Front matter
Class ET-i
£^2_
THE LIFE
Preface
Long prefaces are seldom read ; and the author of the following pages presents a short one. He wishes it to be distinctly understood at the outset, that, in writing the Life of Samuel Jones Tilden and of Thomas Andrews Hendricks, he has nothing to say that will or can possibly be construed to the disparagement of the personal character and integrity of Gov. Hayes or of Congressman Wheeler, the candidates of the Republican party for President and Vice-President of the United States. He has formerly written the Lives of Robert Raikes, of Horace Greeley, and a Memoir of Charles Sumner ; and in none of them did he find cause for assailing any other gentleman. In a recent History of Pennsylvania, former historians were not impugned, but gratitude was expressed for what they had done. Providentially, in the lives of the gentlemen portrayed in this volume, there is sufficient of uprightness, integrity, intellect, and good service rendered to their fellow-citizens, to place them on an eminence above reproach, and worthy of imitation ; and the author considers himself fortunate in having to set forth men of such honorable and praiseworthy characters.
It is always mean to besmirch a worthy man because he is
6 PREFACE.
not of our party in politics, or of our sect in religion ; and the " violent dealing " of such as do this, in the language of Israel's king, generally " conies down upon their own pate." Hence I was pleased to read in " The Boston Daily Advertiser," the morning after Gov. Tilden's nomination, " Republicans will be read}' to concede that in a personal sense no better selection could have been made ; " and, further, "He [Tilden] has done good work as a reformer, and he is entitled to all the credit of it." This is creditable, and more than was to have been expected from such a partisan paper, while the great evil of our day is to disparage men who are not of our party. The reader of these pages will look in vain for any thing of this kind in this volume.
W. M. C.
Chapter I
THE ANCESTRY OF GOV. SAMUEL JONES TILDEN.
PAGE.
Any Man may be President. — This Country long concealed. —
Settled by the Best Men. — "The Mayflower." — The Ancestors of Gov. Tilden.— Related to Cromwell. —The First Tilden settled in Scituate, Mass. — Tildens still there. — The Democratic Contract in " The Mayflower " 15
Chapter II
BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF GOV. TILDEN.
Columbia County. — The Chemists, the Governor's Brothers. — Anecdote of the Quaker Druggist. — The Governor's Father a thorough Democrat. — The Anti-Masonic Excitement. — Young Tilden's Article. — Mr. Van Buren denies its Paternity. — Samuel enters Yale College. — The Class. — Leaves ou Account of his Health. — Graduates at the New York University. — Studies Law. — Opens an Office. — Is fairly in the Legal Profession 20
CHAPTER HI.
POLITICAL PARTIES.
Quotation from Dr. Capen's Book. —From Dr. Young and Pope. — Early Origin of Parties in our Country. — Federalists, Republicans, "Whigs, and Democrats. — Thomas Jefferson. — Political Lying. — John Quincy Adams. — Andrew Jackson. — Anecdote of Harrison and John Tyler. — Fame of Gen. Jackson growing brighter. — Many Times the Country has been lost
CONTEXTS.
PAGB.
and saved. — Deacon's Prayer. — Rev. Mr. Burnham of Now Hampshire. — The coming Election. — A Warm Canvass. — Mr. Tilden's Experience 25
Chapter IV
POLITICAL LABORS OF SAMUEL J. TILDEX.
Choice of a Profession. — What is expected of a Professional Man. —Waiting in a Profession. —Mr. Tilden's Political Papers.—
His Speech answering Nathaniel P. Tallmadge. — He becomes an Editor. — Leaves the Editorship, and becomes a Member of the Assembly. — His Prominence in that Body. — Is elected a Member of the Convention to remodel the Constitution of the State of New York. — Becomes conspicuous in that Body . 3o
Chapter V
MR. TILDEX AS A LAWYER.
Further Success as a Politician by Mr. Tilden. —Takes the Palm from Senator Tallniadge. — He feels the Need of Money. — Contrast between the Professions of Lawyers, Doctors, and Ministers. —A Hermit. — Mr. Tilden knew his Power as a Lawyer. — Defeat of Silas Wright, and Political Changes, proved favorable to him. — He soon becomes eminent as an Attorney. —How he managed the Case of Mr. Flagg. — Mr. Tilden starts a Newspaper. — He is chosen a Member of the Assembly. — His Work there. — He is elected a Member of the Convention to remodel the Constitution. —His Management of the Canal Case. —Dr. BurdelTs Case. — Case of Delaware and Hudson Company against the Philadelphia Coal Company. — The Cumberland Coal Company 41
Chapter VI
MR. TILDEX AS A REFORMER.
Mr. Tihlen as an Honorable Man. —Luther a Peformer. — Auecdote of Alexander Pope. —Aristocratic Gathering at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. — Robert Collyer's Boat. — Mr. Bristow. — The New York Ping. — A Whip-Row. — Progress of the Ping. — Their vast Plunder. — Mr. Tilden's Plan for capturing the Ping. — Mr. Tilden again in the Legislature. — Nominated for and elected Governor. — His first Message. — His Objects: first, Reform; second, his Financial Policy. — Description of his Person. — What lie achieved 57
CONTENTS.
Chapter VII. Governor Tilden's Defence
PAGE.
Accuser, brought to face Each Other. - Mr. Tdden's own Statement -He is not responsible for the Controversy with the "Smes" Newspaper. -The Committee of the Bar Association.-He did not withhold Credit from "The Times -Mr Tilden's relations to Mayor Havemeyer. - His Speech at the Cooper Institute—The Occasion of the Exposition. - Quotations from "The Times.»-Mr. Tilden's Description of the Origin of the Ring. -Its Harmony with the Account given by Oth£s -The Period of the Ring-Power. -Formative Period. -Mr. Tilden assumes the Lead of the Democratic State Orgamzation. — His Speech iu the Circuit Court ' J
CHAPTER YIII.
MR. TILDEN'S OWN RECORD CONTINUED, IN WHICH HE FURTHER CONFIRMS THAT OF THE HISTORIAN.
Contest of 1370. -The Sham. -Opposition. -The Conflict. -The COn SalNatui-e of the Law.-Hlustration.- The Means ^
betraved the City. - Immediate Consequences. -The Summer of 8 -Court of Appeals. -Whiter of 1871. -School System-Code Amendments. -Contest of 1871. -Strong Posimn of the Pan, in the City. -Mr. Tilden's Speech at the Cooper Institnte in 1871. - Crisis of the ^est -Piyot^f the Contest -Ping Plan of the Campaign. -Mr. Tildeu s Plan ot Se Campaign. -How to overthrow the Ping iu the Popular Tote of the Citv. -The Time when Mr. Tildeu acted. -Mr. Kenan -Mr. Oswald Ottendorfe, - Mr. O' Conor. - Other Preparations. - Substitution of Mr. Green for Mr. Connolly in fheComptrollership -Efforts of the Ping to recover Posse. sio n.-State Convention. -Other Action.- Broad w a Bank investigations. -Mr. Tilden's Speech at Cooper Institute. - D^moc?atic Reform Vote in the City . - Further CoUection o Proofs. -Judicial Reform. - Conclusion. - Remark, by the
Compiler
Chapter IX
MR. TILDEN'S WAR RECORD, AND THAT OF GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
Gov. Tildeu believed that Slavery was guaranteed by the Constitution. -Both Garrison and Phillips believed this. - Ch ^n iles Sumner differed from them. -Mr. Tildeu endeavored to avert
10 CONTEXTS.
PAGE.
the War. — "When it came, he said Pre.s. Lincoln should have called out Five Hundred Thousand Men. —This was the Opinion of Many Others also. — Mr. Tilden believed that the "War should have heen conducted upon Sound Financial Principles. — Many supposed Secretary Chase's Plan for raising Money a bad one. — Secretary Seward's Prediction that the War would end in Ninety 1 >ays. — Mr. Tilden's Record as Governor. — Quotation from Senator Kernan's Speech. — The Democrats contend that Mr. Tilden, placed in the "White House, would reduce the National Expenses One Half .... 149
Chapter X
TWO GREAT MEN'S OPINIONS OF MR. TILDEN.
The Work done at St. Louis. — Do the Circumstances of the Country demand a Change? — Mr. Curtis's Knowledge of Mr. Tilden. — If Mr. Tilden is elected, it will he because the People demand it. —The Republican Party cannot rescue the Country from its Present Financial Condition. — The Kind of Man wanted. — Mr. Curtis's Views of the Change for the "Worse in the Wharves and Docks of New York. — Where the Larger Share of Blame for the War belongs. — What the Republican Party has to boast of. — What has the Republican Party done towards resuming Specie Payments? — Selections from Parke Godwin's Letter. — His Personal Acquaintance with Mr. Tilden. — His Rank as a Statesman. — His Administration as Governor of New York. — Gov. Tilden's Work in overthrowing the Tweed Ring. — Mr. Godwin's Advice to his Late Colleagues of the Conference in New York 1G0
THOMAS ANDREWS HENDRICKS.
CHAPTER XL
SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF THOMAS ANDREWS HENDRICKS.
Birthplace of Gov. Hendricks. —Education. — Graduates at Hanover College. — Studies Law in Pennsylvania. — Settles in Indianapolis. — Is chosen to the State Legislature. — Also to the State Convention. — Is elected a Member of Congress. — Also Senator. — Returns to the Practice of Law. — Is Chosen Governor. — His Views on the Finances. — A Hard-Money Man. — Description of his Person. — He is married, but has no Children 183
CONTENTS. 11
Chapter XII
SPEECH OF HON. THOMAS A. HENDRICKS AT ZANESVILLE, O., SEPT. 3, 1875.
PAGE.
Reference to Gov. Allen. — Gov. Hendricks on the Republican Financial Policy. — Specie Payments. — Republican Obstructions to Resumption of Specie Payments. — Extravagant Expenditures. — Vices in the Public Service. — District of Columbia. — Change the only Remedy 196
Chapter XIII. The Democratic National Convention, And Its Work
The Convention opened. — Permanent Organization. — The Platform. — Nominations. — Mr. Tilden nominated by Senator Kernan. — His Address and Resolution. — Mr. Hendricks nominated by Mr. Williams. — His Speech. — Mr. Fuller's Speech.
— Mr. Campbell's Speech. — Samuel Jones Tilden the Nominee for President. — Thomas Andrews Hendricks nominated for Vice-President . 225
Chapter XIV. What Followed The Nominations
General Enthusiasm. — Despatches to Gov. Tilden. — How he received the News. — His Remarks. — A Serenade. — Opinion of Hon. Charles Francis Adams. — Opinion of Hon. Charles G. Davis. — Opinion of Hon. Charles Levi Woodbury. — Of Hon. Edward Avery. — How the News was received in New York.
— "The New York Times." — "The Sun." — "Chicago Tribune." — Enthusiasm at Concord, N. H. — At Biddeford, Me.
— Gov. Tilden's Ward in New York. — The Committee to announce to Gov. Tilden the nomination perform that Duty. — Gov. Tilden's Reply to the Committee. — Selections from the Speech of Senator Bayard. — Delegates call on Gov. Hendricks. 248
— His Address to them.
Chapter XV
MR. TILDEN'S AND MR. HENDRICIv'S LETTERS OF ACCEPTANCE.
Gov. Tilden indorses the St. Louis Platform. —Reform in Public Expense. — How to accomplish it. — The Condition of the
12 CONTENTS.
TAGE.
South. — How to improve it. — Currency Reform. —Bank-note Resumption. — Legal-tender Resumption. — Necessary Currency. — Proper Time of Resumption. — Preparation for it. — Plan for Resumption. — Relief to Business Men. — Civil-Service Reform. — "What he purposes to do if elected to the Presidency. 274
Chapter XVI
THE PRESS ON THE LETTERS OF ACCEPTANCE OF MESSRS. TILDEN AND HENDRICKS.
New York Express. — Brooklyn Eagle. — St. Louis Republican. — Philadelphia Times. — Albany Argus. — Eagle again. — Boston Sunday Times. — Courier. — Traveller. — New York Tunes. — New York Herald. — Saturday Evening Express. — New Haven Register. — Springfield Republican. — Baltimore Gazette. — Chicago Times. — Cincinnati Enquirer. — New York Journal of Commerce. — Detroit Free Press. — Portland Argus. — Bangor Commercial. — Manchester Union. 303
CHAPTER XVH.
MR. TILDEN ON A NATIONAL BANK IN 1840. — HIS MESSAGE
Causes of Fluctuation in Prices. — Previous Crises and Failures. — United States Bank and Expansion of Currency the Causes. — From Mr. Tilden's Speech in 1868. — Conclusion. 321
INTBODTJCTICOT.
As by history we are informed what mankind have been and clone in past ages, the character of the best and worst men in every age, and how nations, empires, and kingdoms have arisen, flourished, decayed, and passed away, so by biography we see the benefit which great and good men have conferred on mankind. Indeed, no class of writings has had such vast influence in forming the character of the young, either for weal or woe, as these. Conquerors have been made by reading the lives of conquerors that have preceded them ; heroes, by reading of heroes ; and martyrs, clergymen, eminent business men, and persons in all professions, have been inspired with that supreme devotion and energy to an object, that has enabled them to overcome all obstacles, aad achieve the same or even more than those after whom they patterned.
The Creator, the fountain of all good, seems to have acted upon this principle in giving us the Bible, in which he has set before us, for our imitation, the characters of Abraham, Moses, David, Daniel, and many other holy men, among the Old Testament worthies ;
14 INTEODUCTION.
and we know, indeed, from the New Testament, that the grand object had in view by the Holy One in portraying their characters was for our imitation. Hence we are expressly told, " Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope ; " hence the writer to the Hebrews brings before us that host of worthies, till the number seems to swell beyond his powers of description, and he exclaims, " And what shall I more say? for the time would fail." All these were named, with their heroic deeds, for what ? " Seeing we also are compassed about by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also run with patience the race that is set before us : " in other words, seeing, knowing what others have done, taking them as our examples, let us discharge our duty, as they did ; " let us press towards the mark for our high calling." Deeply imbued with this principle of rising, of coming up to the highest round on the ladder of human perfectibility, Dr. Young said, —
11 All can do what has by man been done."
Having stated these general benefits to the world, from the biography of men who have rendered good service to their country, we are now prepared to speak of the gentlemen nominated at the St. Louis Convention ; namely, Samuel Jones Tilden for President, and Thomas Andrews Hendricks for Vice-President of the United States.
LIFE OF SAMUEL JONES TILDEN.
Chapter I
THE ANCESTRY OF GOV. SAMUEL JONES TILDEN.
Any Mean may be President. — This Country long Concealed. — Settled by the Best Men. — The Mayflower. — The Ancestors of Gov. Tilden. — Related to Cromwell. — The First Tilden settled in Scituate, Mass. — Tildens still there. — The Democratic Contract in " The Mayflower."
"While we firmly believe with Alexander Pope,
that —
" Honor and shame from no condition rise.
Act well your part : there all the honor lies," —
nevertheless a noble and worthy ancestry is by no means to be forgotten or despised. True, we have no monarchial descent or house of lords in our Republic ; and while we glory in the fact that the son of one of our poorest and most secluded citizens may become the president of this great nation, — or the boy upon a " flat-boat," as Abraham Lincoln did, — still a descent from worthy and honorable parentage through many generations is not to be despised, but, on the contrary, to be held up as worthy of imitation and " to the praise of those who have done well."
When it is considered that God concealed this vast country, stretching from the North to the South Pole and from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, from all the nations of the Eastern world for ages, and that he then sifted all the nations of the Old World for the choicest of the wheat with which to sow it, the best men with which to people it, who does not see the hand of the Almighty Ruler in this grand event ?
Nations had arisen, arrived to maturity, and passed awaj* ; mighty conquerors had shaken the earth : and yet this Western Continent remained unexplored, uninhabited save only by —
" The poor Indian, whose untutored mind Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind," —
till that little ship, " The Mayflower," landed upon the barren and rocky coast of Massachusetts, with her precious freight. Though no one by the name of Tilden came in that vessel, yet Joseph Tilden of Tenterden, County of Kent, England, was one of the " merchant princes " who fitted out that fine vessel that brought the Pilgrims to New England ; and, from the same county in England, Nathaniel Tilden, a brother of Joseph just named, came over in the " good shippe, Ann," as early as 1G34, and settled in Scituate in Massachusetts ; and in this town many boys have
ANCESTRY OF GOV. SAMUEL JONES TILDEN. 17
since had. the Christian name of Tilden as an honor. This same Nathaniel Tilden was an ancestor of Samuel Jones Tilden; and, what is more, he (the governor) descended as in a royal line from the stanchest Puritan blood of Old England. Nathaniel Tilden by marriage was nearly related to Gov. Window, as one of the governor's brothers married a sister of Hannah Bourne, who was the wife of Nathaniel Tilden. Further still, another sister was married to a son of Gov. Bradford, thus still in the line of governors. John Tilden, grandfather of Gov. Tilden, settled in Columbia County, New York. The governor's mother was a descendant of William Jones, once Lieutenant- Governor of the Colony of New Haven. This Gov. Jones is represented in history as one of the regicide judges of Charles I. This Jones married a sister of Oliver Cromwell, "the Protector," and a near relative of the celebrated John Hampden. Descended from such an ancestry, may not Gov. Tilden well have applied to him the epithet, " Blood will tell " ?
If Paul could say of himself, "I was of the straitest sect, an Hebrew of the Hebrews," may not the Democratic candidate for the president in this centennial year of our national existence well say, " I am a Puritan of the Puritans, of the ' Ironsides' of the Ironsides " f Give us a grander or a more noble ancestry, or one more "dyed in the wool" for civil and religious freedom, or one more entitled to the appellation of a reformer, you who can! The name of Tilden is still
18 LIFE OF SAMUEL JONES HLDEN,
continued and honored in the colony. As they were thus of the good old stock from whence spring all the
liberty of the British Constitution, according to the testimony of the historian Hume, Elam Tilden was
careful to imbue his sons with the spirit and principles of that little band, who on board "The Mayflower," before landing, entered into the following compact : "In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects o( our dread sovereign lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, king, defender of the faith. &c, having undertaken, for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation ; and furthermore, to the end aforesaid, and by virtue hereof, to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
u In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names, at Gape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord King James of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini 1620."
ANCESTRY OF GOV. SAMUEL JONES TILDEN. 19
To this instrument just one hundred names were subscribed. To this doctrine of pure democracy, the Tildens were strongly attached ; and in this school Elam Tilden fully and thoroughly instructed Ms son Samuel Jones ; and to it he (the governor) has fully adhered till the present time. As Elam Tilden the good old New York farmer had as implicit faith in the fathers of Democracy, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, and their associates, as the signers of the compact of " The Mayflower " had in King James, or as the Israelites had in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he had literally fulfilled the instruction which Moses gave to the Israelitish fathers, and had taught his son these things, "speaking of them when he rose up, and when he lay down ; when he was in the house, and when he was by the way," so that Samuel Jones Tilden was the best instructed in the national democracy by his ancestors, of any man in the community. So much for his " Pilgrim " ancestry.
Chapter II
BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF GOV. TILDEN.
Columbia County. — The Chemists, the Governor's Brothers. — Anecdote of the Quaker Druggist. — The Governor's Father a thorough Democrat. — The Anti-Masonic Excitement. — Young Tilden's Article. — Mr. Van Buren denies its Paternity. — Samuel enters Yale College. — The Class. — Leaves on Account of his Health. — Graduates at the New York University. — Studies Law. — Opens an Office. — Is fairly in the Legal Profession.
Samuel Jones Tilden was born in New Lebanon, Columbia County, State of New York, Feb. 9, 1814: consequently, he is in the sixty-third } r ear of his age. His grandfather, John Tilden, was one of the early settlers in this county. Columbia is in the east-southeast part of New York State, and contains an area of six hundred and twenty square miles. It is bounded on the east by the State of Massachusetts, and on the west by the Hudson River, and is drained by several small streams which afford valuable water-power. The surface of the east part is uneven and hilly, but, in the central and western portions, nearly level. The soil is generally fertile and well cultivated. Iron and lead ores, limestone, slate, and marble are among its
BERTH AND EDUCATION OF GOV. TILDEN. 21
mineral productions. The warm springs of New Lebanon, in the north-east part, are much resorted to. The Western Railroad, the Hudson River Railroad, and the Harlem Railroad, traverse this county. Organized in 178G. Capital, Hudson.
When his grandfather settled in this county, it was nearly a wilderness. His father, Elam Tilden, was a stanch farmer. Elam Tilden had three sons : Moses was the eldest, Henry the second, and Samuel Jones the youngest. Moses and Henry have long been engaged as chemists in manufacturing medicine at New Lebanon, N.Y. Their medicines have long been held in good repute ; and the writer had employed them in medical practice in Boston for more than twenty years, when, about the commencement of the late Avar, he removed to Philadelphia. The following incident shows the pride of the Philadelphia druggists. It is well known that the " City of Brotherly Love " has long claimed pre-eminence as the medical emporium of our country. One day, I entered the shop of a druggist, and inquired if he had Tilden's extracts. He gave no answer. As he was an elderly man, I thought he might be hard of hearing, and repeated the question in a somewhat louder tone, " Do you keep Tilden's extracts ? " when he screamed, loud enough to frighten a quiet Quaker, " No ! We don't go to New York to get our medicines. Do you think we go to New York to get our medicines?" Still I think Moses and Henry Tilden make quite as good medicines as the druggists of the " Quaker City."
Elam Tiklon was a thorough Democrat, of the Andrew Jackson school. He believed in Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, Gov. Marcy, the Livingstons, Silas Wright, and their coadjutors. The deeds of these men were often spoken of in the family ; and the present governor, then a lad, became deeply interested in Democracy.
About this time it was reported that "William Morgan, who had written a book exposing Freemasonry, had been abstracted from his home, and murdered by the Masons. The Anti-Masonic fever spread like wildfire over the country ; and so great was the excitement that no man who was a Mason, or said a word in their favor, could be elected to any office, or allowed to remain a member of any church. Those who did not join the cry, " Down with Masonry ! " were called Jacks, and were as unpopular as the Masons themselves. An effort was made at this period to accomplish a coalition between the National Republicans and the Anti-Masons, and thus defeat the election of Andrew Jackson as President, and Martin Van Buren as Vice-President of the United States, and William L. Marcy as Governor of the State of New York. The contest was a sharp and bitter one. Young Samuel, then, in 1832, only in his eighteenth year, collected together the views he had heard expressed in the family, wrote them out, and showed them to his father. The father was so well pleased with the drawing-up of the paper, and the clearness
BIHTH AND EDUCATION OF GOV. TILDEN. 23
with which lie showed the inconsistency and absurdity of the Anti-Masonic coalition, that he took it and his son to Mr. Van Buren. The final result was, it was published in " The Albany Argus," Oct. 9, 1832, and used as a campaign document. The argument was so good, and the reasoning so cogent, that the authorship was charged upon Mr. Van Buren. This was so generally believed, that Mr. Van Buren came out with a disclaimer, denying that he wrote it. This was the first political effort of Gov. Tilden, when a mere boy, and long before his education was completed. Thus Gov. Tilden inherited a taste for politics from his father, and early entered this arena.
When eighteen years old, Samuel entered the sophomore class in Yale College. This was the class of 1837, and one remarkable for talent, containing the present Chief Justice Waite of the United States Court, the eminent attorney William M. Evarts, Prof. Silliman, Judge Edwards Pierrepont, and others. Mr. Tilden's health failing, he left Yale without graduating with his class. It is somewhat remarkable, that this was the only failure of his health during his sixty-three years. He completed his undergraduate studies under Chancellor Mathews, and graduated at the University of New York.
Soon after his graduation, Mr. Tilden commenced the stud}- of law, in the office of the late John W. Edmunds of New York. Here he had peculiar facilities for the study of law, and also of politics, for the latter of which, we have already seen, he had strong proclivities. He had previously selected this as his profession ; and now his acute and keenly logical mind was applied with great earnestness to search out all that could be learned while a student in this profession. He is said to have made good progress in his studies. Upon admission to the bar, he opened an office in Pine Street, New York.
He was now fairly introduced into the legal profession, and, as the usual expression goes, had finished his education ; though in reality a man's education is but just begun when he commences the practice of his profession.
Having thus traced the genealogy and studies of Mr. Tilden, down to this period, and noticed his taste for political investigations, we are now prepared to speak of his success in legal practice and as a political man ; and as for several of the first years in his legal profession he mingled with politicians, and wrote and spoke for that party, I shall give his acts with the same admixture.
Chapter III. Political Parties
Quotation from Dr. Capen's Book. — From Dr. Young and Pope. — Early Origin of Parties in our Country. — Federalists, Republicans, Whigs, and Democrats. — Thomas Jefferson. — Political Lying. — John Quincy Adams. — Andrew Jackson. — Anecdote of Harrison and John Tyler. — Fame of Gen. Jackson growing Brighter. — Many Times the Country has been Lost and Saved. — Deacon's Prayer. — Rev. Mr. Burnham of New Hampshire. — The Coming Election. — A Warm Canvass. — Mr. Tilden's Experience.
" Party is the great engine of human progress. It is a combination of men of similar views and kindred sympathies, for moral or political supremacy. It leads to the war of knowledge upon ignorance, the conflict of holiness against sin, the struggles of freedom against tyranny. It is to be found in man as an individual, swayed by the opposing passions of the soul, whether for good or evil ; and by the objects of choice, whether yielding to or resisting the spirit of temptation. It is to be found in the numerous associations of society for influence ; controlling customs, forming habits, advancing fashions, and modifying, limiting, or extending the social or domestic duties. It divides the Church in regard to the sacred teachings of the
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You’ve reached the end of The life of Hon. Samuel Jones Tilden, governor of the state of New York; with a sketch of the life of Hon. Thomas Andrews Hendricks, governor of the state of Indiana.