The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1883-06-20
THE GRAMERCY SAGE.
Ex-Governor Tilden is Visited by
" Mr.. WattersOn,
Who Writes a Readable Letter On
the Formers Health and
Surroundings.

NEW YORK, June 18.-HOn. Henry
WattersOn spent some days last week
with Mr.. Tilden, and has written the
following account of his visit for the
Courier -JOurnal: II have been spend
ing q few days at GreysIOne with
Governor Tilden, and not merely be-
cause his old friends in the West and
South have an everpResent personal In
terest in him, but because his name Is
at the moment upon the lips of pOlitic-
ians of every class all over the country.
l propose to give the readers of the COur-
ier-JOurnal some particular account of
him. When l parted from him year
ago never expected to see him again;
indeed, | was 50 skeptical of the stories
concerning his restoration to health as
TO feel delicacy about intruding upon
his privacy. He was good enough to
send for me, and L went over to Gram
ercy Park in somewhat sOrrOwful and
sympathetic state of mind. My surprise
almost exceeded my qualification. The
old house Is undergoing reconstruction
and enlargement on a magnificent scale.
But the old library is still the same, be-
ing held from the hand Of despOiling
splendOT for the last; take it as tTib-
ute of affectiOnate RENE mbrance of old
times, old friends and old books. There
l found the Governor. If an apparitiOn
had stood befOr8 me ! could not have
been more astOnished. The days of 1876
81 seemed to have came back. His low
voice was found again. His eyes were
bright and his cheeks rosy. His intel
lect as sinewy and clear and his wit as
incisiVe as they were when he made
nothing of riding Blackstone to Harlem
and back. OF driving the Kentucky Boys
from Gramercy Park to Greystone. He
took me all over the new house, point
ing out the various changes, explaining
his general design, and discussing arch
itectuTe and architects with character
istic intelligence. lie quite tired me
out, a favOTite and maleYOlent way he
has OF Furnishing his friends, climbing
long stairs, meandering through laby-
rinths of decorative art, and threading
the tapestried and frescOed mazes of
corridor aud chamber. On current af
fairs he talked with his usual pungency
and eandOr. When endurance had eeas-
ed to be virtue, | said: Governor,
don't you think we have had enough of
thisP"
He smiled, and in his dry. half-pity-
ing, half-sarcasiic way, replied: "If
you are tired, we will go down stairs"
''At GreystOne his life is one of the
simplest aud busiest. He has a farm
hard by, and no end of pigs, poultry and
bloOded stock. OF course l had to be
dragged over this farm, and the devices
which the old gentleman put slyly forth
to trap me into some unguarded treason
to the butter and eggs of my blue grass
country were many and ingenius. |
stood my ground like herOI but it must
be confessed that the Governors farm
ing is like everything else he under
takes, thoroughly well done. asked
him whether he tried to make money
out of it. 'Oh, no." he said; sit is cas-
ier made some other way" f.
While was at GreystOne not so much
as the shadow of a politician crossed
the Threshold, or appeared upon the
grounds. Surrounded by his nieces and
his books, the old statesman and philOs-
Opher was as unreserVed in his cOnver-
satiOn as he was, and always Is, simple
and cordial in his hospitality.
One of the young ladies told me the
little household got through over 200
volumes the last winter. The Governor
is vOracious and versatile reader, no
less than an attentive and wise observer
of affairs, and we talked of everything,
from Thomas Kempis to Thomas Hem
dricks. He playfully observed that the
chief objection he had heard to the cleo
tiOn of Mr.. Carlisle to the Speakership
was, that in some recent volumes pub
lished by one Mr.. FrOude, there was a
suspicion he had mistreated his wife.
Here l must stop. know the public
is most curious to learn what are MIR.
Tilden'S Views of political affairs, cur
rent and prospective. l have little
doubt, If l had the right to speak,
could, by faithfully reporting him, make
myself at once entertaining and in
structiVe. But the opinions Of every
man are his own, and his house Is sa-
cred. never knew man more thor
Oughly honest in his intercourse with
his friends than the Sage of GreystOne;
EUuk II hi flnWaf nd fet
not for me to come all the way from
Kentucky to New York to do that which
he is so much better able to do for him
self. L can say, however, for myself,
that nothing passed which leads me to
modify the opinion have,sO often ex-
pressed, that no power on earth could in
duee him TO accept the Presidency. I