THE GREELEY CAMPAIGN 1872 169 



the actual government at Washington, and especially 

 against President Grant and Senator Conkling. 



The editor of the paper at that time was a very gifted 

 young writer, an old schoolmate and friend of mine, who, 

 acting under instructions from the managers of the paper, 

 took a very bitter line against the administration and its 

 supporters. 



About the time of the meeting of the convention this 

 old friend came to me, expressed his regret at the line he 

 was obliged to take, said that both he and his wife were 

 sick of the whole thing and anxious to get out of it, and 

 added : ' ' The only way out, that I can see, is some appoint- 

 ment that will at once relieve me of all these duties, and 

 in fact take me out of the country. Cannot you aid me by 

 application to the senator or the President in obtaining a 



consulate ? ' ' I answered him laughingly, l ' My dear , 



I will gladly do all I can for you, not only for friendship 's 

 sake, but because I think you admirably fitted for the place 

 you name; but don't you think that, for a few days at 

 least, while you are applying for such a position, you 

 might as well stop your outrageous attacks against the 

 very men from whom you hope to receive the appoint- 

 ment!" 



Having said this, half in jest and half in earnest, I 

 thought no more on the subject, save as to the best way of 

 aiding my friend to secure the relief he desired. 



So rose the charge that I was "bribing persons to sup- 

 port the administration by offering them consulates. ' ' 



But strong friends rallied to my support. Mr. George 

 William Curtis in "Harper's Weekly," Mr. Godkin in 

 "The Nation," Mr. Charles Dudley Warner and others 

 in various other journals took up the cudgels in my behalf, 

 and I soon discovered that the attacks rather helped than 

 hurt me. They did much, indeed, to disgust me for a time 

 with political life; but I soon found that my friends, my 

 students, and the country at large understood the charges, 

 and that they seemed to think more rather than less of me 

 on account of them. In those days the air was full of that 



