AS COMMISSIONER AT PARIS -1878 511 



best, truest, and most capable men, in whatever he under- 

 took, that I have ever seen. The matter which interested 

 him then has since interested the world. His son-in-law, 

 Mr. Alexander Graham Bell, was exhibiting what ap- 

 peared to be a toy, a toy which on one occasion he 

 showed to Dom Pedro and to others of us, and which en- 

 abled us to hear in one of the buildings of the exposition a 

 violin played in another building. It was regarded as 

 an interesting plaything, and nothing more. A controlling 

 right in its use might have been bought for a very mod- 

 erate sum yet it was the beginning of the telephone ! 



In connection with these and other interesting men, I 

 had devoted myself to the educational exhibits of the ex- 

 position; and the result was that, during the following 

 year, I was appointed by the Governor of the State of 

 New York one of two honorary commissioners to the Paris 

 Exposition ; the other being Mr. Morton, afterward Min- 

 ister to France, Vice-President of the United States, and 

 Governor of the State of New York. 



I was not inclined, at first, to take my appointment very 

 seriously, but went to Paris simply to visit the exposition, 

 hoping that my honorary function would give me good op- 

 portunities. But on arriving I found the commissioner- 

 general of the United States, Governor McCormick, hard 

 pressed by his duties, and looking about for help. A large 

 number of regular commissioners had been appointed, but 

 very few of them were of the slightest use. Hardly one 

 of them could speak French, and very few of them really 

 took any interest in the duties assigned them. The main 

 exception, a very noble one, was my old friend President 

 Barnard of Columbia College, and he had not yet arrived. 

 Under these circumstances, I yielded to the earnest re- 

 quest of Governor McCormick and threw myself heartily 

 into the work of making our part of the exposition a 

 success. 



The American representation at the Vienna Exposition 

 a few years before had resulted in a scandal which had 

 resounded through Europe, and this scandal had arisen 



