The sun., 1899-07-23

son 10 q rank demagoeue. and suspect. al
heart. a great scoundrel." Lincoln made nc
reply. Charles A. Tinker. who received from
the wire the despatch announcing the nomina-
tion for the Vice President. testified that the
Presidents doubling manner and words upon
hearing the news made a strong impression on
him. He says that Lincoln. after rfadinR the
telegram. soilouuized aloud: We'll. thought.
possibly. he might be the man. Perhaps he Ia
the best man-but - Lincoln did not finish
the sentence. but passed out OF the office. leav-
| ing Tinker impressed with the ominous sig
nincance OF the interrupted words.
After his failure to receive the denomination
for Nice-Prcsdent. Hamlin had intended to
| come forward once more in the following win
ter as a candidate for a seat in the United
States Senate. Tho place. however. was
secured by william T. Fessenden. and 1t was
not until 1869 that ITamlin returned to the
| upper house Of Congress. Meanwhile Lin
| coin had offered to Hamin the Secretaryship
| OF tho Treasury. but. owing to Senator Fessen-
den's opposition, the Offer had to be with
drawn. In August. 1865. however. Hamln
ccepted at tho hands OF President Johnson the
post OF Collector Of the Port Of Boston. which
was then worth from 100000 to $4,000 year.
This has been sometimes spoken OF as an act
OF derogatlon on his part. but. as a matter OF
United States Senator to become Mayor OF New
York and James Monroe. fifth President OF tho
United States. became Postmaster Of the same
city after he retired from the White House
In August. 1865. Hamlin resigned his Col
lectorship on the express ground that he
could not support tho Presidents reconstruct
ton policy. This he proceeded to denounce
publicly and ultimately joined in the demand
for Johnson's impeachment.
After Hamlin's reelection to the Senate in
1SB9-agan by only one vote-he spoke even
less than he had in ante -beum days. but he
exerted much influence in shaping legislation.
In the Presidential campaign OF 1872 Hamlin
took an active part. but he was not one OF those
who heaped ridicule on Horace Greeley for
whom he continued to feel an affectionate
gard. At the close of his Senatorial term in
1879 Hamn thought OF retiring TO private life.
but his personal followers insisted on reclect-
ing him. and he was returned by a vote OF 3 to
In the Maine Legislature. HamIins position
with regard to tho disputed Presidential cleo
tion OF 1876 is thus stated in the book before us:
He never doubted that IL their votes could bo
fairly counted it would be shown that the
Republicans had carried South Carolina Louis
lana. and Florida The proposal to refer the
determination Of the question OF fact to a COM
mission was. to his mind. tantamount to an
acknowledgment that there was some grave
doubt about Hayes's election. Moreover. he
regarded the commission as unconstitutional
and as a dangerous precedent After Hayes
became President and proceeded to carry out
the bargain made with leading Southern Dem
ocrats in South Carolina and Louisiana. Ham
lin yehementy denounced his course and
warned him that he would not carry single
school district in the South. We need not say
that the prediction was verified. the solid South
having rpmain ed II N brOk q n until A n a penera-
tion came upon the scene.
Although Hamlin declined reelection to the
Senate in 1881. he was not suffered to remain
In retirement long, owing. probably. to the
conspicuous part which he played in the Re-
publican National Convention OF 1880 Heas-
sumed charge OF the Blaine forces in the Re-
publican National Convention held at Chicago
In that year. and 1t was largely due to his poti-
cal expertness that Grant was beaten. Touch
ing this point. j. IL Manley testnes. 80 Tho
two great factors in the convention were Ros-
coe Conling and Hannibal Hamlin. The
former appeared in the public eye to dominate
but Senator Hamin was the greater power
He, more than any other man. controlled
the opposition to Grant and. in the end. con-
tributed moro than any ono else to defeating
the third term and nom minntng Garfield" Just
before he retired from the Senate Hamlin cas-
ualy expressed desire to visit Europe. Gar
field heard of tho wish. and when he came to
Washington to be naugurated he offered
TO appoint linmlin Minister to Germany. Italy
or Spain. Hamlin consented to take the last
named post on condition Of being permitted to
resign it after years tenure of office. Tho
last official act Of Garields life was to send
Hamln's name to the senate for Minister to
Spain Tho subject OF this biography lived
almost ten years after his return from Europe,
and died. as we have said. in 1891 Like John