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Lasker. Election as a delegate at large to the National Republican Conven- 

 tion at Chicago, 1884. Difficulties regarding Mr. Elaine ; vain efforts to nom- 

 inate another candidate ; George William Curtis and his characteristics ; 

 tyranny over the Convention by the gallery mob ; nomination of Elaine and 

 Logan. Nomination of Mr. Cleveland by the Democrats. Tyranny by the 

 Chicago mob at that convention also. Open letter to Theodore Roosevelt in 

 favor of Mr. Elaine. Private letter to Mr. Elaine in favor of a reform of the 

 Civil Service. His acceptance of its suggestions. Wretched character of the 

 campaign. Presidency of the Republican mass meeting at Syracuse ; experi- 

 ence with a Kentucky orator. Election of Mr. Cleveland 192 



CHAPTER XIII. HENDRICKS, JOHN SHERMAN, BANCROFT, 

 AND OTHERS -1884-1891 



Renewal of my acquaintance with Mr. Cleveland at Washington. Meeting 

 with Mr. Elaine ; his fascinating qualities ; his self-control. William Walter 

 Phelps ; his arguments regarding the treatment of Congressional speakers by 

 the press. Senator Randall Gibson ; meeting at his house with Vice-Presi- 

 dent Hendricks ; evident disappointment of the Vice -President ; his view of 

 civil-service reform ; defense of it by Senator Butler of South Carolina ; 

 reminiscences of odd senators by Senator Jones of Florida ; Gibson's opinion 

 of John Sherman. President Cleveland's mode of treating office-beggars and 

 the like; Senator Sawyer's story; Secretary Fairchild's remark; Senators 

 Sherman and Vance. Secretary Bayard's criticism of applicants for office. 

 Senator Butler's remark on secession. Renewal of my acquaintance with 

 George Bancroft. Goldwin Smith in Washington ; his favorable opinion of 

 American crowds. Chief Justice Waite. General Sheridan ; his account of 

 the battle of Gravelotte ; discussion between Sheridan and Goldwin Smith 

 regarding sundry points in military history. General Schenck ; his remi- 

 niscences of Corwin, Everett, and others. Resignation of my presidency at 

 Cornell, 1885. President Cleveland's tender of an Interstate Railway com- 

 missionership ; my declination. Departure for Europe. Am tendered nomi- 

 nation for Congress ; my discussion of the matter in London with President 

 Porter of Yale and others ; declination. Visit to Washington under the ad- 

 ministration of General Harrison, January, 1891 ; presentation of proposals 

 to him regarding civil- service reform ; his speech in reply 213 



CHAPTER XIV. McKiNLEY AND ROOSEVELT 1891-1904 



Candidacy for the governorship of New York ; Mr. Platt's relation to it ; my 

 reluctance and opposition ; decision of the Rochester Convention in favor of 

 Mr. Fassett ; natural reasons for this. Lectures at Stanford University. 

 Visit to Mexico and California with Mr. Andrew Carnegie and his party. 

 President Harrison tenders me the position of minister to Russia ; my reten- 

 tion in office by Mr.,Cleveland. My stay in Italy 1894-1895. President Cleve- 

 land appoints me upon the Venezuelan Boundary Commission, December, 

 1895. Presidential campaign of 1896. My unexpected part in it ; nomination 

 of Mr. Bryan by Democrats ; publication of my open letter to sundry Demo- 

 crats ; republication of my " Paper Money Inflation in France," and its cir- 

 culation as a campaign document ; election of Mr. McKinley. My address 

 before the State Universities of Wisconsin and Minnesota ; strongly favor- 

 able impression made upon me by them ; meeting with Mr. Ignatius Don- 

 nelly; his public address to me in the State House of Minnesota. My ad- 

 dresses at Harvard, Yale, and elsewhere. Am appointed by President 



