SENATORSHIP AT ALB ANY -1864-1865 111 



posed to represent the best sentiment of the city; the 

 ' ' New York Evening Post. ' ' The first article on which my 

 eye fell was entitled "The New York Senate Trifling/' 

 and the article went on to say that the Senate of the 

 State had wasted its time, had practically done nothing 

 for the city, had neglected its interests, had paid no 

 attention to its demands, and the like. That struck me 

 as ungrateful, for during the whole session we had 

 worked early and late on questions relating to the city, 

 had thwarted scores of evil schemes, and in some cases, 

 I fear, had sacrificed the interests of the State at large 

 to those of the city. Thus there dawned on me a know- 

 ledge of the reward which faithful legislators are likely 

 to obtain. 



Another of these city questions also showed the sort 

 of work to be done in this thankless protection of the 

 metropolis. During one of the sessions there had ap- 

 peared in the lobby an excellent man, Dr. Levi Silliman 

 Ives, formerly Protestant Episcopal Bishop of North 

 Carolina, who, having been converted to Roman Catholi- 

 cism, had become a layman and head of a protec- 

 tory for Catholic children. With him came a number of 

 others of his way of thinking, and a most determined 

 effort was made to pass a bill sanctioning a gift of one 

 half of the great property known as Ward's Island, ad- 

 jacent to the city of New York, to this Roman Catholic 

 institution. 



I had strong sympathy with the men who carried on 

 the protectory, and was quite willing to go as far as 

 possible in aiding them, but was opposed to voting such 

 a vast landed property belonging to the city into the 

 hands of any church, and I fought the bill at all stages. 

 In committee of the whole, and at first reading, priestly 

 influence led a majority to vote for it, but at last, despite 

 all the efforts of Tammany Hall, it was defeated. 



It was during this first period of my service that the 

 last and most earnest effort of the State was made for 

 the war. Various circumstances had caused discourage- 



