The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-11-06
HE WAS PARALYZED.
wEY THE PLUMED KNIGHT De
CLINED TIE PRESIDENCY.
a Historical Revelation-Urged sy His
Attendant Physician to Write the Fa-
NOUS Florence Letter Of January 5,
1885,

and speechless and was also sutferins
from intense melancholia. The article.
after giving the various dictionary def
nitions Of pareSis, continues as follows:
s'Poor Mr. Blaine. For nearly two
wears he has endured misrepresentation
and abuse for suddenly rejecting 4
Presidential nomination which at last
was absolutely in his own hands. lie
has kept silent. He has striven to Gu
velop in mystery his reasons for writing
the Florence letter. The truth should
be known. Itdoes not reflect upon Mr.
Blaine. It commands for him, on the
contrary, the apologies of his querulou>
friends and the sympathies of his polltl,
cal opponents. The facts herein sci
forth belong to the history of American
politics, though not by any means are
all the occurrences of that sad winter to
Mr.. Blaine's life presented, because
there is no wish to add to the sorrows OF
his recollection of it.
Mr.. Blaine had a stroke of paralysis,
brought on by chill caught in the St.
Gothard tunnel He was prostrated at
Milan for twepty-four days, and with
his convalescence appeared a most dis.
tressing type of melanchoiia, which fully
developed after he reached Florence:
During this last stage of his long and
painful illness, acting on the advice of q
conscientious physician, Mr.. Blaine
wrote the letter withdrawing his name
from the list of Presidential candidates.
The World correspondent first called
upon DR.. Baldwin of Florence, upon
whose advice the letter was written. He
argued that the writing of the letter was
matter of life or death to Mr.. Blaine,
who did not consult any of his friends
in America upon the step he was
taking.
When asked why he had urged Mr..
Blaine to write the letter, DR.. Baldwin
replied:
tsI will never tell what was the matter
with Mr.. Blaine, further than to say
that his trouble was functional, not ap-
oplectic. But it was of the utmost
gravity. For him to have gone into the
excitement of summer and fall cam
paign such as would have followed his
nomination would have cost him his
life. am certain of that. 1t is mat
ter as far removed from the realm OF
doubt as we are from Madison Square.
Everybody who saw Mr.. Blaine that
winter in Paris or elsewhere before he
came here knows that he showed un
mistakable signs of mental overwork.
ssIt was not so many months since he
had lost the Presidency by what shall
we says "a fuke.' He suffered, no
doubt, disappointment of the most poig-
nant character. He was morose and
hypochondriacal to degree seldom seen.
II you knew the awful depression of Mr..
Blaine's mind you could understand
everything and see it all"
The physician, turning to the CORES
pondent, then said:
& go, now let me ask you a question.
.ssWill Mr.. Blaine be a candidate agains'
II am sure I don't know. Is there
any reason why he should not be2'
Absolutely none whatever. The
functional trouble from which he sal
2yfg6 Sast again likely69knterfere with
his aspirations. assdd t tHs4s he ought to
cry once more '@1ssss -
Then the correspondent went to Milan,
where Mr.. Blaine had stopped before
going to Florence. At the Hotel Carour
the proprietor said that the presence Of
Mr.. Blaine and his family at the hotel
was kept very secret and but few people
knew of it, although they remained
there twenty-four. days. Mr.. Blaine, he
said, became i'll on the night of his
arrival and DR.. Fornoni was called.
This physician was next called upon by
the Worlds correspondent. He SAID
that when he reached the hotel Mr..
Blaine, whom he did not then know,
was suffering from paralysis of the right
side. BE could not utter an intelligible
word, though he made spasmodic efforts
at intervals to do so. His right arm
and leg were utterly helpless. His pulse
was very weak and his heart quite II
regular. He vaguely understood, or
appeared to, when the doctor addressed
him. The. doctor finally succeeded in
getting look at his tongue, but 1t was
drawn over to one side of his mouth.
Z The physician was not certain that com
piSic pdIdi,S ,SS1S uts,Ne hoo Sat'o". ~ HS
remained an hour and then gave direc-
tions to the family and some remedies
to the patient and left.
Mr.. Blaine remained this way for a
week, and then recovered the use Of his
tongue. He became very respondent
and hypochondriacal and daily became
more depressed. To the physicians: re-
assuring talk he would answer:
'sNo, am finished" or Il am done
for" or "My career is ended"
One afternoon he suddenly said:
'sIt's all over with me. will cable
to my friends that am hopelessly sick.
Oh, am done, doctor; know it. There
is no hope"
His melancbolia increased and he
spent hours writing his name upon
slips of paper and complaining that he
could not write as we'll as formerly, al
though no one else could see any appre-
ciable difference. He was cured of this
delusion by being shown his signature
written some years previously.
Republican Persecution in Virginia.
The Virginia Democratic State Execu-