The daily gazette., 1883-06-13
r1LDEN AND rnn pRrsiDrN,,Y.
WatersOn Says NO Power Could Induc'
Him 70 Accept

Him 10 Accept.
New YORK, June 12.-Henry Watterson,
who has been spending some days with Mr..
Tilden, has written the following account
of his visit for the Louisville Courier Journal,
in which paper it will appear tomorrow:
81 have been spending a few days at
Greystone with Governor Tilden, aud not
merely because his old friends IN the West
and South have an ever present personal in
terest in him, but because nis name is at
the moment upon the lips of politicians Of
every class all over the country, propose
to give the readers OF The Courier JorurnGl
some particular account of him.
when l parted from him year ago
did never expect TO see him again. Indeed
was 80 ske )tieal of the stories concerning
his res Grafton to health as to feel a delicacy
about intruding upon his privacy. He was
good enough to send for me and l went over
to Gramercy P..rk in II somewhat sorrowiul,
sympathetic state of mind. Ny surprise al
most exceeded my qualification. The old
house is undergoing reconstr ction
and enlargement on magnificent
scale. But the old library is still
the same, being held from the hand
of despoiling splendor for the last. take
1t as a tribute OF affectionate remembrance
of old times, old friends and old books.
There found the Governor. II an appari-
tion had stood before me / could not have
been more astonished. The days of rs 81
seemed to have come back. His low voice
was found again. His eyes were bright and
his cheeks ROSY. His intellect as sinewy
and clear and his wit as incisiVe as they
were when he made nothing of riding
Blackstone to Harlem and back or driving
the Kentucky bays from Gramercy Park to
Greystone. He took me all over the new
house, pointing out the various changes,
explaining his general design and discus
sing architecture and architects with char
acteristic intelligence. He quite tired me
out-a favorite and malevolent way he has
of punishing his Misunderstanding long
stairs, meandering through labyrinths of
decorative art and threading the tapestried
and frescoed mazes of corridor and cham
bers. On current affairs he talked with his
usual pungency and candor. When endur-
ance had ceased to be virtue l said: 'Gov-
ernor, don't you think we have had enough
of thisP He smiled and in his dry, halt
plying, half-sarcastic way replied: AT you
are tired we will go down stairs
cat Greystone his life is of the simplest
and busiest. He has farm hard by and
no end of pigs, poultry and blooded
stock. OF course, 1 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 ingenious. stood my ground like a
hero, but 1t must be owned that the 1over-
nor's farming is, like everything he under
takes, thoroughly well done. | asked him
whether he tried to make any money out
of it. 'Oh, no, he said. 1T is easier
made some other way While
at Greystone not so much as the shadow or
the ghost of politician crossed the thrOo
hold Vi appeared upon the grounds. Sur
rounded by his nieces and his books the old
statesmen and philosopher was as unre-
served in his conversation as he was and
always is, simple and cordial in his hospi-
tality. One of the Young ladies told me that
the little household had go5 through over
200 volumes the last winter. The
Governor is a voracious and versatile
reader no less than an attentive and wise
observer of affairs, and we talked of every
thing, from Tn mas A. Kemps to Thomas
A. Hendricks. He playfully observed that
the chief objection he had heard o.the cleo
tion of Mr.. Carlisle to the Speakership was
that in some recent volumes published by
one Mr.. Frond there was a suspicion that
he had mistreated his wife.
"Here l must stop. l know that the pub
lie is most curious to learn what are Mr..
Tilden's views of political affairs, current
and prospective. l have little doubt that II
had the right to speak could, by faith
fully reporting him, make myself at once
entertaining and instructive. But the
opinions Of every man are his own and
his house is sacred. / never knew
man more entirely frank in his intercourse
with his friends than this sage Of Grey
stone, but am not his mouthpiece ond it is
not for me to come all the way from Ken
lucky to New York to do that which he is
SO much better able to do for himself can
say, however, for myself, that nothing
passed which leads me to modify the opinion
have so often expl plessed-that no power
on earth could induce him to accept the
Presidency"