202 POLITICAL LIFE-X 



as it had caused myriads of others, to feel grateful to 

 him. 



But I had learned some things regarding his vulner- 

 ability in a presidential campaign which made me sure 

 that it would be impossible to elect him. An impartial 

 but kindly judge had, some months before, while ex- 

 pressing great admiration for Mr. Elaine, informed me of 

 some transactions which, while they showed no turpitude, 

 revealed a carelessness in doing business which would cer- 

 tainly be brought to bear upon him with great effect in a 

 heated political campaign. It was clear to me that, if 

 nominated, he would be dragged through the mire, the 

 Eepublican party defeated, and the country at large be- 

 smirched in the eyes of the whole world. 



Arrived at Chicago June 2, 1884, I found the political 

 caldron seething and bubbling. Various candidates 

 were earnestly supported, and foremost of all, Presi- 

 dent Arthur and Mr. Elaine. The independent delegates, 

 led by Theodore Roosevelt and George William Cur- 

 tis, and the Massachusetts delegation, headed by Governor 

 Long, Senator Hoar, and Henry Cabot Lodge, decided to 

 support Senator Edmunds of Vermont. No man stood 

 higher than he for integrity as well as for statesmanlike 

 qualities and legal abilities; no one had more thoroughly 

 the respect of thinking men from one end of the country 

 to the other. 



The delegates having arrived in the great hall where 

 the convention was sitting, a number of skirmishes took 

 place, and a momentary victory was gained by the Inde- 

 pendents in electing, as temporary chairman, a colored 

 delegate of great ability from one of the Southern States, 

 over Mr. Powell Clayton of Arkansas, who, though he 

 had suffered bitterly and struggled bravely to maintain 

 the Union during the Civil War, was supposed to be iden- 

 tified with doubtful methods in Southern politics. 



But as it soon became evident that the main tide was for 

 Mr. Elaine, various efforts were made to concentrate the 

 forces opposed to him upon some candidate who could 



