De Alexander

Very cautiously started on the ground of necessity because of the attitude of the Southerners in Congress, the third-term idea continued to strengthen until the widespread and deep interest in the great soldier's home-coming was used to…

Conkling's sudden silence as to the danger threatening free elections, of which he declaimed so warmly in April, seemed to indicate undue satisfaction with existing conditions.

In 1847 the Wilmot Proviso struck the keynote of popular sentiment, and the Barnburners, leaving the convention the instant the friends of the South repudiated the principle, sought to stay the aggressiveness of slavery.

Indifference to ways and means gave no offence, but disobedience to the will of a caucus or convention admitted of no forgiveness.

But if a vision of the governorship momentarily unsettled his mind, one glance at McLaughlin and the Brooklyn delegation, sitting like icebergs in the midst of the heated uproar, restored his reason.

His eyes blazed, his choice words blended entreaty with reasoning, and his manner indicated an earnestness that captivated if it did not convert.

His purpose was to capture the Kings and Albany delegations, and walking down the aisles with stage strides he begged them, in a most impassioned manner, to put themselves in Tammany's place, and to say whether, under like circumstances…

In proclaiming Robinson's nomination on the first ballot he anticipated every movement of the enemy.

Although possessing the generosity of a rich nature, he preferred to work within lines of purpose without heady enthusiasms or reckless extremes, and his remarkable gifts as an executive, coupled with the study of politics as a fine art…

Moreover, he was a resourceful business man, keen, active, and honest--characteristics which he carried with him into public life.

He possessed a charm which suffused his personality as a smile softens and irradiates a face, and although it was a winsome rather than a commanding personality, it lacked neither firmness nor power.

His high qualities and flexibility of mind gave him unrivalled distinction.

Indeed, his activity along lines of reform had placed him at the head and front of everything that made for civic betterment.

He was also an eminently wary and cautious man, alive to the necessity of watching the changeful phases of public opinion, and slow to propound a plan until he had satisfied himself that it could be carried out in practice.

The principles thus felicitously and rhetorically stated formed the basis of the platform, which pledged the party anew to national supremacy, equal rights, free elections, and honest money.

When it is intended that, unless another species of legislation is agreed to, the money of the people, paid for that purpose, shall not be used to maintain their government, the threat is revolution and its execution is treasonable." Then…

But the attempt to get rid of the objectionable Act by a rider on a supply bill meant more than repeal.

Merritt had made an excellent collector, and a feeling existed, which had crystallised into a strong public sentiment, that it was unwise to force into his place an official unsatisfactory to the Secretary of the Treasury.

Nevertheless, to most Republicans, whether friends or foes, his defeat on February 3 was a great relief.

Failure to recommit turned defeat into confusion, and confusion into disaster.

To illustrate the insincerity of the Administration's desire to reform the civil service he read several place-seeking letters addressed to Arthur while collector and written by the President's private secretary, by a member of the…

Besides, the moderation and good temper with which he discussed the doctrine of the inflationists did much to hold dissenters within the party and justly entitled him to high praise.

Such inconsistency showed timidity and confusion instead of courage and conviction, disappointing to friends and ridiculous to opponents.

For firmness, however, Hayes substituted hesitation, compromise, and in some instances surrender.

The establishment of a real change in the system of appointments and of office-holding control invited a severe contest, and success depended upon the courage and conviction of the Administration itself.