GRANT, HAYES, AND GARFIELD- 1871 -1881 181 



children and grandchildren, I state that a personal fact, 

 which was known to many from other sources, was con- 

 firmed to me in one of these conversations : General Grant 

 informing me, as he had previously informed my wife, that 

 he had fully purposed to name me as Secretary of State 

 had Mr. Fish carried out his intention of resigning. When 

 he told me this, my answer was that I considered it a very 

 fortunate escape for us both; that my training had not 

 fitted me for such duties ; that my experience in the diplo- 

 matic service had then been slight; that I had no proper 

 training as a lawyer ; that my knowledge of international 

 law was derived far more from the reading of books than 

 from its application ; and that I doubted my physical abil- 

 ity to bear the pressure for patronage which converged 

 upon the head of the President's cabinet. 



In the Washington of those days my memory also re- 

 calls vividly a dinner with Senator Conkling at which I 

 met a number of interesting men, and among them Gov- 

 ernor Seymour, who had been the candidate opposed to 

 Grant during his first presidential campaign; Senator 

 Anthony, Senator Edmunds, the former Vice-President 

 Mr. Hamlin, Senator Carpenter, and others. Many good 

 stories were told, and one amused me especially, as it was 

 given with admirable mimicry by Senator Carpenter. He 

 described an old friend of his, a lawyer, who, coming be- 

 fore one of the higher courts with a very doubtful case, 

 began his plea as follows : 1 1 May it please the court, there 

 is only one point in this case favorable to my client, but 

 that, may it please the court, is a chink in the common law 

 which has been worn smooth by the multitude of scoun- 

 drels who have escaped through it." 



During the year 1878 I was sent as an honorary com- 

 missioner from the State of New York to the Paris Expo- 

 sition, and shall give a more full account of this period in 

 another chapter. Suffice it that, having on my return 

 prepared my official report on the provision for political 

 education made by the different governments of Europe, 

 I became more absorbed than ever in university affairs, 



