
a burden at the risk of your life, and there is no use in
trying to disguise the fact that there is nothing which
would more imperil your health than the inevitable excite
ment of a canvass for the presidency and the first six
months' service to which an election would expose you."

I think that from this day forth he had satisfied himself
that he did not wish to be a candidate for the presidency,
and was determined not to be a party to any proceedings
designed to make him President. He said to me on
another occasion, "It takes all my time to live," so numer
ous were the hygienic precautions he found it necessary to
take to meet the inevitable demands upon his strength even
as a private citizen. His farm and his library were now to
him what the muse was to Pope, — his chief reliance in
helping him through "that long disease, his life."

Though conscious that it was as much as his life was

O

worth to accept a renomination, the consequences to the
party of refusing to run put on every day a more serious
and perplexing aspect. Friends from every part of the

266 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

country were telling him that he was the only one who
could keep the party together. The Democratic press, with
practical unanimity, refused to consider the chances of any
other candidate ; while the defeat of Robinson for gover
nor in New York, at the fall election, had made the success
of any new candidate extremely doubtful. But what at
that time weighed more, perhaps, than any of these con
siderations with Mr. Tilden was the apprehension that if
he withdrew, the friends of Mr. Hendricks might profit by
the vis inertia of the old ticket, and insist upon his being
placed at its head, which could only have resulted in
disaster if the electoral vote of New York State should
prove necessary to success, and that it would prove nec
essary at that time no practical politician entertained a
doubt. It was a profounder sense of the difficulties of
either course — running or withdrawing — than was pos
sessed, perhaps, by any other statesman in the country
that led him to defer until the meeting of the convention
in June the promulgation of his desire not to be regarded
as a candidate for a renomination. His letter, addressed to
the delegates of New York on this occasion, is in some
respects one of the most impressive papers that ever came
from the pen of any American statesman.

PRESIDENCY.

"NEW YORK, June 18, 1880.

" To the Delegates from the State of New York to the
Democratic National Convention :

"Your first assembling is an occasion on which it is
proper for me to state to you my relations to the nomina
tion for the presidency, which you and your associates are
commissioned to make in behalf of the Democratic party
of the United States.

" Having passed my early years in an atmosphere filled
with traditions of the war which secured our national
independence, and of the struggles which made our con-

DECLINES A RENOMINATION 267

stitutional system a government for the people, by the
people, I learned to idealize the institutions of my country,
and was educated to believe it the duty of a citizen of the
Republic to take his fair allotment of care and trouble
in public affairs. I fulfilled that duty to the best of my
ability for forty years as a private citizen. Although,
during all my life, giving at least as much thought and
effort to public affairs as to all other objects, I have never
accepted official service except for a brief period, for a
special purpose, and only when the occasion seemed to
require of me that sacrifice of private preferences to public
interests. My life has been substantially that of a private
citizen.

"It was, I presume, the success of efforts, in which as a
private citizen I had shared, to overthrow a corrupt com
bination then holding dominion in our metropolis, and to
purify the judiciary which had become its tool, that induced
the Democracy of the State in 1874 to nominate me for
governor. This was done in spite of the protests of a
minority, that the part I had borne in those reforms had
created antagonisms fatal to me as a candidate. I felt con
strained to accept the nomination as the most certain means
of putting the power of the gubernatorial office on the side
of reform, and of removing the impression, wherever it
prevailed, that the faithful discharge of one's duty as a
citizen is fatal to his usefulness as a public servant.

" The breaking up of the canal ring, the better manage
ment of our public works, the large reduction of taxes, and
other reforms accomplished during my administration,
doubtless occasioned my nomination for the presidency by
the Democracy of the Union, in the hope that similar pro
cesses would be applied to the federal government. From
the responsibilities of such an undertaking, appalling as it
seemed to me, I did not feel at liberty to shrink.

"In the canvass which ensued, the Democratic party
represented reform in the administration of the federal gov
ernment, and a restoration of our complex political system
to the pure ideals of its founders. Upon these issues the
people of the United States, by a majority of more than a
quarter of a million, chose a majority of the electors to
cast their votes for the Democratic candidates for President
and Vice-President. It is my right and privilege here to
say that I was nominated and elected to the presidency

268 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

absolutely free from any engagement in respect to the
exercise of its powers or the disposal of its patronage.
Through the whole period of my relation to the presidency
I did everything in my power to elevate and nothing to
lower moral standards in the competition of parties.

" By what nefarious means the basis of a false count was
laid in several of the States, I need not recite. These are
now matters of history, about which, whatever diversity of
opinion may have existed in either of the great parties of
the country at the time of their consummation, has since
practically disappeared.

"I refused to ransom from the Eeturning Boards of
Southern States the documentary evidence, by the suppres
sion of which, and by the substitution of fraudulent and
forged papers, a pretext was made for the perpetration of
a false count.

" The constitutional duty of the two Houses of Congress
to count the electoral votes as cast, and give effect to the
will of the people as expressed by their suffrages, w^as
never fulfilled. An Electoral Commission, for the existence
of which I have no responsibility, was formed, and to it
the two Houses of Congress abdicated their duty to make
the count, by a law enacting that the count of the commis
sion should stand as lawful unless overruled by the concur
rent action of the two Houses. Its false count was not
overruled, owing to the complicity of a Kepublican Senate
with the Republican majority of the commission.

" Controlled by its Republican majority of eight to seven,
the Electoral Commission counted out the men elected by
the people, and counted in the men not elected by the
people.

"That subversion of the election created a new issue
for the decision of the people of the United States, tran
scending in importance all questions of administration. It
involved the vital principle of self-government through
elections by the people.

" The immense growth of the means of corrupt influence
over the ballot-box, which is at the disposal of the party
having possession of the executive administration, had
already become a present evil and a great danger, tending
to make elections irresponsive to public opinion, hampering
the power of the people to change their rulers, and enabling
the men holding the machinery of government to continue

DECLINES A RENOMINATION 269

and perpetuate their power. It was my opinion in 1876 that
the opposition attempting to change the administration
needed to include at least two-thirds of the voters at the
opening of the canvass in order to retain a majority at the
election.

" If after such obstacles had been overcome, and a ma
jority of the people had voted to change the administration
of their government, the men in office could still procure a
false count founded upon frauds, perjuries, and forgeries
furnishing a pretext of documentary evidence on which to
base that false count, and if such a transaction were not
only successful, but if, after allotment of its benefits were
made to its contrivers, abettors, and apologists by the chief
beneficiary of the transaction, it were condoned by the
people, a practical destruction of elections by the people
would have been accomplished.

"The failure to install the candidates chosen by the
people, a contingency consequent upon no act or omission
of mine, and beyond my control, has left me for the last
three years, and until now, when the Democratic party by
its delegates in national convention assembled shall choose
a new leader, the involuntary but necessary representative
of this momentous issue.

"As such, denied the immunities of private life, without
the powers conferred by public station, subject to unceasing
falsehoods and calumnies from the partisans of an admin
istration laboring in vain to justify its existence, I have,
nevertheless, steadfastly endeavored to preserve to the
Democratic party of the United States the supreme issue
before the people for their decision next November, whether
this shall be a government by the sovereign people through
elections, or a government by discarded servants holding
over by force and fraud. And I have withheld no sacrifice
and neglected no opportunity to uphold, organize, and con
solidate against the enemies of representative institutions,
the great party which alone under God can effectually
resist their overthrow.

" Having now borne faithfully my full share of labor and
care in the public service, and wearing the marks of its
burdens, I desire nothing so much as an honorable dis
charge. I wish to lay down the honors and toils of even
quasi party leadership, and to seek the repose of private
life.

270 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

" In renouncing renomination for the presidency, I do so
with no doubt in my mind as to the vote of the State of
New York, or of the United States, but because I believe
that it is a renunciation of reelection to the presidency.

" To those who think my renomination and reelection in
dispensable to an effectual vindication of the right of the
people to elect their rulers, — violated in my person, — I
have accorded as long a reserve of my decision as possible,
but I cannot overcome my repugnance to enter into a new
engagement which involves four years of ceaseless toil.

" The dignity of the presidential office is above a merely
personal ambition, but it creates in me no illusion. Its
value is as a great power for good to the country. I said
four years ago in accepting nomination :

"Knowing as I do, therefore, from fresh experience,
how great the difference is between gliding through an
official routine and working out a reform of systems and
policies, it is impossible for me to contemplate what needs
to be done in the federal administration without an
anxious sense of the difficulties of the undertaking. If
summoned by the suffrages of my countrymen to attempt
this work, I shall endeavor, with God's help, to be the
efficient instrument of their will.'

" Such a work of renovation after many years of misrule,
such a reform of systems and policies, to which I would
cheerfully have sacrificed all that remained to me of health
and life, is now, I fear, beyond my strength.

"With unfeigned thanks for the honors bestowed upon
me ; with a heart swelling with emotions of gratitude to the
Democratic masses for the support which they have given
to the cause I represented, and for their steadfast confi
dence in every emergency, I remain,

" Your fellow-citizen,

" SAMUEL J. TILDEN."

This was not such a letter as Mr. Tilden would probably
have written had he desired to render his renomination im
possible. He was too accomplished a politician not to
know that it was not only the true, but the only wise, policy
for the Democratic party to renominate the old ticket and
to give the loyal men of all parties an opportunity of

THE CINCINNATI CONVENTION 271

administering a national rebuke to those who had partici
pated in or connived at the usurpation of the chief magis
tracy. Failure to renominate the old ticket was to deprive
the party of a vital issue which had already been made,
which could not be shirked ; which, not bravely to meet,
was equivalent to a capitulation, and would in all prob
ability prove fatal to any other candidate that could be
nominated.

That Mr. Tilden would have accepted the nomination if
tendered to him, no one is competent to affirm or deny.
He probably did not know himself. I was under the im
pression, derived rather from the operations of my own
mind than from anything he disclosed of his, that he
wished the nomination to be offered him to save the
fr fraud " issue for his party, intending, if offered, to decline
it, — a course which, had I been consulted, I should certainly
have advised. As I was driving with him one day near
the close of December in 1879, he said to me, " I must talk
with some one, but what I am going to say you must not
allow to influence your conduct." He then said, referring
to the condition of his health, that he did not see how it was
possible for him to go through the excitement of another
political canvass.

I felt that the idea then in his mind was, that for the
sake of the party he must not act as though he were not
to run, but he did not wish me to labor under a false im
pression in regard to his purposes or expectations.

Had the convention nominated him it would probably
have paid no attention to his declension, presuming from
his character that he would do nothing unnecessarily em
barrassing to his party. Had he promptly declined a re-
nomination, as I believe he would have done, there is little
doubt that the gallant soldier who was nominated, had he in
that emergency been called to take his place on the ticket,
would have been elected by a larger majority than Tilden
himself had in 1876.

272 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

There were too many candidates for the presidency
among the members of the convention, however, and too
little time for reflection, to permit this, which was so obvi
ously the true policy, to prevail. For this Mr. Manning,
the chairman of the delegation, was partly responsible. He
telegraphed Mr. Tilden to know if he might yield to the
pressure for his renomination which had been stimulated
by the publication of his letter. To this Mr. Tilden could
make but one reply, and unless such a reply was desired,
it was very indiscreet to ask the question. It ran as fol
lows :

" JUNE 24, 1880.
" HON. DANIEL MANNING, Grand Hotel, Cincinnati, 0. :

" Received your telegrams and many others containing
like information. My action was well considered and is
irrevocable. No friends must be allowed to cast a doubt
on my motives or my sincerity.

ft f~r\ ?j

This, of course, rendered his renomination impossible.
The convention finally, and after much confusion, united
upon Major-General Hancock, who, in point of fact, was
the preference or first choice of but a very small proportion
of the convention.

The committee appointed to wait upon and notify the
candidates of their nomination called upon Mr. Tilden to
present to him an engrossed copy of the resolutions adopted
by the convention. On this occasion Governor Stevenson,
of Virginia, the chairman of the committee, read to him
the ninth, which ran as follows :

" Itesolved, That the resolution of Samuel J. Tilden not
again to be a candidate for the exalted position to which
he was elected by a majority of his countrymen, and from
which he was excluded by the leaders of the Republican
party, is received by the Democracy of the United States
with deep sensibility, and they declare their confidence in
his wisdom, patriotism, and integrity unshaken by the
assaults of the common enemy; and we further assure

TILDE 'N AND THE CONVENTION 273

him he is followed into the retirement he has chosen for
himself by the sympathy and respect of his fellow-country
men, who regard him as one who, by elevating the standard
of public morality, and adorning and purifying the public
service, merits the lasting gratitude of his country and his
party."

Then, handing a copy of the resolution to Mr. Tilden,
Governor Stevenson continued :

:r That resolution embodies the true sentiment toward
you of every Democrat in our land. Take it, as a memo
rial of their affectionate regard and confidence in your wis
dom, statesmanship, and unsullied purity. In conclusion,
I beg you, Mr. Tilden, to accept the best wishes of the
committee and of myself for your future happiness and
prosperity."

Mr. Tilden's reply was neither elaborate nor effusive.
He could not have added a word that would have made it
a more significant commentary upon the blunder of the
convention. He said :

" MR. STEVENSON, PRESIDENT or THE DEMOCRATIC
NATIONAL CONVENTION : I thank you for the kind terms in
which you have expressed the communication you make to
me. A solution which enables the Democratic party of the
United States to vindicate effectively the right of the people
to choose their chief magistrate, — a right violated in 1876,
— and, at the same time, relieves me from the burden of a
canvass and four years of administration, is most agreeable
to me. My sincere good wishes and cordial cooperation as
a private citizen attend the illustrious soldier whom the
Democracy have designated as their standard-bearer in the
presidential canvass. I congratulate you on the favorable
prospects with which that canvass has been commenced,
and the promise it affords of complete and final success."

In the winter of 1881 Mr. Tilden received from Mr.
Hammers, of Gettysburg, a letter announcing the decease
of the Hon. Isaac Hereter, a member of the State Senate

VOL. II.— 18

274 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

of Pennsylvania, and a devoted friend of Mr. Tilden,
whom, during the presidential canvass, Mr. Hammers rep
resents as going with him from house to house in the
mountain district canvassing for the Tilden and Hendricks
ticket, and bursting into tears when the decision of the
Electoral Commission reached him.

To this touching letter Mr. Tilden sent the following
reply :

MR. TILDEN TO MR. S. S. W. HAMMERS.

" GRAYSTONE, June 23, 1882.

" DEAR SIR : It was not because I was not interested by
your letter advising me of the decease of your lamented
friend, the Hon. Isaac Hereter, that I have not sooner
answered it ; for the purpose has been all the while in my
mind to write to you as soon as other more pressing duties
would permit.

:f The incidents you relate are very touching.

" The cause which triumphed by the votes of the people
in the great national contest of 1876, but which was foully
lost in the count of those votes, was the cause of the sons
of toil, who, on their farms and in their workshops, ex
pect no special advantages from the government, and only
ask that the sunshine of its favors may fall equally upon all.
These isolated atoms of human society are not easily com
bined, and not often truly represented; while the more
selfish, active, and intriguing classes are all the while
wresting the government from its true functions, and
making it a machine to enrich the few at the expense of
the many, and then corrupting the administrative service,
the legislation, and the elections, in order to hold and
enlarge their unjust advantage.

" The meaning of the people in the election of 1876 was
to restore the government to the pure, simple, and just
system which the founders of the Republic intended, and
which Jefferson exemplified in practice.

"How deeply the best interests and the most sacred
rights of humanity were involved, I doubt not your de
ceased friend realized, when with you he went from ' house
to house ' through the mountains of Pennsylvania during
the canvass, and when he wept over the destruction, by

DEFEAT OF HANCOCK 275

frauds, perjuries, and the forgery of electoral votes, of the
fruits of the victory he had helped to achieve.

"With my best wishes for your health, prosperity, and
happiness, I remain,

r Very truly yours,

"S. J. TiLDEN."

"S. S. W. HAMMERS, ESQ.,

"Gettysburg, Pa."

The results of the election in the defeat of Hancock and
the triumph of the Republican candidate revealed to the
party the mistake it had made, and revived the clamor for
the renornination of Mr. Tilden in 1884, a clamor which,
despite the private and public protestations of Mr. Tilden
and of several of his most intimate friends, practically ex
cluded the consideration of any other candidates. With
the abundant evidence which from time to time reached the
public from his seclusion at Graystone, of the unimpaired
mental force and sagacity of its proprietor, the zeal of the
party for his renomination seemed to have received a new
and accumulative impulse from the defeat in 1880. Con
flicting reports of the condition of his health, adapted to the
uses of the respective parties, were eagerly sought for and
published, and he continued to be treated by the Republi
can press as the only formidable candidate of his party up
to the very day that another candidate was renominated.

Reports were put in circulation by the Republican press,
in 1881, that Mr. Tilden proposed to be a candidate for
governor again the following year. Ex-Governor Seymour,
who had not been able to contemplate with entire satisfac
tion the precedence which the party had been giving of late
years to Mr. Tilden, seems to have been not indisposed to
countenance these rumors. In reply to a letter from
Seymour, Mr. Tilden sent the following reply :

"GRAYSTONE, Oct. 3, 1881.

" MY DEAR SIR : I have received your letter stating you
intended to call on me, and your inability to do so.

276 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

" I should have written to you earlier, except for an ill
ness and the pressure of claims upon my attention during
my convalescence.

" It would have been agreeable to me to have seen you
and to have treated you with that frankness and courtesy
you have always experienced from me.

"In respect to your assurance that you would not be
a candidate for nomination, if your nomination 'would
be disagreeable to me, and be discountenanced by me,'
I have to say that I cannot assume any such position. I
have neither the right nor the wish to exclude you from
a legitimate and honorable competition for any public
trust. My practice, when I was at the head of the party
organization, was not to become a partisan of any par
ticular candidate, but to confine myself to such advis
ory suggestions as might seem fit and useful during the
deliberations of the convention ; to defer largely to the
judgment of the best men of the counties found at the con
vention, in view of the immediate action on the complex
considerations which enter into the formation of a collec
tive ticket. I need not say that I have not undertaken
any such function on the present occasion, and have not
possessed myself of the information to make me competent
to such a work. I assume that you have not given credit
to the idle fictions of Kepublican and other newspapers,
which ascribe to me a desire to control the nominations and
canvass for the present year, with a view to becoming a
candidate for governor next year. The truth is I ran for
governor in 1874, simply for the purpose of sustaining the
reform movement to which I had given the three preceding
years; and I should not have continued in the office for a
second term in any possible event, nor would I now enter
tain the idea of returning to it, even if I flattered myself
that I would receive a unanimous vote of the people.

" All I desire for the Democratic party in the coming
canvass is that it shall make the best possible choice of
candidates, and do everything to advance the principles
of administration, to which I have devoted so many efforts
and sacrifices. With cordial good wishes,

"Very truly yours,

rS. J. TILDEN."

CLEVELAND ELECTED GOVERNOR 277

Faithful to the declaration made in this letter, Mr.
Tilden took no active part in the election of the candidate
for governor, though his preference may have been inferred
by his friends who were in control of the nominating con
vention, from the fact that one of his nephews, and his
namesake, who was a delegate from Columbia county, at a
critical moment voted for Grover Cleveland. This vote,
supposed to reflect Mr. Tilden's preferences, no doubt
exerted a controlling influence over the convention and
secured Mr. Cleveland's nomination. A few days before
the election Mr. Tilden addressed to Mr. Manning, the
chairman of the State committee, the following letter com
mending the nomination :

"GRAYSTONE, Oct. 20, 1882.

w MY DEAR SIR : I have received your letter and in reply
I hasten to say that, in my opinion, the excellent ticket
nominated at Syracuse is auspicious of a reform adminis
tration in the executive government of the State. The
large classes of independent voters who, during my ad
ministration as governor, honored me with their support
included many citizens who were then first attracted to
take an interest in public affairs ; many others who had
not been before classified as partisans, and a large num
ber who broke away from their party ties and gave their
adhesion to a system of politics which promised to purify
administration and to elevate the standard of official
morality. They were numerous enough and powerful
enough to hold the balance of power in every successive
contest. They can now much more easily determine the
result in the approaching election. To all these classes,
as well as to all others who are in general accord with me
as to the principles on which the State ought to be gov
erned, I cordially commend the support of Grover Cleve
land and his associate candidates.

" Very truly yours,

" S. J. TILDEN.

"To DANIEL MANNING, ESQ."

The following letter to Mr. Henry Adams, in acknowl
edgment of his admirable biographies of John Eandolph

278 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

and of Albert Gallatin, betrays the change of interest and
occupation to which Mr. Tilden was gradually habituating
himself in his new home :

"GRAYSTONE, Jan. 12, 1883.

" DEAR Mr. ADAMS : I was lately reading your very in
teresting book concerning John Randolph, and it suggested
a desire to look over your work on the ' New England Fed
eralists.' I sent to my library in the city for that book.
When I came to look at it, I noticed that it was a presen
tation copy sent by you to me.

" I have no recollection of ever before having seen that
entry, or of having ever acknowledged your courtesy.

" I write now to repair the seeming want of attention,
and to beg you to accept my thanks, not only for the vol
ume you were so kind as to send me, but for the great
services which you have rendered to the history of our
country.

" I consider your ' Life of Albert Gallatin ' as the most
valuable contribution which has been made to this depart
ment of our literature. I agree with your very high esti
mate of Mr. Gallatin as a practical statesman.

" There is a story told of Mr. Choate. It is that at a
dinner party in Pennsylvania, where his wit was ruffled
by a competition in the exhibition of great men, he gave as
a toast, ' The two really great men of Pennsylvania : Albert
Gallatin, of Geneva, and Benjamin Franklin, of Boston.'

"John Randolph's epigrams, which were famous in their
day, were as laboriously wrought as the impromptus of
Sheridan are shown by Moore to have been.

" Mr. Van Buren told me that Randolph said to him,
1 When I get a good thing, I boil it down, and boil it down,
and boil it down, until I can put it into the apple of my
eye, and then I lay it away for use.'

" I hope your father's health has improved.

" With my best wishes for the health, prosperity, and
happiness of yourself and the other members of your
father's family, I remain,

"Very truly yours,

"S. J. TILDEN.
"HENRY ADAMS, ESQ.,

"Boston, Mass."

CLEVELAND ELECTED GOVERNOR 279

As the time approached for the nomination of a candi
date for President in 1884 the purpose of his party to
renominate Mr. Tilden threatened to be irresistible. He
alone of all the prominent statesmen of his party had
seemed, day by day, to expand and to assume continually
enlarging proportions in popular estimation. The convic
tion that he alone could assure the party's success made
them deaf to the protestations of Tilden or of his friends
that he would not accept the nomination.

This feeling was instinctive and universal. It may have
been in part founded on the knowledge of the special de
votion to him of the working-classes, to whose interests he
had been faithful for fifty years ; the confidence of the busi
ness men, who trusted, to his wise and safe policy; and to
the peculiar support which the adopted citizens of German
origin had uniformly given to him, including large numbers
of Republicans as well as Democrats.

But a still more potential influence was the fact, at
length conceded substantially by all parties, that he had
been elected in 1876, but fraudulently deprived of the office.

Each one of the four millions of voters who had given
him their suffrages felt a sense of personal injury, and an
intense desire to punish and to rectify that wrong. This
feeling converted each man from being a comparatively
indifferent voter, into a proselyting canvasser.

In behalf of the man who had been the victim of a great
public crime, there was also a widespread disposition
among many Republicans who loved fair play, to give their
votes on the first opportunity in such a manner as to redress
the wrong of 1876. Instances of this kind came within the
knowledge of almost every Democratic voter, and the pur
pose was communicated, in many cases, to Mr. Tilden and
to his friends. Accessions from this cause were believed
to be very numerous, and were estimated to count by
many thousands.1

important evidence on this subject, the reader is referred to
Appendix B.

280 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

So strong was the popular sentiment in favor of Mr.
Tilden's renomination in his own State that when the time
arrived for the selection of delegates to the State conven
tion which was to choose the delegation to the national
convention those Democrats who were hostile to Governor
Cleveland's nomination to the presidency, and who knew
that Mr. Tilden did not mean to accept a nomination,
began to intrigue for the election of delegates whose
first choice was understood to be Mr. Tilden, but were
secretly opposed to Cleveland. Several delegates had been
elected in this shape, when Mr. Manning called upon me
one day early in June, 1884, and expressed the wish that I
would accompany him to Graystone. After briefly refer
ring to the political situation, he said that on the Sunday
previous he had called upon Governor Cleveland, laid the
whole case before him ; pressed upon his attention the
necessity of doing something at once, to prevent the friends
of Mr. Tilden getting heedlessly pledged to other candidates
as their second choice, a danger which was imminent so
long as a hope of Mr. Tilden's yielding to the wishes of the
party was indulged ; and finally, that the only way of defeat
ing such a scheme was for Mr. Tilden to signify, before the
election of any more delegates, most of whom were to be
chosen within the next eight or ten days, that he would
not be a candidate. Mr. Manning then went on to say that
Governor Cleveland promptly expressed the desire that Mr.
Manning would go down to Graystone, represent the situa
tion to Mr. Tilden, and consider himself authorized to give
Mr. Tilden any assurances he required in regard to the
naming of Mr. Cleveland's cabinet should he be elected, and
in regard to the conduct of his administration upon the
lines of reform which had been traced by Mr. Tilden dur
ing and since his election as governor. Mr. Manning said
his object in coming to me was to ask me to accom
pany him to Graystone and assist him in persuading Mr.
Tilden — if persuasion should be necessary — to no longer

MANNING'S MESSAGE TO TILDEN 281

delay a formal announcement of his intentions, already
well known to Mr. Manning and myself, not to accept a
renomination.

I said that I approved entirely of an early publication by
Mr. Tilden of his intention not to accept a renomination ;
that some two weeks previous I had written him at length,
urging upon him the inconveniences of permitting the dele
gates to be elected to the nominating convention in the
expectation of making him their candidate ; that such a
letter had already been written, but the utterance of it had
been delayed, partly out of deference to the wishes of
friends in Washington, and partly for what seemed the more
obvious and appropriate occasion for such a communication,
— the meeting of the State convention that was to choose
the delegates to the national convention.

I accompanied Mr. Manning to Gray stone, where he
stated his errand to Mr. Tilden.

Mr. Tilden hesitated a little, partly, perhaps, from a
natural reluctance to pursue a course which might be con
strued into an unbecoming interference in behalf of a par
ticular candidate, partly from delicacy about declining a
nomination before the State convention had furnished him
a suitable pretext for such a step, and partly from a pro
found sense of the risk the people would run in selecting a
man of such limited administrative experience to conduct
the government of sixty millions of people. He finally,
however, gave Mr. Manning to understand that the State
committee would probably hear from him in a day or two.
A letter of declension was sent to Mr. Manning the follow
ing day, and appeared in the morning papers of the 12th
of June, 1884.

After referring briefly to the terms in which he declined
a renomination in 1880, he said that nothing had occurred
in the four years which had since elapsed to weaken,
but everything to strengthen, the considerations which
then induced him to withdraw from public life ; that the

282 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

occasion now to consider the question was an event for
which he had no responsibility ; that he had never accepted
official service except for a brief period, for a special pur
pose, and only when the occasion seemed to require of him
that sacrifice of his personal preferences for the public wel
fare ; that he accepted the nomination for the presidency in
1876 because of the general conviction that his candidacy
would best present the issue of reform which the Demo
cratic majority of the people desired to have worked out in
the federal government as it had been in that of the State of
New York ; that the canvass he was desired to undertake
would embrace a period of nearly five years, the burdens
of which admitted of no illusions. The close of his letter
was conspicuous for its eloquence, pathos, and dignity.

"At the present time the considerations which induced
my action in 1880 have become imperative. I ought not to
assume a task which I have not the physical strength to
carry through. To reform the administration of the fed
eral government, to realize my own ideal, and to fulfil
the just expectations of the people, would indeed warrant,
as they could alone compensate, the sacrifices which the
undertaking would involve. But, in my condition of ad
vancing years and declining strength, I feel no assurance
of my ability to accomplish those objects. I am, therefore,
constrained to say, definitely, that I cannot now assume the
labors of an administration or of a canvass.

"Undervaluing in nowise that best gift of heaven, the
occasion and the power sometimes bestowed upon a mere
individual to communicate an impulse for good ; grateful
beyond all words to my fellow-countrymen who would
assign such a beneficent function to me, — I am consoled by
the reflection that neither the Democratic party, nor the
Republic for whose future that party is the best guarantee,
is now or ever can be dependent upon any one man for
their successful progress in the path of a noble destiny.

" Having given to their welfare whatever of health and
strength I possessed, or could borrow from the future, and
having reached the term of my capacity for such labors as
their welfare now demands, I but submit to the will of
God in deeming my public career forever closed."

DECLINES A RENOMINATION 283

This letter was like a rainbow set in the political horizon,
the harbinger of comparative peace for Mr. Tilden. It
served nobody's purpose longer to assail him, and those who
had assailed him most virulently seemed disposed to profit
by the appearance of this letter to do what they could, and
as fast as possible, to assist the public in forgetting their
past injustice. Even the "New York Times," which for
the previous eight years had blinded itself to all of Mr.
Tilden's virtues in its intemperate search for pretexts to
revile him, resumed at once the tone of decorous respect
to which it had been habituated while laboring with Mr.
Tilden some dozen years before for municipal reform.

Said the " Times " of the 12th, in which Mr. Tilden's letter
appeared :

" The vital point in what Mr. Tilden writes is his asser
tion that he cannot now ' assume the labors of an adminis
tration or of a canvass/

" The assertion is made, it is fair to say, in full knowl
edge of the fact that in many States of the Union the
Democratic party, without preliminary inquiry as to Mr.
Tilden's wishes or Mr. Tilden's strength, had spoken almost
without a dissenting voice in favor of his nomination at
Chicago. He puts away a presidential nomination he
might have had, an act which has few precedents in the
history of parties in this country. That act is extremely
creditable to the good sense and to the clear perception of
Mr. Tilden. He is the best judge of his own strength, and
his judgment is blinded by none of those dazzling illusions
to which so many men are subject whenever and as often
as the presidency comes even remotely within the range of
their vision. Nor has his decision been in any way in
fluenced by recent Republican action, for it is now more
than a year since Mr. Tilden gave an intimation, in a quar
ter which left no doubt or question as to his entire earnest
ness, of his fixed purpose to adhere to the conclusion stated
in his letter of June 18, 1880.

"It would be but a slight recognition of Mr. Tilden's
motives and of the circumstances under which his letter is
written to say that his act is an unselfish one. It is more

284 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

than unselfish. In the present divided condition of the
Republican party it is an act of great moment and
promise."

It is a curious illustration of the extraordinary hold which
Tilden's name had upon his party that but for the belief
that the time chosen for the publication of his letter sig
nified a desire for the nomination of Mr. Cleveland, the
chances were even that he would have been nominated in
spite of it. i Of twenty-two States which held their conven
tions before the publication of the letter, twenty either
instructed their delegates to vote for him, or by resolution
declared him to be their preference, or appointed delegates
known to favor his nomination. One of the remaining two,
although nominally favoring a State candidate in the belief
that Mr. Tilden did not mean to run, was really favorable
to his nomination. Of fourteen States which held their
conventions after the appearance of the letter, five either
declared for his nomination or expressed their continued
preference for him, while nine others appointed delegates,
of whom he was their first choice.

New York State held its convention on the 18th of June,
six days after the publication of his letter, and after dele
gates had been appointed from all the counties favorable
to his renomination. The remaining one of the thirty-eight
States then composing the Union, and which held its con
vention on the 17th of June, accepted Mr. Tilden's letter
as final, and appointed delegates favorable to its State
candidates.2

I think Mr. Tilden resisted the importunities of his
friends as much through fear of the consequences of a
canvass to himself as to the party. His health would have

1 Shortly after Mr. Cleveland's nomination I was assured by one of the
more prominent delegates to the national convention from a Southern
State that but for the impression prevailing in the convention that Mr.
Cleveland was Mr. Tilden's choice for the nomination, he would not have
"received a single vote. 2 Appendix B.

CLEVELAND NOMINATED FOR PRESIDENT 285

become the controlling issue in the contest. His feebleness
would have been exaggerated by his opponents. This
would have compelled his appearance in public places, and
his exposure at inconvenient times and to imprudent
fatigues, the results of which might have left the party in
the midst of the battle without a leader. Only a few
months after the election he told me that he thought he
should live about two years longer. He overestimated
his longevity by a few months.

It was therefore from no selfish consideration, from no
lack of deference for the judgment of others, from no mis
trust of his popularity in the country, that he did not allow
himself to be moved by the importunities of his partisans.
He knew better than any one else the risks that would be
incurred by his renomination, and he was too wise a man
to assume that his party was lacking in men abundantly
competent to lead it with success.

Mr. Elaine had already been nominated for the presi
dency by the Republican party, and Governor Cleveland was
finally nominated by the Democratic party, and elected.

The convention which nominated Mr. Cleveland signal
ized its deliberations by inserting in its declaration of
principles the following tribute to its retired leader :

" With profound regret we have been apprised by the
venerable statesman, through whose person was struck that
blow at the vital principle of republics (acquiescence in the
will of the majority), that he cannot permit us again to
place in his hands the leadership of the Democratic hosts,
for the reason that the achievement of reform in the
administration of the federal government is an undertak
ing now too heavy for his age and failing strength. Re
joicing that his life has been prolonged until the general
judgment of our fellow-countrymen is united in the wish
that that wrong were righted in his person, for the Democ
racy of the United States, we offer to him in his with
drawal from public cares not only our respectful sympathy
and esteem, but also that best homage of freemen, the
pledge of our devotion to the principles and the cause now

286 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

inseparable in the history of this Kepublic from the labors
and the name of Samuel J. Tilden."

The convention also unanimously adopted the following
resolutions :

" Resolved, That this convention has read with profound
regret and intense admiration the statesmanlike and patriotic
letter of Samuel J. Tilden expressing the overpowering and
providential necessity which constrains him to decline a
nomination for the highest office in the gift of the American
people.

"Resolved, That, though fraud, force, and violence
deprived Samuel J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hendricks of
the offices conferred upon them by the Democratic party
of the nation in 1876, they yet live, and ever will, first in
the hearts of the Democracy of the country.

" Resolved, That this convention expresses a nation's
regret that this same lofty patriotism and splendid execu
tive and administrative ability which cleansed and purified
the city and State governments of the great Empire State
cannot now be turned upon the Augean stable of national
fraud and corruption so long and successfully maintained
by the Republican party at the national capital.

" Resolved, That copies of these resolutions be suitably
engrossed, and that the chairman of the convention appoint
a committee whose duty it shall be, in the name of the con
vention, to forward or present the same to the Hon. Samuel
J. Tilden and the Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks."

The chairman of the convention in compliance with its
instructions appointed a committee consisting of one dele
gate from each State to wait upon Mr. Tilden and present
him with an engrossed copy of these resolutions.

The committee assembled in New York on the third day
of September, whence they were conveyed to Yonkers in
Mr. Tilden's steam-yacht, the " Viking," which had been
placed at their disposal.

The resolutions were communicated to Mr. Tilden, with
a few appropriate remarks by the Hon. R. R. Henry, of
Mississippi, chairman of the committee. Mr. Tilden

REPLY TO THE NATIONAL CONVENTION 287

briefly expressed his thanks, and said that the state of his
health compelled him to ask of the committee the indul
gence of a few days for a more formal reply.

On the 6th of October he addressed the committee a
letter the burden of which was the characteristics by which
the Democratic party had been distinguished from the
Republican party from their foundations respectively. Of
the latter his view is substantially presented in the follow
ing paragraphs :

" The Democratic party had its origin in the efforts of the
more advanced patriots of the Revolution to resist the per
version of our government from the ideal contemplated by
the people. Among its conspicuous founders are Benjamin
Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams and John
Hancock, of Massachusetts ; George Clinton and Robert R.
Livingston, of New York ; and George Wythe and James
Madison, of Virginia. From the election of Mr. Jefferson
as President in 1800, for sixty years the Democratic party
mainly directed our national policy. It extended the
boundaries of the Republic, and laid the foundations of
all our national greatness, while it preserved the limitations
imposed by the Constitution and maintained a simple and
pure system of domestic administration.

" On the other hand, the Republican party has always
been dominated by principles which favor legislation for
the benefit of particular classes at the expense of the body
of the people. It has become deeply tainted with the
abuses which naturally grow up during a long possession
of unchecked power, especially in a period of civil war
and false finance. The patriotic and virtuous elements in it
are now unable to emancipate it from the sway of selfish
interests which subordinate public duty to personal gain.
The most hopeful of the best citizens it contains, despair of
its amendment except through its temporary expulsion
from power.

" It has been boastingly asserted by a modern Massachu
setts statesman, struggling to reconcile himself and his
followers to their presidential candidate, that the Republi
can party contains a disproportionate share of the wealth,
the culture, and the intelligence of the country. The

288 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

unprincipled Grafton, when taunted by James the Second
with his personal want of conscience, answered, ' That is
true, but I belong to a party that has a great deal of con
science.9

" Such reasoners forget that the same claim has been made
in all ages and countries by the defenders of old wrongs
against new reforms. It was alleged by the Tories of the
American Kevolution against the Patriots of that day. It
was repeated against Jefferson and afterwards against Jack
son. It is alleged by the Conservatives against those who,
in England, are now endeavoring to enlarge the popular
suffrage .

" All history shows that reforms in government must not
be expected from those who sit serenely on the social
mountain-tops enjoying the benefits of the existing order of
things. Even the Divine Author of our religion found his
followers, not among the self-complacent Pharisees, but
among lowly minded fishermen."1

Of all American statesmen who have risen to eminence
Mr. Tilden was probably the least given to sarcastic or per
sonally offensive allusions of any kind to a political oppo
nent. I am not aware that in all his long public life he ever
had an unpleasant personal controversy about any words
that fell from his lips or pen. No one knew better than he,
nor acted more uniformly upon the knowledge, that "whoso
keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from
troubles." He would not, therefore, have made the reflec
tions upon some of the unfortunate events in the congres
sional career of the Kepublican candidate which is disguised
in this paragraph had not Mr. Elaine stimulated the mali
cious persecutions with which the administration had pur
sued him so relentlessly from the dawn to the close of his
candidature for the presidency, and merely, as Mr. Tilden
believed, because Mr. Elaine regarded him as his most
formidable rival.

1 " Writings and Speeches," Vol. II. p. 533.

CHAPTER IX

Tilden's relations to the new President — Senator Garland a suitor — Let
ters to Manning — Tilden's and Jefferson's views of civil service — Harbor
defences — Letter to Carlisle — Tilden's friends proscribed at Wash
ington — Letter to Watterson — George W. Julian — Tilden dis
courages his nephew and namesake from embarking in politics —
R. D. Minturn — Manning's illness and retirement from the treasury
— History of the Monroe Doctrine — The Broadway railroad —
Advice to Governor Hill against the proposed enlargement of the
Erie canal — Favors the bills for an international park and for the
protection of the Adirondack forests.

MR. CLEVELAND'S election was generally and very natu
rally regarded as a continuation of the Tilden dynasty, and
as a consequence his supposed influence with the new
President was very extensively solicited by candidates for
place under the new administration from all parts of the
country. Among the earlier applications of this character
was one from Senator Garland, of Arkansas, who desired
the position of attorney-general. To him Mr. Tilden sent
a letter evidently intended not entirely to conceal his mis
trust that whatever value Mr. Cleveland had professed to
attach to his advice in the previous June, the election had
seriously impaired. It would have been fortunate for Mr.
Garland had he followed the advice which Mr. Tilden, with
so much delicacy, tried to convey to him. He left a place
where his manifold limitations escaped observation, for one
in which they alone were conspicuous.

TILDEN TO GARLAND.

" (Confidential.)

"GRAYSTONE, Dec. 5, 1884.

" DEAR SENATOR GARLAND : I have received your let
ter. I appreciate all the consideration which it so frankly

VOL. II. — 19

290 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

suggests. Although I have had less personal acquaintance
with you since 1868 than I could have wished, I have not
been left without the means to form a just estimate of your
acquirements as a lawyer, your rank as a Senator, and your
high personal character.

"I do not know to what extent, or in what cases, if any,
I shall be consulted by Mr. Cleveland in respect to the
constitution of his cabinet. I do not intend to intrude
upon him any advice unasked, or to volunteer any recom
mendations or requests. If consulted, I shall not act as a
partisan of any of my numerous friends who Avould like to
enter his cabinet, but shall endeavor, with judicial impartial
ity, to canvass the personal merits and other considerations
which ought to influence the choice. I am anxious that he
should do the best thing possible for the country and for
his administration, and shall desire rather to help him in
his difficult task than to add to his embarrassments.

" The formation of a cabinet is a piece of mosaic in which
each element may be affected by the size, texture, and
color of the others entering into the combination ; and it is
impossible to foresee how much an individual element may
be affected by the cast of the whole.

" Impressed as I am with your adaptation to the trust
which you have indicated as most agreeable to you, I
should feel some regret at your leaving the Senate, both on
account of the public interest and the personal distinction
and growth which you would surrender. An intelligent
and judicious friend, who reads all the reported debates,
tells me that you appear to great advantage in the senato
rial discussions. The role as the confidential representative
of the administration in the Senate is greater than any
cabinet office. I remember how Thomas H. Benton and
Silas Wright felt on that subject. While occupying that
relation, Mr. Wright grew to greater prominence than any
other Democrat in the country. In 1844 he was nominated
against his will for the vice-presidency, and, I happen to
know, was informally offered the presidential nomination
before it was conferred on Mr. Polk. His transcendant
hold upon the country carried the presidential election for
the Democracy.

" If it should fall to the lot of Mr. Cleveland to fill sev
eral appointments in the Supreme Court, I hope that he
will select men, not only of eminent legal capacities and of

RELATIONS TO THE NEW PRESIDENT 291

pure personal character, and of sounder constitutional ideas
than have lately been found in that body, but have some
thing more to give to the country than the dregs of life.
Most of the great judges have been taken young, and their
character formed on the bench.

" Very truly yours,

"S. J. TiLDEN.

"HoN. A. H. GARLAND,

"Washington, D.C"

In point of fact Mr. Tilden was not consulted about his
cabinet by President Cleveland until nearly or quite every
place but one had been filled, when his advice about a sec
retary of the treasury was invited. He recommended Mr.
Daniel Manning, of New York. Mr. Manning was reluct
antly appointed to that position, but never welcomed to it
nor in it.

Whether Mr. Cleveland underrated the value of Mr. Til-
den's judgment, or overrated his own, it is quite certain that
Mr. Manning did neither, for he appears to have rarely, if
ever, taken any important step while he continued in the
cabinet without trying to secure Mr. Tilden's approval of
it. Some of Mr. Tilden's letters on public questions sub
mitted to him for his views have not yet lost their value.
On the 1st of March, and only three days before Manning
was to take office, Mr. Tilden wrote to him :

TILDEN TO MANNING.

"GRAYSTONE, YONKERS, N.Y., March 1, 1885.
" DEAR Mr. MANNING : The first thing to be done in the
treasury is to ascertain how far the redemption fund, as it is
called, which is the stock of gold kept in reserve to redeem
the greenbacks, has been impaired. I suspect the deficiency
is not less than thirty or forty millions. The construc
tion of the laws adopted by Mr. Sherman, late secretary ;
by Mr. McCulloch, present secretary ; and by Mr. Wey-
man, treasurer, — is that there is express legal authority
to make good, by sale of United States bonds, such defi
ciency as may be found from time to time to assist in the

292 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

redemption fund. Mr. McCulloch in his letter to me
claimed the right to check out, in the discretion of the sec
retary, from the existing mass of gold in the treasury, if
thereby a deficiency was created in the redemption fund,
and then to make good that deficiency by the sale of bonds.

" If the government pay the interest on the public debt in
gold, as it ought, it will take somewhat over four millions
a month, beside payments for the sinking-fund and for
called bonds, and beside keeping the reserve for the re
demption of the greenbacks. If there is no financial alarm,
and no export demand for gold, the sale of bonds of twenty
to forty millions might, as many think, maintain the gold
basis for all the government payments, and lose two mil
lions a month through the rest of the year. That is to say,
it would make good the deterioration in the financial condi
tion of the government consequent upon paying two mil
lions a month for silver bullion.

" If the government should be compelled to use silver in its
payments, it would have to be considered whether it should
not pay the interest on the bonds, the sinking-fund, and
the called bonds in gold, and maintain the gold fund
for the redemption of greenbacks, and use the silver in
common with such surplus of gold as may remain, in the
payment of the other expenditures of the government.
This would perfectly protect the public honor and faith ; but
you might have some clamor against two currencies. It
could scarcely be said that that made one currency for the
government and another for the people, because the
greenbacks are really the people's currency. I write in
great haste, because there is no time, and can but make im
perfect suggestions.

" Mr. Jordan has submitted this morning four statements,
of which I send one, as containing some suggestions of de

tail which might be useful.

"Yours truly,

"S. J. T."

The financial crisis of 1883, which compelled an extra
session of Congress, and the repeal of the law requiring
large monthly purchases of silver by the treasury, lend a
special interest to the following prescient letter to Mr.
Manning :

THE NATIONAL FINANCES 293

TILDEN TO MANNING.

"GRAYSTONE, YONKERS, N.Y., March 14, 1885.

" DEAR MR. MANNING : I enclose a small pamphlet
written by Mr. Coe. His theory is to depend upon the
policy of not calling in any bonds, as a means for carry
ing the additional quantity of silver which the law compels
you to buy, until some time after the next session of Con
gress, and until there is another opportunity of trying to
get Congress to suspend the silver purchases. If the
making or withholding of calls is in the discretion of the
secretary, which I am inclined to think it is, having as
yet found no compulsory mandate, I think it will be
highly inexpedient to exhaust the treasury, if you mean
to continue all the gold payments on the gold basis.

" Mr. Jordan has sent me a series of statements which
show that about $33,000,000 of the gold fund reserved for
the redemption of the legal tenders have been consumed in
the ordinary payments of the treasury. According to the
construction adopted by your predecessors, United States
4 per cent, bonds can lawfully be sold to make good that
deficiency. Mr. Jordan's figures cover some other topics.
Having partially examined them, I have given them to Mr.
Marble for a few days, as he can verify the references to
the authorities more conveniently than I can.

" I think that between these two resources you can tide
yourself along until the opportunity arises to make the
issue in Congress, without resorting to any silver pay
ments.

" I expect to write to you again within a few days.
"Very truly yours,

"3. J. TILDEN.
"HoN. DAN'L MANNING,

"Secretary of the Treasury "

Mr. Jordan, to whom the following letter was addressed,
had been selected by Mr. Manning for the position of
treasurer of the United States. It is quoted here partly
for its intrinsic value and partly to show the active interest
which Mr. Tilden took in the administration of the national
finances at a time when the roar of the breakers towards

294 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

which the ship of state was drifting seemed more audible at
Graystone than elsewhere.

TILDEN TO JORDAN.

" (Confidential.)
"GRAYSTONE, YONKERS, N.Y., May 15, 1885.

f? DEAR MR. JORDAN : The memorandum for the solution
of the silver question enclosed in your letter appears to
me to have elements from which to devise a measure. It
would need some modification and require to be perfected.
The law will put the proposition in more definite shape
and will be a better basis to act on than so brief and gen
eral a proposition. When General Warner shall have
written it out please send me a copy. The advantage of
bringing up the coin in fineness and weight to the market
value of the silver it contains is very great. It would
widen the market for silver and so benefit the producers.
It should apply to the half and quarter dollars. Can you
inform me what per cent, the cost of coinage is on the
dollar? also on the halves and quarters taken together?
You will remember that when it was proposed to resume
specie payment nearly everybody thought that the prelim
inary step was to contract the currency. I maintained the
opposite views. I said that nobody could tell how much
currency the wants of business would require ; that to as
sume an arbitrary amount was the heiglit of quackery ;
that the only true way was to leave that matter to adjust
itself under a free system. I apply the same principle to
silver. I am willing to take all that the business of the
country can absorb : it is impossible to do anything more.
To force the quantity of the currency above its natural
level is as idle an attempt as was Dame Partington's effort
with her mop to keep back the Atlantic ocean. The
measure should be carefully guarded to avoid any such
folly. It would be necessary to invest the treasury with a
discretion which would enable it to follow and not to force
nature.

f"It will give me pleasure to see General Warner at
Graystone. I know him very well, and think well of him.

"Very truly yours,

"S. J. TILDEN."

THE TENURE OF OFFICE ACT 295

Application having been made to Mr. Tilden for his views
of a draught of some resolutions designed to be presented
for the adoption of the State convention of the Democratic
party of New York State in the fall of 1885, he sent the
following reply :

" Sect. VI., relating to the silver question, is well enough
in substance.

"Sect. I., relating to the civil service, is free from objec
tions.

" Sect. II. is right and well expressed.

" Sect. III., proposing a repeal of certain laws of 1869 re
lating to the tenure of office. That is right. It restores to
the President his power of appointment, which by those laws
has been in part usurped by the Senate. But a question
arises as to the expediency of making this declaration at the
present time. That question will be considered in connec
tion with Sect. IV.

ff Sect. IV. proposes a repeal of the laws of May 15, 1820,
which fixes the term of four years to a large number of
important offices. Without deciding the question whether
if that stood alone the extinction of fixed terms for these
offices is expedient, which is not free from doubt, in prac
tice at the present time the proposition involves insurmount
able mischiefs.

" The Senate will not consent to a repeal of the laws of
1867 and 1869. The Senate will be glad to obtain the
repeal of the law of May 15, 1820. If the President
and the House of Representatives make a Democratic
party question in favor of repealing the law of May 15, 1820,
the measure will be passed. The practical effect will be to
put all the offices which now have fixed tenures under the
laws of 1867 and 1869. That result would strip the Presi
dent of the only independent power of appointment which
he now has, and place him completely under the tutelage of
the Senate. It would sweep away from the Democrats any
chance of obtaining any participation in the government of
the country. If a declaration in favor of repealing the laws
of 1867 and 1869, which declaration will be wholly nugatory
and useless, involves also the declaration in favor of the
repeal of the law of May 15, 1820, which would be effect
ual, both ought to be omitted.

296 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

"The repeal of the law of May 15, 1820, even if proper,
as part of the system in which the repeal of the laws of 1867
and 1869 should be also a part, it should never be done sepa
rately or in advance. The effect on the Democratic party
of such a piece of Democratic insanity it is easy to foresee.
It probably would be a collapse of the Democratic party,
and of the present Democratic administration.

" On the whole, in my judgment Sections III. and IV. are
too abstruse, and involve topics which not one man in fifty
in the convention will have any knowledge of.

" They are unfit for planks in the platform. They had
better be omitted, even apart from the objection above
stated.

" Sect. V. The authority of Washington, cited in this sec
tion, involves a doubt. Washington's language seems to
imply that all office-holders should be in political accord
with the President. That means a clean sweep. That
greatly exceeded the claim of Mr. Jefferson for his party.
He only asked that they should have a fair participation in
the public trusts of the country. He said, when he came
into the presidency, if he had found the Democrats in pos
session of even a moderate share, he would have waited for
time and circumstances to have remedied the injustice ; but,
having found a complete monopoly of the offices in the
hands of the minority, who had been discarded by the
people, he was compelled to apply a prompter corrective.

" You can study Mr. Jefferson's principles and views of
this subject with great advantage."

In March of the year in which this criticism was
despatched to Mr. Manning, Mr. Tilden made a careful
analysis of President Jefferson's views of the tenure of
office of the civil officers of the federal government, with a
commentary thereon which reflected his own vieAVS, and
the principles upon which, if clothed with the responsibil
ities of a chief magistrate, he would have endeavored to
regulate that service. It will be found to illustrate the
difference in the ways this problem is dealt with by states
men and by cranks.

JEFFERSON AND THE CIVIL SERVICE 297

JEFFERSON AND THE CIVIL SERVICE.

" Thomas Jefferson was one of the greatest reformers that
this country has produced — perhaps the greatest. When
he became President the country was first divided politically
according to the two fundamental interpretations of the
Constitution, — the Federalist and the Democratic. Under
the presidency of John Adams, as it had been previously
under Washington, the tendency of the administration was
strongly toward the establishment of an overmastering
Federal government, and the whole government machinery
was solidly organized in harmony with that tendency.
None but Federalists were in office. The Federalist idea
had gained a great hold upon the people. If such weapons
as the alien and sedition laws had not been furnished to the
Democrats by the administration, it is scarcely possible
that they could have beaten their opponents ; and, instead
of the establishment of the Democracy in power at that
time, the Federalists might have retained their control of
the country, and so strengthened it that the complexion of
our politics might now have been materially different, and
perhaps lacking in some features that we to-day regard as
essential to Eepublicanism. It was Jefferson's mission to
arrest the inclination toward a more highly centralized
system of Federal control, and formally to lay the founda
tion on which our Democracy has rested since his time, and
must continue to rest so long as the Democratic idea shall
endure .

" Upon Jefferson's accession to office he found all national
posts filled by members of the Federal party. Men of
Democratic views of politics had been entirely proscribed.
There was scarcely a Republican — so the Democrats were
then called — enjoying a place of honor or trust under the
government. In short, the party that had just carried the
election and demonstrated its supremacy among the people
had absolutely no participation whatsoever in the govern
ment beyond its representatives on the national ticket and
its members of Congress. The votes of the majority had
changed the elective officers only. That was all they could
change. What remained to be done in order to carry out
their wishes was to be done by the executive. To do this,
to correct the existing abuses, and to restore a political
equilibrium, was regarded by the new President as kindred

298 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

in importance to the firm establishment of Democratic prin
ciples. Indeed, such a reform was implied and rendered
necessary by those principles, not only for the sake of a
more equal and Democratic distribution of responsibility,
but because the spirit of Democracy is opposed to the end
less continuation of one party in power, and to the institu
tion of a class of bureaucrats.

"Notwithstanding the immensity of the labor, and in
spite of vigorous remonstrances from the defeated Federal
ists, as well as the feeble and petulant protests of impartial
idlers who were remote from politics, and whose souls
revolted at any form of upheaval or of progress, Mr. Jeffer
son began his task and carried it to a successful completion.
But it was not done without difficulty, nor without reluc
tance, nor without appreciation of the disadvantages and
imperfections attached to the work. An occasion for the
expression of Mr. Jefferson's views upon the subject of
official changes, and of the principles and motives under
which he exercised the power conferred upon him for mak
ing them, came but a few months after his inauguration.
It was brought about by a protest of Elias Shipman and
others, a committee of the merchants of New Haven,
against two appointments of the President ; and his views
on the subject are explained in the following letter :

«• WASHINGTON, July 12, 1801.

" GENTLEMEN: I have received the remonstrance you were pleased
to address to me on the appointment of Samuel Bishop to the office of
collector of New Haven, lately vacated by the death of David Austin.
The right of our fellow-citizens to represent to the public functionaries
their opinion on proceedings interesting to them is unquestionably a
constitutional right, often useful, sometimes necessary, and will al
ways be respectfully acknowledged by me.

" Of the various executive duties, no one excites more anxious con
cern than that of placing the interests of our fellow-citizens in the
hands of honest men, with understandings sufficient for their stations.
No duty, at the same time, is more difficult to fulfil. The knowledge
of character possessed by a single individual is, of necessity, limited.
To seek out the best through the whole Union, we must resort to other
information, which, from the best of men, acting disinterestedly and
with the purest motives, is sometimes incorrect. In the case of
Samuel Bishop, however, the subject of your remonstrance, time was
taken, information was sought, and such 'obtained as could leave no
room for doubt of his fitness. From private sources it was learned
that his understanding was sound, his integrity pure, his character un
stained. And the offices confided to him within his own State are
public evidences of the estimation in which he is held by the State in

JEFFERSON AND THE CIVIL SERVICE 299

general and the city and township particularly in which he lives. He
is said to be the town clerk, a justice of the peace, mayor of the
city of New Haven, an office held at the will of the Legislature;
chief judge of the Court of Common Pleas for New Haven county, a
court of high criminal and civil jurisdiction, wherein most causes are
decided without the right of appeal or review; and sole judge of the
Court of Probates, wherein he singly decides all questions of wills,
settlement of estates, testate and intestate, appoints guardians, settles
their accounts, and, in fact, has under his jurisdiction and care all
the property, real and personal, of persons dying. The two last
offices in the annual gift of the Legislature were given to him in May
last. Is it possible that the man to whom the Legislature of Connecti
cut has so recently committed trusts of such difficulty and magnitude
is ' unfit to be the Collector of the District of New Haven,' though
acknowledged in the same writing to have obtained all this confidence
* by a long life of usefulness1? It is objected, indeed, in the remon
strance, that he is seventy-seven years of age ; but at a much more ad
vanced age our Franklin was the ornament of human nature. He may
not be able to perform in person all the details of his office ; but if he
gives us the benefit of his understanding, his integrity, his watchful
ness, and takes care that all the details are well performed by himself
or his necessary assistants, all public purposes will be answered. The
remonstrance, indeed, does not allege that the office has been illy con
ducted, but only apprehends that it will be so. Should this happen, in
any event, be assured I will do in it what shall be just and necessary
for the public service. In the meantime, he should be tried without
bein^ prejudged.

" The removal, as it is called, of Mr. Goodrich forms another sub
ject of complaint. Declarations by myself in favor of political toler
ance, exhortations to harmony and affection in social intercourse, and
to respect for the equal rights of the minority, have, on certain occa
sions, been quoted and misconstrued into assurances that the tenure of
offices was to be undisturbed. But could candor apply to such a con
struction? It is not, indeed, in the remonstrance that we find it; but
it leads to the explanations which that calls for. When it is con
sidered that during the late administration those who were not of a
political sect of politics were excluded from all office; when, by a
steady pursuit of this measure, nearly the whole offices of the United
States were monopolized by that sect ; when the public sentiment at
length declared itself, and burst open the doors of honor and confi
dence to those whose opinions they more approved, — was it to be
imagined that this monopoly of office was still to be continued in the
hands of the minority? Does it violate their equal rights to assert
some rights in the majority also ? Is it political intolerance to claim
a proportionate share in the direction of the public affairs? Can they
not harmonize in society unless they have everything in their own
hands ? If the will of the nation, manifested by their various elections,
calls for an administration of government according with the opinions
of those elected; if, for the fulfilment of that will, displacements are
necessary, with whom can they so justly begin as with persons ap
pointed in the last moments of an administration, not for its own aid,
but to begin a career at the same time with their successors, by whom
they had never been approved, and who could scarcely expect from
them a cordial cooperation? Mr. Goodrich was one of these. Was it
proper for him to place himself in office without knowing whether

300 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

those whose agent he was to be would have confidence in his agency?
Can the preference of another as the successor to Mr. Austin be can
didly called a removal of Mr. Goodrich ? If a due participation of
office is a matter of right, how are vacancies to be obtained ? Those
by death are few ; by resignation, none.

" Can any other mode than that of removal be proposed ? This is
a painful office ; but it is made my duty, and I meet it as such. I pro
ceed in the operation with deliberation and inquiry, that it may injure
the best men least, and effect the purposes of justice and public utility
with the least private distress ; that it may be thrown, as much as pos
sible, on delinquency, on oppression, on intolerance, on ante-revolu
tionary adherence to our enemies.

" The remonstrance laments * that a change in the administration
must produce a change in the subordinate officers ; ' in other words, that
it should be deemed necessary for all officers to think with their prin
cipal. But on whom does this imputation bear? On those who have
excluded from office every shade of opinon which was not theirs?
Or on those who have been so excluded? I lament sincerely that un
essential differences of opinion should ever have been deemed sufficient
to interdict half the society from the rights and the blessings of self-
government ; to proscribe them as unworthy of every trust. It would
have been to me a circumstance of great relief had I found a mod
erate participation of office in the hands of the majority. I would
gladly have left to time and accident to raise them to their just share.
But their total exclusion calls for prompter corrections. I shall cor
rect the procedure ; but that done, return with joy to that state of
things when the only questions concerning a candidate shall be, Is he
honest ? Is he capable ? Is he faithful to the Constitution ?

" I tender you the homage of my high respect.

" THOMAS JEFFERSON.

rt This was not all of Mr. Jefferson's correspondence on
this matter. On August 26, a little more than one month
after the letter to the New Haven merchants, the President
wrote as follows from Monticello to Mr. Levi Lincoln, of
Massachusetts, the attorney-general in his cabinet :

" DEAR SIR : . . . I am glad to learn from you that the answer
to New Haven had a good effect in Massachusetts on the Republicans,
and no ill-effects on the sincere Federalists. 1 had foreseen, years
ago, that the first Republican President who should come into office
after all the places in the government had become exclusively occu
pied by Federalists, would have a dreadful operation to perform.
That the Republicans would consent to a continuation of everything
in Federal hands was not to be expected, because neither just nor
politic. On him, then, was to devolve the office of an executioner,
that of lopping off. I cannot say that it has worked harder than 1
expected. You know the moderation of our views in this business,
and that we all concurred in them. We determined to proceed with
deliberation. This produced impatience in the Republicans, and a
belief we meant to do nothing. Some occasion of public explanation
was eagerly desired, when the New Haven remonstrance offered us

JEFFERSON AND THE CIVIL SERVICE 301

that occasion. The answer was meant as an explanation to our
friends. It has had on them, everywhere, the most wholesome effect.
Appearances of schismatizing from us have been entirely done away.

"It will be particularly interesting to those who now
expect changes in offices with anxiety, to read such high
testimony as that of Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Lincoln, that
such changes can be accomplished with benefit to the
public service, and with the acquiescence of such of the
withdrawing party as have a right to be heard in the po
litical world, those who take part in its contests, and
understand its obligations. The action of Mr. Jefferson
in these instances had ' a good effect on the Republicans,
and no ill effects on the sincere Federalists.' But a third
letter from the President to Mr. Lincoln, dated at Wash
ington on Oct. 25, 1802, gives a still clearer elucidation of
the ideas which guided him in his administration, with
some additional comments, which are peculiarly pertinent
to the situation of to-day :

"DEAR SIR: . . . I still think our original idea as to office is
best; this is to depend, for the obtaining a just participation, on
deaths, resignations, and delinquencies. This will least affect the
tranquillity of the people, and prevent their giving in to the sugges
tion of our enemies, that ours has been a contest for office, not for
principle. This is rather a slow operation, but it is sure, if we
pursue it steadily, which, however, has not been done witli the un-
deviating resolution 1 could have wished. To these means of obtain
ing a just share in the transaction of the public business shall be
added one other, to wit, removal for electioneering activity, or open
and industrious opposition to the principles of the present govern
ment, legislative and executive. Every officer of the government
may vote at elections according to his conscience; but we should
betray the cause committed to our care were we to permit the influ
ence of official patronage to be used to overthrow that cause.

''Here, then, in these three short epistles of the founder
of the Democracy, is his theory upon which a party suc
ceeding to the management of the national machinery
after it has been under the hostile control of an uncom
promising partisan organization, should address itself to
the task of obliterating the most objectionable elements
of partisan rule, and instituting in their stead a purer
and more Democratic system.

"But these arguments of Mr. Jefferson are concerned
merely with the principle that when a party succeeds to

302 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

the management of federal affairs, and finds the govern
mental functions wholly in the hands of its opponents, it
has the right, and it is its duty, to establish its own power
by turning its opponents out of office ; even if for no other
reason than that it wants to put its own adherents in
their places. Other cases, where changes are confessedly
necessary, are not referred to by Mr. Jefferson.

" Confidential offices, which powerfully affect the action
of the chief executive, must be filled by persons in cordial
harmony with the executive. Under any other supposi
tion the election of a partisan President would be a farce,
and government by party would be impossible. More
over, offices that have been filled in violation of modern
civil service principles may be changed without violating
those principles. So, also, offices conferred on the spoils
system, without reference to the competency or fitness of
the incumbents, are not required by civil service principles
to remain with the abuses uncorrected.

" Besides, experience has shown that in all trusts where
the abuse is not restrained by the vigilant and firm super
vision of the superior, directly interested in maintaining
economy, there is a tendency to the useless multiplication
of assistants. Every officer, after a little while, wants a
waiter, and by and by that waiter himself wants a waiter.
Everybody deputes his duties to a subordinate, and with
draws himself into a mere superintendence of the under
ling. Moreover, while subordinates are appointed to
oblige members of Congress or other prominent persons,
the whole drift is to a creation of more offices. The dis-
tention to which the public service has now grown from
these and other causes is enormous and incredible. A
glance at the Blue Book will amaze any one who is not
acquainted with that astonishing record. Removals may
therefore be necessary, not only on the other grounds we
have mentioned, but also for the purpose of promoting
economy in the public service.

" The state of the government is now worse by many fold
- more in need of a change, more in need of regenera
tion, by retrenchment as well as by removals — than it
was when the Democracy began its career in 1801. The
defeated party retires after a term of power twice as long
as that which the Federalists had enjoyed when they were
overthrown. The perversion of the government from the

MANNING'S FIRST REPORT 303

standard to which government in this country should con
form is proportionately far greater than it had been when
Mr. Jefferson's administration began. By just so much is
the present work of reform more arduous, and its necessity
more imperative.

" Thus the principles enunciated by President Jefferson
eighty-four years ago are as true to-day as they were then,
and they will operate as beneficently now as they did when
first brought into practice by that great Democratic states-

In the following letter we have an opportunity of seeing
something of the directions in which he helped to shape
Mr. Manning's first report to Congress :

TILDEN TO MANNING.

"(Confidential.)

"Nov. 14, 1885.

" DEAR MR. MANNING : I have been so much troubled by
a derangement of my digestion that I could not find an
opportunity to put in shape suggestions for you. But yes
terday having notice from Mr. Marble that he would call in
the afternoon for consultation I dictated, notwithstanding
the suffering I was undergoing, the paper which I now
send.

" I notice that you make the surplus for the present year
to be $70,000,000. Mr. Jordan told me a few days ago it
would not exceed $40,000,000, of which $24,000,000 would
be consumed by purchasers of silver, leaving only $16,000,-
000 of real surplus. I ought to know the true amount.
In my judgment the passage of the harbor defences ought
to precede all other discussions about the surplus revenue.
What Mi\ Marble is preparing relates to the silver question.

" If anything is said about revenue reform or the tariff,
that topic should come third. I incline to doubt whether
you can discuss the latter topic with any advantage. Cer
tainly you cannot submit a specific plan in your annual
report. The subject is too complicated and extensive to be
disposed of incidentally in the general finance report.

"I am clear that the discussion about harbor defence
properly belongs to your department. The reason is stated

304 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

in the beginning of the paper I send you. No doubt
either the War or the Navy Department would be glad to
occupy that ground. But not to them, but to you alone,
belong the general survey of the financial policy of the
government.

"Very truly yours,

"S. J. TILDEN."

The defence of our sea-coast, to which allusions are
made in the foregoing paper, had been occupying no in
considerable portion of Mr. Tilden's thought and study
during the greater part of the year 1885, and he was
anxious that the subject should be pressed upon the atten
tion of Congress and of the country with all the authority
of a new administration. Having no encouragement to
submit his opinions upon this or any other subject to the
President directly, and anxious to give Mr. Manning some
thing for his report calculated, as he correctly believed, to
produce upon the country a favorable impression of their
new and inexperienced minister of finance, Mr. Tilden
sent him a letter setting forth in a general way the results
of his reflections upon the subject of harbor defences.
In due time he received from the secretary the follow
ing humiliating reply, — humiliating to Mr. Tilden only
because it disclosed a situation so humiliating to Mr.
Manning :

MANNING TO TILDEN.

"WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 1, 1885.
" MY DEAR GOVERNOR : I find that I cannot do what I
wish to do with the ' Sea-Coast Defences ' paper, and I
am in great distress about it. I had intended to begin my
first report with that paper, but I am now reluctantly
forced to the conclusion that it will be impracticable. My
report has not been read or discussed by any of the people
here, but during the past few days I have been called upon
to listen to several public documents, and the conclusion I
have been driven to is, that if I were to submit my report
(as I must, sooner or later) to like reading and criticism,

SEA-COAST DEFENCES 305

with the ' Sea-Coast Defences,' paragraphs therein could
not be retained.

" I am certain that if I were to publish the report without
conference with any one, it would immediately and seriously
embroil my personal relations in two or three cases. More
over, as I now know what recommendations are to be
made, I should put myself in a most invidious position.
Such publication would be fatal to carrying through the
plan. If there is no publication, I can be of much service
in pressing forward the policy so powerfully recommended
in the paper, and 1 judge that you will prefer that to any
form of stating it. I have arrived at this decision after
deliberate thought, and I regret that I cannot give you my
reasons more fully ; but I have talked them over with Mr.
Marble, and I hope to hear, after he has explained the case
to you in all its bearings, that you approve my judgment.

" Anxiously hoping that this may not carry disappoint
ment, I am,

" Sincerely your friend,

"DANIEL MANNING."

By return mail Mr. Manning received the following
reply from Mr. Tilden :

TILDEN TO MANNING.

"GRAYSTONE, YONKERS, N.Y., Dec. 3, 1885.

" DEAR MR. MANNING : You need not concern your
self for the omission to use the discussion on our ' Sea-Coast
Defences ' which I sent you. My purpose was to advance
a public object, and to help you to take a position not only
wise and patriotic, but embracing many elements of public
satisfaction and popularity.

" If it would excite the jealousy of any one of your
colleagues, or be regarded by them as trenching upon their
peculiar domain, although I should not agree that they
would have any cause for discontent, it may be best to
sacrifice something to appease them. No explanation to
me is necessary. Perhaps, to save the waste of a morning's
dictation at a time when I was not fit to work, I may think
it expedient to use the material some other way.

" Very truly yours,

"S. J. TILDEN."

VOL. II.— 20

306 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

It had by this time become manifest to Mr. Tilden, not
only that he was not a persona grata to the President, which
he more than suspected before, but that it was anything but
a recommendation in the President's eyes to be a friend of
his. It was no doubt a conviction of this sort which im
pelled Mr. Tilden to address a copy of his rejected views
about sea-coast defences in the following letter to the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, by whom it was
immediately given to the press :

TILDEX TO CARLISLE.

"GRAYSTOXE, YONKERS, N.Y., Dec. 1, 1885.

" DEAR MR. CARLISLE : As public opinion points to
you as the Speaker of the next House of Representatives, I
desire to submit a suggestion as to one of the public objects
for which an appropriation ought to be prompt and liberal.

" In considering the state and management of the public
revenues, the subject involves the questions whether we
shall extinguish the surplus by reducing the revenue, or
whether we shall apply the surplus to payments on the
public debt, or whether we shall seize the occasion to pro
vide for our sea-coast defences, which have been long
neglected. I am of the opinion that the latter is a para
mount necessity which ought to precede the reduction of
the revenue, and ought also to precede an excessive rapidity
in the payment of the public debt.

ct The property exposed to destruction in the twelve
seaports — Portland, Portsmouth, Boston, Newport, New
York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, Savannah, New
Orleans, Galveston, and San Francisco — cannot be less in
value than five thousand millions of dollars. To this must
be added a vast amount of property dependent for its use
on these seaports. Nor does this statement afford a true
measure of the damage which might be caused to the
property and business of the country by a failure to protect
these seaports from hostile naval attacks.

"They are the centres, not only of foreign commerce, but.
of most of the internal trade and exchanges of domestic
productions. To this state of things the machinery of
transportation of the whole country has become adapted.

SEA-COAST DEFENCES 307

The interruption of the currents of traffic by the occupation
of one or more of our principal seaports by a foreign
enemy, or the destruction of them by bombardment, or the
holding over them the menace of destruction for the pur
pose of exacting contribution or ransom, would inflict upon
the property and business of the country an injury which
can neither be foreseen nor measured. The elaborate and
costly fortifications, which were constructed with the
greatest engineering skill, are now practically useless.
They are not capable of resisting the attacks of modern
artillery.

"A still greater defect exists in our coast defences. The
range of the best modern artillery has become so extended
that our present fortifications, designed to protect the
harbor of New York, where two-thirds of the import trade
and more than one-half of the export trade of the whole
United States is carried on, are too near to the great
populations of New York city, Jersey City, and Brooklyn
to be of any value as a protection.

"To provide effectual defences would be the work of
years. It would take much time to construct permanent
fortifications. A small provision of the best modern guns
would take several years. Neither of these works can be
extemporized in presence of emergent danger. A million
of soldiers, with the best equipments, on the heights sur
rounding the harbor of New York, in our present state of
preparation, or rather in our total want of preparation,
would be powerless to resist a small squadron of war
steamers. This state of things is discreditable to our fore
sight and to our prudence. The best guarantee against
aggression, the best assurance that our diplomacy will
be successful and pacific, and that our rights and honor will
be respected by other nations, is in their knowledge that
we are in a situation to vindicate our reputation and inter
ests. While we may afford to be deficient in the means of
offence, we cannot afford to be defenceless. The notoriety
of the fact that we have neglected the ordinary precautions
of defence invites want of consideration in our diplomacy,
injustice, arrogance, and insult at the hand of nations. It
is now more than sixty years since we announced to the
world that we should resist any attempts, from whatever
quarter they might come, to make any new colonizations on
any part of the American continent ; that while we should

308 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE 'N

respect the status quo we should protect the people of the
different nations inhabiting this continent from every
attempt to subject them to the dominion of any European
power, or to interfere with their undisturbed exercise of
the rights of self-government. This announcement Avas
formally made by President Monroe, after consultation with
Mr. Madison and Mr. Jefferson. It was formulated by John
Quincy Adams. Our government has firmly adhered to
the Monroe Doctrine, and even so late as 1865 it warned
Napoleon III. out of Mexico. It is impossible to foresee,
in the recent scramble of the European powers for acquisi
tion of colonies, how soon an occasion may arise for our
putting in practice the Monroe Doctrine. It is clear that
there ought to be some relation between our assertion of
that doctrine and our preparation to maintain it. It is not
intended to recommend any attempt to rival the great
European powers in the creation of a powerful navy. The
changes which have rapidly occurred by the diminution of
the relative resisting power of the defensive armor of iron
clads, and by the increased efficiency of modern artillery,
which on the whole has gained in the competition, suggest
that we should not at present enter largely into the creation
of armored vessels. In the questions that beset this subject
until they shall have reached a solution, we can content
ourselves with adding but sparingly to our navy. But what
we do add should be the very best that science and experi
ence can indicate. This prudential view is ree'nforced by
the consideration that the annual charge of maintaining a
war vessel bears an important proportion to the original cost
of construction.

"In constructing permanent fortifications, and in provid
ing an ample supply of the best modern artillery, the
annual cost of maintenance is inconsiderable. Nearly the
whole expenditure is in the original outlay for construction.
If we do not make the expenditure necessary to provide for
our sea-coast defences when we have a surplus, and have
no need to levy new taxes, we certainly will not make
those expenditures when we have no longer a surplus in
the treasury. To leave our vast interests defenceless in
order to reduce the cost of whiskey to its consumers would
be a solecism. The present time is peculiarly favorable
for providing for this great national necessity too long
neglected. Not only does the surplus in the treasury

SEA-COAST DEFENCES 309

supply ample means to meet this great public want with
out laying new burdens upon the people, but the work
can now be done at a much lower cost than has ever
before been possible. The defensive works would consist
almost entirely of steel and iron. These materials can now
be had at an unprecedentedly low price. A vast supply of
machinery and of labor called into existence by a great vicis
situde in the steel and iron industries offers itself to our
service. We should have the satisfaction of knowing that
while we were availing ourselves of the supplies which
would ordinarily be unattainable, we were setting in motion
important industries and giving employment to labor in a
period of depression. With encouragement by the guaran
tee of work, or perhaps by the government itself furnish
ing the plant, the inventive genius of our people would
be applied to the creation of new means and improved ma
chinery, and establishments would spring into existence
capable of supplying all of the national wants, and render
ing us completely independent of all other countries in
respect to the means of national defence. I endeavored to
impress these ideas upon Mr. Randall the last time I had
the pleasure of seeing him.

" With my highest regards to Mrs. Carlisle and yourself,
I remain,

" Very truly yours,

" S. J. TILDES.
"Hox. JOHN G. CARLISLE."

The appearance of this communication a few days before
the submission of the President's first annual message to
Congress was regarded with anything but satisfaction at the
White House, and all the less because the recommendations
it contained received not only more attention from the
public than any made by the President in his message, but
exerted an important influence upon the legislation of the
country, which hardly could be said, with truth, of any
recommendation in the message. The liberal appropria
tions for our " wooden walls " during the succeeding five
or six years were, I believe, in a large degree attributable to
the impression left upon Congress and the country by this
communication.

310 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

When announcing Mr. Tilden's death, the " New York
World " said :

<f Only eight months ago to-day Mr. Tilden wrote his let
ter to Mr. Carlisle on the subject of coast defences. The
letter had more weight with the people than a presidential
message. It was recognized as the thoughtful plea of a
patriotic citizen and statesman for what he believed was for
the safety and honor of the nation. Later still, less than
two months ago, this impressive document was followed
by a letter to Senator Hawley regretting the apathy of
Congress on the subject, and stating that seven hundred
papers from all parts of the country and representing all
political parties had been sent to the writer endorsing his
suggestions for strengthening our sea-coast defences. Mr.
Tilden may be truly said to have died at the post of duty."

Mr. Tilden's communication would probably not have
appeared just when it did, had he not been willing to unde
ceive all who were under the impression that he was in any
respect responsible for the acts or omissions of the Presi
dent ; and this had become important for his own peace, so
general was the impression that his voice was potential at
the White House.

Mr. Tilden was reluctant to belie ve that Mr. Cleveland
had deliberately determined to proscribe his friends, and
in spite of the apparent discrepancy between his reported
declarations to Mr. Manning in the fall of 1884, and his
action in the construction of his cabinet in 1885, had, till
now, affected to believe that the novelty of Mr. Cleveland's
position, his inexperience, his extremely limited acquaint
ance with the prominent figures in the arena of federal
politics, and the intoxication of an unexpected and inex
plicable elevation, were all transient conditions, and might
safely be left to the remedial influences of time. To his
friend Watterson, who had inferred that he or his friends
were not sharing in fair proportions the results of Mr. Til
den's presumed influence with the President, he wrote the

IDEAS AS A POLITICAL FORCE 311

following letter, designed apparently to apologize for or
extenuate the conduct of .the President. It will be observed
that this letter was written within a month after the inaugu
ration, and eight months before the appearance of his letter
to Mr. Carlisle, and that it reveals to some extent the
change which his relations with the President were already
undergoing :

TILDEN TO WATTERSON.

"GRAYSTOXE, YOXKERS, N.Y., March 26, 1885.

"DEAR MR. WATTERSOX : Your vision of the triumphant
set you mention is an illusion. Mr. Green is less jubi
lant than you. Mr. Weed expects nothing and desires
nothing. Neither of them is excited with a sense of influ
ence. Mr. Manning was coerced info the treasury. Mr.
Whitney alone, of all your New York friends whom you
imagine in power and forgetting you, can be considered as
successful ; others who might be regarded as more partic
ular friends of yours have sought nothing, and no search-
warrant has been issued to find them out and install them
in illustrious positions. On the whole, your momentary
sense of neglect by old friends passed away because it had
no basis in fact.

" As to your conduct at the convention in respect to the
formation of the platform, my information is that it was as
meritorious as you state it to have been.

" I do not doubt that practical men tending to the viewrs
of both sides could sit down in a corner and agree upon a
reasonable measure for revenue reform wThich would satisfy
you, and in which you would especially aid in the con
coction.

:r The administration has a difficult, if not an impossible,
task in respect to appointments. Mr. Cleveland cannot be
expected to know men in all parts of the country. He
ought to try to deal impartially and equitably by every
class. I do not doubt that he is desirous to do so. It is a
very different matter to stand before the country as the re
sponsible author of an appointment, or to ask that appoint
ment under the dictation of personal or local feeling. Some
allowance ought, therefore, to be made for disappointments.
And the appointing power, when asked to do what it cannot,

312 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

should soften a refusal by patient hearing, by frank and
friendly explanation, and by seeking occasion to do some
equivalent act denoting a disposition to be considerate of
the interest disappointed. It is not every hand that has the
sleight, even if the requisite knowledge of men and access
to the best sources of information be possessed. It is
related of two famous New York governors that a man
applied to Governor Tompkins for an executive favor, who
in his own gracious manner refused it, and afterwards to
Governor Clinton, who granted it, and that he came away
much better pleased with Tompkins than with Clinton.

" Besides, it must be recollected that the Democratic party
has now been twenty-four years out of power, and has had
no means of educating trained party leaders.

"In England the government is carried on by parlia
mentary leaders, and the oratorical or debating faculty is
of great consequence. In this country the government
must be carried on by popular leaders, and a capacity for
party leadership is essential. In both, government has to
be carried on through human beings, a fact too often for
gotten by theorists.

" I depended on ideas as a political force more liberally
and less on party machinery than anybody else has done.
What is called patronage I never had to any appreciable
extent, and yet I held my ascendency with the Democratic
masses of this State when I had to confront the adverse
influence of the executive, of the heads of departments, of
the judiciary, and of the majority of both branches of the
Legislature, and of one-third of the county leaders. I held
also a majority of the voters of this State against at least
twenty thousand office-holders. I carried on politics upon
a plane which approached to the impracticable. I do not
exact of anybody else to encounter the risks I ran , or to
imitate so adventurous a policy. For there was no moment
in which I was not willing to be consigned to private life.
It seems to me sometimes remarkable to hear men called
great leaders who, while swaying all the patronage of the
country, — federal, State, and local, — failed to hold their
own party, or to hold a majority of the people.

" The Republican mischief-makers of the press must be
expected to try to array the Democratic party into con
tending factions, as, for instance, the friends of Carlisle
and the friends of Randall, and they sometimes classify me

GEORGE W. JULIAN 313

in these divisions. I am sure you know me too well to
think that there is any truth in such representations so far
as concerns me.

" If I were really exercising the power of the govern
ment, I should dispel such fables. I do not think the
administration means to give any occasion for such gossip.
For my part, I substantially pursue the policy of non
interference in the distribution of appointments by the
national administration. Aside from other consider
ations which require this reserve from me, the totally
unfounded gossip of the journals, that Mr. Tilden's hand
is seen in this or in that, already swells my mail to dimen
sions impossible to answer or even to read. If I were
really to take an active part in appointments, it would
impose upon me a burden of correspondence which I could
not endure.

"I began to write you a short letter, but have been
thinking aloud until my letter has outgrown my inten
tion.

" Very truly yours,

"S. J. TlLDEN."

Soon after Mr. Cleveland's inauguration Mr. Tilden had
written Mr. Manning advising the appointment of Hon.
George W. Julian, of Indiana, as Commissioner of the
General Land Office, and suggesting that his letter be
shown to the President and to Mr. Lamar, the new
Secretary of the Interior. After enumerating the evi
dences of his abundant qualifications for this office, he
said :

"I think it would be a most admirable appointment.
Considering that he was an original anti-slavery man, it
would be a graceful act in Mr. Laniar to favor him. It
would show how completely the lion and the lamb had
laid down together, and would tend to conciliate a pow
erful class in the Northern States."

If the lion had laid down with the lamb, it appeared, in
this case, that one had laid down inside of the other, for
Mr. Julian did not get the appointment. In reply to a

314 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

letter from Mr. Julian, thanking Mr. Tilden for his effort,
and announcing his own disappointment, Mr. Tilden said :

TILDEN TO GEORGE W. JULIAX.

"GRAYSTONE, YONKERS, N.Y., March 24, 1885.
" DEAR MR. JULIAN : I am extremely sorry to learn that
you are not to be Commissioner of the Land Office. My
letter presented your case as strongly as possible, and I
presume was communicated according to the request it
contained ; although I have not heard from Mr. Manning
since. But I do not ascribe so much potentiality to it as
you seem inclined to do. Men in power generally have
their plans, and take views which they prefer to the
wishes of those who have ceased to have power. I hope
that there may something else be opened to you in respect
to which you may have better success.

" Very truly yours,

"S. J. TILDEN."

In point of fact, no one who had taken any active interest
in establishing Mr. Tilden's claims to the presidency before
the Electoral Commission, or in securing the testimony
establishing the fraudulent character of the votes which were
made the pretext for electing Hayes, ever received any rec
ognition from Mr. Cleveland ; not even those in whose
fortunes Mr. Tilden took the trouble, which ought to have
been unnecessary, to express to the President his personal
interest. And as if to leave the friends of Mr. Tilden in no
doubt as to the significance of this policy, he appointed to
an important office Mr. E. H. Noyes, of Ohio, who had been
one of the visiting statesmen selected by Chandler to " hold
Florida," and whose defence of the Alachua fraud was of
so gross and scandalous a character that nothing less than
the mission to France was deemed by the principal bene
ficiary of that fraud a sufficient compensation.

In the Ml of this year the rumor reached Mr. Tilden
that one of his nephews was talked of for a place on the
State ticket in New York. The following letter which he

A WARNING TO KEEP OUT OF POLITICS 315

addressed to his nephew shows that, as early as September,
1885, he was no longer under any illusions in regard to the
attitude of the administration towards him :

TILDEN TO HIS NEPHEW.

"GRAYSTONE, YONKERS, N.Y., Sept. 1, 1885.

" MY DEAR XEPIIEW : In my judgment you should not
entertain the slightest doubt in respect to going on the State
ticket this fall, if that is within your power. Both your
interest and your duty require that you should refuse any
such opportunity if it should open to you. I should look
upon your embarking upon a political career as total ruin
to your business interests, to your independence, and to
your whole future. You cannot afford the expense of such
a career. You cannot afford to pay even the first assess
ment. You cannot afford to withdraw your attention from
your business, — to do so would be unjust to your brother
and to your creditors.

w I have felt much concern in respect to your growing
taste for politics. You have now reached a fork in the road
when you must choose whether you will aim at pecuniary
independence, safety, and comfort ; or whether you will con
sent to become a mere hanger-on to the uncertain chances
of politics. Besides, if you were to enter upon apolitical
career, you could not select a worse time in which to do it
than this fall. The elements were never more uncertain.
You would be foolish to take the chances now, even if you
should do so hereafter.

" I write strongly, because I see clearly the complications
which your becoming a candidate now would involve. If
you wish to see me on the subject, / can tell you things
which I cannot write.

" Very truly yours,

"S. J. TILDEN."

Nor were the relations between Mr. Manning and the
President much less, if at all less, strained before the close
of their first official year than with Mr. Tilden. In reply to
some complimentary lines from the latter about the secre
tary's first report, and congratulations upon the manner in

316 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

which it had been received by the public, Mr. Manning
wrote :

MANNING TO TILDEN.

"WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 21, 1885.

" MY DEAR GOVERNOR : Your note of the 19th instant
came to me yesterday.

" Words of commendation from you have always been
most welcome, but are more so now than ever, feeling, as I
do, that I am living in an atmosphere that is full of mis
chief, and where the whirl is so great that one is inclined
sometimes to doubt whether he comprehends his associates,
or fully understands anything of what he is about.

" I think of you every day and of your delicate health, and
often wish that you were here to guide us with your advice.
" Faithfully yours,

"DANIEL MANNING.
" HON. SAM. J. TILDEN,

" Grcnjstone."

From this time forth Mr. Tilden refused to compromise
the chances of any candidates for public employment under
the federal government by yielding to their appeals for his
recommendation. To his friend, the late Eobert B. Min-
turn, he wrote :

TILDEN TO ROBERT B. MINTURN.

" YONKERS, N.Y., Jan. 2, 1885.

" DEAR MR. MINTURN : It would be at any time a pleas
ure to see you ; but I am not in communication with
Governor Cleveland in respect to his appointments, and
think it would be better for you to say what you wish
directly to him or through Mr. Manning.

" Very truly yours, •

"S. J. TILDEN.
"R. B. MINTURN, ESQ."

Mr. Manning, the only member of the executive branch
of the government with whom Mr. Tilden was in corre-

MANNING'S FAREWELL TO THE PRESIDENT 317

spondencej was prostrated by apoplexy as he was returning
to his office from a cabinet meeting in the following May,
and as soon as he was well enough to do so, left Washing
ton never to revisit it. After a few months' vacation in
search of health, on the 26th of July he wrote Mr. Tilden
from Watch Hill, where he was staying at the time :

" I want to see you very much to talk about my proposed
communication to the President. I feel more and more,
daily, that I need your assistance. Have you thought over
the matter ? Have you prepared a form for me ? .
I do not know when I can get to see you. It occupies a
day to go from Watch Hill to New York or Yonkers, and
for me the trip will be a long one. Kindly clear my mind
on this point. I do so want to decide on my action before
the occasion closes. That done, I should feel comparatively
free. My health is improving daily. My physician talks
encouragingly, and I feel that I am better and stronger than
when I left Gray stone."

To this letter Mr. Tilden sent the following reply :

TILDEN TO MANNING.

"GRAYSTONE, July 27, 1886.

"DEAR MR. MANNING: Your letter of the 26th is re
ceived. I have thought much of the nature of the commu
nication which you wish to make, but have written nothing.
Do you wish to say anything further than to announce
your linal purpose and your reasons for it ? The letter, it
seems to me, will be short.

"I will try my hand on a draft and send it to you.
"]STo further intelligence has been received from our
friends in Europe.

"I have been busy all the morning answering a letter
from Mr. Fairchild.

" Yours truly,

" S. J. TILDEN."

The Hon. Charles S. Fairchild, who had been assistant
secretary of the treasury, was at this time acting secretary

318 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

of the treasury. The letter referred to here and Mr.
Tilden's reply seem to have closed his relations with the
administration at Washington.

ACTING SECRETARY FAIRCHILD TO TILDEN.

"TREASURY DEPARTMENT, July 24, 1886.

" MY DEAR MR. TILDEN : You have by this time re
ceived a little pamphlet containing a copy of Mr. Morri
son's surplus resolutions, a few remarks upon it by
myself, and a number of tables prepared by Mr. Jordan.
I wish to ask a favor of you, and that is to give me your
views as to the probable effect of that resolution if it be
comes law ; if the effects may, in your judgment, be evil,
the nature of the evil, and how it will manifest itself. If
it causes silver mono-metallism in this country, what will be
the evil of that? When is this likely to be felt? Would
all the gold be driven from use, and, if not, what will be
the difference in value between a gold and silver dollar?
etc.

" I wish to get all the information that I can upon this
subject for immediate use. I do not wish to take an ex^
aggerated view of the evils which may come, but, on the
contrary, prefer for present purposes to under rather than
over state them. I know that you will be glad to help me
in this, and hope that it may not be too much trouble to
you to do so.

" Very respectfully yours,

"CHARLES S. FAIRCHILD.

"HoN. SAMUEL J. TILDEN."

TILDEN TO ACTING SECRETARY FAIRCHILD.

" {Personal and confidential.}

"GRAYSTONE, YONKERS, N.Y., July 27, 1886.

" DEAR MR. FAIRCHILD : Your letter of July 24th
reached me yesterday afternoon. I hasten to acknowledge
and answer it. You are right in supposing that I would be
glad to help you in your difficult and responsible duty.

" You mention that you desire to get all the information
you can upon the subject of your letter, for 'immediate
use.' Congress is stated by the public journals as likely to

THE SILVER QUESTION 319

adjourn within a few days. These circumstances do not
allow room for much discussion of the complicated topics
adverted to in your letter.

" It cannot be doubted that the resolution adopted by the
House, if it should become a law, would embarrass the
effort of the Treasury Department to maintain the equality
in the market value of the different elements which com
pose our circulating medium. The United States notes,
or legal-tenders, as they are commonly called, and the
silver certificates are kept at par with gold simply because
they are received and paid out by the treasury as equal to
gold coin ; because the known policy of the treasury is
to maintain that equality ; and because the treasury is kept
in possession, at all times, of a sufficient amount of gold to
pay off any surplus of legal tenders and silver certificates
beyond the amount which the uses of business can absorb ;
and because the public confidence that the treasury has the
ability to carry out its declared policy is thereby assured.
Of course every measure which impairs the resources of
the treasury, or its discretion in the use of those resources,
weakens its power to maintain the equality between the
various elements of our present currency. But as the
House resolution seems likely to be materially altered by
the Senate, it is not useful to discuss hypothetical meas
ures.

"The present fallacy wrhich infests the minds of many
members of Congress is in counting large amounts of
purely trust funds and large amounts of other unavailable
funds as if they were resources of the treasury.

" As to what would be the premium on gold if the treas
ury should conie to a silver basis in its receipts and pay
ments, that is a matter of conjecture. In present market
value, gold measured by silver is thirty-five per cent,
higher than silver. I do not think that if gold and silver
were to r part company ' the premium on gold would at once
be nearly as large as that. Much would depend on the
general opinion as to when the equality in market value
between the two metals could or would be restored, and
something upon the future cost of producing silver. Of
course, gold would cease to circulate as currency and would
take its place among commodities, and be bought and sold
like iron and wheat. The deficiency in the currency
would probably be supplied by paper issues. But these

320 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

questions are too speculative to be discussed or even stated
with exactness in this hasty letter.

"It would be very desirable to bring both silver and
gold into use as reserves for the basis of the currency, and
as means of international exchanges, thereby doubling the
quantity of the precious metals available for those purposes ;
but that object cannot be effected by the action of the
United States alone.

" Very truly yours,

" S. J. TlLDEX.

"Hox. CHARLES S. FAIRCHILD,

" Acting /Secretary of the Treasury."

<*

Though Mr. Tilden had no occasion to waste any more
advice upon the administration at Washington, he con
tinued to take an undiminished interest in public affairs, of
which to the close of his life his private as well as public
correspondence bears testimony. His physical disabilities
were gradually multiplying, and engrossed a corresponding
proportion of his thought and time. His own apprecia
tion of this progressive decay is given in the following
letters :

TILDEN TO SEYMOUR.

"GRAYSTOXE, YOXKERS, N.Y., Sept. 22, 1885.

" DEAR SIR : I have received your letter of September,
1885, enclosing a slip cut from the 'Rochester I3ost Ex
press,' criticising Mr. Bigelow's republication of my
speeches, and f speaking of my action in regard to canal
matters ; ' and also saying that you had ' written to him
to correct the errors.'

"I am much obliged to you for the trouble you have
taken in the matter. I apprehend, however, that it may be
safely left to the public or posterity to discredit or confute
the writer's misrepresentations.

" I regret to hear that your health is so unsatisfactory.
You have my cordial sympathies and my best wishes for
the comfort and happiness of your declining years.

" I am myself, although somewhat your junior, subject
to some infirmities which annoy me and create inconvenient
disabilities. My eyes, happily, are strong, and enable me

PHYSICAL INFIRMITIES 321

to read as much as ever ; and my hearing also is very acute
in both ears ; but I have a trouble of my vocal cords
which makes my voice weak and sometimes reduces me to
a whisper. Some of my nerves of motion, too, are tremu
lous. Fatigue aggravates this so much that I do not
travel, which I believe you are generally able to do.

" I should hope to see you if you should be able to visit
me, were it not, as I understand, your hearing is impaired,
and if we met social intercourse would be very imperfect
between a dumb man and a deaf one.

"With my earnest good wishes,
"Very truly yours,

"S. J. TlLDEN.

"Hox. HORATIO SEYMOUR."

A few weeks later he gives some further and more inter
esting particulars about his physical condition in a letter to
an old friend in Rochester.

MR. TILDEN TO MARK SIBLEY.

"GRAYSTONE, Feb. 27, 1886.

" DEAR MR. SIBLEY : I have received your interesting
letter. The newspapers are correct in saying that the 9th
of February is my birthday, but some of them are quite
astray in saying that I am seventy-nine years old. I was
born the 9th of February, 1814, and was seventy-two years
old on my last birthday. Although seven years younger
than you are, I can readily believe that you are practically
younger than I. You have not done so much as I to
exhaust the vital powers, and have not so large a debt to
pay for strength borrowed and consumed in advance. My
eyes are extremely good and enable me to pass most of
my time in reading ; my ears are both of them much more
acute than those of most people. The doctors tell me that
every vital organ is in strong and sound condition. But I
have been for some years greatly annoyed by a mysterious
malady of some of the nerves of motion, which imparts a
tremor to my hands and impairs my voice so that I lose
most of the pleasure of conversation.

" I have also read the brief biography of your life and

VOL. II.— 21

322 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

doings which you were kind enough to send me. It illus
trates an example of an active, useful, and successful
career.

"Wishing you every blessing of continued health, and
prolonged years of happiness and prosperity,
" I am very truly yours,1

" S. J. TlLDEX."

I A few months only prior to the date of this letter, and while engaged
in a revision of his will, Mr. Tilden held a consultation with an eminent
physician not in regular attendance upon him, at which I was invited to be
present. I deemed the occasion of sufficient importance to warrant me in
making a note of the diagnosis as it transpired. I quote the principal
features of it.

u Troubled all his life with a delicate stomach. If he went out to dine
and the dinner was served a little later than usual, he suffered from it.

".Used to surmount this trouble by horseback riding. Used to ride in
Albany in 75 when the thermometer was fourteen degrees below zero.

II Now cannot ride a horse, can only walk around the house and ride in a
carriage.

u The shaking commenced two or three years ago.

u Some shaking in the legs, aggravated by fatigue or excitement, with
pulsations in back of the head.

"Feels that he is growing more feeble and his grip less firm. Has had
a cold about three weeks. Not usually susceptible to colds. Has not had
one for two years before.

u It began with a slight cough and catarrh. Drinking makes him cough
sometimes. He wakes occasionally during the night.

u Sleeps about an hour and a half, three or four times a night, — say,
five hours at night and two in the daytime.

tl Never had a pain in his head in his life.

"Eats four times a day. Takes a great deal of mutton broth; beef,
bread, and a little, but not much, vegetables.
. " Inclined to be costive.

u Uses enema of tepid water.

"About once a week he takes a cathartic of Carlsbad water, sprudel,
or rhubarb and aloes. Takes stewed prunes meantime.

" Takes now four grains of quinine three times a day — twelve grains
a day. This is his regular habit.

u The doctors advised more, but he held off, but was afraid to leave off
altogether. Is not conscious of any effect of it except more strength ; no
effect on his head or chest.

u Had been taking, until a few weeks back, hyoscyamus, one tablet of
2-Jo of a grain, four times a day. Sometimes of j-^-0. The highest he ever
took 4^-. Stopped five or six weeks ago against the doctor's advice. Has
less strength since and more tremor. Took quinine at the same time that
he took hyoscyamus. Thinks he was worse when he left it off than when
he commenced taking it. While he took it, was troubled with dryness of
the mouth and corrugated tongue. Less of that since discontinuance. Doc
tors advised diminution, but not discontinuance. Somatimes feels that he
must resume it as a palliative.

u Has twice stopped the use of quinine altogether, when he was living in

HISTORY OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE 323

Mr. Tilden neglected no suitable opportunity for pressing
upon his friends in Congress his views of the importance
of strengthening our coast defences. In a letter to the
Hon. Samuel Randall, of March 2, 1886, he dwelt upon the
expediency of the government's purchasing Captain Erics
son's " Destroyer " as a means of testing the efficiency of
his theory of submarine .guns.

"It is a special measure of economy, "he wrote, "for if it
should turn out that a machine costing about a hundred
thousand dollars should be capable of destroying a first-
class ironclad costing from three to five millions, the result
would be to cheapen some of the necessary defences.

" I wish you would send me the names of the gentlemen
composing the committee or sub-committee whose province
it will be to investigate and decide upon the appropriation
necessary to purchase the f Destroyer.' "

The increasing gravity of the principle involved in what
is popularly known as the Monroe Doctrine, in consequence
of the increasing complication of the relations of our sister
republics with foreign nations, furnished a special motive
for strengthening our sea-coast defences which was not re-

O O

ceiving the attention from the authorities at Washington,
still less from the public, which Mr. Tilden thought it de
served. To assist in arousing a livelier sensibility to the
dangers which were to be apprehended from this quarter of
the horizon, Mr. Tilden prepared a compact history of the
origin of the Monroe Doctrine, and some of the responsi
bilities involved in maintaining it, to reenforce his plea for
strengthening our sea-coast defences. I give here the
material portions of it as it appeared in the columns of the
"New York Sun."

the country. Resumed it in consequence of a cold and painless diarrhoea
which weakened him very much.

"The doctors report his liver and lungs all right. Four yearg ago,
when he went to live in the country, could ride six hours. The next year
he trembled, but could walk a good deal. The first winter he tried elec
tricity, but it did him no good — he thought harm, rather. "

324 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

" After the final fall of Napoleon and his second abdica
tion, the Emperor Alexander I. of Russia, the Emperor
Francis of Austria, and King William III. of Prussia,
formed a league. Alexander drew up the agreement,
which was signed at Paris by these monarchs, Sept.
26, 1815 ; and they christened the league the Holy
Alliance. Its professed purpose was to regulate the States
of Christendom on principles of Christian amity. Its real
aim was to maintain existing dynasties and to suppress all
revolutionary or popular movements. To secure the coop
eration of the people, some of these sovereigns, especially
Frederick William III., had promised to give to their sub
jects a liberal charter, allowing them practical self-govern
ment. But all such promises were violated. To this
alliance most of the European powers except the Holy See
and England acceded.

"The Holy Alliance held frequent congresses, and its
policy was to intervene with military force in the internal
affairs of any country which should attempt to establish less
despotic government. At its instance the revolutionary
movements in Naples and in Piedmont were suppressed in
1821. At its instance, in 1823, France marched an army,
nominally of 100,000 men, into Spain, and restored ab
solutism in that country. Alexander of Russia assured
France of his support, offering to march an army to the
Rhine.

" It was known that the Holy Alliance meditated ena
bling Spain to reconquer the States of South America and
Mexico. It was arranged that the Holy Alliance should
have a consultation on the subject. The policy was avowed
to Mr. Canning by Prince Polignac, Ambassador of France
to England, of ensuring, by concert between the European
powers, the establishment of monarchical governments over
the revolted colonies of Spain.

" Under Castlereagh England had refused to be a party
to the engagements of the Holy Alliance. Under the lead
of his successor as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
George Canning, she took a position of more pronounced
dissent and opposition. She threw her moral weight in the
scale of condemnation of the intervention of France in
the domestic affairs of Spain.

HISTORY OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE 325

"In the meantime the United States had recognized the
independence of the revolted colonies of Spain. President
Monroe, by his special message of March 8, 1822, recom
mended the measure. Congress, by an act approved May
4, 1822, made an appropriation to defray the expenses of
such missions as the President might institute to the inde
pendent nations on the American continents.

"In 1823 Mr. Canning proposed to Mr. Rush, the
American Minister to Great Britain, that the United States
should unite with England in a joint declaration condemn
ing any attempt of the Holy Alliance to help Spain to
reconquer its revolted colonies in South America and
Mexico. In reply Mr. Rush urged the immediate recogni
tion by England of the independence of the South Ameri
can States. If that were done he offered to unite in the
joint declaration proposed by Mr. Canning. The cor
respondence was transmitted to John Quincy Adams,
Secretary of State. President Monroe submitted that
correspondence to Mr. Jefferson, and through him to Mr.
Madison.

" President Monroe, after consulting Mr. Jefferson and
Mr. Madison, availed himself of his annual message of
Dec. 2, 1823, to state the position of the American
government upon the subject. The two passages of the
message relating to this subject are here given in full :

I.

"At the proposal of the Russian imperial government, made
through the Minister of the Emperor residing here, a full power and
instructions have been transmitted to the Minister of the United States
at St. Petersburg to arrange, by amicable negotiation, the respective
rights and interests of the t\vo nations on the north-west coast of this
continent. A similar proposal had been made by His Imperial Majesty
to the government of Great Britain, which has likewise been acceded
to. The government of the United States has been desirous, by this
friendly proceeding, of manifesting the great value which they have
invariably attached to the friendship of the Emperor, and their solici
tude to cultivate the best understanding with his government. In the
discussions to which this interest has given rise, and in the arrange
ments by which they may terminate, the occasion has been judged
proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of
the United States are involved, that the American continents , by the free
and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are
henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any
European powers.

326 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

II.

"It was stated at the commencement of the last session that a
great effort was then making in Spain and Portugal to improve the
condition of the people of those countries, and that it appears to be
conducted with extraordinary moderation. It need scarcely be re
marked that the result has been so far very different from what was
then anticipated. Of events in that quarter of the globe, with which
we have so much intercourse, and from which we derive our origin,
we have always been anxious and interested spectators. The citizens
of the United States cherish sentiments the most friendly in favor of
the liberty and happiness of their fellow-men on that side of the Atlan
tic. In the wars of the European powers, in matters relating to
themselves, we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with
our policy so to do. It is only when our rights are invaded or seri
ously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our de
fence. With the movements in this hemisphere we are of necessity
more immediately connected, and by causes which must be obvious to
all enlightened and impartial observers.

'* The political system of the allied powers is essentially different in
this respect from that of America. This difference proceeds from that
which exists in their respective governments. And to the defence of
our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and
treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their most enlightened citi
zens, and under which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this
whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the
amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers
to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend
their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our
peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any
European power we have not interfered, and shall not interfere. But
with the governments who have declared their independence and
maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great considera
tion and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any in
terposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any
other manner their destiny, by any European power, in any other light
than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the
United States. In the war between those new governments and Spain
we declared our neutrality at the time of their recognition, and to this
we have adhered, and shall continue to adhere, provided no change
shall occur which, in the judgment of the competent authorities of this
government, shall make a corresponding change on the part of the
United States indispensable to their security.

" The late events in Spain and Portugal show that Europe is still
unsettled. Of this important fact no stronger proof can be adduced
than that the allied powers should have thought it proper, on a princi
ple satisfactory to themselves, to have interposed by force in the
internal concerns of Spain. To what extent such interposition may be
carried on the same principle is a question to which all independent
powers whose governments differ from theirs are interested, even
those most remote, and surely none more so than the United States.
Our policy in regard to Europe, which was adopted at an early stage
of the wars which have so long agitated that quarter of the globe,
nevertheless remains the same, which is, not to interfere in the internal
concerns of any of its powers; to consider the government de facto as

HISTORY OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE 327

the legitimate government for us; to cultivate friendly relations with
it, and to preserve those relations by a frank, firm, and manly policy;
meeting, in all instances, the just claims of every power, submitting to
injuries from none. But in regard to these continents, circumstances
are eminently and conspicuously different. It is impossible that the
allied powers should extend their political system to any portion of
either continent without endangering our peace and happiness; nor
can any one believe that our Southern brethren, if left to themselves,
would adopt it of their own accord. It is equally impossible, there
fore, that we should behold such interposition, in any form, with
indifference. If we look to the comparative strength and resources of
Spain and those new governments, and their distance from each other,
it must be obvious that she can never subdue them. It is still the true
policy of the United States to leave the parties to themselves, in the
hope that other powers will pursue the same course.

"These passages were undoubtedly written by John
Quincy Adams, and assented to and adopted by President
Monroe .

" President Monroe had previously written to Mr. Jeffer
son asking his advice upon the subject, and requesting him
to consult Mr. Madison. He had also sent to Mr. Jefferson
a correspondence between Richard Rush, United States
Minister at London, and George Canning, Foreign Secre
tary of State for Great Britain.

rr Mr. Jefferson's reply was as follows :

"MONTICEI.LO, Oct. 24r, 1823.

"DEAR SIR: The question presented by the letters you have sent
me is the most momentous which has ever been offered to my con
templation since that of independence. That made us a nation ; this
sets our compass and points the course which we are to steer through
the ocean of time opening on us. And never could we embark upon
it under circumstances more auspicious. Our first and fundamental
maxim should be, never to tangle ourselves in the broils of Europe.
Our second, never to suffer Europe to intermeddle with cis-Atlantic
affairs. America, North and South, has a set of interests distinct from
those of Europe, and peculiarly her own. She should, therefore, have
a system of her own, separate and apart from that of Europe. While
the last is laboring to become the domicile of despotism, our endeavor
should surely be to make our hemisphere that of freedom.

" One nation, most of all, could disturb us in this pursuit; she now
offers to lead, aid, and accompany us in it. By acceding to her propo
sition we detach her from the bands, bring her mighty weight into the
scale of free government, and emancipate a continent at one stroke,
which might otherwise linger long in doubt and difficulty. Great
Britain is the nation which can do us the most harm of any one of all
on earth, and with heron our side we need not fear the whole world.
With her, then, we should sedulously cherish a cordial friendship, and
nothing would tend more to knit our affections than to be fighting once
more side by side in the same cause. Not that I would purchase even
her amity at the price of taking part in her wars.

328 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

"But the war in which the present proposition might engage us,
should that be its consequence, is not her war, but ours. Its object is
to introduce and establish the American system of keeping out of our
land all foreign powers, of never permitting those of Europe to inter
meddle with the affairs of our nations. It is to maintain our own
principle, not to depart from it. And if,«to facilitate this, we can effect
a division in the body of the European powers, and draw over to our
side its most powerful member, surely we should do it. But I am
clearly of Mr. Canning's opinion that it will prevent instead of provoke
war. With Great Britain withdrawn from their scale and shifted into
that of our two continents, all Europe combined would not undertake
such a war. For how would they propose to get at either enemy
without superior fleets ? Nor is the occasion to be slighted which this
proposition offers, of declaring our protest against the atrocious viola
tions of the rights of nations, by the interference of any one in the
internal affairs of another, so flagitiously begun by Bonaparte, and now
continued by the equally lawless alliance, calling itself holy.

" But we have first to ask ourselves a question : Do we wish to ac
quire to our own confederacy any one or more of the Spanish prov
inces ? I candidly confess that 1 have ever looked on Cuba as the most
interesting addition which could ever be made to our system of States.
The control which, with Florida Point, this island would give us over
the Gulf of Mexico and the countries and isthmus bordering on it, as
well as all those whose waters flow into it, would fill up the measure
of our political well-being. Yet, as I am sensible that this can never
be obtained, even with her own consent, but by war, and its independ
ence, which is our second interest (and especially its independence of
England), can be secured without it, I have no hesitation in abandoning
my first wish to future chances, and accepting its independence, with
peace and the friendship of England, rather than its association at the
expense of war and her enmity.

"I could honestly, therefore, join in the declaration proposed, that
we aim not at the acquisition of any of those possessions, that we will
not stand in the way of any amicable arrangement between them and
the mother country; but that we will oppose with all our means the
forcible interposition of any other power, as auxiliary, stipendiary, or
under any other form or pretext, and most especially their transfer to
any power by conquest, cession, or acquisition in any other way. I
should think it, therefore, advisable that the Executive should encour
age the British government to a continuance in the dispositions ex
pressed in these letters by an assurance of his concurrence with them
as far as his authority goes ; and that as it may lead to war, the decla
ration of which requires an act of Congress, the case shall be laid
before them for consideration at their first meeting and under the
reasonable aspect in which it is seen by himself.

" I have been so long weaned from political subjects, and have so
long ceased to take any interest in them, that I am sensible I am not
qualified to offer opinions on them worthy of any attention. But the
question now proposed involves consequences so lasting and effects so
decisive of our future destinies as to rekindle all the interest I have
heretofore felt on such occasions, and to induce me to the hazard of
opinions which will prove only my wish to contribute still my mite
toward anything which may be useful to our country. And, praying
you to accept it at only what it is worth, I add the assurance of my
constant and affectionate friendship and respect.

HISTORY OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE 329

"The general idea of keeping ourselves disentangled
from the controversies and wars of European States was
also contained in Washington's Farewell Address.

"The germ of the Monroe Doctrine will be found in
several letters of Jefferson, — one to Thomas Paine, dated
March 18, 1801 ; another to William Short, dated Oct. 3,
1801.

"Still later, a letter of Jefferson, dated Oct. 29, 1808,
said : c We consider their interests and ours as the same,
and that the object of both must be to exclude all European
influence in this hemisphere.'

"Mr. Gallatin, the American Minister to France, wrote
to J. Q. Adams, Secretary of State, June 24, 1823, that
before leaving Paris he had said to M. Chateaubriand,
the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, on May 13 : * The
United States would undoubtedly preserve their neutrality,
provided it were respected, and avoid every interference
with the politics of Europe. ... On the other hand, they
would not suffer others to interfere against the emancipation
of America.'

" Mr. John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State, in his
diary, under date of July 17, 1823, says that, in a conver
sation with Baron Tuyl, the Russian Minister, he told him
that r we should contest the right of Russia to any terri
torial establishment on this continent, and that we should
assume distinctly the principle that the American conti
nents are no longer subjects for any new European colonial
establishments.'

" The reply of Mr. Madison was as follows :

"To President Monroe.

"OCT. 30, 1823.

" DEAR SIR: I have just received from Mr. Jefferson your letter to
him, with the correspondence between Mr. Canning and Mr. Rush,
sent for his and my perusal, and our opinions on the subject of it.

"From the disclosures of Mr. Canning it appears, as was otherwise
to be inferred, that the success of France against Spain would be fol
lowed by an attempt of the holy allies to reduce the revolutionized
colonies of the latter to their former dependence.

" The professions we have made to these neighbors, our sympathies
with their liberties and independence, the deep interest we have in the
most friendly relations with them, and the consequences threatened by
a command of their resources by the great powers, confederated
against the rights and reforms of which we have given so conspicuous
and persuasive an example, all unite in calling for our efforts to de
feat the meditated crusade. It is particularly fortunate that the policy

330 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

of Great Britain, though guarded by calculations different from ours,
has presented a cooperation for an object the same with ours. With
the cooperation we have nothing to fear from the rest of Europe, and
with it the best assurance of success to our laudable views. There
ought not, therefore, to be any backwardness, I think, in meeting her
in the way she has proposed; keeping in view, of course, the spirit
and forms of the Constitution in every step taken in the road to war,
which must be the last step if those short of war should be without
avail.

"It cannot be doubted that Mr. Canning:s proposal, though made
with the air of consultation as well as concert, was founded on a pre
determination to take the course marked out, whatever might be the
reception given here to his invitation. But this consideration ought
not to divert us from what is just and proper in itself. Our coopera
tion is due to ourselves and to the world, and while it must ensure
success in the event of an appeal to force, it doubles the chance of
success without that appeal. Jt is not improbable that Great Britain
would like best to have the merit of being the sole champion of her
new friends, notwithstanding the greater difficulty to be encountered,
but for the dilemma in which she would be placed. She must, in that
case, either leave us as neutrals, to extend our commerce and naviga
tion at the expense of hers, or make us enemies by renewing her
paper blockades and other arbitrary proceedings on the ocean. It may
be hoped that such a dilemma will not be without a permanent ten
dency to check her proneness to unnecessary wars.

" Why the British cabinet should have scrupled to arrest the calamity
it now apprehends, by applying to the threats of France against Spain
the small effort which it scruples not to employ in behalf of Spanish
America, is best known to itself. It is difficult to find any other ex
planation than that interest in the one case has more weight in its
casuistry than principle had in the other.

" Will it not be honorable to our country, and possibly not altogether
in vain, to invite the British government to extend the ' avowed
disapprobation1 of the project against the Spanish colonies to the enter
prise of France against Spain herself, and even to join in some declara
tory act in behalf of the Greeks? On the supposition that no form
could be given to the act clearing it of a pledge to follow it up by
war, we ought to compare the good to be done with the little injury to
be apprehended to the United States, shielded as their interests would
be by the power and the fleets of Great Britain united with their own.
These are questions, however, which may require more information
than I possess, and more reflection than I can now give them.

** What is the extent of Mr. Canning's disclaimer as to « the
remaining possessions of Spain in America ? ' Does it exclude future
views of acquiring Porto Rico, etc., as well as Cuba? It leaves Great
Britain free, as I understand it, in relation to other quarters of the
globe.

" I return the correspondence of Mr. Rush and Mr. Canning, with
assurances, etc.

"J. M.
" To Thomas Jefferson.

" MOXTPELIER, Nov. 1, 1823.

" DEAR SIR: I return the letter of the President. The correspond
ence from abroad has gone back to him as you desired. I have

HISTORY OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE 331

expressed to him my concurrence in the policy of meeting the ad
vances of the British government, having an eye to the forms of our
Constitution in every step in the road to war. With the British power
and navy combined with our own, we have nothing to fear from the
rest of the world, and in the great struggle of the epoch between
liberty and despotism, we owe it to ourselves to sustain the former, in
this hemisphere at least. I have even suggested an invitation to the
British government to join in applying the ' small effort for so much
good' to the French invasion of Spain, and to make Greece an object
of some such favorable attention. Why Mr. Canning and his col
league did not sooner interpose against the calamity, which could not
have escaped foresight, cannot be otherwise explained but by the
different aspect of the question when it related to liberty in Spain, and
to the extension of British commerce to her former colonies.

" Mr. Canning was glad of the cooperation of the United
States, but was too much devoted to the aggrandizement of
England to accept President Monroe's declaration against
the colonization of any portion of America by any Euro
pean power. France and Russia likewise objected to that
principle.

"The position taken by England, and especially the
announcement by Mr. Canning that any attempt by France
to aid Spain in the reconquest of her revolted colonies
would be followed by the immediate acknowledgment by
England of their independence, undoubtedly had great
effect in defeating the plans of the Holy Alliance, and,
indeed, of- all schemes by European powers to appropriate
to themselves any part of the former colonial dominions of
Spain.

" But it was not until January, 1825, that England
formally acknowledged the independence of the South
American States. In announcing that event Mr. Canning
gave way to his celebrated burst of oratory : ' I sought
materials for compensation in another hemisphere. Con
templating Spain such as our ancestors had known her, I
resolved that, if France had Spain, it should not be Spain
with the Indies. I called the New World into existence
to redress the balance of the Old.' Thus the English states
man claimed credit for a result largely due to the assertion
by the United States of the principle which has become so
well known as the Monroe Doctrine."

In the year 1884 Jacob Sharp, of New York city, suc
ceeded in procuring from the Legislature a charter for the

332 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

construction of a surface railway through Broadway, then
the most considerable and popular thoroughfare in New
York city. It soon became notorious that the charter was
obtained by the rankest corruption, and that the aldermen
of New York city who gave effect to the charter were, with
a few exceptions, paid largely for their votes. Mr. Tilden,
through the press and through his private correspondence,
urged upon the Legislature its duty to repeal the charter
at once. It was largely due to his exertions that the rail
road committee of the Senate, early in March, reported
unanimously that the charter was obtained by fraud ; that
the organization was a sham, and concealed a scheme to
appropriate to the personal benefit of a few desperate
speculators " the most valuable street railroad in the world
without legal authority, without the consent of the prop
erty-holders on Broadway, and without any adequate com
pensation to the city." Most of the articles which appeared
in the leading New York journals during the latter days of
the session of the Legislature in 1886, urging the repeal of
this charter, were dictated by Mr. Tilden. He also urged
Governor Hill to support him in his efforts. The two
letters which follow were written mainly to press this duty
upon the Governor.

TILDEN TO GOVERNOR HILL.

" (Personal and confidential )

"GRAYSTONE, YONKERS, N.Y., March 20, 1886.

" DEAR GOVERNOR HILL : I send you a series of papers.

"1. The first is on the accountability of corporations,
which shows the authority for a legislative repeal of the
Broadway Railroad charter. It is the same which I handed
to you when you were at Graystone. I send it in connection
with the papers which are now added.

" 2. The second paper is an authority from the Supreme
Court of the United States showing the repeatability of a
street-railroad charter, and its effect not only to vacate the
charter, but also to vacate the franchise in a public street.

THE BROADWAY RAILROAD CHARTER 333

"3. Papers 3, 4, 5, and 6 elicited by Mr. Carter's argu
ment in behalf of the Seventh Avenue Railroad Company,
showing how the great organs of public opinion deal with
the pretext of those who claim to be innocent holders, and
as such entitled to indulgence and protection.

" The truth is, that on the facts as now disclosed there
are no innocent holders, nor any holders who had not suffi
cient information to put them on their guard against the
stock and bonds tainted with fraud and corruption.

" Least of all can the Seventh Avenue Company set up
any such pretence.

"In the first place, the notoriety of the grounds of sus
picion and fraud and corruption which has attended the
transaction from its beginning, and which carried moral
conviction to the whole public, is sufficient to deprive any
purchaser of the character of an innocent investor, and to
convict him of engaging in the transaction at his voluntary
risk.

*' In the second place, the omission of a compliance with
the legal conditions necessary to a valid organization of the
Broadway Railroad Company ; and the legal conditions
necessary to the existence of the right to construct the
railroad ; the failure to give adequate notice of the meeting
of the aldermen at which the grant was carried over the
Mayor's veto, which rendered the action of the Board of
Alclermen giving their consent totally void, and other legal
irregularities, — were all things which the purchaser of
stock and bonds was bound to inquire into.

" The Seventh Avenue Company, so far from being an
innocent holder, was the active principal in the whole
transaction. It controlled the disposal of the stock and
bonds, and guaranteed the bonds, and leased in perpetuity
the Broadway Railroad. If any other party afterwards
bought stock or bonds, he would acquire no better title
than the Seventh Avenue Railroad Company had, and could
communicate. If he has been cheated, his remedy lies on
the guarantee of the Seventh Avenue Railroad Company,
or otherwise against that company. He has no equity
against the defrauded city to indemnify him against his
own laches.

" The interests of public morality require that the holders
of the booty, whether at first or second hand, should not be
allowed to carry it off triumphantly.

334: THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

ff You are the representative of the Democratic party of
the State of New York. It is necessary that the purpose
to defeat this conspiracy of fraud, corruption, and public
robbery should be conspicuously manifested by you.

" The more effectual and the more swift the measures of
redress are, the greater will be the popular approval. An
accessory measure would be to take away from the aldermen
the power to pass any grant over the Mayor's veto. A sin
gle man standing up before the face of the community
would never make such a grant. The Cantor bill, as
amended, ought to pass ; but it is imperfect, and additional
legislation ought to be applied. It can be added to, or its
operation limited, hereafter.

" Very truly yours,

"S. J. TlLDEX."

TILDEN TO GOVERNOR HILL.

" (Personal and confidential.}

"GRAYSTONE, YONKERS, N.Y., March 24, 1886.

" DEAR GOVERNOR HILL : Your special message is ad
mirable. Such action is the best answer to those who
depreciated you in the last canvass. I was not mistaken
in thinking it would be received with general popular
applause. But you have now to follow up the issue which
you have so well made, and, if possible, conduct your side
of it to complete success.

I have always regarded President Cleveland's advertise
ment that he did not desire to influence the action of
Congress as a great mistake. A public man must show
not only that he is individually (though impotently) right,
but that he can lead his party- followers and make them,
and be himself, to the largest practicable extent, a power for
good. Otherwise, when he comes to be judged it will be
said that he is better than his party, but must be discarded
because he cannot effect results. I hope, therefore, you
will exert all the moral influence you possess to induce the
Legislature to pass such legislation as you recommend. I
think a law ought to be enacted that the consent of the
local authorities of the city of New York to the laying
down of a railroad track in any street of the said city shall
not be made effectual by the vote of any aldermen if the

THE BROADWAY RAILROAD CHARTER 335

resolution giving such consent shall have been vetoed by
the Mayor of the said city, or without the assent of a
majority in interest of owners of property abutting on the
said street. The streets in the city of New York are
already well provided with north and south railroads, so
that a man need walk but one block, and generally but half
a block, in order to reach one of these railroads, and very
little room is left for the convenience of vehicles other than
railroad cars. Additional lines should only be granted
after great deliberation and the fullest public discussion.
The Fifth avenue should be kept clear as an access to
the Central park. On the east side of it, Madison, Fourth,
Third, and Second avenues have each a horse railroad,
and the Third and Second have elevated railroads. On the
west side the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth avenues
and Broadway have each a horse railroad ; and the Sixth
and Ninth avenues have each an elevated railroad. Noth
ing is left except Fifth avenue, most of Lexington avenue,
and Broadway below Fourteenth street.

" The cable railroad would take Lexington avenue, cut
ting through Graniercy park, which is maintained by the
adjacent owners without cost to the city.

"These facts are sufficient to show that no harm can
come from imposing the restraints suggested. The abuse
of the power of the aldermen to give the consent of the
local authorities against the veto of the Mayor shows that
such power ought to be taken away. The improvidence
attending the appointment of commissioners by the General
Term empowered to dispense with the consent of the abut
ting property-owners shows that such authority ought to
be taken away.

"But, of course, the great measure is to repeal the
Broadway Kailroad charter and the franchise of that com
pany, if it has in reality acquired that franchise to run a
street railroad in Broadway. I do not know that you will
be able to accomplish all that is desirable, but there is no
harm in submitting the foregoing suggestions for your
consideration.

" Since writing the above, I have received the printed
copy of the message.

" Very truly yours,

" SAMUEL J. TILPEN."

336 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

Learning that I was expecting to meet Mr. Koscoe
Conkling, then acting as counsel for the Broadway prop
erty-holders for the repeal of the charter, Mr. Tilden
addressed rne the following letter:

TILDEX TO BIGELOW.

(Personal and confidential.)

"GRAYSTONE, YONKERS, N.Y., March 21, 1886.

" DEAR MB. BIGELOW : If you see Mr. Conkling I
wish you would suggest to him, in case he frames remedial
bills for the Senate committee, the high expediency of a
bill taking away the power of the Board of Aldermen to
pass an act over the Mayor's veto, giving the consent of
the local authorities to the laying down of railroad tracks
in any street in the city of New York. The bill should
also impose the condition requiring the consent of a ma
jority in interest of the owners of property abutting on
every street in which such tracks are proposed to be laid
down.

" The bill should also require that the franchise of run
ning such railroad should be sold at auction, for a gross
sum, to l)e paid in cash for the benefit of the sinking-fund
of the city of New York.

" The necessity of the provision taking away the power
of the Board of Aldermen to pass a grant over the Mayor's
veto is quite obvious. The requiring the separate consent
of the Mayor will be effectual. No Mayor will defy the
general public opinion, or consent to an improvident or
corrupt act.

'* The propriety of taking away the power of the General
Term by appointing commissioners and confirming their ac
tion, to overcome the restraint created by the disapproval or
antagonism of the property-owners, is shown by the evidence
taken by the Senate committee, illustrating the improvi
dence, favoritism, or collusion which attended the recent
appointment of improper persons as commissioners.

rf The sale of the franchise for a gross sum instead of a
percentage on the gross or net income of the railroad will
be alone effectual to secure the city a just compensation.
In one contest the city may triumph ; but in a continuing

GLADSTONE AND PARNELL 337

contest for annual payments, to be annually ascertained and
collected, the city will sooner or later be beaten.

"If any credit should be given, that should be only on
first-mortgage bonds deposited in the sinking-fund. Even
that is not altogether safe. If the grant is valuable, the
grantee may as well raise the money and pay it into the
sinking-fund. That system will be free from after-claps.

" One word in respect to the Broadway Railroad grant.
The interest of public morality and official fidelity and
honor cannot afford to have Mr. Conkling beaten in his
present professional crusade. It is of great importance
that the present case should be an example of public jus
tice, and not of successful villainy.

" Mr. Conkling's professional reputation will be greatly
enhanced by his success in defeating the conspiracy of
plunder. This cannot be done by paltering in half meas
ures. The exercise of the indubitable power of the Legis
lature to repeal the Broadway charter (which would carry
with it the annulment of the franchise to run the road, but
which had better be expressed in the bill) is the only
proper measure.

" Public opinion strongly and unanimously demands this
remedy. The sham of pretended innocent holders deceives
nobody.

" Very truly yours,

"S. J. TILDEX.
"Hex. JOHN BIGELOW."

Mr. Tilde n shared the sympathy generally felt in this
country for the cause of Home Rule, which in 1886 was
passing into one of its most discouraging phases. He had,
however, more faith than was then generally felt in Glad
stone as the Moses to whom the task of leading the people
of Ireland out of bondage seemed to have been confided.
In reply to an invitation to address a mass meeting of the
friends of the cause in JSTew York city, Mr. Tilden sent
the following reply :

"GRAYSTONE, YONKERS, N.Y., May 6, 188G.
"DEAR SIR: I am honored by your invitation to attend
and address the grand mass meeting at the Academy of
Music, on Friday evening, May 7th.

VOL. II. — 22

338 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

" The delicate state of my health will prevent me from
complying with your invitation.

"I cordially and earnestly concur with you in desiring
to give the most imposing expression of the approval,
admiration, and applause with which America regards the
magnificent effort of the Premier of Great Britain to con
summate and crown his career of illustrious services to
mankind, by 2fivin^ the blessings of Home Rule to the lon<?

»7 O O O

misgoverned people of Ireland.

" The voice of America speaks in the place of the voice
of posterity. It is inspired by the best hopes of a genuine
human progress which may redeem past errors of England
towards Ireland, and the false policy towards other peoples
which has cost England so dear.

" Next to the renowned Gladstone the need of gratitude
is due to Farnell for so signal an advance of the cause of
local self-government among mankind.
"Your fellow-citizen,

"SAMUEL J. TILDEN.
"Hox. JOHN Fox,

" Chairman Sub-Committee?

There were two bills being pressed on the Legislature in
the interest of rogues at the session of 1885-1886, both of
which Mr. Tilden exerted all his influence, and with success,
to defeat. Their character and his view of them will
appear in the following letter to the Governor :

" (Confidential.)

"GEAYSTONE, June 16, 1886.

" DEAR GOVERNOR HILL : I infer from what Mr. Green
tells me that you feel the burden of resisting the pressure
of the advocates of the bill pretending to complete the
abolition of imprisonment for debt, and of the bill appro
priating two hundred thousand dollars for doubling the
length of the locks on the Erie canal.

"In respect to the first of these bills, in my judgment,
the clamor in its favor is confined to a very few persons
who have been imposed upon by scoundrels seeking to get
a legislative pardon for their offences. It is superficial

NOTES ON CANALS 339

and will not endure discussion. The bill is artfully worded
so as to destroy what Mr. O'Conor and myself thought to
be the most valuable instrument which the laws afford for
the punishment of great acts of public robbery. If the
existing law needs to be made more lenient in some cases,
that should be done by a carefully framed bill which should
do no general mischief. If you veto this bill you will be
successfully defended, and will add to your reputation as a
watchful guardian of the public interests.

" In respect to the other bill, its immediate effect will be
the waste of two hundred thousand dollars of the public
money ; but its ultimate effect will be to enter upon an im
mense expenditure and the creation of new canal rings.
You will have, sooner or later, to arrest the system or dis
credit your administration.

" I think a pitched battle on the subject would in the
long run do you good instead of harm ; but I admit that a
considerable . . . public opinion has been artificially
created in its favor.

"I have twice destroyed a similar scheme. But if you
think it expedient to defer the contest until the public mind
can be better educated (though if it were my case I should
make it now), you can let this bill pass with less permanent
harm than the first-mentioned bill would produce.

"If the State has already borrowed or authorized the
borrowing of a million of dollars for the Niagara Falls park,
or for that and other purposes, amounting in the aggregate
to a million of dollars, this act would be a violation of Sec
tion 10 of Article 7 of the Constitution.

" Perhaps a simple statement of this objection, if it exist,
would be the easiest way to dispose of this bill and of ad
journing the discussion.

" I would not trouble myself if I had not a sincere and
deep solicitude for the welfare of your administration.
« Very truly yours,

«S. J. TILDEN."

Among Mr. Tilden's papers was found a document en
dorsed " Copy of Notes on the Canals, written by Mr.
Tilden on Sept. 4 and 5, 1885, in answer to queries ad
dressed to him." I presume the original was sent to some

340 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

one in the Legislature who was conducting the war upon
the canal-enlarging scheme referred to in the preceding
letter. There is probably no American now living who
knows as much about the New York canal system or about
interior water-way economics of all kinds as Mr. Tilden
did. The questions to which these notes reply are as vital
to-day as they ever were, for the constitutional conven
tion of New York in 1894 rashly broke down the barriers
wisely erected by the Convention of 1846, and successfully
guarded by Tilden as legislator, governor, and counsellor
for forty years, and has placed the people once more at
the mercy of a new canal ring, which is rapidly taking
shape again under its auspices.1

I may here remark incidentally that I have reason to be
lieve that it was largely in deference to Mr. Tilden's advice
that Governor Hill gave his approval also to the bill for
the protection of the Adirondack forests and the Interna
tional Park bill.

"NOTES ox THE CANALS, i884-s.

" I. Would not the expense of deepening the canal, so as
to add two feet to the depth of water, be very great ? I
understand that now for a great part of its course the bottom
of the canal is composed for about a foot of day and
hydraulic cement, packed closely, so as to prevent breakage,
and would not the expense of taking this up, and replacing
it after the bottom was dug up, be more serious than any
calculation has yet allowed 9

" The idea of increasing the depth of the canal two feet is
a gross exaggeration of what is possible or proper to do.

"To build up the banks two feet would necessitate build
ing up the locks. To excavate the bottom two feet would
be impracticable.

1 The following is the provision which opens the door of the public
treasury to the new canal ring :

Art. vii., Section 10. The canals may be improved in such manner as
the Legislature shall provide by law. A debt may be authorized for that
purpose in the mode prescribed by section four of this article, or the cost
of such improvement may be defrayed by tht, appropriation of funds from
the State treasury, or by equitable annual tax.

NOTES ON CANALS 341

"At page 23 of my message for 1875, it was stated:
' The water-way was practically never excavated in every
part to its proper dimensions. Time, the action of the ele
ments, and neglect of administration, all tend to fill it by
deposits.'

" There is no doubt that the sides of the water-way have
been changed and the slope filled in with silt, narrowing
the bottom of the canal so that it is only in the middle that
the proper depth is approached, and inconvenience is felt in
one boat passing another.

" My suggestion was to bring up the canal to an honest
seven feet. All the structures of the canal were adapted to
that. Bring it up to seven feet, — honest seven feet, — and
on all the levels, wherever you can, bottom it out; throw
the excavation upon the banks ; increase that seven feet
toward eight feet, as you can do so progressively and eco
nomically ; you may also take out the bench walls. This
suggestion looked to gaining on the long levels, when it
was found practicable, some inches increasing seven feet
toward eight feet. The suggestion was carefully limited,
because in many places you cannot change the bottom with
out interfering with culverts or carrying the excavation
below the mitre sills of the locks.

" As to the capacity of the Erie.

'* The lockages at Frankfort during the season of 1884
were 20,800.

"The lockages in 1873 were stated, on page 22 of my
message of 1875, to have been 24,960.

r The theoretical capacity of the canal will be three or
four times the largest tonnage it has reached. There is no
doubt it can conveniently and easily do double the business
which has ever existed, even though the locks be not manned
and worked with the highest efficiency.'

" If that was true when the lockages were 25,000, how
much more so is it when the lockages have fallen to 20,800,
as in 1884?

" II. How far does the fact that the lake transportation
has almost entirely passed into the hands of railroad people
effect the probability of increasing the business of the canal,
in case it should be deepened?

"III. Can the canal be maintained in the face of the
increasing railroad competition?

342 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

" Total tons of each class of articles which came to the
Hudson river from Erie and Champlain canal :

" (Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Works upon the Trade
and Tonnage of the Canals for the Year 1884, page 100.}

1874. 1884.

Products of the forest . . . 1,192,681 1,097,450

Agriculture 1,470,872 1,054,041

Manufacture 49,426 56,899

Merchandise 12,905 45,538

Other articles 497,228 377,259

Total 3,223,112 2,631,190

" Tonnage of the canal and of the Central and Erie Bail-
roads :

tl (From the Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Works upon
Trade and Tonnage of the Canals for the Year 1880, pages 94-95.)

1874. 1884.

New York canals 5,804,588 5,009,488

New York Central Eailroad . . 6,114,678 10,212,418
Erie Kailway 6,364,276 116,219,598

Total 18,283,542 31,441,504

" The railroads have competed successfully with the Erie
canal and have carried off all the increase in the tonnage.
Notwithstanding the State has ceased to charge tolls, and
has imposed an annual tax of $700,000 upon the taxpayers
to maintain the canals, the Erie canal has failed to keep up
its business. It holds on to a portion of the lumber and of
the grain.

" There seems to be no probability that the Erie canal
will regain any portion of the business it has lost.

' '• Xone of the grand schemes by which it is proposed to
enlarge or improve it can to any appreciable extent cheapen
the transportation. They will simply waste the money of
the taxpayer and revive the system of contracting, jobbery,
and fraud.

" The advantage of lengthening the locks so as to pass

1 Of this amount 5,147,660 tons is the tonnage for twelve months of
the N.Y., P., & O. R.B. Co. leased by the Erie.

NOTES ON CANALS 343

two boats at once, when there is plenty of time to pass four
times the boats which the tonnage requires, is doubtful and
is at best inconsiderable. It can only pretend to save five
minutes in a lockage — if, in fact, it will save any time.

"Unless some effectual expedient be adopted to prevent
the waste of water in locking through a single boat, it
would consume three times as much water in the long lock
as in the short lock. I understand that the superintendent
thinks that ruinous mischief can be avoided, but I have
had no means of testing how the thing would work in
practice.

"In 1867, when I examined the subject, I found that on
the Delaware and Karitan they used boats of about the
same dimensions as the boats in use on the Erie, notwith
standing the locks were capable of passing two boats at a
time.

" I send my message of 1875, my speech in the constitu
tional convention of 1867, which contains a fuller discussion
of the subject.

"I send also the last report of the Superintendent of
Public Works on the canals.

" The statistical tables are so changed from the ancient
forms that it is difficult to get the materials for a satisfac
tory comparison of the present with the former business.
A certain portion of the business naturally belongs to the
railroads. The principles which govern this division are
set forth in the beginning of my speech in 1867.

:t The business would naturally be divided and the share
of the railroads would be increased as the net-work of the
railroads is perfected and more and more points are
touched. Besides, the railroads will compete for addi
tional business at less than cost, charging the loss upon the
paying portion of their traffic.

" On the whole it must be observed within the last ten
years the cost of transportation by railroads has been
reduced one-half. All the improvements tending to
cheapen transportation are made by the railroads.

" As to the clamor about diverting traffic to the Canadian
lines, it is senseless. The great mass of grain brought from
the West is for local consumption. Two millions and a
half of people residing in the city of New York and its
suburbs are not going to bring the grain for their own con
sumption by way of Montreal. A large share of the flour

344 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

and grain carried by the New York Central is for local con
sumption in New England. Formerly it came to NeAV
York city and was distributed from that point. It is now
carried direct. For instance, flour and grain for con
sumption at Springfield and Worcester are carried from
the point of shipment in the West direct to those places
without change of cars. They cannot be diverted.

:' The Erie canal still has a certain utility. It should be
nursed along, but without any expectation of regaining
the place it once occupied in the transportation of the
country.

" The taxpayer of this State will not always consent to
pay a bonus of seven hundred thousand dollars per year in
order to get tonnage for the Erie canal."

In the year 1886 the "Albany Argus" proposed to cele
brate its bi-centennial birthday. Mr. James H. Manning,
the son of his old friend the late Secretary of the Treasury,
and representative of his interest in the paper, asked Mr.
Tilden to make a contribution to its bi-centennial number.
In response to this appeal Mr. Tilden sent the following
letter :

"GRAYSTONE, June 30, 1886.

fr DEAR MR. JAMES H. MANNING : I have received your
note asking me to contribute to the bi-centennial number
of the ' Argus.' You are about to publish something con
cerning 'the old city of Albany and the days I spent there.'

" I was in Albany between nine and ten months of the
year 1846 as a member of the Assembly, and member of
the constitutional convention held in that year ; and again
most of the summer of 1867 as a member of the constitu
tional convention held in that year ; and again most of the
winter of 1872 as a member of the Assembly ; and again the
two years of 1875 and 1876 as Governor. On all these
occasions life in Albany was characterized by the polite
and liberal hospitality which it has ever maintained, and
which I have sometimes heard ascribed to inheritance from
the good old Dutch customs and manners. I was occasion
ally in Albany during the ten years preceding 1846, so
that I have some recollections extending back at least
fifty years.

OLD ALBANY 345

"The city has greatly changed during that time. I used
often to walk through the part of Albany called "The
Colonie " to see the old Dutch houses, of which many speci
mens then existed. Their gables fronted on the street,
the edges of their roofs ascending by notches like saw-teeth,
and their entrances being in the corner through doors hori
zontally cut into two parts.

" My father lived in New Lebanon, about twenty-three
miles east of Albany, and was in frequent communication
and correspondence with the political notabilities of Albany
on the Democratic side from the days of Governor Tonip-
kins to more recent times.

" In my youth, at my father's house I saw most of the
leaders of the Democratic party of the State and some of
the leaders of the nation.

" But as I am contributing to the bi-centennial number of
the ' Argus,' I must not forget the journalists.

" I distinctly remember seeing at my father's house Solo
mon Southwick, Jesse Buel, and often Edwin Crosswell, all
famous journalists in their day.

" As I am dictating on the last day when you can receive
the contribution you ask, and doing it in great haste, I will
conclude with a reminiscence touching a part of Albany
county, which went for independence before July 4,
1776.

"The locality in which I was born, now in the town of
New Lebanon, Columbia county, New York, was at the
time of my birth embraced in the town of Canaan, which
until 1788 was a part of ' Kings District,' — a subdivision
created in 1772, — of the county of Albany.

" The people of Kings District before and during the
Revolution acted as a little republic. The town meeting
was its organ.

" The records of the town contain the following proceed
ings : ' At a meeting of the inhabitants of the county of
Albany, legally warned by the committee of said county at
the house of William Warner, innkeeper, in said district,
on Monday the 24th day of June, 1776, for the purpose of
electing twelve delegates to represent said county in the
Provincial Congress, be voted : First, that Daniel Buck be
moderator of this meeting ; second, that the present com
mittee's clerk l)e clerk of this meeting ; third, that the
district's books be delivered to the care of said committee's

846 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

clerk until the next district meeting ; fourth, that a com
mittee be chosen by this meeting for the purpose of draw
ing up instructions for a new form of government to be
introduced by said delegates.

' The question being put, whether the said district chooses
to have the United American colonies independent of Great
Britain, voted unanimously in the affirmative.' ('History of
Columbia County,' p. 322.)

"Kings District was mainly settled by emigrants from
Connecticut, and its settlers fought for their country during
the Revolution by levies en masse.

" ( Signed) S. J. TILDEN."

CHAPTER X

Tilden's last days — The books he read — His death — Whittier's elegiac
verses — The funeral — Mr>Tilden's will — The validity of the Tilden
will contested — The trustees of the Tilden Trust purchase a half-in
terest in the estate — James C. Carter's argument — Provision made by
the Legislature and afterwards withdrawn for the Tilden Free Library.

the winter and spring of 1886 Mr. Tilden's in
firmities had been gaining so rapidly upon him that when
the warm weather arrived he was capable of scarcely more
physical exertion than an infant. He could not endure the
jar of the carriage which bore him to his yacht, and even
went so far as to have plans drawn for a railway from his
house to the river that he might reach his yacht without
exertion. He had a carnage made expressly with extra
springs and cushions in which to take the air with the least
possible fatigue. He had not been to his city home for
many months, and had abandoned all expectation of see
ing it or the city again. He spent most of his waking hours
and many of nearly every night — after vainly courting
sleep — extended upon a couch reading, or rather in being
read to, for his hands had long ceased, to retain sufficient
prehensile power to hold a volume, nor could he, without
great difficulty, even turn its leaves. The luxury of con
versation was practically denied to him, for his articulation,
for many months never rising above a whisper, had become
so indistinct that none but those in pretty constant attend
ance upon him could understand much, if anything, he said.
He felt this privation intensely, for it compelled him to
refuse himself to many visitors whose conversation he would
have greatly enjoyed, and destroyed much of the pleasure
he felt entitled to from those he did receive. Thus cut off
from intercourse with the living, he indemnified himself as

348 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

well as he could by cultivating a more familiar intercourse
with the dead. In the earlier and active portions of his
life he had not been a wide reader. He had been in the
habit of educating himself and fixing his opinions more
from conversation than from books. But as his infirmities
grew upon him, his library became his substitute for con
versation and his principal resource. He devoured books
by the hecatomb, as much to distract his attention from his
physical troubles as to increase his stock of knowledge.
The books he most affected were of a biographical and his
torical character. He did not care for poetry, nor much
for fiction, still less for books of metaphysics or natural
science. During the last six or seven years of his life,
when not otherwise engaged, it was his habit to have John
Cahill, one of his clerks, or Miss Gould, a sister of his
brother Henry's widow, who had become a member of his
family, to read to him more or less every day, and not un-
frequently at night after he had retired. Miss Gould, who
kept a careful list, informs me that she herself had read to
him during the last four years of his life the contents of
eight hundred volumes, besides magazines and newspapers.1
Though not a book collector in the ordinary sense, Mr.
Tilden had a very fastidious taste for books, which he in
dulged without much regard to expense. His library num
bered some fifteen thousand volumes . Though the larger part
of them were of the class " which no gentleman's library is
complete without," there were also among them a very con
siderable number of the most rare and costly publications
of the world, now in commerce. He bought books for his
immediate use and enjoyment, and apparently with no

1 1 am indebted to Miss Gould for a list of these books and a note ac
companying it, which will be found in Appendix C. Mr. Cahill informs
me that he read to Mr. Tilden a number of books not noted on Miss Gould's
list, among which he remembers Burns' u Prose Writings," Irving's u Life of
Washington," which greatly interested him, and Gibbon's " Decline and Fall
of the Roman Empire," for the style of which he frequently expressed
admiration.

TILDEN'S RARE BOOKS 349

thought of collecting a library that should be complete in
any department, — always excepting his law library, which
was one of the most complete in the country up to the time
of his withdrawal from the active practice of his profession.
His illustrated and extra-illustrated books, upon which he
lavished money without stint, would add distinction to any
private library in this country, perhaps in any other. He
was for many years one of the most valuable clients of M.
3. W. Bouton, an accomplished bibliopole of New York,
through whom he purchased the greater part of his more
rare and costly works.1

1 The titles of some of these acquisitions will give the reader an idea of
the value and character of the collection.

1. Baron Taylor's u Voyages Pittoresques et Romantiques dans 1'An-
cienne France." The copy is complete and perfect in every respect,
and comprises 27 large folio volumes, containing about 5,000 plates
executed in lithography after original sketches by the best artists of
France. All the great buildings and monuments of the different depart
ments of France are represented here, with details and sections. Much of
the text is printed with elaborate ornamental borders adorned with medal
lion portraits of celebrated personages, arms and armor, figures, views, etc.
Baron Taylor, who projected this work, was the man who brought the obe
lisk of Luxor from Egypt to Paris and erected it on the Place de la Con
corde. He was also for many years at the head of the Theatre Fran9ais.
The publication was commenced in 1820, and continued through the ensuing
years till its completion in 1878. It was issued to subscribers in parts, of
which there were in all 1,000, at twelve and a half francs apiece, making the
price of the whole 12,500 francs. The complete sets of this work in this
country can be counted on one man's fingers, very few of the original sub
scribers having outlived the six decades taken for its publication, and but
few of the original subscription sets have ever been offered for sale.

2. Piranesi's works illustrating the antiquities, monuments, architecture,
etc., of the Romans. This splendid set, comprising 35 volumes, is bound
in 23 large folio volumes, containing nearly a thousand large etched plates.
Some of the folding plates open out ten feet in length.

3. Gillray's ''Drawings and Caricatures," nearly if not quite the only
complete collection in existence. It comprises a series of 831 caricatures,
all original issues and the larger portion in colors, 156 original drawings,
19 miscellaneous engravings, and 4 autograph letters ; the whole in 8 folio
volumes, sumptuously bound in crimson morocco by Riviere. Upwards of
250 of the subjects have never been catalogued or indexed in any work.
The collection was formed by an English gentleman who spent five years in
its formation. In 1866 he obtained the collection of Gillray's belonging to

350 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

One of his few subsidiary .diversions during the winter
of 1885-86 was the compilation of the genealogical notes
of the Tilden family, to which reference is made in the
early part of this work. It was the fruit of considerable
labor, covering, as it did, the history of a family life on two
continents, and a period of over three centuries. It was
finished during the week in which he died. Not to speak
of the considerable expense necessarily incurred for the
printed and manuscript records which had to be acquired
and consulted, these notes are another striking illustration
of the thoroughness with which he executed everything he
undertook, and which no degree of physical weakness could

the Marquis of Bath, and subsequently added to it that of Lord Farnham
and another private collection. To these three collections were added from
time to time, as opportunity offered, many other rare prints. Gillray's are
among the scarcest of autographs. There are four in this collection.

4. Audubon's " Birds," the great folio edition. This was bought of Mr.
Bouton from the family of one of the original subscribers, in the original
parts, unbound. It contains 435 very large copper-plates, colored by hand,
including about 1,000 figures of birds, from drawings made by Audubon
from nature during many years' sojourn in the wilds of America. The set
was then bound to order for Mr. Tilden in half morocco, uncut edges, and
is unquestionably one of the finest copies in existence. The plate depict
ing the turkey, which Dr. Franklin recommended instead of the eagle
as our national emblem, one of the largest in the work, and usually
found with half the head cut off, is in this copy perfect.

5. Audubon's "Quadrupeds," 3 volumes, folio, also an original sub
scriber's copy, and bound to order for Mr. Tilden from the original parts.
This is almost equal in rarity to the " Birds." It consists of 150 very large
and beautifully colored engravings, depicting the animals mostly in their
natural sizes, male and female, with their young, prey, and views of their
favorite haunts and localities. This collection also contains a copy of the
original octavo edition of Audubon's u Birds," in seven volumes, together
with the three volumes octavo of "Quadrupeds" issued by Audubon in
conjunction with Dr. Bachman.

G. The first folio "Shakespeare" (London, 1G23), bound in full red
morocco extra by De Coverley.

7. The second folio "Shakespeare" (London, 1632), also bound in
full morocco by De Coverley.

8. A fine copy of the third folio "Shakespeare" (London, 1GG4),
handsomely bound in full red morocco extra by Francis Bedford.

9. A set of Ashbee's "Facsimiles" of the Shakespeare quartos, traced

HIS LAST WORK 351

ever make him relax. He now rarely saw strangers. He
had long ceased to join his family at table, taking his meals
alone in his library. Requiring to be fed by an attendant,
he naturally was averse to having witnesses to the cere
mony. He had lost almost entirely the use of one arm ;
he rarely walked alone more than four or five rods at a
time, and then with a shuffling gait which betrayed an im
paired control of his lower limbs.

I visited Graystoneon the 17th of July, 1886, and spent
the Sabbath with him. We rode out together in the after
noon. I had to do most of the talking, for the effort to
make himself intelligible was painful and rarely successful.

letter by letter from original copies to ensure accuracy, — something -which
it is asserted has not been altogether secured in the Grigg's u Photolitho
graphic Facsimiles " more recently published. Of this series there were
but 50 sets, and of these sets 19 were destroyed, only 31 sets being pre
served as satisfactory in every respect. Each copy is certified to by the
signatures of E. W. Ashbee and J. O. Halliwell.

10. A copy of Halliwell's " Shakespeare," in 16 folio volumes, contain
ing in addition to the great playwright's works the literary sources' to which
the great dramatist was supposed to be under obligation, each play being
accompanied by useful literary and antiquarian illustrations, copious philo
logical notes, complete reprints of all novels, tales, or dramas on which it
is founded, including many other documents of a strictly illustrative charac
ter. There are besides numerous wood engravings and facsimiles. But
150 copies were printed.

11. Purchas' " Pilgrims," 5 volumes, folio; a fine tall copy of this old
collection of voyages, dated 1625, the best edition, clean and perfect, with
a fine impression of the rare frontispiece, and good margins. Mr. Tiklen
had also previously obtained a copy of the second edition of the first
volume of Purchas, printed in 1614.

12. An early copy of Dr. Robertson's u Historical Works," large paper,
12 volumes, quarto, in contemporary old red morocco, with a large number
of rare old prints inserted, and most of which at this day it would be diffi
cult, if not impossible, to duplicate. This is one of the earliest specimens of
extra illustrations.

13. " Hudibras," the best edition, edited by Dr. Nash, 3 volumes,
quarto, large paper, with India proof of the plates, numerous extra plates
inserted, substantially bound in full red morocco.

14. A magnificent copy of u Cromwelliana," the folio volume extended
and inlaid to 5 volumes, imperial folio, and about 1,000 extra portraits and
engravings inserted, many of which are of extreme rarity, including,

Of THE

UNIVERSITY

OF

352 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

He frequently called my attention to the scenery, for he
had a lively sensibility for the beauties of nature. I had
recently returned from Philadelphia, where I had been
inspecting the collection of Franklin manuscripts in the
Pennsylvania Historical Society for a new edition of the
works of Franklin, upon which I was engaged. We dis
cussed a scheme, to which he had already given some
attention, for procuring copies of valuable manuscripts for
his library. Before we separated on Monday he said that
if I would organize such a work he would not mind the
expense of it. I promised him when I returned to town
with my family to discuss the matter further with him.

among others, an extraordinary assemblage of portraits of Cromwell, of
his family, of Charles I., and of James I. and James II.

15. A sumptuous copy of Mrs. Bray's " Life of Thomas Stothard,
R.A." (her father), the little quarto inlaid to folio size and extended to
3 volumes by the insertion of several hundred plates, handsomely bound in
full red morocco extra.

16. A copy of Thompson's u Seasons," Bentley's fine edition in large
type, imperial folio, with exquisite engravings by Bertolozzi, full green
morocco. This copy has a large number of extra plates inserted.

17. A collection of caricatures got together by Horace Walpole, com
prising 137 plates of Gillray and others, relating to Walpole and his times,
bound in full blue morocco, elephant folio in size.

18. A select collection of humorous caricatures of a miscellaneous
character collected by Thomas McLean, comprising several hundred large
plates colored by hand ; unique. Elephant folio, bound in full morocco.

19. A copy of the first edition of Milton's " Paradise Lost," small quarto,
calf, gilt, London, 1669. It is a perfect copy, with what Lowndes terms a
seventh title-page. This copy formerly belonged to Blakeway, the histo
rian of Shrewsbury, and bears1 his autograph.

20. A copy of the third edition (1678) of tl Paradise Lost," bound up
with a copy of the first edition of u Paradise Regained " (1680).

21. A small quarto volume of Milton's " Plagiarisms," a highly inter
esting volume, containing Lauder's two tracts on Milton's " Plagiarisms,"
1650-51; Dr. Douglass' u Expose of Lauder," 1756; Lauder's u Recantation
and Confession" (drawn up by Dr. Johnson), with an original autograph
letter of Lauder to Dr. Mead (never published), two original autograph
letters of Salmasius, portraits, etc. The volume came from the library of
Mr. Dillon. An account of this controversy is to be found in Boswell's
u Johnson."

22. The Milton u Memorial," consisting of a collection of early tracts,

MEMORIES OF ALBANY 353

On Monday morning before I left he read me the fol
lowing letter which he had been writing in reply to an
invitation to attend the celebration of the two hundredth
anniversary of the granting of a charter to the city of
Albany :

TILDEN TO THE ALBANY RECEPTION COMMITTEE.

"GRAYSTOXE, YOXKEKS, N. Y., July 19, 1886.

" GENTLEMEN : I have to thank you for your invitation
to assist in commemorating the two hundredth anniver
sary of the granting of a charter to the city of Albany.

"I regret that I cannot be personally present at cere
monies so worthy of your ancient and renowned munici
pality.

proof portraits of Milton, with autograph letters of his various editions,
etc.

23. An elaborately illustrated copy of Keysler's u Travels through
Germany," etc., the 4 volumes, quarto, extended to 8 thick volumes, royal
folio, 2,000 rare and curious plates, portraits, views, maps, etc., and bound
in half Russia, uncut edges.

24. A superb set of the Abbotsford edition of the Waverley novels, the
12 royal octavo volumes extended to 44 by the insertion of several thousand
fine plates illustrative of these works, and several autograph letters of
Scott, Lockhart, and other contemporary notabilities. The copy was illus
trated by a gentleman of wealth and taste for his own amusement, and oc
cupied his leisure hours for many years. Sudden business reverses forced
him to sell, and Mr. Bouton became its purchaser. From him it passed
into Mr. Tilden's collection. The set is probably the richest and finest ever
made. The 44 volumes are handsomely bound in dark-blue crushed levant
morocco, elegantly tooled, by Mathews.

25. The Boydell edition of Milton's works, 3 volumes, folio, extended
to 8 volumes by the addition of several thousand engravings, handsomely
bound in morocco extra by R. W. Smith. This set is without doubt the
most elaborately extra-illustrated copy of Milton's works in the world.

26. Doran's "Annals of the Stage," a large-paper copy of Middleton's
handsome edition in 2 volumes, imperial octavo, extended to 4 volumes by
the addition of portraits of celebrated actors and actresses. The volumes
are handsomely bound in dark-blue morocco by Mathews.

27. Moore's " Life, Letters, and Journals of Lord Byron," 2 volumes,
quarto, extended to 4 by the insertion of choice plates.

28. Bos well's " Johnson," Murray's royal octavo edition, extended to 6
volumes by the addition of a profusion of beautiful engravings illustrating
the life and time of the famous lexicographer.

29. u Wulpoliana," in 5 volumes, folio, bound in half red morocco, with

VOL. IF. — 23

354 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TIL DEN

"Albany is a historic city, and has long occupied a
prominent place in the annals of the State and nation. It
was the scene of the early struggles which determined
whether the colonization of the vast country tributary to it
should be of a Dutch or English type.

" Albany formed a centre of the great natural highways,
connecting on the south by the majestic and placid Hudson
with the Atlantic ocean ; on the north by Lake Champlain
with the wraters of the St. Lawrence ; and on the west by
the great plateau that stretches to Lake Erie. It thus
became the objective point in military operations during
the protracted contests for supremacy upon this continent
between England and France, and afterwards between
England and the rising Republic of the United States.

a large number of portraits, views, facsimiles, etc., relating to Horace
Walpole and his contemporaries.

30. The old quarto edition of " Hudibras," edited by Dr. Nash, of
which but 200 copies were printed, extended from 3 to 6 volumes by the
addition of a host of fine engravings extracted from other editions.

31. Duyckinck's u Cyclopaedia of American Literature," the large-paper
edition printed on a hand press by William Alvord, with special view to the
needs of extra illustrators, and increased in thickness as much again by
the insertion of portraits, views, etc., of celebrated authors, and localities
connected with them.

32. The New Testament (in French), issued by Hachette & Co., of
Paris, illustrated by a series of beautiful etchings done by Bida after
sketches made by himself in the Holy Land, in 2 volumes folio.

33. " Musee Napoleon," in 11 volumes, quarto, a large-paper copy,
with proofs before letters, with the scarce supplementary volume, which is
uniform in size, and not inlaid as is usually the case. This fine work is the
only one containing reproductions of all the pictures selected and appro
priated by Napoleon from the principal art galleries of Europe, and trans
ferred to Paris, where they were engraved by his command.

34. Layard's " Monuments of Nineveh," comprising 170 large and curi
ous outlines, tinted plates, on large paper, both series, in 2 imperial folio
volumes, bound in half morocco.

35. "II Vaticano," by Pistolesi, 8 volumes, large folio, containing over
800 fine outline engravings.

36. " Rejected Addresses," fourth edition, inlaid, folio size, and extra
illustrated, and bound in maroon morocco.

37. Mathias' "Pursuits of Literature," 1812, a copy on largest paper,
with about 100 fine portraits of celebrities inserted, folio, half morocco.

38. Ticknor's "Life of Prescott," quarto, 186G, large paper, extended
to 3 volumes by the addition of engravings.

MEMORIES OF ALBANY 355

"The same geographical configuration which caused it to
be a strategical point of such importance made it after
wards the gateway of a continental commerce.

" It was Albany which, twenty years before the Declara
tion of Independence, was the seat of the first conference
looking to the formation of a union between what after
wards became the independent States of America.

" It is eminently fit that by such a celebration as you
propose, the momentous events with which Albany has
been associated should be kept in the memory of the pres
ent generation and of posterity.

"S. J. TlLDEN.

" To Robert Lenox Banks, James H. Manning, John C.
Xott, Lewis Boss, Archibald McClure, Samuel B. Town-
er, William Bayard Van Eensselaer, Augustus Whitman,
John Zimmerman, James Otis Woodward,

" Reception Committee"

39. Parton's " Life of Franklin," 2 volumes, imperial octavo, large
paper, extended to 4 by the insertion of plates, bound in green morocco.

40. Hogarth's " Engravings," in 3 volumes, folio, containing a fine early
impression of the plates.

41. A choice collection of " Cruikshankiana," formed by a friend of
Cruikshank who enjoyed unusual opportunities for collecting in this line.
It forms 6 volumes, folio, bound in half morocco.

42. A large-paper copy of a beautiful edition of u Don Quixote," printed
throughout on Whatman paper, with etchings by Lalauze, in three states,
of which but 50 copies were printed, published by William Patterson, of
Edinburgh, in 1879. This is the handsomest edition of this celebrated book
yet published.

43. Charles Blanc's " Catalogue of Rembrandt's Etchings," last edition ;
one of the 20 copies printed on Whatman paper, with the plates in three
states.

44. Maximilian's u Travels in the Interior of North America," a folio
volume, containing 80 fine tinted plates after original drawings, with a
quarto volume of text in English.

45. A proof edition of u L'Art," printed on Holland paper, with dupli
cate proofs on Japanese paper, from its commencement in 1875, the
etchings being of the best French artists. There were 4 volumes to the
year, folio size, each year containing 52 full-page etchings. Thanks to
Mr. Bouton, Mr. Tilden was one of the early subscribers to this precious
publication.

4G. A proof copy of the u Musee Fran9aise," in 5 volumes, folio, with
about 400 fine, large copper-plate engravings of the masterpieces of the

356 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

When I took leave of him he showed unusual emotion,
and expressed some disappointment. He spoke of several
things of which he would like to talk with me when I
returned. Had not my duty to my family imperatively
required it, I should not then have left him.

Just two weeks and two days from the day we parted at
Graystone, and on the 4th of August, I received the follow
ing telegram from Mr. G. "W. Smith, his secretary :

"Mr. Tilden died this morning at 8."

In spite of the fact that Mr. Tilden had been an invalid

great painters, the finest collection of pictures ever got together; a pres
entation copy to one of Napoleon's marshals.

47. The " Musee Borbonico," in 16 quarto volumes, containing about
1,000 beautiful engravings of ancient paintings, statuary, bas-reliefs, vases,
etc., representing the remains of ancient art unearthed at Pompeii, Hercu-
laneum, etc.

48. " Dramatic Biographies," 24 volumes, octavo, with numerous
plates inserted.

49. u Oratory and Gesture," by J. Sheridan Knowles, privately printed
for the late James McHenry, by whom it was presented to Mr. Tilden. It
is an imperial quarto, bound in red crimped morocco by Riviere. The date
is 1873.

50. " Actors and Actresses," a magnificent volume, enriched with the
choicest portraits in the finest possible state, nearly all open-letter or India-
proof impressions, collected, without regard to expense, by Sir Charles
Price. The volume is superbly bound in full morroco by Hayday.

51. Pilkington's " Dictionary of Engravers," old edition, 1805, a unique
copy, copiously illustrated with many hundred fine and rare prints, etchings,
original drawings, etc., bound in pale old Russia, the 2 volumes, quarto,
extended to 4.

52. A remarkable collection of books of scenery, 33 volumes, quarto,
1816-1835, issued in parts by subscription, illustrated with fine engravings
on steel.

53. A large-paper copy of Lodge's u Portraits," 12 volumes bound in
6, quarto, India proofs of the portraits, bound in full morocco.

54. Pickering's beautiful edition of " Isaac Walton," 1836, edited by
Sir Harris Nicolas, with fine steel engravings, India-proof copy; also a copy
of Zouch's u Life of Walton," 1823, large paper, with some extra plates in
serted, mostly India proof, quarto, bound in green morocco extra by Chaselin.

55. A remarkable collection of works on u Folk Lore," 46 volumes in
all, including many works now rare.

HIS DEATH 357

for many years, and his death at any moment not improba
ble, the intelligence was a surprise and a shock to the
nation. So long a time had elapsed since his physical
infirmities had become notorious, that they had come to be
regarded as one of the conditions of life with him. Besides,
his feebleness, which was physical only, was not apparent
to the public, while his unimpaired intellectual activity
and his active solicitude about public affairs gave no pre
monitions of decay.

His death was equally unexpected by his physicians, two
of whom were present at his bedside when his great spirit
went its way. As soon as the news reached the city, the

56. Speeches of celebrated parliamentary orators, in all 49 volumes.

57. Jesse's works, in 23 volumes, handsomely bound in tree calf.

58. The works of Charles Dickens, printed at the Riverside press, large
paper, the handsomest edition ever printed in this country.

59. Large-paper copies of Massinger's ''Dramatic Works," in 4 vol
umes, 1813; of Middleton's "Dramatic Works," in 5 volumes, 1840;
and of Ford's u Dramatic Works," in 3 volumes, 1869.

60. Owen Jones' " Grammar of Ornament," the fine folio edition of
1856, containing 100 superb colored plates.

61. A large-paper set of the " Galerie de Versailles," in 19 imperial
folio volumes, illustrating the history of France to the time of Louis
Philippe.

62. The "Florence Gallery," 4 volumes, folio, 1739; proofs before
letters of the superb plates.

63. The "Galerie du Palais Royal," 3 volumes, folio, half morocco,
containing 355 copper-plate engravings of the pictures of the celebrated
collection of the Duke of Orleans.

64. A colored copy of the " Stafford Gallery," 4 volumes, imperial folio,
bound in full red morocco.

65. Finden's u Royal Gallery," India proofs of the plates, folio, full
morocco.

66. A large-paper copy of the u Turner Gallery," containing 60 exquisite
engravings on steel of the masterpiece of England's greatest painter.

67. A proof copy of the u Logia of Raphael," imperial folio, Meulo-
mester, half red morocco.

68. u Tableaux Historiques," original issue, 3 volumes, royal folio,
red morocco.

69. One volume of the personal-expense accounts of President Jeffer-
gon, a detailed description of which appeared in the " Century Magazine " a
few years prior to Mr. Tilden's death.

358 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

flags on all the public buildings and most of the newspaper
offices were displayed at half-mast. Governor Hill promptly
issued a proclamation in which, among other things, he
said :

" The country loses one of its ablest statesmen and the
State of New York one of its foremost citizens. He was
twice a representative in the State Legislature, a member
of two constitutional conventions, Governor of the State
for two years, and in 1876 was the candidate of one of the
greater parties of the country for the presidency, and re
ceived therefor the electoral vote of his native State, and
upon the popular vote was declared the choice of a majority
of the voters of the United States. As a private citizen
and in every public station he was pure and upright, and
discharged every trust with conspicuous fidelity. His last
public utterance, which attracted universal attention, exhib
ited the same spirit of unselfish patriotism which character
ized his whole career, and was in behalf of strengthening
the defences of his country that he loved so well." .

The Governor then ordered the flags upon the capitol
and upon all the public buildings of the State, including
arsenals of the national guard, to be displayed at half-mast
until and including the day of the funeral, and the citizens
of the State, for a like period, were requested to unite in
appropriate tokens of respect.

President Cleveland telegraphed to the family his " indi
vidual sorrow in an event by which the State of New York
had lost her most distinguished son, and the nation one of
its wisest and most patriotic counsellors."

The funeral was solemnized at Graystone, on the 7th of
August, and the same day the remains of the deceased
statesman were conveyed to New Lebanon, where, after a
supplementary funeral service in the Presbyterian church
of that village, they were interred near those of his deceased
kindred.

Whittier, the poet, found in Mr. Tilden's death a theme
for the following noble lines :

THE READING OF HIS WILL 359

" Once more, O all-adjusting Death,

The nation's Pantheon opens wide ;
Once more a common sorrow saith,
• A strong, wise man has died.'

"JTaults doubtless had he. Had we not

Our own, to question and asperse
The worth we doubted or forgot
Until we stood beside his hearse?

" Ambitious, cautious, yet the man

To strike down fraud with resolute hand ;
A patriot, if a partisan,
He loved his native land.

" So let the mourning bells be rung,

The banner droop its folds half-way,
And let the public pen and tongue
Their fitting tribute pay.

" Then let us vow above his bier
To set our feet on party lies,
And wound no more a living ear
With words that death denies."

On the Monday following the funeral Mr. Tilden's will,
which had been executed on the 23d of April, 1884, was
opened and read in the presence of the heirs and the exec
utors, by James C. Carter, Esq., of the law firm of Carter
and Ledyard, and it was admitted to probate by the Sur
rogate of Westehester county, in October of the year 1886.

The testator, never having married, had no direct de
scendants. His surviving next of kin consisted of his sister,
Mrs. Mary B. Pelton, and the two sons and four daughters
of his brother Henry. His estate consisted chiefly of per
sonal property ; about one-tenth in houses and lands, and
another tenth in iron mines in New York and Michigan.
The estate was appraised by experts at a little over five
millions. Of this about one million was appropriated to
legacies and to the constitution of trust funds for relatives
and other beneficiaries. His will provided for the estab
lishment of free libraries at New Lebanon and Yonkers, at
a cost of somewhat beyond $100,000 ; and set apart $10,000
for " keeping in repairs, improving, and adorning the ceme
tery in the town of New Lebanon."

360 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

The substantial residue of his estate, amounting to about
$4,000,000, he disposed of as follows : l

" XXXV. I request my said Executors and Trustees to
obtain as speedily as possible from the Legislature, an Act of
Incorporation of an institution to be known as the Tilden
Trust, with capacity to establish and maintain a Free Library
and Reading-Boom in the city of New York, and to promote
such scientific and educational objects as my said Executors
and Trustees may more particularly designate. Such cor
poration shall have not less than five Trustees, with power
to fill vacancies in their number, and in case said institu
tion shall be incorporated in a form and manner satisfactory
to my said Executors and Trustees during the lifetime of
the survivor of the two lives in being upon which the
Trust of my general estate herein created is limited, to
wit : the lives of Euby S. Tilden and Susie Whittlesey,
I hereby authorize my said Executors and Trustees to
organize the said corporation, designate the first Trustees
thereof, and to convey to or apply to the use of the same,
the rest, residue, and remainder of all my real and personal
estate not specifically disposed of by this instrument, or so
much thereof as they may deem expedient, but subject
nevertheless to the special Trusts herein directed to be con
stituted for particular persons, and to the obligations to
make and keep good the said special Trusts, provided that
the said corporation shall be authorized by law to assume
such obligation. But in case such institution shall not be
so incorporated, during the lifetime of the survivor of the
said Ruby S. Tilden and Susie Whittlesey, or if for any
cause or reason my said Executors and Trustees shall deem
it inexpedient to convey said rest, residue, and remainder
or any part thereof, or to apply the same or any part thereof
to the said institution, I authorize my said Executors and
Trustees to apply the rest, residue, and remainder of my
property, real and personal, after making good the said
special Trusts herein directed to be constituted, or such
portions thereof as they may not deem it expedient to
apply to its use, to such charitable, educational, and scien
tific purposes as in the judgment of my said Executors
and Trustees will render the said rest, residue, and re-

1 For a copy of the will, see Appendix D.

THE TILDEN TRUST 361

mainder of my property most widely and substantially
beneficial to the interests of mankind."

The executors and trustees named in the will were John
Bigelow, Andrew H. Green, and George W. Smith. In
pursuance of the directions contained in the foregoing
clause the executors applied to the Legislature of the State
of New York for an act of incorporation of an institution
to be known as the Tilden Trust, and on the 26th day of
March, 1877, the Legislature passed " an act to incorporate
the Tilden Trust for the establishment and maintenance of
a Free Library and Reading-Room in the city of New
York." l

In pursuance of the terms of their charter the executors
"designated and appointed in writing " Alexander E. Orr
and Stephen A. Walker as the two other trustees of such
corporation, on the 26th day of April, 1887. 2

The establishment of a free library in the city of New
York, with an endowment of between three and four mil
lions of dollars, was regarded as a most becoming crown
to a life of which so large a portion had been consecrated
to public uses.

The hopes, however, which had been awakened through
out the nation by the publication of the will, were destined
to be only partially realized. The nephews of Mr. Tilden,
who were largely in debt, were pressed by their creditors
to contest the validity of the above-cited thirty-fifth clause
of the will, and proceedings were instituted for that pur
pose in the Supreme Court of New York on the very day
the will was admitted to probate. The ground taken by
Messrs. Vanderpool, Green, and Cuniing, of counsel for
the heirs, was that the thirty-fifth clause was invalid for
indefiniteness of subject, in failing to specify with suffi-

1 Appendix E.

2 On the 25th day of April, 1893, Lewis Cass Ledyard was elected as a
trustee of the Tilden Trust, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the decease
of Mr. Walker.

362 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

cient precision the portions of that residuary estate to be
appropriated to the several objects of his bounty. The
case carne on for trial before Justice Lawrence at special
term, — Joseph H. Choate and Delos McCurdy, of counsel
for the heirs ; and James C. Carter, Lewis Cass Ledyard,
and Daniel Rollins, of counsel for the executors, — in
November, 1888.

At the January special term of the Supreme Court in
1889 Mr. Justice Lawrence rendered a decision sustain
ing the validity of the contested clause. The plaintiffs
appealed to the general term of the Supreme Court, where
Chief- Justice Van Brunt and Associate- Justices Brady and
Daniels reversed the decision of Judge Lawrence by a
vote of two. to one ; Judge Daniels voting and writing an
opinion in defence of it, and Judges Van Brunt and Brady
writing opinions for reversal.1 Judge Brady's opinion
is so unique a specimen of juridical literature, that no one
will think the space it will occupy in these pages dispro-
portioned to its value.

" The questions discussed by the presiding justice and
Justice Daniels are not free from difficulty or doubt, but I
think, on authority and proper judicial interpretation, the
solution of them by the presiding justice is the most
acceptable. I concur with him, therefore."2

The case was taken to the Court of Appeals, where it
came on for argument before the second division, consist
ing of seven judges of the Supreme Court temporarily

1 The opinion of Judge Van Brunt, who at this time had become chief jus
tice, lends a melancholy interest to the circumstance that it was at the special
instance and request of Aaron J. Vanderpool, of the firm of Vanderpool,
Green, & Cuming, the counsel for the contestants of the will, that Judge
Van Brunt, while a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, was detailed by
Governor Tilden to act as a supplementary judge of the Supreme Court in
1874, a detail which was continued for six out of the eight succeeding
years, when he was elected one of the justices of that court.

2 It was this opinion, perhaps, which inspired the wags of the bar to
exclaim, when Judge Brady entered the court-room :

" Lo, the con-curring hero comes ! "

THE TILDEN TRUST DECLARED INVALID 363

designated by Governor Hill, to assist the appellate court
in disposing of business in arrear. It was argued by
Carter and Rollins for the appellants, and by Choate and
McCurdy for the heirs, at the June term in 1891.

Mr. Carter's argument closed with the following impres
sive appeal :

" Now, then, if your Honors please, I have gone over,
so far as I have had strength, the principal grounds upon
which the validity of this devise has been contested. They
are, to my mind, unsubstantial in the extreme. Nothing
but the circumstance, that it seems to be impossible nowa
days for a man to make any considerable disposition of
property outside of the range of those who claim to be
kindred by blood ; nothing but the disposition to question
bequests given to publio objects, to take the chances of
litigation, because so many of those contests have been
successful ; nothing, I say, but this practice, which has
become too universal, would have ever induced any one to
question the simple provisions of this will. If I could
persuade myself that this munificent bequest of Governor
Tilden, this beneficent design so constantly associated with
his thoughts in the closing years of his life, — stood in any
sort of hazard, I should be affected with the deepest anxiety.
The idea that a man cannot, when he comes to step from
this mortal scene, or make his preparations for stepping
from it, look about him and see what he can do with the wealth
which fortune has been pleased to grant him ; that he cannot
do that without apprehension that somebody who has some
connection with him, near or remote, by blood, will come
into a court of justice and defeat all his beneficent intentions,
is to me a circumstance of a most melancholy nature. And
that these people who contest this will, of all others, should
be permitted to grasp this property ; no near relations of
the testator ; with no near ties, either of blood or affection ;
living upon his bounty while he was alive ; taking a mil
lion from him when he died ; and all without a word of
gratitude. And even then they would not let him rear
that monument to his name, which was the dearest wish
of his closing hours. I take it that there is to be no
decision here which will prevent, I am glad to believe that
there is no doctrine of law which prevents, the full accom-

364 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

plishment of his benevolent purpose. I rejoice to believe
that he will be permitted to crown a life of usefulness,
although a life of contention which excited many animos
ities, with an act of beneficence as to which none of his
fellow-citizens would feel any other sentiment than praise
and applause."

On the 28th of October the Court of Appeals sustained
the decision of the Supreme Court in bane, holding that the
thirty-fifth clause of the will was invalid, and that all the
residuary estate covered by that clause vested in the heirs-
at-law on the death of the testator, Judge Brown writing
the opinion of the court, in which Chief-Judge Follet and
Judges Haight and Parker concurred. Judge Bradley
wrote an opinion sustaining the validity of the thirty-fifth
clause, in which Judges Potter and Vann concurred.

In his opinion Judge Brown rested the decision of the
court upon a point which had not been taken by the counsel
for the heirs, and which, therefore, the counsel for the
appellants had had no occasion to discuss. As that ground
was deemed entirely indefensible by Mr. Carter; as the
case had been decided, not by the regular judges of the
Court of Appeals, but by judges of the Supreme Court
set apart by the Governor temporarily to hear appeals ; as
two of the judges in the courts below were for sustaining
the will, and two for invalidating the thirty-fifth clause ; and
as three of the members of the court above were in favor of
sustaining the will to four against it ; in other wrords, as the
case in the three hearings had been heard only by Supreme
Court judges, five of which were for sustaining the will and
only six opposed, Mr. Carter felt that he was entitled to an
opportunity of rearguing the case for the purpose of dis
cussing the new point raised by Mr. Justice Brown. In
this view the executors and the trustees of the Tilden Trust
concurred.

This motion, than which none could have been more
reasonable, if a reargument is ever reasonable in any case,

APPLICATION FOR EEARGUMENT DENIED 365

— and though not frequent there is no lack of precedents
for them, — the court promptly denied, the same members
voting against the reargument as had voted to invalidate
the thirty-fifth clause, and those who had voted to sustain
the will, with the exception of Judge Potter, who had ceased
to be a member of the court, voting in favor of a reargu
ment.

Whatever may be the merits or the demerits of the deci
sion of the court or of the opinion of Judge Brown, the
majority of that body laid itself open to just criticism for
refusing the application of Mr. Carter. It may be reason
ably questioned whether any decision of a bench of seven
judges ought to stand that is reached by a majority of only
one. There are only two conditions upon which such a
result can occur : either the members of the court do not
equally comprehend the questions upon which their opin
ions are divided, or some members of the court are yield
ing to influences which are extra-judicial. For centuries
the English-speaking people have required a unanimous
verdict from their juries of twelve men sitting in judgment
on questions of fact; and when the twelve do not agree, the
presiding judge may, in his discretion, send them back to
the jury-room for further deliberation to secure unanimity.
It is assumed that with further discussion and reflection
their comprehension of the question at issue will be equal
ized. If this policy, so venerable and so cherished wher
ever it has prevailed, is a sound one, why should it not
have its weight with a bench of judges ? why should not the
majority be required to convince at least a considerable
proportion of the minority, or be convinced by them ? Can
any case be deemed to have been fully discussed by counsel
or adequately considered by a court of seven judges, all
having precisely the same law to apply, precisely the same
state of facts to apply the law to, and presumably the same
degree of concern to interpret that law correctly, when
three members of the court, after only a single hearing of

366 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

counsel, take views precisely the opposite of those enter
tained by the other four ? There is no attribute or function
of the judiciary more important than its ability to inspire
the public with respect for its decisions. But it is idle to
expect that a court of seven judges can retain the respect
of the public which declines an application to review a
decision reached by the meagre majority of one upon
grounds not raised, and therefore, of course, not discussed,
by counsel on either side.

To those who are skilled in interpreting the mystic prop
erties of numbers, I commend the problem presented by
the prominent part which the number one has played in the
career of Mr. Tilden.

At the election of 1876 it was conceded that he lacked
but one disputed electoral vote to make him President.

When the Electoral Commission was appointed to count
the electoral vote, every vital question raised during the
deliberations of the commission was decided by a vote of
eight to seven, or one majority.

When the count of the electoral vote was made final,
Rutherford B. Hayes was declared elected, and as a conse
quence Samuel J. Tilden declared to have been defeated
on an electoral vote of 185 to 184, or by a majority of one.

At the special term of the Supreme Court, the clause of
the will by which he disposed of about a third of his large
estate was sustained by one judge. On appeal to the Su
preme Court in bane, that disposition was declared invalid by
a majority of one. On the appeal to the court of last resort,
their decision was confirmed again by a majority of one ; and
finally a reargument was refused by the same vote as that
which had pronounced the thirty-fifth clause invalid ; and
all these decisions in the face of a provision in the will re
voking any devise or legacy made in it to any one who
should institute any proceedings to invalidate its provisions.

Though by the decision of the Court of Appeals none of
Mr. Tilden's estate could be claimed by his trustees for the

APPLICATION FOR REARGUMENT DENIED 367

great library which he had so much at heart, measures were
taken by the trustees of the Tilden Trust, by which they
may reasonably expect to acccomplish in a satisfactory way,
if not to the extent contemplated by Mr. Tilden, the mu
nificent purpose to which he had tried to consecrate the
bulk of his fortune. In view of the uncertainties, expense,
and delays incident to litigation of this character, the ex
ecutors of Mr. Tilden and the trustees of the Tilden Trust
deemed it prudent, shortly before the final argument in the
Court of Appeals, and about six months before its decision
was rendered, to accept the terms of a settlement proffered
by Mrs. Laura P. Hazard, a grand-niece of Mr. Tilden,
who was a party to the suit for the invalidation of the will,
and who upon the death of her grandmother, Mr. Tilden's
sister, and under her will became entitled to one-half of all
that part of the estate that had been intended for the Tilden
Trust.

During the five and a half years occupied by this liti
gation, the executors, by judicious investments and rein
vestments, and by careful attention to doubtful assets, were
fortunate enough, not only to protect the estate from any
losses, but to add to it about two millions in income and
profit, so that at the time of the settlement with the heirs
in March, 1892, the general estate, apart from the special
trusts, legacies, etc., already referred to, had increased
from four millions to six millions of dollars, one-half of
which, under the arrangement with Mrs. Hazard, came to
the Tilden Trust, less the sum of $975,000, which she re
ceived for her interest while it was yet subject to the risks
of litigation. Of the personal estate something over five
and a half millions were distributed in March, 1892. The
real estate is still undivided.

On the 16th of November, 1886, a few weeks after the
probate of the will, Mr. L. V. F. Randolph, who had
been for many years a director and treasurer of the Illi
nois Central Railroad, was appointed the secretary of the

368 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

executors and trustees under the will, to the duties of
which position were subsequently added those of secretary
to the Tilden Trust.1

On the 23d day of January, 1893, the trustees of the
Tilden Trust, learning that it was contemplated by the
municipal government of New York city to remove the old
city hall to make place for a larger and more commo
dious edifice on its site, addressed the following commu
nication to the Municipal Building Committee :

"THE TILDEN TRUST.
"15 GRAMERCY PARK, Jan. 23, 1893.

" GENTLEMEN : On the 22d day of October last I had
the honor to submit to the Mayor and commonalty of the
city of New York, on behalf of the trustees of the Tilden
Trust, a communication, of which the annexed is a copy,
and to which your attention is respectfully invited.

" It is now rumored that legislation is in contemplation
for the removal of the reservoir from Bryant park, and
also for the removal of the old city hall to make place
for more spacious and adequate accommodations for the
municipal offices. Much as we regret the necessity of
disturbing a structure consecrated to us like our city hall
by so many precious historical and forensic associations,
should such a necessity be found to exist, we respectfully
suggest that that admirable structure be transferred to the
site now occupied by the reservoir in Bryant park and ap
propriated to the uses of the Tilden Trust upon the
conditions set forth in the annexed communication.

" By order of the Trustees of the Tilden Trust,

" JOHN BIGELOW,

"President."

The following is a copy of the letter of October 22,
referred to in the foregoing communication :

1 1 feel it to be a duty, as it certainly is a pleasure, for me here to make a
public acknowledgment of his invaluable services in both capacities, and
formally to recognize the very substantial obligations under which his
varied accomplishments as a business manager, his indefatigable assiduity,
and his high personal character have placed all who are or may hereafter be
in any way interested in this estate.

+£*?**

' 4a» *^"*

THE PROPOSED Til

On the site of the Reservoii

-

TRUST LIBRARY.

ween 40th and 42d Streets.

THE TILDEN TRUST LIBRARY 369

"(COPY.)

"OFFICE OF THE TILDEN TRUST.
" 15 GRAMERCY PARK, N.Y., Oct. 22, 1893.
" To the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of
New York:

" The trustees of the Tilden Trust, incorporated by
chapter 85 of the Laws of the State of New York, passed
the 21st of March, 1887, respectfully represent,

"That the late Samuel J. Tilden having, in his will, a
copy of which is hereunto annexed, made provisions for his
heirs-at-law and certain legatees, sought, by the thirty-fifth
article of said instrument, to consecrate the remainder of
his estate to the creation of an institution to be known as
the Tilden Trust, with capacity to establish and maintain a
free library and reading-room in the city of New York, and
'to promote such scientific and educational objects as his
executors and trustees might more particularly designate.'

" That the validity of the thirty-fifth clause of said will
was successfully contested by the heirs-at-law of the testa
tor and pronounced invalid. Pending such litigation, and in
view of the uncertainties, expense, and delays incident to
litigation of this character, the trustees of the Tilden Trust
deemed it prudent, prior to the argument of the case, in the
Court of Appeals, to accept the terms of a settlement prof
fered by one of the parties contesting said will, in virtue
of which the Tilden Trust became possessed of about one-
third of that part of the estate that had been intended by
the testator for such trust, from which they expect to
realize from two to two and a quarter millions of dollars,
the annual income from which may be moderately esti
mated at $80,000.

tr That the trustees of the Tilden Trust are anxious to
apply this fund in the way that shall prove most advanta
geous to the people of the city of New York, and at the
same time most strictly conform to the wishes and expec
tations of the testator as manifested in his will.

" That the income of this trust is insufficient to provide
suitable buildings for the accommodation of such a library
as was contemplated by the testator, and in addition to
equip and operate it, but quite sufficient, in their judgment,
to equip and operate it if suitable accommodations for its
installation are provided from other sources.

VOL. II. -24

370 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

" In view of these facts, and in view of the fact that the
city of New York is not only more destitute of library
accommodation than any other city of its size in the world,
but more destitute than many cities in our own country of
far less wealth and population, the undersigned, trustees
of the Tilden Trust, respectfully invite your honorable bodies
to consider the propriety of availing yourselves of this
opportunity of establishing a library commensurate with
the magnitude and importance of our commercial metrop
olis, and of taking measures to provide for it the requisite
accommodations, with the understanding, to which the
trustees of the Tilden Trust hereby avow their readiness
to become parties, that they will equip and operate such
library so soon as such accommodations can be provided.

" By order of the Trustees of the Tilden Trust,

" JOHN BIGELOW,

" President.
-OCT. 22, 1892."

On the 2d of May, 1893, Governor Flower approved an
act passed by the Legislature authorizing the Commissioners
of Public Works, on the request of the Commissioners of
Public Buildings, to cause the old city hall "to be removed,
reerected, furnished, and equipped else where upon property
therein, belonging to the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty
of the city of New York, with the consent of the Depart
ment of Public Parks, if such property shall be subject to
the jurisdiction of such department. If said building shall
be removed and reerected, the same shall be done in such
manner as said Board of Commissioners shall determine,
with alterations as may in their judgment be rendered
necessary by the site selected and the purpose to which
such reerected building shall be devoted, and as may be
in harmony with the present general architectural features
of the exterior of said building."

On the same day the Governor approved of an act au
thorizing the Department of Public Works, with the sanc
tion of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, to remove
the reservoir from Bryant park.

DISAPPOINTMENTS 371

On the same day the Governor also approved of an act
which authorized the Department of Public Parks ' < to con
tract with the Tilden Trust for its use and occupation of
any building that may be hereafter erected in pursuance
of law upon lands belonging to the Mayor, Aldermen, and
Commonalty of the city of New York between Fortieth and
Forty-second streets and between Fifth and Sixth avenues
in said city, and establishing and maintaining therein a free
library, and carrying out the objects and purposes of said
corporation."

It was hoped and expected that these measures would
result in soon giving to the commercial metropolis of the
United States a library commensurate with its magnitude,
needs, and resources, and thus fitly commemorate its obliga
tions to one of its most eminent citizens and generous ben
efactors. That prospect, unhappily, has been indefinitely
postponed by the repeal of the act authorizing the removal
of the old city hall.1 In what way, if any, the municipal
government will give effect to the disposition it manifested
in 1893 to provide a suitable structure for the Tilden
library neither the trustees nor the public have as yet
any intimation.

1 Laws of 1891.

CHAPTER XI

CONCLUSION

I HAVE said that Mr. Tilden never married. I may say
further of him what Milton wrote on the decease of his
most cherished friend Diodati :

" Thy blush was maiden, and thy 3routh, the taste
Of wedded bliss knew never ; pure and chaste
The honors, therefore, by divine decree
The lot of virgin worth, are given to thee."

On two separate occasions I received from Mr. Tilden
the assurance that he had never had any acquaintance or
relations with the female sex, of which he would have hesi
tated, from motives of delicacy, to speak with his mother or
his sisters. As Jules Simon said of an illustrious French
cdlibataire:

" II n'y a pas de femmes dans sa vie.
II reste cette grand lacune dans son coeur et dans son talent."

That Mr. Tilden's life would have been more peaceful
and fuller of joys had he married, that the affectionate side
of his nature would have been more developed and his per
sonality more generally attractive, there is reason to pre
sume ; but that he would have been so creat a force in the

O

world as he ultimately became, or that his life would have
been so prolonged, may be doubted.

The ancients, not without reason, made Venus not only
their god of love, but their presiding deity at funerals
also, under the name of Libertina. The exceptional lon
gevity of some of the famous anchorites has been attributed
in a large degree, and no doubt correctly, to their conti-

EFFECTS OF CELIBACY 373

nence, " whereby their whole vigor was consecrated to self-
maintenance instead of being expended in two directions."
The pigeon, says Lord Bacon, lives only eight years, while
the chaste turtle-dove reaches twenty and even fifty years.
The mule is much longer-lived than the horse or the ass.
The nightingale that has young annually, rarely lives more
than six or eight years, while the celibataires live on for
twenty or more. It is a well-ascertained fact that hybrid
plants live longer than their parents. To be sure

" It is not all of life to live
Nor all of death to die ; "

but a nature so keenly sensible to any genuine tenderness,
and physically so dependent from infancy upon others,
could have well afforded to surrender a few of the later
years of his life — during three of which he once told me
that he did not remember to have had a single pleasurable
emotion — for the love of a sensible woman and the sooth
ing influences of a cheerful domestic fireside.

The following distich inscribed over a statue of Love is as
full of wisdom as of wit :

" Qui que tu sois, voici ton maitre
11 Test, le fiit ou le doit etre." *

Tilden's vital forces, which, in spite of his unrelenting
valetudinarianism, were prodigious, and which should have
been perpetuated in a family, were husbanded to the last,
and as in the case of the poet Pope, Sir Isaac Newton, the
philosopher, and especially of some of the famous ascetics
of the Christian church, like St. Anthony, Theodosius the
cenobite, and St. Paul the anchorite, who lived over a cen
tury, seemed all to have been derived to the brain and to
have induced a cerebral activity and vigor of which the

1 " Whoe'er you are, your master see
Who is, has been, or ought to be."

374 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

Tilden family tree, so far as it is now possible to trace it,
had produced no other example. That he often thought of
marrying, that he had no aversion to matrimony, and that
he never had any relations with the other sex which might
interfere with the most solemn engagements which a man
can contract with it; no one who knew him well could
entertain a doubt.

Nor was he in the least degree shy or lacking of ease in
the presence of the fair sex. Though reared in an obscure
village among plain people, he never at any period of his
life betrayed any of that awkward shyness so common with
persons unaccustomed to the usages of polite society, nor
was there ever a time since he was of age that he would
have felt the least embarrassment in the presence of any man
or woman, whatever their rank.

Like England's great cardinal,

"Though from humble stock, undoubtedly
He was fashioned to honor from the cradle."

Tilden never married, only because he never felt the need
of a wife. His health was always so uncertain ; his mind
from youth upward was so constantly absorbed Avith large
aifairs, public or private, most of the time with both ; his
temperament was so purely nervous, and women were, so
far as he could see, so unimportant to his success in any of
the enterprises upon which his heart was set, that marriage
never became the subject of leading interest, as it does, for
a time at least, with most men whether they marry or not.
In fact, he never knew any woman intimately enough to
fall completely under the influence of sexual charms. He
seemed to have been betrothed in early life to his country,
and the Democratic party occupied with him the place of
offspring, until it wras too late to think of having any
other.1

1 In this respect Tilden's experience is not without illustrious precedents.
Dulembert, in his eulogy of Bossuet, the Bishop of Meaux, discountenances

HIS CELIBACY 375

He was as far as possible from sharing the cynical notion
of woman proclaimed by St. Chrysostom, that she was a
" necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity,
a domestic peril, a deadly fascination, and a painted devil ; "
though he might perhaps have agreed with the lover of
Eve, that she, as the type of her sex, w^as

" Fair no doubt and worthy well
His cherishing, his honoring, and his love,
Not his subjection."

Had he been elected to the presidency in 1876, Mr. Til-
den would probably have contracted a matrimonial alliance,
more, however, for the better discharge of the duties of his
station than to fill any void in his own scheme of life. Had
he in his prime married a sensible woman, capable of ap
preciating his refinement of nature, he would have made a
devoted husband and father, though he would have laid a
very different and probably much less costly sacrifice upon
the altar of his country.

Mr. Tilden had no pronounced taste for any of the fine
arts, nor did it appear that they ever exerted much influ
ence upon his work or his life. He never appeared to care
much for music ; he never learned to dance ; when his
fortune permitted him to indulge in luxuries he went
occasionally to the play and the opera, but rather to gratify
others than for the pleasure he expected to derive from the
entertainment. Even in his school-days his pleasures were
all intellectual. He never participated in the athletic games
in which his comrades delighted. I doubt if he was ever
seen to walk or run very fast. As an antidote to dyspepsia
in middle life he got in the way of riding on horseback, but
he never learned how to ride or drive, and those who drove

the rumor that that prelate had been secretly married, on the ground that he
had been too much occupied with controversies, absorbed with theological
speculations, etc., to be forced to have recourse to such consolations as are
to be found in a mutual union of tender and peaceful souls. // avait plus
besoin du combat que de societe domestique, et de gloire que d1 attachments.

376 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

with him, while he held the reins, were apt to breathe more
freely when they found themselves, if they did, safely set
down again at their homes. He liked to get his exercise
by riding or driving because his horses did most of the
work. He always had fine horses. For one span he paid
$10,000; for one of his saddle-horses he paid $1,500, and
$1,000 for another. He was but partially acquainted with
the uses of which hands were capable and for which they
were provided. He probably never whittled a stick, tossed
a ball, climbed a tree, ran a race, or pulled an oar, nor
even carried a cane, except for a few days in Paris under
the advice of his physician as a check to certain arthritic
tendencies. He could not be prevailed upon, however, to
continue its use. He enjoyed massage because it gave him
exercise without exertion.

When he established himself at Graystone he surprised
his friends by the interest he exhibited and the money he
lavished in adding to its attractions. He expended some
$75,000 in the construction of glass houses, which he
stocked with rare and the costliest growths of many climes,
besides compelling them to supply his table with the choicest
fruits without much reference to seasons or climate. He
expended about $13,000 in stocking these houses alone.
For a single plant indigenous to Mexico he paid $600.
He was very proud of a grand old palm reputed to have
once belonged to Washington's collection at Mt. Vernon.

O O

It was between two and three centuries old. His grape
vine plants cost him between thirteen and fourteen hundred
dollars. In the spring of the year immediately preced
ing his death, he expended over $5,000 in additions to
his greenhouse varieties. He also took great pride in his
herd of cows and his poultry, upon which he spared no
expense to secure the finest breeds to be purchased in his
own or any other country. Two superb St. Bernard dogs
were his constant companions in his strolls about his
place so long as his limbs allowed him that luxury. To

LABOR 377

accompany him on his vioi^b to his numerous brute pets
was one of the usual privileges, occasionally one of the
penalties, attached to his hospitality.

While from early youth so economical of his physical
functions, he exercised no such economy of his intellectual
forces. He seemed to have transferred to his brain all the
vitality which he spared his muscles, and to have been as
lavish, not to say intemperate, in the use of the one as par
simonious of the other. (Whatever he undertook to do he
did with all his might. Thoroughness with him amounted
to genius. He labored only with his intellect, but with
that instrument he never did anything slovenly or by
halves. ) Whether preparing an argument for the courts,
reorganizing a corporation, planning a financial operation
or a political campaign, he took nothing for granted. He
was sometimes accused of being bold to rashness in some of
his financial operations ; but in point of fact, few men took
less risk. Indeed, he took none which study, labor, or
expense could avoid. He could not slur work of any kind.
The condition of his health often prevented his embarking
in enterprises, but it never made him less fastidious about
the perfection of those in which he did engage. No matter
how feeble he was, he spared neither time, money, nor
strength in mastering every detail, in providing for every
emergency, in anticipating every contingency. Reference
has already been made to this trait in his character, in his
preparation for his war upon the canal ring, and in some
of his important triumphs at the bar. It was equally con
spicuous in things of comparatively trivial importance. If
he had any responsibility for the decision, he could not be
induced to accept any conclusion but that which he had sat
isfied himself was the very best, even in matters of trifling
moment. I remember when we were crossing over from
England to France, in 1877, he asked me at what hotel we
should alight in Paris. I named three or four, of which it
seemed to me to be a matter of perfect indifference which

378 THE LIFE OF ^MULE^ J. TILDE 'N

we chose. This did not suit^inni. The constitution of his
mind compelled him to believe that for some reason or
another, one of the hotels must have some advantages for
our purposes over either of the others. He ordered his valet
to bring to him one of his boxes, out of which he took a
small library of guide-books and maps, and he spent most
of the time of our journey between Dover and Paris in as
certaining which of the several dozen first-class hotels in the
French metropolis would incontestibly answer our purposes
best for the three or four weeks of our proposed sojourn
there. Once when I was present he was waited upon by a
gentleman who wished to commend to him a pretty impor
tant financial enterprise. The promoter had not been
trained in his school. Mr. Tilden asked him a few crucial
questions, none of which he could answer with precision.
Mr. Tilden dismissed him summarily, and showed consider
able irritation at being asked to associate himself in a
scheme with a man who knew none of the facts which were
necessary to establish even a presumption as to its merits
or its demerits.

It was this extraordinary crucible to which he subjected
everything upon which he passed his judgment which
made him always from his youth up, in whatever circle he
was placed, whether in the councils of a corporation or in
the councils of statesmen, sooner or later the leader and
the man to whose guidance his associates found themselves

O

compelled to defer. It is no disparagement to others to
say that our country has hitherto produced no one man
who appeared to have combined in himself, in the same
degree, the essential qualities of a statesman and a politi
cian, nor one so admirably equipped for the most exalted
function of both.

It was this quality of thoroughness, of always doing his
best, to which he was indebted for his ample fortune. His
talents justified his ambition from early youth to be a ruler
of men, to mature and execute plans for the greatest good

HIS FINANCIAL SUCCESS 379

of the greatest number. When he found the political
career upon which he had embarked interrupted by the
schism which divided both the great parties in 1848, he
determined to try another mode of acquiring authority
among his countrymen. He set his remarkable energies
at work to accumulate wealth and establish his pecuniary
independence, without which he realized that the time had
come when the politician was the slave rather than the
master. For this the times proved eminently propitious to
those who, like Tilden, had the genius to read them aright.
But even those advantages without his indefatigable thor
oughness would not have enabled him to amass the
largest fortune ever acquired by any lawyer in the practice
of his profession in this or, so far as I know, in any other
country in so brief a period.

" The malice of political opponents, " says Mr. Carter,
"was wont to ascribe his success in money-getting to
schemes for obtaining interests in the property of insolvent
railway companies at less than their value. They stigma
tized him as a ' railroad wrecker.' Never was there less
foundation for a charge. He was a railroad preserver.
His skill in the management of difficult and complicated
affairs, combined writh his profound knowledge of the
fundamental principles of equity, made his services invalua
ble to parties interested in the properties and securities of
railroad companies which by bad management, or in conse
quence of over-sanguine expectations, had fallen into
difficulties. His capacious mind was just fitted for the
survey of such situations. He was among the first, if not
the first, to perceive that a ruthless attempt to foreclose the
first mortgage, and thus to crush out all subordinate liens
and interests, was ill suited to such cases ; that the just
and true method was to ascertain the real capacities of the
business, and to reorganize the enterprise upon a scheme
which would indulge the hope of saving to the junior
securities a large part of their supposed original value.
More than one of the great railroads of the country have,
at his skilful touch, risen from absolute bankruptcy into
prosperity, and repaid all or the larger part of the original
investment."

380 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

When the making of money was Mr. Tilden's object he
concentrated all his energies upon any money-making
enterprise in which he embarked, as completely as when he
engaged with the Tweed ring and with the canal ring. He
did not give a few hours of the day to business and the rest
to pleasure, after the manner of most unsuccessful business
men. He took his recreation, if at alL when his work was
done and his ends had been achieved, f He was so thorough
in everything he undertook while in trie active practice of
his profession, that his services were always in demand and
his accumulations rapid, j In seeking investments for his
earnings he was equally careful and thorough, and was re
warded with corresponding success.

Not infrequently he extended to others the benefit of his
judgment and enlightened foresight. The results in one of
these cases, to which my colleague, Mr. Smith, has called
my attention, were quite remarkable. Between the years
1849 and 1868, Miss Catherine Pierson, a maiden lady of
Massachusetts and an old friejid of the Tilden family,
placed in Mr. Tilden's hands at intervals, or authorized him
to collect for her, divers sums of money amounting in the
aggregate to a little over $74,000. Mr. Tilden attended to
the collection and investment of her money without charge
even for his expenses, and in September, 1880, when he
resigned his stewardship, delivered to her representative
registered four per cent. United States bonds of the par value
of $250,000, and of the market value of about $270,000.

To a woman from Michigan, who had asked him near the
close of his life to invest some money for her, he, in a few
words, gives some pregnant advice which it would be well
if women especially would lay to heart. He directed his
secretary to say :

" Mr. Tilden cannot undertake the charge of the invest
ment you wish to make. He has gradually retired from
every such engagement. His advice in respect to the
$2,000 is not to lose it by bad investment or to consume it.

NOT A SPECULATOR 381

At six per cent, it will give you $120 a year, which will keep
you from absolute want. You should be careful not to lend
it or deposit it with any relation or friend ; but should invest
it and keep the principal intact."

He was no speculator, in the common acceptation of that
term. He resented the imputation sometimes made by his
political opponents, that he had acquired his large estate
by speculations instead of earning it by hard work. He
testified a legitimate sensibility upon this point in a letter
to Mr. Dorsheinier, who, in his " Life of Grover Cleve
land," had given currency to this reproach.

Dorsheimer had been recommended by Mr. Tildcn for
the office of Lieutenant-Governor, when he himself was
elected Governor in 1874. When, in 1876, Mr. Tilden
was nominated for the presidency, Mr. Dorsheinier wished
to succeed him as Governor, and very unwisely, as well as
unjustly, held Mr. Tilden responsible for his failure to get
the nomination. He was never constituted to be popular
with his party, and powerful as Mr. Tilden was in those
days, it is extremely doubtful if he could have secured
Dorsheimer's nomination had he put forth all his strength
to accomplish it, while there is no doubt that it would have
been extremely imprudent in him to have done so, even
had success been probable. Dorsheimer was weak enough
to resent this, and thenceforth walked no more with him,
but made an alliance with the anti-Tilden factions in New
York city, where, on leaving office, he took up his resi
dence. Some eight years later, and a few days after Mr.
Tilden had written his second letter in June, 1884, declining
a renomination to the presidency, which secured the nomina
tion of Mr. Cleveland, Dorsheimer, who had written a cam
paign life of Mr. Cleveland and was a candidate for favors
at his hands, was indiscreet enough to suppose the moment
a propitious one to seek a revival of former relations with
Mr. Tilden. The following correspondence was the result
of it :

382 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

DORSHEIMER TO TILDEN.

"WASHINGTON, June 29, 1884.

" MY DEAR SIR : At the time of your * brother Henry's
death I was on the point of writing to you, but was re
strained by some considerations which I do not think
necessary to mention.

" The announcement of your final retirement from public
life has again awakened in me a strong desire that our long
estrangement should end, and therefore I write to tell you
so. And if the memory of our former friendship shall be
vivid and pleasing to you as it is to me, I shall not need to
make any excuse for intruding upon you.
" With sincere regards,

" I am, your servant,

" WILLIAM DORSHEIMER.
"To the HON. SAMUEL J. TILDEN."

In Mr. Tilden's reply we see, among other things, how
he resented the imputation of having accumulated his
wealth by " speculation."

TILDEN TO DORSHEIMER.

"GRAYSTONE, YONKERS, N.Y., Oct. 8, 1884.

" DEAR SIR : I received with pleasure your letter written
after the publication of mine declining renomination for
the presidency, and referring to your purpose to have
written an earlier one after my brother Henry's death. It
should have been answered sooner but for some causes not
affecting you or the nature of my reply and which have
now passed away.

" If your reference to an estrangement were designed to
imply that any occasion for the same had been given by
me, or to imply that at any time during the seven years
that have passed I had ever manifested or felt any resent
ment or any disposition to do you harm, I should be justi
fied in affirming to you the contrary, and even in mentioning
that my conduct towards you ought, in a singular degree, to
have inspired the opposite sentiments on your part.

" But I do not doubt that the reference was but another

REBUKE OF DORSHEIMER 383

form of words for saying, " Let bygones be bygones," and
so I accept your letter and respond to it in the same spirit
in which I believe it to have been written.

" I have been better able to perceive how much of your
time in the interval must have been misspent, since my
attention was called to a statement in your biography of
Governor Cleveland, that at the time I became interested
in the Xew York Elevated Railroad my fortune had been
made by speculation.

" I could not suppose, with your letter at hand, that in
this you designed to say anything disagreeable or unfriendly
to me, but it so happens that the statement is an almost
total error. My fortune, such as it was, was the result of
professional earnings ; of the growth of investments in
tended to be permanent ; and of profits of regular business
which had been carried on for many years under my per
sonal administration.

"Very truly yours,

"S. J. TlLDEN.

"HoN. WILLIAM DORSHEIMER,

" 115 Broadway, New York

It is but just to Dorsheimer to give his reply which
closed their correspondence. Dorsheinier's motives for
seeking a reconciliation with Mr. Tilden were not such as
to prevent his dancing over the Governor's grave when he
was no longer an object to be courted or feared, thus fur
nishing a post-mortem justification for the chilly reception
which the Governor gave to the professions of friendship
with which he had covered his advances.

DORSHEIMER TO TILDEN.

"NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 1884.
" HON. SAMUEL J. TILDEN, Gmystone, YonJeers, JV. Y. :

"Mr DEAR SIR: I have not made an earlier reply to
your letter, because I could not give the assurance with
reference to an allusion to you in my sketch of Mr. Cleve
land's life, which circumstances now enable me to give.

tf The publishers propose a new and extended edition of
the biography, which will give me an opportunity to correct

384 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

a phrase referring to you which was used without due
consideration.

" I think it, however, proper to say that had you con
sulted as familiar an authority as Webster's Dictionary,
you would have found that I had some justification for the
use of the word ' speculation,' even in view of your own
criticism upon it.

" But I admit that the word has come to have a popular
meaning which refers it to such operations as are carried
on in Wall street, and that it is not appropriate to apply it
to you.

"The carefully considered passage, which begins on pasre
one hundred and thirty-one of the biography, should, I
think, have satisfied you that there could have been no
purpose to annoy you by the observation of which you
complain.

" Believe me very respectfully,
" Your servant,

"WILLIAM DORSHEIMEK."

Mr. Tilden acquired a large fortune, but he earned it by
very hard labor and by the exercise of those qualities
which commonly ensure success. He was always frugal in
his expenditures and simple in his habits ; he contracted no
obligations which he was not always perfectly competent
and ready to meet, and he was extremely cautious to make
no promises nor to authorize any expectations which he did
not loyally respect. During the fifteen or sixteen years
which were pretty exclusively devoted to his profession he
was justly proud of being able to say that he never ac
cepted a contingent fee ; that he never made a bargain
in advance for the price of his services ; that he
never had any controversy with a client about the value
of his services, which were rendered, on his client's own
estimate and as we have already shown, usually for less
than an ordinary broker's commission, but in a single
instance, and in that the justice of his claim was eventually
admitted. The money thus honorably and judiciously

THE NEED OF OUR TIME 385

invested placed him in a condition of pecuniary indepen
dence which rendered him entirely inaccessible to those
influences which not infrequently impair the usefulness of
the most gifted men.

Though as far as possible from indulging that spirit of
self-righteousness on which there is a class of politicians
more or less numerous always trading, Tilden never gave
his confidence to men who engaged in politics " for what
there was in it," albeit as a party leader sometimes obliged
to cooperate with them, and it would be easy to name many
prominent men whom he quietly assisted in dropping from
public life, becaus^ of their tendency to sacrifice the in
terests of their party or country to their personal greed,
vanity, or ambition. < The predatory habits which this ten
dency fostered among politicians he regarded, and no
doubt correctly, as one of the most deplorable results of
our Civil war. At a public dinner given at Delmonico's,
on the 8th of February, 1869, Charles O'Conor in the
chair, Mr. Tilden expressed himself with much feeling
upon this subject.

" I may in early life have been disposed to censure
extreme ambition ; if so, I have unlearned the sentiment
when I behold how much worse, in all its influences
and all its consequences, is the spirit of venality in public
affairs. [Immense applause.] I have often felt, of late
years, that I would thank God if there would arise men
with a generous devotion to the pursuit of ambition in the
public councils, so that thus politics would cease to be the
theatre of the votaries of gain, and that human nature, even
in its selfishness, would present its more generous and
more useful forms. [Applause.] I think "the time will
speedily come when among good citizens of all parties and
all classes this will be urged as the great need of the time,
and when we may meet together and discuss our differences
of opinion, our differences of sentiment, and entertain
charity for those vagaries which it is impossible for us not
to have, remembering that this human society of which we
form a part can only <ret on when our public servants are

VOL. 1 1. -25

386 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

faithful, single-minded, and pure in their public trusts.
And to them we all, of all classes, of all parties, and of
all degrees, must unite in rendering homage."

In early life Mr. Tilden was a very careful student of
the history of the first Napoleon, and I have heard him say
that nothing would have suited him so well as a military
career. That he was a born general, and at the head of an
army would have made a place for himself among the great
soldiers of the world, had the opportunity been afforded
him, I have no difficulty in believing. He was sometimes
accused of indecision and of wasting opportunities in de
liberation. I think this a superficial criticism. He decided
promptly enough when all the elements for a decision were
in his possession or under his control, or when more was to
be accomplished by decision than delay. He was not con
stitutionally a Fabian general, but he was a Fabius when
the war he was prosecuting required Fabian generalship.
He sometimes disappointed his political partisans by de
clining to adopt their views, but events generally proved
that it was because he saw much farther than they. Politi
cal forces are not all under the control of a party leader in
the same degree that the forces of an army are under the
control of its general, and what seemed indecision in him
was often, if not always, prudence, good judgment, and an
uncommonly correct appreciation of the value of time as an
ally. When he said, " Not yet," it always meant that he
was waiting for the reserves which time was bringing to his
aidj

" His confidences, " says Mr. Carter, very truly, " were
not effusive, nor their subjects numerous ; his deliberation
was unfailing, and sometimes carried the idea of indecision,
not to say of an actual love of procrastination ; but in my
experience with him I found that he invariably ended where
he began, and it was never difficult for those to whom he
gave his trust to divine at once the bias of his mind when
he thought it best to reserve its conclusions. I do not

CROMWELL 387

think that in any great affair he ever hesitated longer than
the gravity of the case required of a prudent man, or that
he had a preference for delays, or that he clung over-tena-
ciously to both horns of the dilemma, as his professional
training and instincts might lead him to do, and did cer
tainly expose him to the suspicion of doing."

I accompanied Mr. Tilden to a theatre one evening in
the spring of 1877. He had been delving at his leisure for
some weeks in fr Carlyle's Letters and Speeches of Crom
well," prompted thereto originally, perhaps, by the tradi
tional kinship of his ancestry with that of the " Great
Usurper." When we returned I made the following mem
oranda of his conversation upon the theme which just then
seemed to interest him far more than the play :

" Tilden has been reading Carlyle's f Cromwell,' and in
connection various biographies of C. in his library, and
monographs. He says he does not remember to have had
his views of any eminent man more seriously modified by
reading about him than his about Cromwell. He is spe
cially impressed with the man's moderation, sagacity, and
general superiority. He seems to have considered and pro
vided everything that was required for the success of the
revolution he conducted. He recurred to the subject re
peatedly in the course of the evening and after we returned
from the theatre. He was constantly viewing Cromwell
from his own standpoint. He remarked that Cromwell had
a religious fanaticism to aid him in controlling his parti
sans, which had far more cohesive power than any of the
ordinary political discontents which operate upon parties
now. He also noticed that Cromwell began his revolution
with money raised exclusively by subscription ; a thought
suggested no doubt by the excuses assigned by some of his
friends for not insisting upon our rights in Washington at
all hazards, because the State Legislatures in all the North
ern and Middle States were Republican. Knowing, as I
did, the situation which attracted Tilden's attention to the
study of Cromwell's career at this period, I could not help
thinking that if Tilden were as badly disposed a man as the
Republican press represented him during the late canvass,
how dangerous he might have been."

388 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

It was the thoroughness with which he mastered every
detail, forecast every contingency, and by his precautions,
as it were, defied the Fates, that made him always and
everywhere primus inter pares, that impressed Mr. Carter
" with his prodigious superiority to other men," and which,
mutatis mutandis, might have made him as famous a leader
in the field as in the council chamber, for he had few
adventitious advantages. He had no particular charm of
person ; he always looked the invalid he was ; he had no
special graces of manner, nor was he eloquent of speech.
The effect of his oratory was due exclusively to the things
he said, not to the way he said them. He had a feeble
voice, his elocution was utterly ineffective, and but for the
fact that he never spoke without having something to say
which no other speaker was likely to say with equal
authority, he would have passed for a dull and tedious
speaker.

Though his public papers, especially those which were
written after he had reached maturity, are models of pure
and idiomatic English, and some of them in many respects
superior to anything to be found in our political literature,
Mr. Tilden wrote with great difficulty. He always wrote
for the purpose of commending his opinions to his readers,
little occupied with what they were going to think of him as
a writer. He shrank from no amount of labor to make his
statement exhaustive and irresistible. He would spend
more days over a paper designed for the public eye than
most men would spend hours. It mattered not how many
other things were pressing upon his attention, nor what the
condition of his health at the time, he would never permit
a paper to go out of his hands until he had made its posi
tions as nearly impregnable as it was possible for him to
make them. Though perfectly just toward an adversary,
he never neglected a fair advantage. His logic was sure
to be irresistible, and every statement of fact susceptible
of verification. He never made public use of rumors or

HIS SKILL AS A NEGOTIATOR 389

presumptions or suspicions. He left them on the tree where
they grew till they ripened or rotted. He was not fluent ;
his first draft of a paper was to its ultimate appearance but
as clay to porcelain. He was indefatigable in altering and
perfecting. He rarely — I think it would be safe to say
that he never — sent a paper to the press that he did not
submit to two or three or more friends as a sort of jury of
his countrymen for the purpose of gathering from their
criticism whether what he had written was likely to leave
upon the public mind the impression he intended to leave.
He had not the least pride of authorship, and was as ready
to avail himself of the suggestions of others as to adhere to
his own; indeed rather more, for it was the public which
they represented, not himself, whom he wished to impress.
His judgment of words or forms of expression that weaken
or strengthen a sentence was infallible. He never allowed
himself the use of expressions not idiomatic or which the
plainest people would stumble over.

As a negotiator Mr. Tilden was a marvel. He always
began by making himself acquainted with the merits and
strength of both sides, and he fought only for the margin.
He never lost his temper — though he sometimes affected to
do so — nor the control of his tongue. I have rarely known
a man of eminence in public life who was less censorious,
or whose judgments were at once more inflexible towards
the sin and at the same time so charitable towards the
sinner. Whether systematically or unconsciously, he al
ways dealt with his friends as if they might some day
become his enemies, and with his enemies as if they might
become his friends, the results of both which he had fre
quent experience.

As a consequence, it was never embarrassing for him to
enter into correspondence and relations with his adversaries
whenever any adequate object for doing so presented itself.
Though holding more or less familiar relations with Mr.
Tilden for a period of more than fifty years, I should find it

390 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

very difficult to recall a half-dozen instances in which he
allowed himself to apply an opprobrious epithet to or speak
of any one in terms which, if repeated, would have dis
turbed their relations with each other. Were any one the
object of denunciations in his presence, he was apt to make
some remark which disqualified their author for assuming
from his silence that he acquiesced in their justice. It
was also a rare thing for any one to leave him without
feeling that in one way or another his acquaintance was an
important asset.

As the leader of a great party, he was compelled to enter
into relations with all sorts and conditions of men. Many
people eschew cooperation with those of low degree and of
questionable character, as frequently from selfish as from
virtuous motives. Mr. Tilden appropriated force wherever
he found it, for he had no fear of being over-reached by
any one. He used men of low standards for his purposes
when they could be made useful, but never exhibited con
tempt for those who did not choose to follow him. This
gave him a prodigious influence for good with the classes
most dangerous to society when not properly led./ He
usually managed to divide those he could not control, so
that they should waste their energies upon each other, leav
ing to him the comparatively easy task of holding and
wielding the balance of power between them.) It was in
this way that he rendered Tammany Hall practically power
less, when under leadership factions it was bent upon
mischief.

There were two principles of leadership upon which he
often dwelt in conversation and which were peculiarly his
own. One was a generous recognition of the part which
the imagination exercises upon the tidal ebbs and flows of
public opinion, and the other was the importance of keep
ing his party constantly in the presence of the enemy. He
regarded the imagination of a nation as of an individual,
much as the furnace to a steamer. It must be carefully

HIS THEORY OF PARTY LEADERSHIP 391

fed, and the force it generates wisely directed. Disaster
is sure to follow the neglect of either of these conditions.
There was something dramatic, appealing directly to the
imagination, in everything he did, upon which his fame
either as a lawyer or as a statesman rests. For example, the
manner in which he reconstructed the tallies fraudulently
destroyed in the Flagg case, and won it without calling a
single witness or having a witness to call ; the manner in
which he proved in the Burdell case that the clergyman had
actually married another woman than the one he supposed
and swore he had married ; the manner in which he possessed
himself of the evidence by which he overthrew the Tweed
ring at the moment when it seemed most securely en
trenched, and sent 'Tweed and his confederates into exile
or prison ; the manner in which — no one suspecting what
he was about — he procured the evidence upon which he
trailed his guns upon the canal ring, morally and politi
cally the most important of all his victories ; and finally,
the triumphant manner in which he used the hold he had
already acquired upon the popular imagination to carry
off the presidential nomination from the numerous and
impatient aspirants in and out of Congress, in 1876 ;
in all these cases the part he played was more or less
unique, and so managed as to appeal, as no other Demo
cratic statesman since Jackson's time had done, strongly
to the imagination, not only of his own State, but of the
whole nation.

He believed also in keeping his party always under arms,
and in or ready for a fight, upon the same principle that a
good general always keeps his troops, or the captain of an
ocean steamer his sailors, fully employed. An army has no
reason for existing without an enemy. He held the same
to be true with a party. The very name implies an adver
sary and hostility. The duty of the leader is to keep the
hostile energy distinctly in view of his followers, and in
leading his followers to expect every moment, and to be

392 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

always prepared to profit by, an advantageous opportunity
of assailing it. A party thus led does not clamor for bi
partisan commission, and the voice of the dealer is not
heard in its camp.

He liked praise, but it never seemed to mislead him, for
he judged his own achievements most impartially. He
liked praise when he felt himself entitled to it, but he did
not purchase it for more than it was worth. Flattery is
the homage consciously or unconsciously paid to some
kind of superiority. Of that he received an abundance ; but
no one better than he knew the difference between flattery
and honest commendation.

He was intensely pleased with what O'Conor said of his
part in the Flagg case, and was fond of repeating it, as he
might be, for though a junior counsel to the two most emi
nent lawyers then at the New York bar, to him belonged
the entire credit of winning a case of almost national im
portance, which, but for his ingenious defence, would
unquestionably have been lost.

Though he conducted his business on business prin
ciples, and never allowed it to be confounded with his
charities, he was a liberal giver. Aside from his con
tributions to party purposes, which after he became
chairman of the State central committee were usually
as large and often larger than those of any other person
to the end of his days, no one was ever allowed to
go empty away, who represented a cause or an object
which commended itself to his judgment.

Mr. Tilden " experienced religion " at the age of nine
teen, when he and his sister Mary were simultaneously
admitted as members of the Presbyterian church at New
Lebanon. He owned a pew in the Madison-square Pres
byterian church in New York city for many years, and
up to the time of his death, where he was in the habit of
attending service until he took up his residence, as
Governor, in Albany. There he attended the church, of

RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE 393

which Chancellor Upson was pastor, pretty regularly.
When he resumed his residence in Xew York, in 1877, his
infirmities rendered it at first embarrassing and afterwards
painful to submit to the constraints of a house of worship
during the ordinary Sabbath exercises. He rarely, if ever,
attended divine service in any church after that year. Mr.
Tilden used to quote a remark of Bryant, who I suspect
borrowed it from Chesterfield, that a gentleman never talks
of his love affairs or of his religion. Tilden at least lived
up to this principle. He had no love affairs to talk of,
and while he often encouraged others to unfold their
opinions upon religious subjects to him, I doubt if at any
time during the last half of his life he exposed his
own views to any one. The Bible could hardly be regarded
as a lamp to his feet and a light to his path. If it was, it
must have been by virtue of the lessons he received from
it in early youth, when he undoubtedly acquired as
thorough a familiarity with its contents as he was qualified
to receive. But the Bible is a fountain, not a reservoir,
and though one may carry the words, he can no more carry
all the lessons of the Bible in the memory, than he can
warm himself in winter with the summer's heat. When
devoutly read, it is a new book every day, for the
import of those lessons to every one changes with every
change of his spiritual condition. Had Mr. Tilden studied
it as he studied the other subjects which engrossed his atten
tion in later life, he might perhaps have found shorter and
easier ways out of many of his troubles, and have expe
rienced many more pleasurable emotions in his declining
years. But though apparently little occupied with the
dogmas for which the different religious sects find pretexts
in the Bible, Mr. Tilden was profoundly penetrated and
permeated by its ethics, and in many wa}Ts betrayed the
tenacity of his early faith in their divine origin and
authority.

Whatever may be the judgment which history is to pass

394 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

upon the career of the hero of this imperfect narrative, it
will search in vain to find in the political annals of this
Kepublic the names of many who ever rendered it such
effective and enduring service, nor of those, any whose
service cost it so little.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

DRAFT OF THE ADDRESS PREPARED FOR THE MINORITY OF THE ELECTORAL
COMMISSION OF 1877.

BY THE HON. JOSIAH G. ABBOTT, LL.D.

To tlit People of the United States :

THE minority of the joint commission established by tbe act of Congress
of Jan. 27, 1877, to decide questions arising in the count of the electoral
votes, desire to address the people of the whole country on the subjects
submitted to and decided by that commission.

No more important questions can ever come before any tribunal or
people for consideration and determination. Upon their determination
depends who shall be the President of this country, and whether he shall
owe that great office to the free, honest choice of the people, or to bribery,
forgery, and gross fraud.

The minority of that commission, by the law establishing it, had no
opportunity of reporting the reasons for their action to the two Houses of
Congress. The presence of a stenographer at these consultations was
denied, so that no record thereof exists. No way is open to those who did
not join in, but on the contrary protested against, the decisions of the com
mission, to make public their protest except by this address.

The returns of the electoral vote of four States — Florida, Louisiana,
Oregon, and South Carolina — were submitted to and decided upon by the
commission.

FLORIDA.

In the case of Florida there were three certificates. The first, signed by
the Governor, certified that the four Hayes electors were elected according
to the law of Florida and the acts of Congress. The second was signed by
the Attorney-General, and the third by the Governor elected on the seventh
of November last ; and both certified the election of the Tilden electors.
The Attorney-General was one of the three persons first canvassing the
votes.

To the third certificate were attached certified copies of all the returns of
votes from every precinct in the State, which were originally made to the
Secretary of the State, together with an act of the Legislature providing for
a new canvass of the vote, according to the law as it had been decided by
the Supreme Court, and the result of the new canvass thus ordered.

398 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

It was offered to be proved, and it was not denied that such was the fact,
that by counting all the votes returned to the Secretary of State, according
to the law of Florida as expounded by the Supreme Court, the Tilden
electors had been duly elected.

It was offered to be proved, and was not denied, that the Tilden electors
commenced proceedings in quo warranto against the Hayes electors in the
court of that State having jurisdiction by its constitution, notice of which
was served on the latter before they gave their votes, and as soon as they
were declared elected, and which was prosecuted to this judgment — that
the Hayes electors had not been elected and had no title to the office, but
that the Tilden electors had been legally elected and were entitled to the
office.

It was offered to be proved, and was not denied, that the two canvassers
who had made the certificate of election of the Hayes electors, which by
the law of Florida was made only prima facie evidence, had erred in their
construction of the law and exceeded their jurisdiction by so doing, in their
canvass of votes on which the certificate was based.

Thus it was offered to be proved, and the facts were not denied, that the
Governor's certificate given to the Hayes electors was false, and that the
determination and certificate of two of the three who made up the Board of
Canvassers was false in fact and in violation of the laws of Florida, and
that in making it the two had exceeded their jurisdiction. It was offered
to be proved that the Supreme Court of Florida had, in effect, decided that
the two canvassers had made a false certificate and exceeded their jurisdic
tion, and that the Circuit Court had so decided. It was offered to be
proved that both the Legislature and the executive of the State had so
determined, and had attempted by all means in their power to prevent the
State being defrauded of its true and real vote.

The majority of the commission decided that the determination and
certificate of two of a board of three canvassers, with ministerial powers
only, and which by law was prima facie, not conclusive, evidence, must
stand and decide the great question of the presidency, although it could
clearly be proved to be false in fact, and that in making it the two can
vassers had exceeded their jurisdiction and authority, as held by the
Supreme Court of the State, and although the Legislature and Governor had
both declared it false, and that by giving effect to it the State would be
defrauded of its true and real vote ; and although the electors, in whose
favor it was made, had been declared by the courts not to have been
elected. The injustice of this decision was the more marked and flagrant by
contrast. All the State officers, from tlie Governor down, who were voted
for on the same ticket with the Tilden electors, and had been counted out
by the same two canvassers, at the same time, and by the same canvass by
which the latter were counted out, had been declared elected by the action
of the highest court of the State, and are now and have been holding their
several offices to the general contentment of the citizens of Florida. But
the Hayes electors alone are permitted by this decision to consummate the
wrong, and act in offices to which they were never elected.

ADDRESS OF HON. J. G. ABBOTT 399

Against this decision of the commission the undersigned protested and
now protest as wrong in law, bad in morals, and worse in the consequences
which it entails on a great country.

It gives absolute power to two inferior ministerial officers to withhold
their determination till the day when the electoral vote is cast, as was done
in this case, and then give the vote of a State to a candidate who has never
received it, as was done in this case, and tells the people there is no redress
for such an outrage.

It is a decision admirably calculated to encourage fraud, and ensure its
being perpetrated with success and impunity.

It is a decision by which the people of a State may be defrauded and
robbed of their dearest rights by a few unprincipled wretches, and be then
compelled to acquiesce in the great wrong.

It is a decision claimed to be based on the doctrine of State rights, but,
in fact, is in direct conflict with that great doctrine, for by it States and the
peoples of States can be stripped of their rights and liberties, with no
power to resist.

We protest against the decision finally because by it the people of the
whole United States are defrauded and cheated ; because by it a person is
put into the great office of President, who has never been chosen according
to the Constitution and law, and whose only title depends on the false and
fraudulent certificate of two men in the State of Florida, instead of a ma
jority of the legal voices of the whole people, declared through and by
their electoral colleges.

LOUISIANA.

In the case of Louisiana, the decision of a majority of the commission is
a stupendous wrong to the people of that State, and all the other States, and
in defiance of all right, justice, law, and fair dealing among men.

The law of that State establishes a Returning Board to consist of five per
sons of different parties, with power to fill vacancies, and to canvass and
compile the returns of votes from the different parishes and precincts, and
declare the result. The board is given power and jurisdiction — provided
affidavits are annexed to and received with the return from any precinct or
parish — to inquire whether intimidation has existed, and if it is established
to throw out the return for such parish ; but this jurisdiction is carefully
confined to cases where affidavits are attached to and returned with the
returns of the votes ; in no other case whatsoever is the power to reject
votes given.

It was offered to be proved, and was not denied, that the board giving
the certificate to the Hayes electors consisted of four persons — all of the
Republican party — instead of five persons of different parties, as required
by law ; that these four members had been requested and required by Dem
ocrats to fill the vacancy with a Democrat, but had uniformly refused to
do so.

It was offered to be proved, also, that this board of four persons — all of

400 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

the Republican party — in order to perpetrate the frauds with ease and
impunity, employed five disreputable persons as clerks and assistants, all
of whom had been convicted, or were under indictment, for various
offences, ranging from subornation of perjury up to murder. Indict
ment, at least, if not conviction, seemed the only admitted qualification
of employment by that extraordinary board.

It was offered to be proved, and was not denied, that this board, in "order
to give the certificate of election to the Hayes electors, had rejected ten
thousand votes, and this was done, although not a return thrown out had
been accompanied by the requisite affidavit to give jurisdiction to act at all.

It was offered to be proved that the members of this Returning Board, in
order to give the certificate of election to the Hayes electors, had resorted
to and used affidavits known by them to be false and forged, had them
selves been guilty of forgery, and had been paid for making their determi
nation, thus adding bribery to the catalogue of their crimes.

Numerous other corrupt and fraudulent practices were offered to be
proved against the members of this Returning Board, among the least of
which was a wicked conspiracy to rob the people of Louisiana of their
rights and liberties.

The decision of a majority of the commission rejected all this evidence,
and held that the certificate of election given to the Hayes electors must
stand, and could not be inquired into, if all such offers of proof could be
substantiated.

By that decision the people of the United States are told that the certifi
cate of a board constituted in direct defiance of the law establishing it, and
made by grasping a jurisdiction never granted to it, arrived at by forgery,
perjury, wicked conspiracy, and the grossest frauds, and finally bought
and paid for, must stand, and cannot be set aside ; and although steeped in
sin and iniquity, it must make the chief magistrate of a great, free, and
intelligent people.

The undersigned protest against this decision, also, as bad in law, worse
in morals, and absolutely ruinous in its consequences.

They denounce it in the presence of the people of the United States,
and in the face of the world, because, if intended and designed for such a
purpose, it could not have been more cunningly contrived than it is to en
courage the grossest frauds, conspiracies, and corruptions in the election of
a President.

They denounce it, because it will debase the national character, deaden
the public conscience, and encourage fraud and corruption in all the public
and private transactions and business of the people. •

They denounce it, because for the first time it declares to the people that
by their organic law, the Constitution, it is ordained that a man may seek
for, obtain, and hold this great office of chief magistrate of two and forty
millions of freemen by fraud and cheating.

Nay, more, that he may openly buy the votes to elect himself, and pay
down the price when the purchase is consummated by the count by the two

ADDRESS OF HON. J. G. ABBOTT 401

Houses of Congress, and call them to witness the payment; and that there
is no help for it but revolution.

They denounce it, because, in effect, it puts up the great office of Presi
dent at auction, and says to the whole world that it may be bought in
safety, and that there is no way known to man by which the title by pur
chase can be disputed or gainsaid.

OREGON.

In the Oregon case, a certificate signed by the Governor and Secretary of
State, and under the great seal of the State, certified to the election of two
Hayes and one Tilden elector. The three Hayes electors produced no certifi
cation of election signed by any person — only a certificate of certain results
— from which it was claimed that it could be inferred who were elected.
The law of Oregon required a list of the persons elected to be signed by
the Governor and Secretary of State, under the great seal, and this require
ment, as well as that of the acts of Congress, was fully met and satisfied
by the first certificate. There was no certificate in the second case in any
manner complying with the laws of Oregon or the acts of Congress. Yet by
the decision of the commission the first certificate was rejected and the
second taken, although clearly neither in conformity with State or Federal
law.

The undersigned voted against counting the vote of the Tilden elector,
because, notwithstanding the certificate of the Governor and Secretary of
State, they were satisfied he had not been elected by the people of Oregon,
and that his vote would not have been the true vote of that State.

The majority of the commission decided to set aside and reject the certifi
cate and return, precisely the same in character that they had holden to be
conclusive against all evidence in the Florida and Louisiana cases. They
adopted and acted on a certificate insufficient if they regarded their former
rulings, under any law, State or National.

The undersigned denounce the Oregon decision as utterly at war with and
reversing the rule established in the two former cases, and because it
changes the law to meet the wants of the case, establishing different rules
applicable to the same facts to bring about a desired result.

In the Florida case, where the evidence failed to establish the fact, the
majority of the commission voted to receive evidence to prove one elector
held an office of profit and trust under the United States when appointed.

In the Louisiana case, where there was no doubt that two electors held
such offices when appointed, it was voted not to receive evidence of the
fact, because it was not offered to be proved that they continued to hold
such offices where they voted.

Apparently, the rules change as the requirements of the case change.
VOL. II. -28

402 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

SOUTH CAROLINA.

In South Carolina the undersigned voted against the Tilden electors
being declared elected, because they had not received a majority of the
votes of the people.

In that case it was offered to be proved, in substance, that United States
troops in large numbers were sent to the State before the election, for the
purpose of influencing and controlling the votes to be given thereat, by in
terfering with and overawing the people, and that the militia of the State
was used for the same purpose ; that the polls were surrounded by armed
bands, who by violence and force prevented any exercise of the right of
suffrage except on one side ; in fact, that the election was controlled by the
armed forces of the State and Nation, and a resort to all manner of brutal
ity, violence, and cruelty, and was not free.

The majority of the commission refused to admit the evidence, on
grounds that would fairly warrant a President of the United States in using
the whole army to take possession of all the ballot-boxes in any State, and
allow no voting except for himself if he was a candidate for reelection, or
for his party, and which would require both Houses of Congress to recount
the vote so obtained, and to give him the fruits of such a wilful and wicked
violation of all constitutional law and right.

If any decision better calculated to destroy the liberty of a free people,
to destroy all faith in a Republican form of government, a government of
the people by the people, could be devised and contrived, the undersigned
have not been able to discover it.

They denounce the decision as an outrage upon the rights of all the
people, and, if sustained, and acted on, as the utter ruin of our institutions
and government.

The foregoing is a brief statement of the action of the commission. To
defeat that action the undersigned have done all in their power. They pro
tested against it before it was accomplished, and they protest against it now.

They know the commission was established to receive evidence, not to
shut it out.

They know the conscience of this great people was troubled by fear that
any one should obtain the high office of President by fraud, cheating, and
conspiracy, and that it demanded that the charges and counter-charges of
corrupt practices in reference to the election in three States should be hon
estly investigated and inquired into, not established and sanctified, by refus
ing all inquiry and examination.

They know the conscience of the whole people a^roved the law estab
lishing the commission, nay, hailed it with joy, because it established, as
all believed, a fair tribunal, to examine, to inquire into, and determine the
charges of fraud and corruption in the election of three States ; and they
believe that this conscience has been terribly disappointed and shocked by
the action of the commission, which establishes fraud and legalizes its per
petration, instead of inquiring into and condemning it.

ADDRESS OF HON. J. G. ABBOTT 403

The undersigned believe the action of the majority of the commission to
be wrong, dangerous, nay, ruinous in its consequences and effects.

It tends to destroy the rights and liberties of the States and of the United
States and the people thereof ; because by it States may be robbed of their
votes for President with impunity, and the people of the United States have
foisted upon them a chief magistrate, not by their own free choice honestly
expressed, but by practices too foul to be tolerated in a gambling hell.

By the action of the commission the American people are commanded to
submit to one as their chief magistrate who was never elected by their
votes, whose only title depends on fraud, corruption, and conspiracy.

A person so holding that great office is a usurper, and should be and
will be so held by the people. As much a usurper as if he had signed and
held it by military force ; in either case, he equally holds against the con
sent of the people.

Let the people rebuke and overrule the action of the commission. The
only hope of the country rests on this being done, and done speedily and
effectually, so that it may never become a precedent to sustain wrong and
fraud in the future.

It is the first and highest duty of all good citizens who love their country
to right this foul wrong, as soon as it may be done under the Constitution
and laws.

Let it be done so thoroughly, so signally, so effectually, that no encour
agement shall be given to put a second time so foul a blot on our national
escutcheon.

APPENDIX B

PARTY SENTIMENT IN FAVOR OF TILDEN'S RENOMINATION FOR THE
PRESIDENCY IN 1884.

THE following are a few specimens of the many letters
addressed to Mr. Tilden and others, urging that he should accept
a renomination.

Lyman Trumbull to S. J. Tilden.

CHICAGO, June 7, 1884.

MY DEAR SIR : The Republicans have now made their nominations for
President and Vice-President, of men who are fair representatives of the
Republican organization. Their election means a continuance of the par
tisanship, abuses, corruptions, and centralizing tendencies of the last twenty
years, which you and I both believe dangerous, and if continued, in the end
destructive of Republican liberty. It seems to me the patriotic duty of all
men so believing to sacrifice all personal considerations for their country's
good.

The Democracy all over the land are looking to you as the one person
above all others to lead them in the coming political contest. The only
question seems to be, Will you consent to be the candidate? I know
nothing of your determination except what may be gathered from the con
flicting statements of the press, and I do not expect or ask a reply to my
letter. My only object in writing is to urge upon you the duty of yielding
to the united demand of the Democracy. There are times when patriots
must not hesitate, if necessary, to take their lives in their hands for
liberty's sake. I know not your physical condition, but mentally you are
all that your friends require, and even at the hazard of your life, I believe
it your duty to listen to the united voice of the friends of constitutional
liberty. I know that you were once fairly elected President. I feel con
fident that you can be again. Whether any other Democrat can be is
uncertain. I fear not. It Avas a great mistake not to have nominated you
four years ago. I felt it at the time. The country now sees it.

With the highest regard for you personally, I beg of you to let us make
you President in fact.

W. S. Groesbeck to S. J. Tilden.

CINCINNATI, April 29, 1884.

MY DEAR SIR : I have felt an inclination for some time to write you a
letter about the approaching presidential election.

CLAMOR FOR TILDEN' S DENOMINATION 405

Moreover, with you as a candidate, the campaign of 1884 will take its
complexion and character from yourself, and would be mainly a repetition
of the campaign of 1876. " Tilden and Reform " would be again the battle-
cry, and the fraud of '76 would unite and arouse the Democracy as nothing
else would. You hold this great card in your hand. No one else has it, nor
can you transfer it to any one else.

Some of the papers are saying you do not feel equal to a renewal of the
contest. This brings me to what I desire especially to submit to your con
sideration. It is this : The contest is already prepared. We will fight
again the battle of '76. With you as the candidate, the preparations for
'84 are complete. The people will ask no more of you — only your name
and battle-cry. Don't you see it? The campaign of '76 required great
labor. You performed it well and satisfactorily. That same preparation
is at hand and suitable for the campaign of '84. Your work is already done ;
you may rest, as it were, and the Democracy will fight. So it seems to me.

If you are a candidate, you will be elected. Were I in your place, I
would rather be President a single day and die, than live ten years without
this vindication. It is true that every hour adds to the number of those
who feel that you were wronged, and your right to the presidency will be
affirmed in authentic and accepted history ; but all this is incomplete and
unsatisfactory compared with a triumphant reelection and inauguration into
the office. Mr. Tilden, that would be a big day throughout the United
States, and enough to quicken you into a new life.

John A. McClernand to S. J. Tilden.

SPRINGFIELD, ILL., June 5, 1884.
To Kis EXCELLENCY SAMUEL J. TILDEN, President-elect :

DEAR SIR : The crime which defeated the will of the people in 1876, and
kept you from exercising the presidential office, needs to be avenged.

Time, and your example, have subdued and conciliated all factious oppo
sition to you in the Democratic party. The opponents of former years are
now your most noisy partisans. Your nomination in July will follow as a
spontaneous and consentaneous act unless you prevent it.

Preventing it, calamitous consequences must ensue. The Democratic
party will be left to fall into strife, anarchy, and impotency. The old
guard and your old friends, — what will become of them? The barriers to
latitudinous construction will be broken down, and license given to public
extravagance, official corruption, and the greed of unscrupulous and pow
erful monopolies.

Your declination is inadmissible. Accept the nomination, even if death
should overcome you during or after the fight. If I know myself, I would,
in the present extremity of country and party, suffer the martyrdom for
you, vicariously, if it was possible to do so.

406 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

Excuse the freedom and energy of these remarks. They proceed from a
sense of duty. I have done.

Mary P. Hoadly to S. J. Tilden.
(Personal.)

MY DEAR GOVERNOR TILDEN: Will you pardon me for taking a few
moments of your time with a plea for our country?

The nomination of Elaine, with his great popularity, renders it necessary
for the Democratic party to put forth as his antagonist its strongest man
— its one strong man.

Never before was a political party so perfectly unanimous in its expres
sions of confidence and fealty as the Democratic party now gives to you,
and your consent to take the office of President would make your nomina
tion and election sure. Of no other Democrat can this be said.

I know it is said that you dread the fatigue and excitement of the cam
paign. It will be a campaign that will run itself, for the voters will be
inspired by the magic of your name, and will march to victory without
your assuming any part of the necessary labor attending an election.
Your friends will do all that for you and for the cause.

But even admitting that your health might suffer, and I trust that would
not be the case, is not this a time, when like the soldier going to battle, a
man ought to risk even his life for his country ? With such a corrupt ad
ministration as Elaine would give us, and four years more of the Republi
can party, getting itself still more firmly entrenched, what hope would
there ever be of any change for the better if Samuel J. Tilden refuses to
lead the hosts of his party ready to follow him to the death?

Pardon me if I have " rushed in where angels fear to tread," but — do
think, and before positively saying " No," try if it be not possible to say

"Yes."

Very cordially your friend and admirer,

MARY P. HOADLY.
COLUMBUS, June 7, 1884.

MY DEAR MR. TILDEN : To every word of my wife I say AMEN and
AMEN.

Your friend,

GEO. HOADLY.

Hermann Lieb to S. J. Tilden.

CHICAGO, April 16, 1884.

DEAR SIR : Your letter to the Iroquois Club was the event of the even
ing, and forms the topic of conversation among Democrats throughout the
city to-day. The sentiment for your renomination is growing into a popular
demand. The party is hopelessly divided upon the tariff question, and

CLAMOR FOR TILDEN'S RENOMINATION 407

you alone can unite it by substituting u Vindication" as the battle-cry for
the campaign.

Your nomination would give the signal to a resistless onslaught upon the
enemy's entrenched positions upon the whole line, and it is questionable
whether the Republicans could save the electoral vote of a single State.
The uprising would be so spontaneous as to require no special effort on
your part, and the drafting of the national platform would close the
personal effort on your part. No anxiety, no trouble as to the final outcome
of the struggle, need disturb your peace, as your election by a tremendous
popular vote is conceded by the majority of Republicans.

Do not stifle this generous outburst of the American people by a refusal
to allow your name to be used in the convention. You may save the
Republic.

" La patrie est en danger !
Elle demande la sacrifice
De son Jils bien aime ! "

Hon. John Campbell to 8. J. Tilden.

PITTSBURGH, PA., June 8, 1884.

DEAR SIR : There is a great deal of doubt, and I may say anxiety, on
the part of the masses of the Democratic and Independent voters of the
country, as to whether you will accept the Democratic nomination for
President of the United States.

Without any desire to draw you out on this subject, I thought I would
write to you and urge upon you the great importance of your acceptance of
that nomination which will undoubtedly be unanimously tendered. In the
year 1876, when you were the Democratic standard-bearer, I was chairman
of the Republican City Central Committee at Steubenville, Ohio, my home,
and I did all I could to defeat you, and honestly believed that you were
defeated ; but later events satisfied me, and I may say thousands of others,
that you were cheated out of the presidency, and I have never since voted
the Republican ticket. Thousands of Independent voters are waiting a
chance to do what they can to right the wrong that was done in 1876. But
there is another reason why you should again consent to allow your name to
be used. The people are tired of the Republican party and want a change,
and knowing that it is almost beyond their power to dislodge the greedy
hoard of office-holders, who have' become so thoroughly entrenched that
they cannot be routed unless they are opposed by a leader who is considered
almost invincible, — they, the people, demand that you again become their
standard-bearer. In my capacity as late chief executive officer of the
Brotherhood of Telegraphers, I have travelled all over the United States,
and know that I do not exaggerate when I say that the Democratic voters
are unanimous in their desire that you once more sacrifice your comfort and
lead them to victory; and they confidently expect that you will not dis
appoint them.

408 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

Although I am not a public speaker, I flatter myself that I am a good
organizer, and I promise you that I will do all in my power to assist in the
campaign, should you accept the nomination.

G. Albert Cutler to S. J. Tilden.

CHICAGO, June 4, 1884.

DEAR SIR : As a Republican of thirty years' standing, and in behalf of
thousands of Republicans who believe you were fairly elected President of
the United States eight years ago, we earnestly beg of you to accept the
nomination which will be unanimously tendered you by a convention of
white men. in July next. Should you do so, we promise you a u Tilden
Club," not only in Chicago, but in every locality, composed exclusively of
former Republicans who desire to see right and justice vindicated, and who
will give you their earnest and most heartfelt support.

W. L. Scott to S. J. Tilden.

ERIE, PA., May 3, 1884.

If we cannot have you for a candidate, I give up all hopes of ever seeing
a Democrat elected President of the United States.

Hon. Samuel J. Randall to S. J. Tilden.
HOUSE or REPRESENTATIVES,

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 19, 1884.

The people of every part of our broad country are of one voice and
opinion, that you must be our candidate. You will have to yield, and you
ought to do so.

Hon. Geo. S. Converse to S. J. Tilden.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 10, 1884.

MY DEAR SIR : In confirmation of the suggestions I made to you a week
ago Saturday, that the masses of the people in the West are determined to
make you our candidate for President, I wish to mention the fact that at all
of the congressional conventions which have been held in Ohio, resolutions
have been adopted in your favor. A more significant fact, however, is, that
every county convention thus far held, with two exceptions, has passed
such resolutions. The people in their primary conventions, without the
consultation of politicians, are all moving in one direction. Your decli
nation must not be thought of. A triumphant election will fellow such

CLAMOR FOR TILDENrS RENOMINATION 409

spontaneous movement of the masses. Without you, divisions will arise
in our party which are liable to result in defeat.

Cyrus McCormick to S. J. Tilden.

CHICAGO, ILL., March 27, 1884.

MY DEAR SIR : I venture to write a line to you upon a subject with
which your name has been connected for some time past, with such com
ments as seem to make it questionable how such a letter as this may be
received by you. From our past relations, however, I feel that, whatever
others may say, you will allow me to express my sentiments upon this sub
ject, not doubting their earnestness and patriotism. Permit me, then, to
say, sir, that as matters now stand, Democratically considered, I have strong
doubts whether your nomination by the Democratic convention is not
a necessity to the success of the Democratic party, and hence that, what
ever might be your personal feeling on that question, it becomes a duty you
owe to the country, under such circumstances, to sacrifice private consid
erations for so momentous an object.

You have once been elected by the people to that high position, but were
prevented from occupying it by a system of frauds disgraceful to the
country, and which must yet recoil upon the heads of the party leaders
responsible for the same; while the cry now is that "Tilden alone, by
being reinstated, can save the Democratic party " and the country.

Some have called for "the old ticket; " but my own humble impression
is that "Tilden and McDonald" would be most acceptable to the Demo
cratic party and to the whole people, East and West.

Unable, myself, for some time to take an active part in politics, while
with an interest unabated in the prosperity of our great country, agitated
as it now is through conflicting views of politicians on local issues, I have
felt unable to restrain myself from giving expression to these sentiments
towards one who, I feel, has the ability and the patriotism to steer the
noble old Democratic ship through the breakers which again threaten her
destruction.1

lion. J. R. Tucker to S. J. Tilden.

WASHINGTON, June 13, 1884.

MY DEAR MR. TILDEN : I have never sought to intrude myself upon
your consideration during your eminent career, which by your late letter
is declared to be closed forever. But I cannot forbear to express my sin
cere admiration of the dignity and magnanimity of the utterance with which
you have made it known to your country.

No man in this era of our history has filled so distinguished a position in
the eyes of his country as you have done and now do. In the comprehen
sion of its needs, in the clear and analytic investigation of political truth,

1 Mr. McCormick died shortly after this letter was written.

410 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

and in the formulation of the statements of political philosophy, you stand, in
my judgment, without a peer among our statesmen. But in practical ad
ministration, in the adaptation of sound political doctrines to the affairs of
State, in shaping public policy according to the rules of political science,
you have exhibited qualities which, had Providence called you, as the voice
of your country did, to the presidency, would have made your term of
service one of the most memorable and illustrious in our history.

Fate has denied to your country the benefit of your eminent abilities ;
but history will never fail to name you as the statesman who in our day
best deserved the highest place to which American ambition aspires, and
whose noble utterance in your act of voluntary retirement has kindled
anew the admiration of the people, and moved the deepest sensibilities of
their hearts.

My praise is unstinted, because bestowed on one who can offer me
nothing but respect for its sincerity. You will do me the justice to believe
it would not have been offered under other circumstances.

I can only hope that a kind Providence may continue your health and
life to see and rejoice in the triumph of your principles and policy, though
through other hands than your own, upon which alone can be based the
security of our liberties and the promotion of good government and the
prosperity and glory of our common country.

Hon. Thomas Ewing to S. J. Tilden.

NEW YORK, June 13, 1884.

MY DEAR SIR: The statement in the enclosed slip from the u Tribune,"
that I have intimated that you would use your influence in favor of Cleve
land, is absolutely unfounded. It is a matter of no consequence to you
whether it be true or not, but it is to me, as I don't want to seem as un
worthy of your uniform courtesy and consideration as such loose-tongued
talk would make me appear.

The outburst of affection for you and regret at your retirement, which
your letter evokes, reminds me, by contrast, of an interesting incident in
the close of Mr. Webster's political career. The evening of the day on
which he was beaten by Scott for the Whig nomination in 1852, myself and
some other young gentlemen in Washington manifested our sympathy and
respect by a serenade. In the course of a beautiful and touching response
he said: "Ah! my young friends, politicians are not sunflowers. They do
not

" ' Turn on their god when he sets

The same look which they gave when he rose ! '"

What a contrast between your retiremant from public life and that of
Mr. Webster! He went out after seeking the presidency in vain, dejected
and broken-hearted, while you voluntarily decline a unanimous nomina
tion and an assured election.

With best wishes for your health and happiness, I am, etc.

APPENDIX C

MISS GOULD'S LIST OF THE BOOKS READ TO MR. TILDEN DURING
THE LAST FOUR YEARS OF HIS LIFE.

14 EAST FIFTY-THIRD STREET,

Dec. 12, 1893.

DEAR MR. BIGELOW : I enclose the copy of the list of books
which I read at " Graystoue." In addition to it were all the
monthly and quarterly magazines. Often the entire number of
an English quarterly would take more time than a biography or
novel. Then the encyclopedia was almost daily in hand. Cer
tain of Macaulay's essays were read over and over again. Then
guide-books had an important place, and were read over and
over in connection with travels, etc.

One reason the number of books read in '86 was smaller than
in '82 was that Mr. Tilden was working on his ancestral list,
and much of the time went to reading and working on that
subject.

Yours,

ANNA T. GOULD.

1882.
April.

Life of John Stuart Mill. Bain.

Life of James Mill. Bain.

Life of Jeremy Bentbam. 2 vols.

Bowring.

Correspondence of McVey Napier.
Caroline Fox's Letters. 2 vols. Pym.

A Good-Natured Man.

Goldsmith.

She Stoops to Conquer.
History of Russia. (Part of Vol. 1.)
The Burgomaster's Wife. Ebers.
Carlyle's Life. Froude.

Carlyle's Reminiscences. Froude.
Wicklif's Place in History.
English History. 2 vols. Green.
Molinos. John Bigelow.

May.

Charles L, Fall of Monarchy. 2 vols.
Gardiner.

Autobiography of J. S. Mill. Mill.

Three years in Norway.

History of Champagne. Vizitelli.

Hesperathon. 2 vols. W. II. RusselL

Obelisks. Gorringe.

Senior and Tocqueville, Correspond
ence. 2 vols.

Ballantyne's Experience. 2 vols.

Life of George Grote. //. Grote.

Conversations of Distinguished Men.
2 vols. Senior Simpson.

Correspondence of Talleyrand and
Louis XVIII.

Caroline von Linsingen and Wm. IV.

Memoirs of A. de Tocqueville and
Letters. 2 vols. Beaumont.

Mctternich, Correspondence.

Baron Stein, Correspondence.

History of Constitution of United
States. 2 vols. Bancroft.

412

THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

June.

"Writings of Albert Gallatin. 2 vols.
77. Adams.

Life of Albert Gallatin. II. Adams.
Writings of Madison. 4 vols.
The Old regime. A. de Tocqueville.
Life and Letters of Robertson. 2

vols. S. Brooke.

Lives of Burke, Fox, etc.
Conversations with Thiers, Guizot,

etc. 2 vols. Senior.

July.

Life of the Prince Consort. 2 vols.
Martin.

History of England. 2 vols. Lecky.
Bismarck's Letters.
The Story of Avis. E. Phelps.

John Inglesant. Shorthouse.

Milton, Life and Times. G vols.

Masson.
August.

Ben Jonson's Works.
Life of Lord Lyndhurst. Campbell.
History of France. Vols. 1, 2, 4, 5,

6. Guizot.

Anne of Geierstein. Walter Scott.

France under Richelieu and Colbert.

Bridges.

September.

International Episode. II. James.
Daisy Miller. 11. James.

Golden Rod.

Andrew Jackson, Life of. Sumner.

Henry Erskine, Kinship and Times.

Ferguson.

Anne. C. F. Woolson.

Gray, Life of. Gosse.

Recollections of Military Service and

Society. 2 vols. Ramsay.

History of My Time. 4 vols. Guizot.
Embassy to Court of St. James.

Guizot.

Corneille and His Time. Guizot.
Shakespeare and His Time. Guizot.
Biographical and Critical Essays. 3

vols. A. Hay ward.

A Chance Acquaintance. Howells.

October.

Fashionable Women. 2 vols.

Davenport- Adams.
Life of Alexander Hamilton. Lodge.
English Party Leaders. 2 vols.

Davenport- Adams.
II. Martineau, Autobiography. 2
vols.

Journal and Correspondence of Miss

Berry. 3 vols. Theresa Leu-is.

The Salon of Mme. Neckar. 2 vols.

D'Ifausonville.

The Friendship of M. R. Mitford. 2
vols. IS Estrange.

Outlines of Life of Shakespeare.

Hallowell-Phillipps.

November.

Short History of French Literature.
Saintsbury.

Life of John Randolph. Adams.

New England Federalism. Adams.
Life of Gibbon. Morison.

Rochefoucault's Travels (1795-6-7).

2 vols.
Marquis de Chastellux (1780-1-2).

2 vols.
Letters of a Traveller.

W. C. Bryant.
What I saw in California. Vol. 1.

E. Bryant.
The French Court. 2 vols.

Lady Jackson.

Life of Samuel Johnson. Vols. 1, 4,
5, G. Boswell.

December.

German Life and Literature. 2 vols.
Alex-Japp.

Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft.
French Men of Letters. Mauris.

Quits. 2 vols. Baroness Tautphoeus.
Life of Macaulay. Morison.

Initials. 2 vols. Baroness Tautphceus.
Pepy's Life and World. Whateley.
Life of Samuel Johnson.

Leslie Stephen.

The Reign of Queen Anne. Vol. 1.
Ashton.

Macaulay's Essays. 2 vols.
Court Life Below Stairs. 2 vols.

Fitzgerald Molloy.
A Modern Instance. Howells.

Dukes and Princesses in the Family
of George III. 2 vols.

Percy Fitzgerald.

My Life and Writings. Arch. Allison.
Reign of George II. Vol. 1.

//. Walpole.
Memoirs of H. Walpole. 2 vols.

Warburton.

History of French Literature. Vol.
3. Van Laun.

French Society. 2 vols. Baker.
Mme. de Sevigne. 2 vols.

Countess Puliga.

TILDEN'S READING

413

1883.
January.

Mrs. Fletcher, Autobiography.
Heart of Steel. G. Reid.

Dumont's Recollections of Mirabeau.
Valerie Aylmer. C, Reid.

London to John o' Groats.

E. Burritt.

Confidence. II. James.

Macaulay's History of England.

Vol. 3.
Tom Moore, Mem., Jour., and Cor.

Vols. 2, 3, 5, G, 7. J. Russell.

Tom Moore, Mem., Jour., and Cor.,

Vols. 1, 2, 4, 8. J. Russell.

Dr. Faustus.

Lalla Ilookh, etc. T. Moore.

Washington Irving, Life and Letters.

Vols. 1, 2, 3, 4. Irving.

February.

Hawthorne's English Note-Book. 2
vols.

Newstead Abbey, Abbotsford, etc.
Vol. 1. Irving.

Pioneer. Cooper.

Doctor Zay. E. Phelps.

Margravine of Baireuth, Autobiog
raphy. 2 vols.

Columbus and Friends. Vols. 1, 2.
Irving.

Health Resorts. Burney Yeo.

Mr. Isaacs. F. M. Crawford.

Lady Cowper's Diary.

Rheinsberg. Vols. 1, 2. Hamilton.

Men and Times of the Revolution.

Elk. Watson.

Life of James Monroe. Oilman.

Elective Affinities, Werther, etc.

Goethe.

Life of James Mackintosh. Vol. 2.

Memoirs of Mrs. Schuyler.

Mrs. Grant.
March.

Rush's Residence at the Court of
London. Rush.

Souvenirs of Mme. Vigce Le Brun.

Diary of Court Life, George IV. 3
vols. Lady Bury.

Letters of G. C. Lewis.

An American Lady. Mrs. Gray.

The People of the United States.
Vol. 1. Me Masters.

Hawthorne's Italian Note-Books.

Dangeau's Court of France. 2 vols.

Life of J. Fenirnore Cooper.

Lounsbury.

Red Rover. J. F. Cooper.

Figures of the Past. Josiah Quincy.
Life of Wordsworth. Myers.

Siege of London, etc. II. James.
Eras and Characters of History.

Williams.
A Gentle Savage. Edw. King.

Life of Sir Walter Scott. Button.

April.

Life of Wm. C. Bryant. Vol. 2.

P. Godwin.

Life of John Dryden. Saintsbury.
Life of Charles Lamb. Ainger.

Louis XIV. and Court of France.
Vols. 1, 2, 3. Miss Par doe.

Letters of Jane Carlyle. 2 vols.

Froude.
Secret Memories of Louis XIV.

Duchess of Orleans.
Reminiscences of Lord John Russell.
Walpole's Letters. Vol. 1.
Memories of Louis XVIII. 's Court.
2 vols. A Lady.

Mme. Recamier's Memoirs. Luyster.
Mme. Recamier and Friends.

Luyster.

Louis XIV. and Court of France.
Vols. 4, 5, 6. Miss Par doe.

Mme. Swetchine.

Thiers' Consulate and the Empire.

Vol. 1, 2. Thiers.

The Youth of Mme. de Longueville.

Victor Cousin.

The Friendship of Women.

W. R. Alger.
Life of Thomas Jefferson.

J. I. Morse.
May.

Life of Napoleon. Vols. 1, 2, 3, 4.
Las Casas.
Napoleon in Exile. 2 vols.

O'Meara.
Last Days of Napoleon. 2 vols.

Automachi.

Life of Audubon. Buchanan.

Adams, John, Letters.
Memoirs of Napoleon. 2 vols.

D'Alrantes.
June.
Recollections of Dean Stanley.

Bradley.
Life of Mme. de Stael. 2 vols.

Stevens.

Duchess of Marlborough.
Accounts of Conduct of Duchess of
Marlborough.

414

THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

Gray Studies. J. R. Green.

Four Georges and English Humor
ists. Thackeray.

July.

Memoir of S. R. Steele. Vol. 1.

Montgomery.

Lord Holland's Foreign Reminis
cences.

H. Walpole's Letters. Vols. 5, 6, 7.
Life of Charles J. Fox. Russell.

Early History of C. J. Fox.

Trevelyan.
Three Criticisms on Life of Wilber-

force.

Two Criticisms on J. R. Green.
Life of Lord Lawrence. 2 vols.

B. Smith.

Three Criticisms on Lord Lawrence.
Life of Lord Shelburne. Vol. 3.

Fitz Ma u rice .

Reminiscences of Ronald Gower.
2 vols. Gower.

Life and Mission of Swedenborg.

Worcester.

August.

Court of the Regency. 2 vols.

B uckingham .
Life of Francis Homer.
Life of Samuel Romilly. 2 vols.

His Sons.
History of Reign of Queen Anne.

Stanhope.

History of England. Mahon.

Leaves from H. Greville's Journal.
Life of Lord Brougham. Campbell.
Diary of Court of George IV. Vols.

3, 4. Gait, editor.
Historical Study of Edmund Burke,

Morley.

Life of Prince Consort. Vols. 1, 2.
Martin.
September.
Life of Prince Consort. Vols. 3,

4, 5. Martin.
Baron Stockmar, Memoir of. 2 vols.

Max Muller.
Life of Bismarck.

Tr., Hezekiel Mackenzie.

Life of Lord Palmerston. 2 vols.

Evelyn Ashley.

Life of Adolphe Thiers. LeGoff.
Consulate and Empire. Vols. G, 7.
Thiers.
October.

Court of James I. Lucy Aiken.

Court of Charles II. Lucy Aiken.

The Pilot. J. F. Cooper.

History of American Navy. Vol. 1.
J. F. Cooper,

Memoirs of Baroness Bunsen.

A. Hare.

Royal and Republican France. 2
vols. //. Reeve.

Mrs. Piozzi. Vol. 1.

Mrs. Adams, Journal and Corre
spondence.

J. Adams and Wife, Familiar Let
ters.

November.

George Selwyn and His Contempo
raries. 4 vols. Jesse.

Roger's Table Talk.

Life of Cranmer. Gilpin.

Life of John Quincy Adams. 12
vols. C. F. Adams.

Nooks and Corners in England.

Timls.

Life of John Huss. Gilpin.

John Adams, Life and Works. Vol.
3. C. F. Adams.

December.

Wraxhall's Memoirs. 2 vols.
Life of B. Franklin. Parton.

Memoirs of Geo. III. Vols. 1, 3.

Jesse.

Memoirs of George III. Vol. 3.
Buckingham.

Life of Andrew Jackson. Vols. 1, 3.
Parton.
1884.
January.

Works of Brougham. Vols. 3, 5.
Brougham.

Life and Correspondence of John
Adams. Vols. 9, 10, 11. Adams.
Huguenots. Smiles.

Life of Lord Lyndhurst. Martin.
Court and Diplomatic Life.

Lady Bloomjield.

Life of E. Bulwer-Lytton. 2 vols.
" Son."
Marie Antoinette. 2 vols. Campan.

February.

Royal Windsor. 4 vols. Dixon.
Portraits of Places. //. James.

The Mohicans. J. F. Cooper.

Memoirs of House of Orleans. 3
vols. Taylor.

Early Years of My Life. Albemarle.
Court of the Tuileries. 2 vols.

Jackson.

TILDE N''S READING

415

Revolt of the Netherlands. Schiller.
Diaries of a Lady of Quality.

March.

More Leaves from the Highlands.

Queen Victoria.

But Yet a Woman. Hardy.

Berlin Society.

A Woman's Memories of World-
Known Men. Houston.
Address before Vermont Historical
Society on Taking of Ticonderoga.
MS. ' Chittenden.
Diary of William Tylden, 1815. MS.
Tylden.

Travels in Greece, Poland, Russia,

etc. 2 vols. Stephens.

Regency of Anne of Austria. 2 vols.

Frere.

Gil Bias. 3 vols. Le Sage.

Tr., Malkin.

History of United States. Vols. 3,

4, 5, G, 7. Bancroft.

April.

Life of Philip Schuyler. 2 vols.

Lossing.
Life and Times of General Lamb.

Leake.
Annals of Tryon County.

William Campbell.

Memoirs of William Wirt. 2 vols.

Kennedy.

Tancred, or New Crusade. Disraeli.
Charles Townsend, Wit and States
man. Fitzgerald.
Old Merchants of New York. Vols.
1, 3. Barrett.
Life of Cowper. Southey.
Gray's Letters. Vols. 1, 3.

Pickering.
Life of John Adams. Vol. 1.

C. F. Adams.
Treason of Charles Lee. Moore.

May.

Her Dearest Foe. Mrs. Alexander.
Life of Edward Livingston. Hart.
Historical Studies. Cabot Lodge.

Life of Rufus Choate. E. G. Parker.
Henry V. Towle.

Curwen's Journal and Letters. Ward.
Reminiscences of George Washing
ton. Custis.
Choate. Vol. 1. S. G. Brown.
Germany. De Stael.
Roderick Hudson. Henry James.

Old Ma'mselle's Secret. Marlitt.

Life of James Otis. Tudor.

American Biography. Vol. 1. Stark,
Montgomery, Allen.

Edited by Sparks.

American Biography. Allen and Put
nam. Vol. 7. J. Sparks.

American Biography. Steuben. Vol.
9. J. Sparks.

American Biography. Wayne and
Vane. Vol. 4. Sparks.

American Biography. Boone. Sparks.

American Biography. Preble. Sparks.

American Biography. Oglethorpe.

Sparks.

American Biography. Pulaski.

Sparks.

June.

American Biography. Decatur and

R. Williams. Sparks.

American Biography. La Salle.

Sparks.

Deerslayer. J. F. Cooper.

Republican Court.
American Biography. Charles Lee.
Sparks.

Pathfinder. J. F. Cooper.

American Biography. John Led-

yard. Sparks.

American Biography. Jacob Leis-

ler. Sparks.

Through Belgium and France in the

Ytene. Mo ens.

In the Ardennes. K. Macquoid.

Quentin Durward. W. Scott.

Old Merchants of New York. Vol.

2. Barrett.

July.

Vanity Fair. Thackeray.

Ivanhoe. 2 vols. W. Scott.

Waverley. 2 vols. W. Scott.

Old Mortality. IF. Scott.

Peveril of the Peak. 2 vols.

W. Scott.
Life and Times of William IV. 2

vols. P. Fitzgerald.

Northern Heights of London.

Hewitt.
History of City of New York. Vols.

1, 2. M. Lamb.

A Voyage in the u Sunbeam."

Brassey.
August.

The Dutchman's Fireside. 2 vols.

F. K. Paulding.

The Fate of Mansfield Humphreys.
R. G. White.

416

THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

History of New York City. Vol. 3.
M. Lamb.

Our Chancellor. Busch.

Life of Chaucer. Vols. 2, 3, 4.

Godwin.

History of New York City. Vol. 4.
M. Lamb.

History of New York. 2 vols. Jones.
Wilhelm Meister. Goethe.

Georgina's Reasons and Pandora.

//. James.

Life of Sir Walter Raleigh. 2 vols.
St. John.
Letters of the Princess Alice.

Helena.

Bolingbroke, Political Study and
Criticism. R. Harrop.

September.

General Hull's Civil and Military
Life. Campbell and Clark.

Reign of Henry VIII. 2 vols.

Brewer.

German Tales. Auerbach.

^History of England. Vols. 1, 2.

Macaulay,

History of England. Vols. 1, 2, 3.
J. R. Green.

The Greatest of the Plantagenets.
Men and Events of My Time
(India). Sir R. Temple.

Cardinal Wolsey and His Time.

Howard.

History of England. Vol. 4. Green.
History of Philadelphia.

Scharf and Westcott.

Lord Hubert, Autobiography.

Life of Mounstuart Elphinstone.

Vol. 2. Colebrook.

Thirty Years' War. J. R. Green.

October.

Biographical Studies. W. Bagehot.

History of England. Vols. 1 to 12.

Fronde.

Oriental Experience. Sir R. Temple.
Princesses of England.

A. Strickland.

Queens of England. Wives of Henry
VIII. A. Strickland.

Queen Elizabeth. A. Strickland.
The Real Lord Byron. Jeafferson.
Carlyle. Vols. 3 and 4. Froude.
Life of Walter Scott. T. Carlyle.
Varnhagen von Ense. T. Carlyle.
Boswell's Life of Johnson.

T. Carlyle.
Voltaire. T. Carlyle.

IVovember.

French Revolution. 2 vols.

T. Carlyle.
Posthumous Memoirs of Karoline

Bauer. Vol. 2.

French Revolution. Vol. 1. Thiers.
History of France. Vols. 1, 2.

Martin.
Old World Questions and New World

Answers. Pidgeon.

Fifty Years' Observation of Men and

Events. Keyes.

Leaves from Diary of H. Greville.

Enfield.

Retrospect of a Long Life. S. C. Hall.
The Young Duke. Disraeli.

Life of S. T. Coleridge. Trail!.

Vivian Grey. Disraeli.

Croker's Correspondence and Diaries.

Vols. 1, 2. Jennings.

December.

Tales of Three Cities. //. James.

Napoleon I. Letters and Despatches.
3 vols. Bingham.

Montcalm and Wolfe. 2 vols.

Parkman.

Croker's Correspondence and Diaries.
Vol. 3. Jennings.

Historical Characters. H. Buliver.

France, Social, Literary, and Politi
cal. //. Buliver.

Coningsby. Disraeli.

Lothair. Disraeli.

Endymion. Disraeli.

Marcus Aurelius. Watson.

1885.
January.

Life of Bolingbroke. Campbell.

Life of Lord Brougham. Campbell.
Life and Times of Lord Brougham.

Vol. 1. Brougham.

Life of Lord Eldon. Campbell.

Memoirs of Lord Abinger. Scarlett.
Denman. 2 vols. J. Arnold.

Life of Lord Camden. Campbell.
Life of Charles Yorke. Campbell.
Life of Thurlow. Campbell.

Life of Lord Erskine. Campbell.
Life and Times of Thos. Jefferson.

Vol. 1. Randall.

February.

Life and Times of T. Jefferson.

Vols. 2, 3. Randall.

Speech on Lafayette. J. Q. Adams.

TILDEN'S READING

417

Sandwich Islands. Cheever

Paradise in the Pacific.

Wm. R. Bliss
The Solitary of Juan 'Fernandez.

Saintine.

Jamaica. John Bigelow.

Lincoln and Seward. Gideon Welles.
Lord George Bentwiek, Political
Biography. Disraeli.

Polynesian Researches. Vol. 1.

Ellis.

March,

Life of George Eliot. 3 vols.

J. W. Cross.

Trades, Tropics, etc. Lady Brassey.
Edgar Allan Poe. Geo. E. Woodbury.
Memoirs of an Ex-Minister.

Malmsbury.
Life of Abraham Lincoln.

/. N. Arnold.
Storm and Sunshine in the East.

Lady Brassey.
George Cabot, Life and Letters.

//. C. Lodge.
A Voyage in the u Sunbeam."

Lady Brassey.
Hayti, or the Black Republic.

Sir Spencer St. John.

Jefferson's Complete Works. Vols.

4,5. If. A. Washington.

April.

Mill on the Floss. George Eliot.

Jefferson's Works. Vols. 6, 7.

Bloomfield at Court of Sweden. 2
vols. Lady Bloomfield.

Magazine of American History, 1834.
2 vols. M. Lamb.

Henry Taylor, Autobiography. 2
vols.

India, Men and Times.

Sir R. Temple.

The Russians at the Gate of Herat.
Chas. Marvin.

American Political Ideas.

John Fiske.

Magazine of American History, 1883.
2 vols. M. Lamb.

Afghanistan and Anglo-Russian Dis
putes. Theo. Rodenburgh.

May.

Life of N. P Willis.

Henry A. Beers.
Life of Samuel Adams.

James K. Ilosmer.
VOL. II. — 27

Life of R. Waldo Emerson.

O. W. Holmes.
Magazine of American History, 1879-

80-81. 3 vols. M. Lamb, editor.
Russia under the Tzars. Stepniak.
New York during the American

Revolution.

Type. Herman Melville.

Magazine American History, 1878.

1 vol. M. Lamb.

South Sea Bubbles.
The Earl and Doctor. (Earl of

Pemberton.)
Journal of a Cruise in the Pacific

Ocean. Vol. 2. David Porter.

June.

Sandwich Islands. Cheever.

Stewart's Visit to the South Seas. 2

vols. Stewart.

Jacob Barker, Incidents of Life of.

New Zealand and South Sea Islands.

Meade.

Six Months in the Sandwich Islands.
/. Bird.

A Faggot of French Sticks, or Paris

in 1851. Sir Thomas Head.

Home Letters, 1830-1831. Disraeli.

Personal Recollections of Lord

Cloncurry.

Antiquities of Long Island. Furman.
The Pattern on the Mount.

C. H. Farkhurst.
Bubbles — Brunnen of Nassau.

Sir Thomas Head.

Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia,

Petraea, and the Holy Land. 2 vols.

John Loyd Stephens.

July.

Lafayette. Memoirs. 2 vols.

B. Sauans.
Mile. Rachel. Memoirs. 2 vols.

Mme. de B.
Incidents of Travel in Central Amer
ica. 2 vols. J. L. Stephens.
Compendium of Geography and
Travel, Central Asia, etc.

//. W. Bates.

ompendium of Geography and
Travel, Europe.

Sir A. C. Ramsay.
Biblical Researches. Vol. 1.

Ediv. Robinson.
[listory of the People of the United
States. Vol. 2. J. B. McMasters.

418

THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

Magazine of American History, 1877.

1 vol. Lamb.

History of the American Navy. 2

vols. J. F. Cooper.

Magazine of American History, 1878.

1 vol. Lamb.

Eothen. Kinglake.

August.

Zoroaster. F. M. Crawford.

Harry Marline. Admiral Porter.
Aulnay Tower. Blanche Howard.
Aspasia. 1st vol. Robert Hamerling.
Silas Lapham. Howells.

Debates, New York, etc.
Diary of Two Parliaments. Lucy.
The World of London. Paul Vasili.
Society of London.

Foreign Resident.
Strange Adventures of a Phaeton.

Black.

A Pair of Blue Eyes. Hardy.

Holland and Scandinavia.

A. C. Hare.

Addison. W. G. Courthope.

Sheridan. Mrs. Oliphant.

Adventures and Sufferings in Nootha

Sound. John Jewett.

September.

Fielding. Austin Dobson.

Bacon. Church.

Life of Jonathan Trumbull.

J. W. Stuart.

Spain and the Spaniards. De Amicis.
Letters from High Latitudes.

Lord Dufferin.

Studies of Paris. De Amicis.

Oregon. Barrows.

Kentucky. N. S. Shaler.

Virginia. J. Esten Cooke.

Michigan. Tlios. Mclntyre Cooley.
Journey to the Hebrides. Bos well.
Journey to the Hebrides. Johnson.
White Wings. Black.

Swallow Barn. J. P. Kennedy.

The Linwoods. 2 vols.

C. Sedgwick.

Due South. M. M. Ballou.

An Inland Voyage. R. L. Stevenson.

October.

Hope Leslie. 2 vols. C. Sedgwick.
The Redwoods. C. Sedgwick.

Due West, M. M. Ballou.

Wm. Wirt, Life and Times. 2 vols.
J. P. Kennedy.
Constantinople. De Amicis.

Around the World in Eighty Days.

Jules Verne.

Maryland. Wm. II. Browne.

Life of Agassiz. 2 vols.

Mrs. Agassiz.

GustaVe Dore, Life and Reminis
cences. Blanche Roosevelt.
One Summer. Blanche lloicard.
Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen.
Bryant and His Friends.

James G. Wilson*

Greville, Journal, 1827-1852. Vols.
1, 2. //. Reeve.

November.
Greville's Journal. Vol. 3.

//. Reeve.

Gleanings in Europe — England.

2 vols. J. F. Cooper.

Souvenirs of a Diplomat. Bacourt.

Gleanings in Europe — France. 2

vols. J. F. Cooper.

Gleanings in Europe — Italy. 2 vols.

J. F. Cooper.

A Larger History of United States.

T. Went worth Higginson.
Life of James Monroe.

D. C. Oilman.

A Merry Monarch. England under
Charles II. 2 vols.

W. II. Davenport Klaus.
Royalty Restored. 2 vols.

J. Fitzgerald Molloy.
Life of James Madison. Gay.

Life and Letters of Hallock.

J. G. Wilson.

December.

Thos. Hutchinson, Diary and Letters.

P. 0. Hutchinson.

Colonial History of New York. Vol.

1. Geo. W. Schuyler.

Lionel Lincoln. J. F. Cooper.

Rush's Court Life in London. 1815-

1819. Rush.

Rush's Court Life. 1819-1825.
John Quincy Adams. Works. Vol. 3.
C. F. Adams.

1886.
January.

John Quincy Adams. Vol. 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9. C. F. Adams.

The Cruise of the " Brooklyn."

Lt. Buhler.

House of Stuart. Jesse.

Lives of Engineers. Smiles.

Life of Pickering.

TILDEN'S READING

419

February.

John Quincy Adams. Vol. 10.

C. F. Adams.
Random Recollections.

//. B. Stanton.
Pilgrim Fathers.

Mrne. Mohl, Her Salon and Friends.
K. O'Meara.
Salisbury Cathedral.
Oceana. Froude.

History of Tryon County.
Old Merchants of New York. Vol. 5.
Scoville Barrett.
History of Wyoming.
Beaconsfield's Letters to His Sister.

1832-52.

Senior's Conversations in France and
Italy, 1848-52. 2 vols. Simpson.
Senior's Conversations with Distin
guished Men, 1860-63. 2 vols.

Simpson.
March.

Mme. de Maintenon. A Study.
Marlborough. Saintsbury.

Letters of George Sand. 3 vols.
Literature. //. Grimm.

The Age of Louis XIV. Voltaire.
George Ticknor, Life and Letters.

2 vols.
History of the Three Judges.

Ezra Stiles.
April.

Reminiscences, Ronald Gower. Vol.

1.
Letters of Mme. Remusat, 1804-

1813.

Biographical Sketches. N. Senior.
Haphazard. Lauman.

The Last Days of the Consulate.

Fauriel.
May.

California. Royce.

Colorado. Vols. 1, 2.

Bayard Taylor.

Tocqueville's Conversations. 2 vols.
N. Senior.
Life of J. Q. Adams. Vol. 1.

C. F. Adams.
The New Puritan. J. S. Pike.

June.

Shaftesbury. II. D. Trail.

J. Q. Adams. Vols. 2, 3.

C. F. Adams.
Triumphant Democracy.

And. Carnegie.

Joel Barlow. Chas. B. Todd.

Prince Bismarck. 2 vols.

Chas. Lowe.
July.

At Home in Fiji.

C. F. Gordon-Gumming.
Peveril of the Peak. 2 vols.

Walter Scott.

Henry Esmond. Vol. 1. Thackeray.
Taine's Notes on England. Taine.
Fireside Travels. J. R. Lowell.

Life of Longfellow. 2 vols.

S. Longfellow.
A Walk from London to Fulham.

T. Crofton Crofter.
High Lights.

August.

2. Diary and Letters of Hugh S.
Legare. Vol. 1.

2. Essays of H. S. Legare. Vol. 2.

3. American Notes. Hawthorne.

APPB1STDIX D

THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF SAMUEL JONES TILDEN.

Died Aug. 4, 1886.

MINDFUL of the uncertainty of life, and being now in the full possession
of all the faculties of mind and memory, I, Samuel J. Tilden, of Graystone,
in the city of Yonkers, county of Westchester and State of New York, do
hereby make, publish, and declare this my last Will and Testament, in the
manner and form following, that is to say :

I. I hereby expressly revoke and cancel any and all other wills hereto
fore made by me.

II. I hereby nominate, constitute, and appoint John Bigelow, of Highland
Falls, Andrew II. Green, and George W. Smith, of the city of New York,
Executors and Trustees under this my last Will and Testament.

III. I direct that the compensation to be paid to and received by my
said Executors and Trustees shall be to each the yearly sum of Five
thousand dollars ; but such annual compensation shall be in lieu of and a
full satisfaction and discharge for any and all commissions and charges
other than actual disbursements to which my said Executors and Trustees
might or would be entitled in whatever capacity, under the laws of this
State, in any and all trusts (including all services in the special Trusts to
be constituted under this Will), if their compensation were not hereby
fixed and agreed upon as aforesaid ; and that any sum which George W.
Smith may receive as my private secretary or as an officer or servant of the
York Mining Company or Delphic Iron Company be deducted from his com
pensation as Executor and Trustee. Such compensation of Five thousand
dollars shall be so long as he shall be in performance of the duties
of the special Trustee under the Trust hereby directed to be constituted
and of the duties of an Executor and Trustee under this Will of my
general estate, and as a trustee, manager, or director of the corporation
hereinafter provided. Such compensation shall be paid out of my general
estate so long as it shall remain in the custody of my Executors and Trus
tees, and by the corporation hereinafter provided, after the residue of my
general estate shall be vested in such corporation.

IV. I will and direct that all the powers and authorities granted in and
by this my last Will and Testament to my said Executors and Trustees
shall and may be exercised by a majority of the persons or by the person
who shall for the time being lawfully hold and be in the exercise of the
functions of an Executor and Trustee hereunder.

TILDEN'S WILL 421

V. I request and direct that no bond or security shall be required by
any Surrogate, Probate Court, or judge from my Executors and Trustees on
account of the non-residence of such Executor and Trustee, or either of
them, within the jurisdiction of such Surrogate, Probate Court, or judge,
or for any reason whatever.

VI. In case of the death, resignation, or incapacity of either of my said
Executors and Trustees, the survivors of them shall immediately appoint a
successor by an instrument in writing under their hands and seals ; and
upon such appointment being made, the person so appointed shall thereupon
become and be invested with all the powers, rights, and authorities con
ferred upon an Executor and Trustee hereby appointed.

VII. I direct my said Executors and Trustees to pay and dischage all
my just debts and liabilities out of my personal estate.

VIII. My said Executors and Trustees are directed to constitute the
Trusts for specific persons hereinafter more particularly described and de
fined. My said Executors and Trustees shall be Trustees of the special
Trusts by them so constituted; but the said Trusts shall be distinct and
separate from the general Trust under this instrument. In their capacity
of Trustees of Trusts for specific persons, they shall have power to manage
the several Trusts; to collect the income thereof, and to apply the same as
herein directed; to sell in their discretion the securities and to reinvest the
proceeds thereof.

IX. I hereby direct my said Executors and Trustees to allow my sister,
Mrs. Mary B. Pelton, during her natural life, the use of the house number
thirty-eight West Thirty-eighth Street in the city of New York. I also
direct them to pay any mortgage to which the said premises may be now
subject. I also direct my said Executors and Trustees to invest two sev
eral sums of Fifty thousand dollars each, in separate and distinct Trusts,
and to apply the income of the said two Trusts to the use of the said Mary
B. Pelton during her natural life. Upon the decease of my said sister
Mary B. Pelton, the house known as number thirty-eight West Thirty-eighth
Street in the city of New York shall be applied to the use of my grand-niece
Laura A. Pelton for the remainder of her natural life. Upon the decease
of my sister Mary B. Pelton, one of the said Trusts of Fifty thousand
dollars shall be applied to the use of my grand-niece Laura A. Pelton,
unless my said sister Mary B. Pelton shall by her last will and testament
have made a different disposition of the same, which she is hereby empow
ered to do. Upon the decease of the said Laura A. Pelton, if she leave
issue, the said house number thirty-eight West Thirty-eighth Street, desig
nated as the first Trust, and the principal of the said second Trust, being
Fifty thousand dollars, shall be paid over to the heirs of her body. If she
leave no issue the principal of said first Trust, being of the said house
number thirty-eight West Thirty-eighth Street, shall be paid over as she
may by her last will and testament direct, and the principal of the said
second Trust shall be paid over to the Tilden Trust hereinafter mentioned,
if the same shall have been authorized and constituted ; or, if the said Tilden

422 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

Trust shall not be capable of receiving the same, the principal of the said
two Trusts shall be applied to such charitable objects as the Trustees for
the time being, of the two said Trusts, may designate. Upon the decease of
my sister Mary B. Pelton, the principal of the third Trust, being for Fifty
thousand dollars, shall be applied to the use of my niece Caroline B. Whit-
tlesey, during her natural life, and upon her decease shall be paid over to
the heirs of her body, if she leave any. If she leave no such heir, the
same shall be paid over as by her last will and testament she may direct. In
addition to the foregoing provisions herein made for the benefit of my sister
Mary B. Pelton, my Executors and Trustees shall invest such sum not exceed
ing Fifty thousand dollars as I may hereinafter in writing instruct them to
do, and hold the same as a distinct and separate Trust. The Trustees of the
said special Trust shall apply the income thereof to the use of the said Mary
B. Pelton during her natural life, and after her decease shall pay over the
principal sum to the Tilden Trust hereinafter mentioned, if the same shall
have been authorized and constituted ; or if the said Tilden Trust shall not
be capable of receiving the same, the principal of said Trust shall be applied
to such charitable objects as the Trustees for the time being of the said
Trust may designate.

X. I direct my said Executors and Trustees to invest Fifty thousand
dollars in two special and separate Trusts of Twenty-five thousand dollars
each, and to apply the income of the said two Trusts to the use of Lucy F.
Tilden, widow of my late brother Moses Y. Tilden, during her natural life.
Upon her decease, the income of one of the two said Trusts shall be
applied to the use of her adopted daughter Adelaide E. Buchanan during
Her natural life, unless the said Lucy F. Tilden shall by her last will and
testament have made a different disposition of the same, which she is hereby
empowered to do. Upon the decease of the said Adelaide E. Buchanan, the
principal of the said Trust of Twenty-five thousand dollars shall be paid
over to the heirs of her body, if she leave any, unless the said Adelaide E.
Buchanan shall by her last will and testament have made a different dispo
sition of the same, which she is hereby empowered to do. If she leave no
issue, the principal of the said Twenty-five thousand dollars shall be paid
over to such person or persons as she may designate by her last will and
testament. Upon the decease of the said Lucy F. Tilden, the principal
of the other Trust of Twenty-five thousand dollars shall be disposed of as
hereinafter directed.

My Executors and Trustees are directed to convey to Adelaide E. Bu
chanan the obligations of her husband for Five thousand dollars which I
loaned to him some years ago. In addition to the other provisions made
in this instrument for the benefit of the said Adelaide E. Buchanan, my
Executors and Trustees are also directed to set apart Twenty thousand
dollars in First Mortgage bonds of the Oregon Short Line Railroad Com
pany as a special Trust for the benefit of the said Adelaide E. Buchanan.
The Trustees of said special Trust shall apply the income thereof to the
use of the said Adelaide E. Buchanan during her natural life, and after her

TILDEN'S WILL 423

decease shall dispose of the same as in this instrument is hereafter
directed.

XI. I hereby direct my said Executors and Trustees to invest the sum
of Fifty thousand dollars, to be known as the Sixth Trust, and to apply the
income of the same to the use of Susan G. Tilden, the widow of my brother
Henry A. Tilden, during her natural life. Upon her decease the income of
the same shall be applied to the use of my niece Henrietta A. Swan, during
her natural life, unless that the said Susan G. Tilden shall by her last will
and testament have made a different disposition of the same, which she is
hereby empowered to do. Upon the decease of the said Henrietta A. Swan,
the principal of the said Trust shall be paid over to the heirs of her body,
if she leave any, unless the said Henrietta A. Swan shall by her last will
and testament have made a different disposition of the same, which she is
hereby empowered to do. If she leave no issue, then the principal of the
said Trust of Fifty thousand dollars shall be paid over as she may direct by
her last will and testament, which she is hereby empowered to do.

XII. I direct that my said Executors and Trustees shall vest in a special
Trust for the benefit of my niece Caroline B. Whittlesey One hundred
shares of the stock of the Cleveland & Pittsburg Railroad Company
standing in. my name as Trustee, but for which she holds a power of
attorney from me to collect the income thereof. The Trustees of the said
special Trust shall apply the income thereof to the use of the said Caroline
B. Whittlesey during her natural life ; and upon her decease they shall pay
over the proceeds of the said stock or assign the said stock to the heirs of
the body of my said niece Caroline B. Whittlesey, if she leave any, and if
she leave no such heir shall pay over or assign the same to such person as
she may by her last will and testament direct.

XIII. I also direct my said Executors and Trustees to assign to the said
Caroline B. Whittlesey my interest in the Delphic Iron Company, whether
consisting of stock or loans, counting the same at cost and interest, and
also to assign all sums her husband William A. Whittlesey may be owing
to me at the time of my decease for loans or advances to him or for which
he may be liable. I also direct my said Executors and Trustees to invest
a sum sufficient to make with the stock in and loans to the Delphic Iron
Company and the said loans and advances to the said William A. Whittlesey,
or for which he may be liable, the sum of Fifty thousand dollars in a
special Trust for the benefit of the said Caroline B. Whittlesey. The
Trustees of the said special Trust shall apply the income of the said special
Trust to the use of the said Caroline B. Whittlesey during her natural life,
and after her decease shall pay over the same to the heirs of her body, if
she leaves any. If she leaves no such heir then they shall pay over the
same as she may by her last will and testament direct.

XIV. I direct that my said Executors and Trustees shall vest in a special
Trust for the benefit of my niece Henrietta A. Swan, One hundred shares
of the stock of the Cleveland & Pittsburg Railroad Company standing in
my name as Trustee, but for which she holds a power of attorney from me

424 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDE N

to collect the income thereof. The Trustees of the said special Trust shall
apply the income thereof to the use of the said Henrietta A. Swan during
her natural life, and upon her decease they shall pay over the proceeds of
the said stock or assign the said stock to the heirs of the body of my said
niece Henrietta A. Swan, if she leaves any, and if she leaves no such heir
shall pay over or assign the same to such person as she may by her last will
and testament direct.

I also direct my said Executors and Trustees to invest the sum of Fifty
thousand dollars as a special Trust for the use of my said niece Henrietta
A. Swan during her natural life, and after her decease to the use of the
heirs of her body, unless she in her last will and testament shall otherwise
direct, which she is hereby empowered to do. If she leaves no such heir
the said principal shall be disposed of as hereinafter provided.

XV. I hereby request the heirs-at-laAv of my late brother Moses Y.
Tilden to unite in conveying to Lucy E. Tilden, his widow, for her use
during her natural life, the dwelling-house in which he formerly resided at
New Lebanon, with about thirty acres of land adjacent thereto, and I direct
my Executors and Trustees to join in such conveyance in my behalf.

I hereby request the heirs of my late brother Moses Y. Tilden, and the
heirs of my late brother Henry A. Tilden and my sister Mary B. Pelton or
her heirs, to unite in conveying to my Executors and Trustees the residue of
the lands formerly owned by my father, Elam Tilden, or subsequently ac
quired by my late brother Moses Y. Tilden other than the thirty acres, or
acquired by my late brother Henry A. Tilden other than the lands adjacent
to his dwelling-house or used in connection with his manufactories, and
excepting also the land upon which a stone building heretofore used as a
school was erected by my late brother Henry A. Tilden. I hereby direct my
Executors and Trustees to cause said conveyances to be executed as a con
dition precedent to the payment of the legacies hereby given. My object is
to keep the landed property together and in the family, and I direct my
Executors and Trustees to apply the same to the use of my nephews George
H. Tilden and Samuel J. Tilden, second, during their natural lives. After
their decease the same shall be disposed of as they or the survivor of them
in their last will and testament direct.

XVI. I authorize my said Executors and Trustees, at such time as they may
deem judicious, to release to my said nephews George H. Tilden and Samuel
J. Tilden, second, a debt which they owe to me for cash advances lately made
by me to them in their business now amounting Avith interest to the sum of
about Thirty-four thousand dollars, and also a mortgage which I hold
against them now amounting with interest to about Thirty-three thousand
dollars.

I direct my said Executors and Trustees to pay certain notes given many
years ago by my late brothers Moses Y. Tilden and Henry A. Tilden to
Catherine H. Pierson, the principal of which I afterwards guaranteed to
save my mother from endorsing the same, which said notes have been
assumed by my nephews George H. Tilden and Samuel J. Tilden, second,
who will be relieved by the payment thereof.

TILDEtfS WILL 425

XVII. I direct my said Executors and Trustees to set apart the sum of
Seventy-five thousand dollars as a special Trust for the benefit of my
nephew George II. Tilden. The income of the said special Trust shall be
applied by the Trustees thereof to the use of the said George H. Tilden
during his natural life. Upon his decease, the said Fund shall be paid over
to the heirs of the body of the said George H. Tilden, if he leave any. If
he leave no such heir, then if my nephew Samuel J. Tilden, second, him
survive, the said Fund shall be applied by the Trustees of the said Fund to
the use of the said Samuel J. Tilden, second, and upon his decease the said
Fund shall be paid over to the heirs of his body, if he leave any. If he
leave no such heir the said Fund shall be paid over as he in his last will
and testament may direct.

XVIII. I direct my said Executors and Trustees to set apart the sum of
Seventy-five thousand dollars as a special Trust for the benefit of my
nephew Samuel J. Tilden, second. The income of the said 'special Trust
shall be applied by the Trustees thereof to the use of the said Samuel J.
Tilden, second, during his natural life. Upon his decease the said Fund
shall be paid over to the heirs of his body, if he leave any. If he leave no
such heir, then if my nephew George H. Tilden him survive, the said Fund
shall be applied by the Trustees of the said Fund to the use of the said
George II. Tilden, and upon his decease the said Fund shall be paid over to
the heirs of his body, if he leave any. If he leave no such heir the said
Fund shall be paid over as he in his last will and testament may direct.

XIX. I direct my said Executors and Trustees to set apart the sum of
One hundred and fifty thousand dollars as a special Trust for the benefit of
my niece Ruby S. Tilden. The income of the said special Trust shall be
applied by the Trustees thereof to the use of the said Ruby S. Tilden during
her natural life. Upon her decease the said Fund shall be paid over to the
heirs of her body, if she leave any. If she leave no such heir, then if my
niece Susan G. Tilden her survive, the said Fund shall be applied by the
Trustees of the said Fund to the use of the said Susan G. Tilden, and upon
her decease the said Fund shall be paid over to the heirs of her body, if she
leave any. If she leave no such heir the said Fund shall be paid over aa
she in her last will and testament may direct.

XX. I direct my said Executors and Trustees to set apart the sum of
One hundred and fifty thousand dollars as a special Trust for the benefit of
my niece Susan G. Tilden. The income of the said special Trust shall be
applied by the Trustees thereof to the use of the said Susan G. Tilden dur
ing her natural life. Upon her decease the said Fund shall be paid over to
the heirs of her body, if she leave any. If she leave no such heir, then if
my niece Ruby S. Tilden her survive, the said Fund shall be applied by the
Trustees of the said Fund to the use of the said Ruby S. Tilden, and upon
her decease the said Fund shall be paid over to the heirs of her body, if she
leave any. If she leave no such heir the said Fund shall be paid over as
she in her last will and testament may direct.

XXI. I direct my Executors and Trustees not to enforce against the

426 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

estate of my brother, the late Henry A. Tilden, or against the estate of my
late brother Moses Y. Tilden, loans which I have heretofore made to them,
amounting to about Three hundred thousand dollars ; but to release and
cancel the same whenever the said Executors and Trustees shall be re
quested in writing to do so by George- H. Tilden and Samuel J. 'Tilden, the
second, the sons of the late Henry A. Tilden, or by the survivor of them.

XXII. I direct my Executors and Trustees to set apart as a separate
Trust the sum of Twenty-five thousand dollars for the benefit of Anna J.
Gould during her natural life. In case she shall be Avith me exercising
care over me during the rest of my life, I direct that the said sum of
Twenty-five thousand dollars be Increased to One hundred thousand
dollars. The income of the said special Trust shall be applied by the
Trustees thereof to the use of the said Anna J. Gould during her natural
life. Upon her decease one-half of the said Fund shall be paid over as the
said Anna J. Gould may by her last will and testament direct. The other
half shall be paid over as herein directed.

XXIII. I direct my said Executors and Trustees to set apart Fifty
thousand dollars of First Mortgage six per cent International and Great
Northern Railroad Company bonds, and Fifty thousand dollars of the First
Mortgage bonds of the Oregon Short Line Railroad Company guaranteed by
the Union Pacific Railway Company, as a special Trust for the benefit of my
friend Miss Marie Celeste Stauffer, daughter of Isaac Stauffer, Esquire, of
New Orleans. The income of the said special Trust shall be applied by
the Trustees thereof to the use of the said Marie Celeste Stauffer during
her natural life, free from any interference or control of any husband she
may have ; and upon the decease of the said Marie Celeste Stauffer the
Trustees of the said special Trust shall pay over the principal of the said
bonds, or assign the same, to the devisees or heirs of the said Marie Celeste
Stauffer.

XXIV. In all cases in which special Trusts are herein directed to be cre
ated for the benefit of particular persons and the income directed to be applied
by the Trustees of special Trusts, it is hereby declared that the said income
shall be kept free from all pledges, incumbrances, or anticipation thereof,
and every such pledge, incumbrance, or anticipation shall be void. The
Trustees of the said special Trusts are hereby empowered and directed to sus
pend payment of such income during the existence of any such pretended
pledge, incumbrance, or anticipation.

In all cases in which such special Trust shall be for the benefit of any
female, the said income shall be kept free from the control or interference
of any husband which the said female now has or may hereafter have ;
such income being intended to be sacredly devoted to the separate personal
use of said female, and is not to be pledged, incumbered, or anticipated by
her.

XXV. I direct my Executors and Trustees, in case any special Trust
hereby directed to be constituted shall fail in whole or in part by depreci
ation of securities, to make the same good out of my general estate, so

TILDEN'S WILL 427

long as the general Trust to my Executors and Trustees shall continue ;
and in case the said Executors and Trustees shall convey any portion of
that estate to a corporation designated as the Tilden Trust, or shall vest the
same in any Trust or Trusts for charitable purposes, to do so on the
express condition that the said conveyance shall be subject to the obligations
to make good the funds devoted to the said special Trusts, and shall exact
from the grantee in every such case an acknowledgment of such obligation
and agreement to fulfil the same. This provision is made subject to the
condition that the corporation shall be duly authorized by law, by a special
act or otherwise, to accept the grant, subject to the obligations herein
directed to be imposed upon or assumed by the said corporation. I also
direct my said Executors and Trustees to obey such instructions as I may
hereafter give to them in respect to the allotment or selection of securities
for the said special Trusts or any of them.

XXVI. I hereby authorize and direct my Executors and Trustees during
the continuance of the trust of my general estate to apply any surplus in
come to or towards the several special Trusts hereby directed to be consti
tuted in the same manner as they might apply the principal of my said estate
to the said purposes.

XXVII. I direct my said Executors and Trustees to apply to the use of
Henrietta Jones, of Monticello, out of my general estate, a sum not ex
ceeding Five hundred dollars per annum during her natural life, or so long
as the Trust embracing my general estate shall continue.

XXVIII. In case John J. Cahill shall remain in my service the residue
of my life, I authorize and direct my Executors and Trustees to pay over
to him the sum of Eive thousand dollars.

XXIX. The Trustees of the said special Trust are hereby authorized
from time to time to change the investments hereby directed to be made
for the use and benefit of specific persons ; to sell the securities originally
purchased for or set apart for such specific persons, and to purchase other
securities in lieu thereof, except in the cases where the securities are herein
designated and appropriated to a specific purpose.

XXX. I authorize my Executors and Trustees to contribute out of my
estate to Mrs. Maria Sinnott, for the purpose of aiding in support and edu
cation of the children of her late husband, James P. Sinnott, such sum as
they may deem sufficient, not exceeding, however, the sum of Five hundred
dollars per annum for five years.

XXXI. I direct my said Executors and Trustees to pay over to such of
the following persons as may be in my service at the time of my decease,
to wit: Georgen Johansen, Henry G. Gilbert, Edward Riley, Catherine
Burke, and Rosa Clark each the sum of One thousand dollars ; and to John
Lynch, Elizabeth Byrnes, Bridget Gettins, Dennis O'Hare, and Daniel Herr
each the sum of Five hundred dollars.

XXXII. I direct my Executors and Trustees to apply Ten thousand
dollars, or such part of it as may be necessary, according to such instructions
as I may hereafter to them from time to time give in writing or verbally.

428 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. T1LDEN

XXXIII. I authorize my Executors and Trustees to cause the establish
ment of a Library and Free Reading-Room in my native town of New-
Lebanon in the manner following, that is to say : they shall obtain title to the
land on which the building stands which was erected by my brother Henry
A. Tilden, and which has been occupied by a school ; buying in the mort
gage on the same, amounting to about Fifteen thousand dollars, and, if
necessary, obtaining releases from the heirs of my brother Henry A.
Tilden, from my sister Mary B. Pelton or her heirs, and from Mrs. Lucy
F. Tilden. They shall vest the title in a corporation, if a charter shall be
granted on their application to the Legislature, or a corporation can be
formed under any general law. My said Executors and Trustees are here
by authorized to require, if needful, proper conveyances to be executed by
the heirs of the said Henry A. Tilden, by Mary B. Pelton or her heirs and
by Lucy F. Tilden as condition precedent to the payment of the legacies
herein given to them respectively. They shall also convey to the corpora
tion, if one be created, any interest which I may have in the said premises.
My Executors and Trustees are authorized to expend for the creation and
equipment and to invest as a permanent fund to maintain the said Library
and Reading-Room the sum of Sixty-five thousand dollars, and any further
sum not exceeding Thirty-five thousand dollars which I may in writing in
struct my said Executors and Trustees to apply to those objects. They
are also authorized to use the said building and endowment hereby provided
in part for a school for the training of girls, if they find the same expedient
in connection with the Free Library and Reading-Room.

XXXIV. I hereby authorize my said Executors and Trustees to appro
priate out of my estate, in such manner as they may deem most expedient,
the sum of Fifty thousand dollars towards the establishment of a Library
and Free Reading-Room in the city of Yonkers, and such further sum not
exceeding Fifty thousand dollars as I may hereafter instruct my said
Executors and Trustees to apply to that object. My said Executors and
Trustees are requested to apply to the Legislature for a special charter to
enable them to carry out this provision or to form a corporation under any
general law which in their judgment shall be most desirable.

XXXV. I request my said Executors and Trustees to obtain as speedily as
possible from the Legislature an Act of Incorporation of an institution to be
known as the Tilden Trust, with capacity to establish and maintain a Free
Library and Reading-Room in the city of New York, and to promote such
scientific and educational objects as my said Executors and Trustees may
more particularly designate. Such corporation shall have not less than five
Trustees, with power to fill vacancies in their number, and in case said
institution shall be incorporated in a form and manner satisfactory to my
said Executors and Trustees during the lifetime of the survivor of the two
lives in being upon which the Trust of my general estate herein created is
limited, to wit : the lives of Ruby S. Tilden and Susie Whittlesey, I here
by authorize my said Executors and Trustees to organize the said corpora
tion, designate the first Trustees thereof, and to convey to or apply to the

TILDEN'S WILL 429

use of the same, the rest, residue, and remainder of all my real and personal
estate not specifically disposed of by this instrument, or so much thereof as
they may deem expedient, but subject, nevertheless, to the special Trusts
herein directed to be constituted for particular persons, and to the obliga
tions to make and keep good the said special Trusts, provided that the said
corporation shall be authorized by law to assume such obligation. But in
case such institution shall not be so incorporated, during the lifetime of the
survivor of the said Ruby S. Tilden and Susie WMttlesey, or if for any
cause or reason my said Executors and Trustees shall deem it inexpedient
to convey said rest, residue, and remainder or any part thereof or to apply
the same or any part thereof to the said institution, I authorize my said
Executors and Trustees to apply the rest, residue, and remainder of my
property, real and personal, after making good the said special Trusts
herein directed to be constituted, or such portions thereof as they may not
deem it expedient to apply to its use, to such charitable educational and
scientific purposes as in the judgment of my said Executors and Trustees
will render the said rest, residue, and remainder of my property most
widely and substantially beneficial to the interests of mankind.

XXXVI. I hereby authorize my said Executors and Trustees to reserve
from any disposition made by this Will such of my books as they may deem
expedient, and to dispose of the same in such manner as in their judgment
would have been most agreeable to me ; and in such case any of my illus
trated books or books of art should be given to or to the care of the insti
tution described in this Will, my said Executors and Trustees shall make
suitable regulations to preserve the same from damage and to regulate
access thereto. And such disposition shall be subject to such instructions
as I may hereafter in writing give to my said Executors and Trustees.

XXXVII. In case at any time during the Trust embracing my general
estate any interest in any special Trust hereby directed to be constituted shall
lapse or no disposition of such interest contained in this instrument shall
be effectual to finally dispose of the same, such interest shall go to my said
Executors and Trustees to be disposed of under the provisions of this Will,
or if the said general Trust shall have ceased, but a corporation designated
as the Tilden Trust shall be in operation, such interest shall go to the said
corporation.

XXXVIII. My said Executors and Trustees are hereby invested with the
following powers : 1. To manage the funds herein directed to be invested in
the Trusts for specific persons until such investments shall have been made,
with like authorities as in cases of other portions of my estate. 2. To sell
and dispose from time to time, in their discretion, of such parts and parcels
of the real estate and other property hereby devised, given, and bequeathed
to them as they shall deem advisable, and so to sell and dispose of the same
at public or private sale, at such price or prices, and upon such terms as to
mode, time, and security of payment, as they shall deem proper, and to sign,
seal, execute, and deliver all proper and necessary conveyances therefor. 3.
From tinte to time to invest and reinvest all moneys belonging to my estate

430 THE LIFE OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

whether derived from sales of said devised and bequeathed property or
otherwise in such manner as they may deem expedient, subject, however, to
the same Trusts upon which said moneys or property were originally held
by my said Executors and Trustees.

XXXIX. I hereby devise and bequeath to my said Executors and Trus
tees, and to their successors in the Trust hereby created, and to the survivors
and survivor of them, all the rest and residue of all the property, real and
personal, of whatever name or nature and wheresoever situated, of which I
may be seized or possessed, or to which I may be entitled at the time of
my decease which may remain after instituting the several Trusts for the
benefit of specific persons, and after making provisions for the specific
bequests and objects as herein directed. To have and to hold the same
unto my said Executors and Trustees and to their successors in the Trust
hereby created and the survivors and survivor of them in trust to possess,
hold, manage, and take care of the same during a period not exceeding two
lives in being, that is to say : the lives of my niece Ruby S. Tilden and my
grand-niece Susie Whittlesey, and until the decease of the survivor of the
said two persons, and after deducting all necessary and proper expenses, to
apply the same and the proceeds thereof to the objects and purposes men
tioned in this my Will.

XL. I hereby authorize my Executors and Trustees to apply Ten thou
sand dollars to the creation of a trust, the income of which shall be applied
to keeping in repair, improving, and adorning the cemetery in the town of
New Lebanon in which the most of my near relatives are buried. I request
my Executors and Trustees to make available any lawful power which may
exist or can be procured for vesting the said cemetery in a corporation, to
the end that the appropriation hereby authorized shall be as permanent as
possible.

XLI. I authorize my said Executors and Trustees to cause to be erected
a monument which in their judgment and discretion shall seem suitable to
my memory, and to defray the expense thereof from my estate.

XLII. I also authorize my said Executors and Trustees to collect and
publish, in such form as they deem proper, my speeches and public docu
ments, and such other writings and papers as they may think expedient to
include with the same, which shall be done under their direction. The ex
penses thereof shall be paid out of my estate. My Trustees and Executors
are authorized and empowered to burn and destroy any of my letters,
papers, or other documents, whether printed or in manuscript, which in
their judgment will answer no useful purpose to preserve.

XLIII. Since I have made a disposition of my property according to my
best judgment, and since as most of the devisees or legatees under it are
females, it is impossible to foresee under what influences some one or more
of them might possibly come ; and since it is desirable to avert unseemly or
speculative litigations, I hereby declare it to be my will that in case any
person, who if I had died intestate would be entitled to any share in my
property or estate shall, under any pretence whatever, institute, take, or

TILDE N'S WILL 431

share in any proceeding to oppose the probate of this my last Will and
Testament, or to impeach or impair or to set aside or invalidate any of its
provisions, any devise or legacy to or for the benefit of such person or
persons under this will is hereby revoked, and such person shall be excluded
from any participation in and shall not have any share or portion of my
property or estate real or personal, and the portion to which such person
might be entitled, if I had died intestate or might otherwise be entitled
under the provisions of this instrument, shall be devoted to such chari
table purposes as my said Executors and Trustees shall designate.

In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel J. Tilden, the above-named testa
tor, have herein set my hand and seal this twenty-third day of April in the
year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-four.

SAMUEL J. TILDEN. (Seal.)

APPENDIX B

CHAPTER 85.

AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE TILDEN TRUST, FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT AND
MAINTENANCE OF A FREE LIBRARY AND READING-ROOM IN THE CITY OF NEW
YORK.

Passed March 26, 1887; three-fifths being present.

WHEREAS, John Bigelow, Andrew II. Green, and George W. Smith, the
executors and trustees of the last will and testament of Samuel J. Tilden,
deceased, have, in pursuance of provisions of said will and testament, made
application to the Legislature for the enactment of the following act ; and,

WHEREAS, The said executors and trustees deem it inexpedient to desig
nate any purposes of the corporation herein and hereby created other than
the establishment and maintenance of a free library and reading-room in
the city of New York, in accordance with the purpose and intention of said
testator ; therefore

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly,
do enact as follows :

SECTION 1. The said John Bigelow, of Highland Falls, in Orange
county, and Andrew H. Green and George W. Smith, of the city of New
York, and such other persons as they may associate with themselves, and
their successors are hereby created a body corporate and politic under the
name and title of the Tilden Trust.

SECT. 2. The said John Bigelow, Andrew II. Green, and George W.
Smith shall be permanent trustees of such corporation in accordance with
the intention of the said will in that behalf. Within ninety days from the
passage of this act they shall designate and appoint, in writing, other trus
tees, so that the number of trustees shall be not less than five.

SECT. 3. One-half of the other trustees so designated and appointed
shall hold office for the term of one year and the other half thereof for the
term of two years. After such designation and appointment shall have
been made, every trustee appointed to fill any vacancy in the board of
trustees shall hold office for the term of two years. Any vacancy which
may at any time occur in said board through death, resignation, incapacity,
expiration of term, or otherwise, shall be filled by the remaining trustees.

SECT. 4. All the powers of the said corporation shall be vested in the
trustees. They shall have the power to appoint a president and vice-presi
dent, secretary and treasurer, of whom the secretary and treasurer need not

CHARTER OF THE TILDE N TRUST 433

be members of said board. Such officers shall hold their offices upon such
tenure, and shall receive such compensation as the by-laws may prescribe.
Said trustees shall also have power to appoint such other officers and agents
as the proper conduct of the affairs of said corporation shall require, remova
ble at the pleasure of the board, and to fix their compensation.

SECT. 5. The said corporation shall have, in addition to the powers now
conferred by law upon all corporations as such, the capacity and power to
establish and maintain a free library and reading room in the city of New
York, and for these purposes it shall have power to demand, recover,
accept, and receive all such money and other property, real or personal, as
is given to it by virtue of the will of Samuel J. Tilden, or shall be conveyed
or transferred to, or in any manner bestowed upon, it by the aforesaid
executors and trustees by virtue of the powers therein conferred upon
them; and the said corporation shall have power to hold, manage, improve,
dispose of, and convey all property at any time received or acquired by it
in such manner as may be best calculated to carry out its objects and pur
poses.

SECT. 6. The said corporation shall accept and receive all such money
or other property as is given to it by the said will of Samuel J. Tilden, or
shall be conveyed or transferred to, or in any manner bestowed upon, it as
aforesaid by the aforesaid executors and trustees, subject to the terms and
conditions expressed in and imposed by the said will of Samuel J.
Tilden, in respect to the gift or gifts therein and thereby made or pro
vided for, to a corporation to be formed and to be known as the Tilden
Trust, and the said corporation shall have power to make and enter into any
obligation or obligations to secure due compliance with such terms and con
ditions.

SECT. 7. The said corporation shall possess the powers and, except as
may be otherwise provided by this act, be subject to the provisions, liabili
ties, and restrictions contained in the third title of the eighteenth chapter of
the first part of the Revised Statutes, but nothing herein contained shall
affect the rights of any parties to any action now pending or of any heir-at-
law of said Samuel J. Tilden, deceased.

SECT. 8. This act shall take effect immediately.

INDEX

A BBOTT, Josiah Gardiner, address of

^ the minority of the Electoral Com
mission, II., 105, Appendix A.

ABOMINATIONS, bill of, I., 33.

ADAMS, Charles Francis, nominated for
Vice- President, I., 125; letter to Tilden
on the inauguration of Hayes, II., 107.

ADAMS, Henry, Tilden's letter about the
biography of John Randolph, IE., 277.

ALBANY", early history of, II., 344-353.

ANDERSON, Thomas C., member of the
Louisiana Returning Board, II., 39.

ANTI-MASONS, scheme to secure their
vote for Van Buren, I., 50.

ANTI-RENTISM, I., 112.

APPENDIX to Supplement No. 1, Vol. L,
367 ; No. 2, 370, 384 ; No. 3, 371 ; No.
4, 380; No. 5, 385; No. 6, 386; No. 7,
392; No. 8, 399; Appendix A, origin
of the Tweed ring, 402; Appendix B,
Democratic national platform of 1876,
411.

" ARGUS," Albany, Edwin Croswell, edi
tor of, I., 68 ; early history of Albany,

"R ANCROFT, George, letter to, I., 115.
BANK, the United States, bill f Di
re-charter of, vetoed, I., 28.

BANKS, suspensions of, 1837, L, 62;
Tilden censures the legalizing their
suspension, 63.

BAR Association of New York formed,
I., 186.

BARLOW, Gen. Francis C., interview
with Cowgill, II., 28; not "recog
nized " by Hayes, 31.

BARNBURNERS, L, 3.

BARNUM, Senator, inquiry for news at
the " Times " office, II., 9.

BENEDICT, Judge Charles L., orders the
income-tax suit discontinued, II., 259.

BIDDLE, Nicholas, I., 55.

BIGELOW, John, letter to, from W. C.
Bryant, I., 301 ; executor and trustee,
II., 361.

BLAINE, James G., surprised that the
Democrats voted for the Electoral Com
mission, II., 74.

BLANC, Louis, dines with Tilden; his
visit to Louis Napoleon in prison, II.,
138 ; queer experience as a lecturer
in London, 140; Cavaignac and his
mother, 141.

BLATCIIFORD, Judge, II., 229.

BOLINGBROKE quoted, I., 16.

BOUTON, J. W., books purchased for
Tildeu, II., 349.

BRADLEY, Judge, sustains the validity of
the Tilden Trust, II., 364.

BRADY, Justice, II., 362.

BRECKINRIDGE, John C., nominated for
President, I., 152.

BREWSTER, Elder, L, 6.

BROADWAY railroad, Jacob Sharp's
charter, II., 331 ; repealability of, 332,
334, 336.

BROWN, Judge, declares the Tilden
Trust invalid, II., 364.

BRYANT, William Cullen, I., 98; enter
tained by Governor Tilden and re
ceived by the Legislature, 264 ; The
" Evening Post " on the opponents of
Tilden; attends Fifth-avenue Hotel
conference, 297 ; declines a place on
the Tilden electoral ticket, 301.

BUFFALO, Tilden addresses Board of
Trade of, L, 269.

BURDELL, Dr. Harvey, murder of, I.,
135 ; Tilden's defence of his heirs.
135.

BUTLER, William Allen, on the expos
ure of the Tweed ring, I., 207 ; ap
pointed on Municipal-Reform Com
mission, 266.

pAIIILL, John, a clerk of Mr. Tilden,

^ II., 348 ; books read by him to Mr.
Tilden, 348, note.

CALHOUN, John C., leader of the Nulli-
ficrs, L, 33 ; his attitude toward the
Anti-Masons, 50.

CAMBRELING, C. C., I., 114.

CAMERON, J. D., Secretary of War,
orders troops into " doubtful States,"
IE., 17.

CAMPBELL, Hon. John, urges renomi-
nation of Tilden for President in 1884,
II., 407.

CANALS, Tilden opposes the enlarge
ment, I., 177; special message in re
lation to mismanagement of, 258 ;
appoints a canal investigating commis
sion, 259; Tilden to Hill against their
enlargement, IE., 338, 339.

CANTERBURY, Tilden visits the home of
his ancestors, II., 130.

CARLISLE, Speaker of the House of
Representatives, letter to, from Tilden,
about coast defences, II., 306.

436

INDEX

CARTER, James C., about Tilclen, I., 148;
appointed on Municipal-Reform Com
mission, 266, 307; counsel for the
Tilclen Trust, II., 362, 364; Tilden's
reputed indecision, 386.

CASS, Lewis, nominated for the presi
dency, I., 123.

CASSANAVE, G., member of Louisiana
Returning Board, II., 39.

CASSANDRA'S lover, II., 94.

CAVAIGNAC, brother of General, II., 141.

CHAILLE", Professor, the number of law
ful voters in New Orleans, II., 52.

CHANDLER, William E., calls at the
Fifth-avenue Hotel the morning after
the presidential election of 1876, II.,
11; telegraphs governors of doubtful
States, 13 ; goes to Florida, 17 ; sends
for more money, 21.

CHANDLER, Zacnariah, visited at Fifth-
avenue Hotel the morning after the
presidential election of 1876, II., 11 ;
" takes charge " of Florida, 17.

CHESTER, Joseph Samuel, I., 3.

CHILDS, George "W., reports Grant to
have said Tilden was elected, It., 60;
that General Grant originated the
Electoral Commission, 61.

CHURCII, SanfordE., candidate for gov
ernor, I., 225 ; John Kelly's opinion of,
I., 226.

CIPHER despatches, II., 170; Tilden's
letter about, to the "Herald," 175;
examination before congressional com
mittee, 182.

CIVIL service, first practical example
of, in this country, I., 303; Tildeu's
views on, 304.

CLAY, Henry, introduces the compromise
tariff, I., 31; candidate for the presi
dency, 109.

CLEVELAND, Grover, nominated for
President, II., 277, 280, 284, 285.

CLEWS, Henry, & Co., financial agents
of government, IL, 2.

COBDEN Club, Tilden elected a member
of, I., 37, note; IL, 129.

COLUMBIA County fair, Tilden's address
at, L, 277.

" COLUMBIA Sentinel," Tilden on the pro
tective system, L, 34; favors Van
Buren for President, 37.

CONFERENCE, the Fifth-avenue, L, 296.

CONKLIXG, Senator Roscoe, excluded
from the Electoral Commission, IL,
83, 336.

CONNOLLY, the comptroller, resigns, L,
190.

CONSTITUTIONAL convention of 1845,
Tilden elected to, L, 113.

CONSTITUTIONAL convention of 1867,
Tilden a delegate, opposes enlargement
of the Erie canal, L, 177; reply to
Waldo Hutching 180.

CONVENTION, Democratic State, of 1876,
recommends Tilden for President, L,

295 ; convention, national, at St. Louis

nominates Tilden for President, 305.
CONVERSE, George S., urges renomina-

tion of Tilden in 1884, II., 408.
COOPER, Edward, Municipal- Reform

Commission, L, 266.
COOPER, Peter, vote of a Louisiana

elector for President cast for, IL, 101.
COWEN, Judge Esek, L, 67.
CROSWELL, Edwin, editor of " Albany

Argus," L, 68.

CUMBERLAND Coal Co., Tilden's argu
ment for, L, 143.
CUNNINGHAM, Mrs., vs. the heirs of Dr.

Burdell, L, 135; Tilden' defence of the

heirs, 135.
CURTIS, George William, abandons the

Civil Service Commission, II., 3.
CUTLER, G. Albert, urges renomination

of Tilden for President in 1884, IL,

408.

T)AVIS, J. Bancroft, L, U7.

DAVIS, Judge, reckoned upon as
one of the Electoral Commission, IL,
63; chosen U.S. Senator, 64.

DENNIS, S. G., testimony before con
gressional committee, IL, 23.

DERBY, J. C., letter from W. C. Bryant
to, L, 302.

DICKENS, Charles, IL, 105.

Dix, Governor John A., his administra
tion a disappointment, L, 219 ; renomi-
nated for Governor, 232 ; Horatio Scv-
mour on Dix, 232, 233; address at
the inauguration of Tilden, 239.

DORSHEIMER, William, correspondence
with Tilden, IL, 381.

DOUBLEDAY, Abner, L, 7.

DOUGLAS, Stephen A., nominated for
President, L, 152.

"17 AST INDIA Company, Elisha Yale,

-^ Governor of, L, 8.

EATON, Ann, grandmother of Elisha
Yale, who gave its name to Yale Col
lege, L, 9.

EATON, Theophilus, Deputy Governor of
Merchant Adventurers, L, 8; called
the " Father of New Haven," married
Anne, widow of David Yale and
daughter of the Bishop of Chester, ib.

ELECTORAL Commission, IL, 62;
Tilden's view of, 79; Wattcrson's
view of, 87; action on the Florida
case, 89; action in case of Louisiana,
92; on the Oregon case, 92; for sale,
95, 97 ; Abbott's address of the minority
of, 397.

ELECTORAL vote, the mode of counting
prior to 1865, IL, 58 ; Tilden's history
of, 260.

ELLIS, John W., IL, 220, 222.

" ENCYCLOPAEDIA Heraldica," L, 4.

EATON Hall visited, II. 126.

EVARTS, William M., appointed on the

INDEX

437

Municipal-Reform Commission, I.,
266 ; one of the visiting statesmen in
New Orleans, II., 53; appointed
Secretary of State by Hayes, 53.

" EVENING Post," Tilden's letters to
William Kent, I., 154; Tilclcn's letter
to, in 1863, 171.

EVERETT. Edward, letter to Tildcn, I.,
162.

EWING, Thomas, urges renomination of
Tildcn in 1881 for President, II., 410.

"I7AIRCHILD, Charles S.f letter to
Tildcn, L, 318; Tilden's reply, 318.

FERRY, Senator, President of the Senate,
receives the electoral vote of Louisi
ana and returns it, II., 97.

FILLMORE, Millard, elected Vice-Presi
dent, I., 125.

FISK, James, Jr., I., 147.

FLAGG, Azariah C., elected comptroller
of New York citv, L, 131 ; contested hy
Giles, 131.

FLORIDA, canvass of vote in, II., 23;
frauds at election, 24; action of
Electoral Commission on, 89.

FOLGER, Charles J., letter to Commis
sioner of Internal Revenue, II., 251;
letter to, from the Attorney-General
of U.S., 252; letter from, to the At
torney-General, 253.

FOLLETT, Chief Justice, concurs in the
invalidity of the Tildeii Trust, II., 364.

FOORD, John, II., 8.

FORSTER, Hon. W. E., entertains Tilden
at lunch, II., 128; his opinion of the
late L>uke of Wellington, 128.

Fox, Charles James, note in a fly-leaf of
Gibbon's " History," II., 117.

FRANKLIN, Benjamin, advice to his son,
II., 76.

FREE-SOIL party, corner-stone of, I.,
119; New York delegation withdraws
from the Baltimore convention, 122;
their protest, 122; Tilden's report
thereon to the Utica convention, J23.

FREMONT, John C., nominated for Presi
dent, I., 151.

ft AMBETTA, visit to, II., 126.

^ GARLAND, Senator, solicits a place

in the Cabinet, II., 289; Tilden's letter

to, 289.
GARROD, Dr., Tildcn visits, at Lowestoft,

II., 131.
GENEALOGY of the Tildens, II., 350;

Supplement, I., 157.

GIBBON and Charles James Fox, II., 117.
GILES, Mr., Know-Nothing candidate for

comptroller, contests Flagg's election,

L, 131.

GLADSTONE, Tilden on, II., 337.
GODWIN, Parkc, member of Fifth-av
enue conference, I., 297; his account

of it, 299.
GOUGE, Mr., I., 93.

GOULD, Jay, L, 147.

GOULD, Miss Anna T., books read by, to
Tilden, II., 348; Appendix C, 411.

GRANT, President, his administration a
disappointment, I., 218; II., 1 ; thought
Tilden was elected, 18,60; telegraphs
General Sherman, 18 ; Electoral Com
mission, 38; his reception in England,

GRAYSTONE, purchase of, II., 261.

GREEN, Andrew II., appointed comp
troller in place of Connoll}', I., 192 ; II.,
338; executor and trustee of Tilden's
will and trustee of Tilden Trust, 361.

GRIFFIN, Dr., President of Williams
College, I., 22.

GROESBECK, Hon. W. S., urging renom
ination of Tilden for President in
1884, LI., 405.

TJAIGHT, Judge, concurs in holding
- Tildcn Trust invalid, II., 364.

HAMMERS, S. S. W., letter from, to
Tilden, II., 273; letter to, from Tildcn,
274.

HANCOCK, Major-General, nominated for
the presidency, II., 272.

HAND, Samuel, municipal-reform com
missioner, I., 266.

HARD-SHELLS, L, 3.

HARRISON, William Henry, elected Presi
dent, I., 85.

HAYES, Rutherford B., nominated for
President, I., 300; representatives in
Florida, II., 22; rewards the conspira
tors in Florida, 24; how Hayes elec
tors were secured in Louisiana, 33;
how the conspirators in Louisiana
were rewarded, 53.

HENDRICKS, Thomas A., I., 305.

HENRY, li. R., II., 286.

HERETER, Hon. Isaac, death of, II., 273.

HEWITT, Abram S., announces the plan
of an Electoral Commission to Tilden,
II., 75; telegrams to Cooper, 78,79;
reply in Congress to Garficld, 95.

HOADLEY, George, urges renomination
of Tilden for President in 1881, II.,
406.

HOADLEY, Mrs. Mary P., urges renomi
nation of Tilden for President in 1884,
II., 406.

HOME rule for Ireland, Tildcn on, II.,
337.

HUNKERS, I., 3.

HUNTINGTON, Mr., died of small-pox,
I., 43 ; Tilden's account of, 44.

HUNTINGTON, W. II., the funeral of
Thiers, II., 135.

INCOME tax, II., 225; prosecution by
• the government, 227 ; Tildeu's mem
oranda for counsel, 229.

IRVING, Washington, attacked in the
" Plaindealer " hy William Lcggett,
I., 58.

438

INDEX

TACKSON, President, issues a procla-
mation of warning to the Nullificrs,
L, 33.

JACKSONIS AMICUS, I., 56.

JANES, Bathshcba, I., 6.

JEFFERSON, Thomas, Mrs. Younglove
purchases a copy of his writings, I., 15 ;
S. J. Tilclen's impressions of him, 16 ;
Jefferson's views of civil service, II.,
297.

JEWETT, D. J., M.A., letter to supervis
ors of registration, II., 37; testifies to
frauds in Louisiana, 42.

JONES, Polly Younglove, marries Elam
Tildcn, I., 7.

JONES, Samuel, marries Parthcnia Pat
terson, I., 7 ; father of Polly Young-
love Jones, the wife of Elam Tilden, 9.

JONES, William, settled in New Haven
in 1660, L, 8.

JORDAN, Conrad, letter from Tilden, II.,
294.

JULIAN, George "W., unsuccessful candi
date for office, 11., 313; letter to, from
Tilden, 314.

TTASSON, John A., II., 22.

• KELLOGG, William Pitt, II., 3, 34,
37, 45 ; the forged electoral certif
icates, 98.

KENNER, Louis M., member of Return
ing Board, II., 39.

KENT, Chancellor, reads the final preface
of his " Commentaries " to Tildcn, I.,
26.

KENT, County of, I., 3; estates in, bear
ing the name of Tilden more than six
hundred years, 4.

KENT, William, letter to, from Tilden,
L, 154.

KERNAN, Senator Francis, letter to, II.,
120.

KILLARNET, Lakes of, Tilden's visit to,
II., 120.

KING, Preston, letter to Tildcn, I., 162.

KNOW-NOTHING party, I., 106.

T AWRENCE, Cornelius W., elected
•^ Mayor, I., 41 ; Tilden's opinion of

the nomination, 42.
LAWRENCE, Justice, sustains the validity

of the Tilden Trust, II., 362.
LECKY, Mr., cited, L, 163.
LED YARD, Lewis Cass, trustee of the

Tildcn Trust, II., 361.
LEE, Gideon, declines nomination for

Mayor, I., 42.
LEE, Henry, Nullifiers' candidate for

Vice-President, I., 93 ; wants a copy of

Tilden's speech against United States

Bank, 93.
LEGISLATURE, Tilden elected to, I., 112;

report on the anti-rent troubles, 113.
LIBRARY, Tilden's, II., 348.
LIEB, Hermann, urges renomination of

Tilden for President in 1881, II., 406.

LINCOLN, Abraham, nominated for
President, L, 152; Tilden opposes his
election, 153 ; election of, 160.

Louis Blanc. See Blanc, Louis.

LOUISIANA, federal interference in, de
nounced, I., 266; frauds at election,
II., 37 ; Democratic voters disenfran
chised in, 49; action of Electoral Com
mission on her contested electoral vote,
91 ; forged certificates sent to Washin^-
ton, 99.

LOWELL, James Russell, Tempora Mu-
tantur, II., 115; one of the Hayes
electors, 116; reasons for voting for
Hayes.

]U~ANNING, Daniel, telegram to Til-
- den, II., 271 ; visit to Graystone
for Cleveland, 280; Secretary of the
Treasury, 292 ; letters from Tildcn, 291,
293, 303; letter to Tilden, 304; letter
to Tildcn, 216; letter from Tilden, 317.

MARBLE, Manton, tells how the scheme
of an Electoral Commission was re
vealed to Mr. Tildcn, II., 75.

MARCY, William L., Democratic candi
date for governor, I., 29; censured for
recommending the State banks to sus
pend in 1837, 63; appointed Secretary
of War, 110, 111.

" MARSHALL," nom de plume of Tilden
in defending President Van Burcn's
message recommending the indepen
dent treasury, I., 65.

MARTIAL, II., 117.

MATTHEWS, Stanley, II., 22.

MCCLERNAND, Gen. John A., President
of the St. Louis convention, I., 305 ;
urges renomination of Tildeu for Pres
ident in 1884, II., 405.

McCoRMiCK, Cyrus, urges the renomina
tion of Tildcn in 1884, II., 409.

McHENRY, James, I., 147.

McLANE, Minister, complaint of recep
tion given to President Van Buren in
London, II., 127.

McLEAN, Judge, his attitude toward the
Anti-Masons, I., 50.

McLiN, testimony before congressional
committee, II., 22.

MESSAGE, Tilden's first annual, L, 250;
canal-reform message, 258; municipal-
reform message, 265 ; second annual
message, 286.

MEXICO, war with, I., 117.

MONROE Doctrine, history of, 323.

MOORE, Thomas, "The answering fu
ture," II., 120 ; description of his birth
place, 123 ; criticised by a countryman,
124; Lord Houghton's story, 125.

MORGAN, J- S., Tilden presides at dinner
given to, II., 262.

MORRIS, Gouvcrneur, quoted, I., 16.

MORTON, Senator, his plan of counting
the electoral vote, II., 58; manipulates
the electoral vote of Louisiana, 102.

INDEX

439

MUNICIPAL reform, Governor's mes
sage, I., 265; commission to report
amendments, 266.

MUNSTER, Count, German ambassador,
objects to yielding precedence to ex-
President Grant, II., 127.

"DATIVE AMERICAN party,!., 106.
NEW LEBANON, description of, I.,

12 ; schools, 19.
NEW YORK State, its natural resources,

I., 286.
NOYES, E. F., II., 22 ; his interview with

Dennis, 25; sent Minister to France,

26.
NULLIFICATION, President Jackson's

warning to Nullifiers and message to

Congress, L, 33; Tilden's article on

" Nullification and the Opposition," 342.

fYCONOR, Charles, in Giles vs.

w Flagg, I., 132; his opinion of Til-
den's argument, 135; defends Messrs.
Tremaine and Peckham, 206 ; bequeaths
" My own Cases " to the Law Institute ;
origin of rings, 207, Appendix A;
letter refusing to support Greeley,
218 ; nominated for the presidency, 219,
note; letter to the Governor about
his policy, 243 ; not a party leader, II.,
113.

ORR, Alexander E., trustee of the Tildcu
Trust, II., 361.

O'SULLIVAN, John L., established the
"Daily Morning News " with Tilden,
L, 109.

OTTENDORFER, Oswald, appointed on
Municipal-Reform Commission, 1., 266.

"DARKER, Judge, concurs in holding

x the Tilden Trust invalid, II., 364.

PATTERSON, Polly, married Moses
Yoimglove, I., 9.

PECKHAM, Wheeler II., defended by
O'Couor for his charges for services
in the Tweed prosecutions, I., 207.

PELTON, Mrs. Augusta, letter from Mr.
Tilden to, II., 130.

PELTON, Mrs. Mary, letter to, from Mr.
Tilden, II., 131, 156.

PENNSYLVANIA Coal Co. and Delaware
& Hudson Canal Co., Tilden's defence
of, I., 138.

PHILLIPS, Samuel F., letter from Ed
wards Pierrepont, II., 239.

PIERREPONT, Edwards, account of the
reception of ex-Presidents Van Buren
and Grant in England, II., 127;
special counsel for the government
in the income-tax suit, 237; letter
from, to S. F. Phillips, Acting
Attorney-General of the United States,
239 ; letter from, to S. L. Woodford,
249.

PINKSTON, Eliza, II., 46; her character,
48.

" PLAINDEALER," Van Buren's inaugural
attacked in, by Leggett, I., 56 ; Tilden's
reply to it, 56.

POLK, James K., nominated for Presi
dent, I., 107.

POTTER, Clarkson N., report of congres
sional committee of investigation, II.,
56.

POTTER, Judge, votes for validity of
Tilden Trust, II., 368.

T> AGUET, Condy, I., 93.

u RANDALL, Samuel J., urges renom--

ination of Tilden for President in 1884,

II., 408.
RANDOLPH, L.Y. F., appointed secretary

of the executors of the Tilden will

and of the trustees of the Tilden

Trust, II., 367.
RAUM, Green B., letter to, from U.S.

District Attorney, II., 244; letter to

Stuart L. Woodford, 248.
REID, John C., his account of the scene

at the "Times" office the night of the

presidential election, II., 8.
REPUBLICAN party, formation of, I., 151;

nominates John C. Fremont for Presi
dent, 151.
RETURNING Board of Louisiana, II., 34;

required to meet at New Orleans, 34.
ROBINSON, Governor, message on the

counting the electoral vote, II., 66.

gCIILOSSER'S "History," cited, I.,

SCIIURZ, Carl, member of Fifth-avenue

Hotel conference, I., 297; author of

its address, 297.
SCOTT, W. L., urges renomination of

Tilden for President in 1884, II., 508.
SECESSION, Tilden's views of, L, 165, 173.
SEYMOUR, Horatio, letter to Tilden, I.,

194; nominated for President, 211;

letter to Tilden, 227 ; discourse on the

election frauds, II., 84; letter to, from

Tilden, 275, 320.
SHAKERS, Society of, at New Lebanon,

I., 13 ; Tilden writes a pamphlet about

them, 79.
SHARP, Jacob, and Broadway Railroad,

II., 331.
SHERIDAN, General, interference with

the independence of the Louisiana

Legislature, I., 266; denounced in

Governor's message, 266.
SHERMAN, John, II., 22.
SIBLEY, Mark, letter from Tilden, II.,

321.

SIMON, Jules, quoted, II., 372.
SMALLEY, Mr., accompanies Tilden to

the funeral of Thiers, II., 135.
SMITH, George W., II., 189; executor

and trustee of Tilden's will and trustee

of Tilden Trust, 311.
STANTON, Secretary of War. Tilden's

advice to, I., 169.

440

INDEX

STERNE, Simon, municipal-reform com
missioner, I., 266.

STEVENSON, Governor, II., 273.

STOUGIITON, Mr., visiting statesman at
New Orleans, II., 40 ; defines a " cleri
cal error," 41.

ST. PATRICK'S Cathedral, II., 122.

SUPPLEMENT, Tilden's genealogical
record, I., 317; appendix to, 367 to
369.

SYRACUSE, Tilden's address from the
cars at, I., 270.

SWIFT, Dean, Tilden visits St. Patrick's
Cathedral, II., 122.

T'ALMADGE, Senator Nathaniel, at
New Lebanon, I., 76.

TAXATION, reduction of, I., 269.

TAYLOR, Gen. Zachary, elected Presi
dent, I., 125.

TEXAS, annexation of, and war with
Mexico, I., 117.

TIIIERS, funeral of, II., 135.

TILDEN, genealogical history of the
family of, I., 2; name peculiar to
county of Kent, England, supplement,
317; II., 350.

TILDEN, Elam, married Polly Younglove
Jones, I., 7 ; born at New Lebanon,
12; the Tilden homestead, 13; letter
to, from Silas Wright, 77 ; death, 101 ;
supplement, 317.

TILDEN, Mrs. Elam, lived with the
Youngloves, I., 13; supplement, 317.

TILDEN, Henrietta, I., 52; letter to,
about marriage, 84.

TILDEN, Henry, business troubles, I.,
174 ; letter from Samuel, 175.

TILDEN, John, son of Isaac and Rebecca
Tilden, I., 6; marries Bathsheba Janes,
ib. ; moved to New Lebanon, ib. ; death,
ib.; served in the French war, ib.;
his musket, ib. ; his eldest daughter
marries Major Ann Doublcday, ib., 7,
supplement, 317.

TILDEN, John, of Marden, I., 3 ; supple
ment, 317.

TILDEN, Moses, business troubles, I.,
174; illness and death, II., 224.

TILDEN, Nathaniel, embarks for America,
I., 5; Mayor of Tenterdcn, ib., supple
ment, 317 ; settles at Scituate, in Mas
sachusetts, 5; ruling elder in First
Church in Scituate, ib. ; makes the first
conveyance of land recorded in Scitu
ate, ib. ; married Lydia Bourne, ib,,
supplement, 317.

TILDEN, Samuel Jones, I., 1 ; one of the
grandchildren of John Tilden and
Bathsheba Janes, 6; his first experi
ence as a sporting man, ib. ; illness in
infancy, 17; early education, 19; sent
to school at Williamstown, 21 ; goes to
New York, 23 ; takes lessons in elocu
tion, 25; Mr. Halstead prescribes for
him, ib. ; meets Chancellor Kent, 26 ;

returns to New Lebanon, ib.; first
essay as a writer for the press, 27 ; his
Broadside signed " George Clinton "
against the recharter of the United
States Bank, 29; article on "Nullifi
cation and Opposition," 34 ; early views
of the protective system, ib. ; elected
an honorary member of the Cobden
Club, 37 ; advocates Van Buren for the
presidency, ib. ; writes address to the
young men of Columbia county, 38 ;
writes " The Treasury is an Executive
Department," 41 ; enters Yale College,
46; death of his brother George, 48;
enters the New York University,
49; how to secure the support of the
Anti-Masons for Van Buren, 50; medi
tates a travel cure, 52 ; disciplines
Leggett, 56 ; defends the Independent
Treasury^ Message of President Van
Buren, 65 ; prepares an address for the
Democratic-Republican mechanics and
workingmen, 68 ; enters the University
Law School, 75 ; articled with John W.
Edmonds, 75; crosses swords with
Senator Talmadge, 76; advises his
sister Henrietta about her love affairs,
81 ; speech at New Lebanon for Van
Buren, 86; discouraged by ill health,
91; admitted to the bar, 97; writes for
" Democratic Review," ib. ; speech
•against a coercive bankrupt law, 98;
invests in law books, 99; death of
his father, 101 ; memoi'able journey
from Albany, 104 ; establishes th'e
" Daily News," 109 ; election of Presi
dent Polk and dissatisfaction with his
administration, 111 ; elected to the Leg
islature, 112 ; chairman of the commit
tee on anti-rentism and reports the
basis of an adjustment, 113; elected to
the constitutional convention of 1846,
113; contest with Cambreliug, 114;
the address of the Democratic members
of the Legislature of 1848, 118; nomi
nated for attorney-general, 127; his
reply to Sutherland, 130; his defence
of AzariahC. Flagg, 131; defends the
heirs of Dr. Burdell, 135 ; defence of
the Pennsylvania Coal Co., 138 ; pro
fessional habits, prices, etc., 145; de
clines to join the Republican party,
151 ; opposes the election of Lincoln,
153 ; letter to William Kent, 154 ; his
reasons for adhering to the Democratic
party, 161; views of secession, 165;
his theory of conducting the war of
the Rebellion, 168; letter to the
" Evening Post" in 1863, 171 ; delegate
to the constitutional convention of 1867,
177 ; resists enlargement of the Erie
canal, ib.; negro suffrage, 178; reply
to Waldo Hutchins, 180 ; the struggle
with the Tweed ring, 182 ; elected to
the Legislature in 1871, 194; opposes
the charter proposed by the committee

INDEX

441

of seventy, 196; visits Europe, 220;
nominated for governor, 228 ; elected,
23 1; his inauguration, 239 ; first mes
sage, 250 ; the canal message, 258 ;
municipal-reform message, 266; de
nounces interference of federal troops
in Louisiana, 267; vacation tour
through the canal counties, 269; re
ceives the degree of Doctor of Laws
from Yale College, 274; address at
Columbia County^ fair, 278 ; address at
Central New York fair, 281 ; cerebral
attack, 285; second annual message,
288 ; recommended by the New York
State convention for President, 295;
nominated for President, 305, supple
ment, 317; opposes the Electoral
Commission, II. , 65; Governor Robin-
son's message, 66; telegrams to
Hewitt, 79 ; reply to Charles Francis
Adams, 108 ; why he did not swear in
as President, 111; sails for Europe,
119 ; visits the Lakes of Killarney, 120 ;
Dublin, 121 ; Paris, and attends the
funeral of Thiers, 135; interview with
Gambetta, 133 ; dines Louis Blanc,
138; returns to New York, 142; the
Indian Corn Sp'cech, ib. ; the trials and
temptations of a bachelor millionaire,
145 ; letter to the " Herald " about the
cipher despatches, 175 ; letter to chair
man of the congressional committee,
179; examination by congressional
committee, 182; inco"me-tax persecu
tion, 225; memoranda for counsel,
229; income-tax suit discontinued,
259; purchases Graystone, 261 ; letter
declining a renomination for the presi
dency, 233 ; reply to Daniel Manning,
272; declines a renomination again,
281; letter to Garland, 289; letters to
Manning while Secretary of the Treas
ury, 291, 293; Jefferson's views of
civil service, 297 ; letter to Manning,
303, 305 ; letter on national defences,
303; letter to Henry Watterson, 311;
discourages his nephew from embark
ing in politics, 315 ; health, his descrip
tion of, 321, 322 ; the Monroe Doctrine,
323 ; letter to Governor Hill on repeal-
ability of the Broadway Railroad
charter, 332, 331, 336; notes against
canal enlargement, 340; last davs,
317; books that he read, 348, Appen
dix C; death, 356; funeral, 358; his
will, 339, Appendix D; his estate,
359; characteristics, 372; correspond
ence with Dorsheimer, 381 ; his talent
as a negotiator, 389 ; as a party leader,
390 ; religion, 392.

TILDEN, Simon, of Benenden, I., 3, sup
plement, 317.

TILDEN, Stephen, youngest son of Na
thaniel, L, 6, supplement, 317.

TILDEN, Thomas of, I., 3, supplement,
317.

TILDEN, William Burton, L, 10; his
widow, Lady Tilden, 10, supplement,
317.

TILDEN Trust, incorporated and organ
ized, II., 361 ; the validity of the trust
contested, 362; declared 'invalid by the
Court of Appeals, 361; letters to the
city authorities in reference to a site
for the Tilden Trust, 368-9; act to
incorporate, 432.

TIMES," New York, how it came to
claim the election of Hayes, II., 9.

TREMAIN, Judge, defended by O'Conor,
L, 206.

TRUMBULL, Lyman, urging renomina
tion of Tilden for President in 1884,
II., 405.

TUCKER, J. R., urges the renomination
of Tilden for President in 188i, II., 409.

TWEED, William M., I., 183.

TWEED ring, Tilden's struggle with, L,
182 origin of. Appendix A, 402.

TYLDEN, Sir John Maxwell, L, 4, 10,-
supplement, 317.

TYLDEV, Richard, I., 10, supplement, 317.

TYLDEN, Sir Richard, of Milsted, in
Kent, L, 4; his ancestors, 4, 10, sup
plement.

TYLDEN, William, of Wormshill, L, 4,
supplement, 317.

TYLDEN'S family, one of, went to Amer
ica with the Pilgrims, supplement, L,
317.

TTNITED STATES Bank, Tilden's arti-
^ clo against signed " George Clin
ton," L, 29.

UNIVERSITY of New York, Tilden enters,
I., 49.

AN BRUNT, Justice, votes for de
claring Tilden Trust invalid, II.,
362; first appointed to sit in Supreme
Court by Governor Tilden, 362, note.

VAN BUREN, John, I., 11.

VAN BUREN", Martin, origin of his in
timacy with Tilden, L, 27 ; his will, 28 ;
a proposal to secure the support of
the Anti-Masons for Van Burcn, 50;
elected President, 54; inauguration
message, 56; Tilden's defence of, 56;
writes the defence of the Democratic
members of the Legislature of 1818,
118; renominated for the presidency
by the Free-Soil party, 125; his story
of John Randolph, 141 ; his reception
in England, II., 127.

VAN COTT, Joshua, Municipal-Reform
Commission, L, 266.

VANDERPOOL, A. J., II., 239; proposi
tion for settling income- tax suit made
to, 245.

VANDERPOOL, Green, & Cuming, letter-
to Edwards Pierrepont, II., 2o7.

VANN, Judge, votes for holding Tildea
Trust valid, II., 364.

442

INDEX

" VIKING," Tilden's yacht, II., 286.
VISITING statesmen at New Orleaus, II.,

35.
VOLTAIRE, I., I.

•\1TALKER, Stephen J., trustee of
Tildcn Trust, II., 361.

WATTERSON, Henry, temporary chair
man of St. Louis Democratic con
vention, I., 331; Tilden's view of
dealing with the Electoral Commis
sion scheme, II., 81 ; Tilden's letter to,
about the patronage, 311.

WEBSTER, Daniel, attitude of Anti-
Masons toward, I., 50.

WEED, Smith, II., 220.

WELLINGTON, Duke of, entertains
General Grant, II., 128.

WELLS, J. Madison, member of Louisi
ana Returning Board, II., 39; charges
preferred against, by General Sheridan,
39, note.

WHISKEY frauds, II., 2.

WHITTIER, Elegy of, on Tilden, II., 359.

WILL and testament of Tildcn, II., 359,
Appendix D, 420.

WOODFORD. General, II., 112; letter to
Green B. Raum, 244, 25 i.

WUOLSEF, Theodore, President of the
Fifth-avenue conference, I., 297.

WRIGHT, Silas, elected to the House of
Representatives, I., 35; advocated
the tariff of 1828, ib. ; his apology for
it, 36 ; favors a tariff for revenue with
incidental protection, ib. • reports the
Independent Treasury Bill, 68; letter
to Elam Tilden, 77; reasons for de
clining to be run for governor, 101 ; can
didate for governor, 107, 109; hostility
of the Polk administration to, 116;
renominated for governor and de
feated, ib.; his death, 117.

VALE College, Tilden enters, I., 46;
•*• confers decree of Doctor of Laws

on Tilden, 273.
YOUNGLOVE, Dr. Moses, married Polly

Patterson, I., 9; taken prisoner at the

Battle of Oriskany, ib. ; account of his

hardships, 10, 14.
YOUXGLOVE. Mrs. Dr., description of,

I., 15.

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