Evening star., 1936-06-14
TON WAS HOME OF 1884 c. O. P. CANDIDATES
BOTH RESIDED IN CAPITAL
Blaine and Logan However, Kept Legal Residences Elsewhere
Tickets Defeat Ascribed to Indscreet Reference to
"Rum Romansm and Rebellion"

(1oo0J IllUNeu W 1OU1 MdoodCIluoSI1o
avenue, where once lived Vice Presi-
dent Fairbanks and Secretary of the
Treasury William Window.
At the time of Mr.. Blaine's DEATH
January 81, 1898, he was residing in
the old Commodore Rogers home on
Madison place. the site Of which is
now occupied by the Belasco Theater,
and here also died his son, Walker
Blaine, January IS, $780,
This was, indeed, a very historic
old building. having been erected in
1881. 1t soon became a fashionable
boarding house and numbered among
its guests John Adams. John c. Cal
houn and Henry Clay when Secretary
of State. Next, it became the Wash
ington Club, of which Dan" Sickles
and Philip Barton Key were mem
bers, and ii. was in front of the old
building that the tragedy linking the
names of these two men. occurred
During the Civil War it was the home
of Secretary Seward, and it was here
that an attempt on the life of the
Secretary was made by the conspira-
tor. Paine, on the same night that
Lincoln was shot, April IA, 1865.
But Just a word about the "Plumed
Knight" and the election that fol-
lowed his nomination. He was de-
feated, as every one knows or ought
to know, for Grover Cleveland his
opponent, receiped 2l9. electoral votes,
while Blaine only received 1872.
Just what caused the defeat of the
man from Maine" is a debatable
question, though the Rev. DR.. S. D.
Burchard has been held responsible
for the remarks he made as spokes-
man for delegation of clergymen
at the Fifth Avenue Hotel when ad-
dressing the Republican candidate
and in which he used the phrase
rum, Romanism and rebellion"
The story of this historic utter
ance is given in The Star Of Octo-
Der %, 1884, as follows:
I'VE are very happy to welcome
you to this circle" said DR., Burchard
You see here representatives of all
the denominations in this city. You
see the large number that are rep
resented. We are your friends, Mr.
Blaine. Notwithstanding all the
calumnies that have been urged in
| the papers against you, We stand by
your side. (Shouts of 'Amen.D We
expect to vote for you next Tuesday
We have a higher expectation, which
is that you will be the President
of the United States and that you
will do honor to your. name, TO
the United States and to the high Of
fee you will occupy. We are Republic
ans and don't propose to leave our
party and identify ourselves with the
party whose antecedents have been
rum, Romanism and rebellion. We
are loyal to our flag. We are loyal
to you"
1t is said that Mr. Blaine made no
reference to the alliterative phrase
which was the climax of DR.. Burch-
ards speech. But this failure on his
part proved critical, as it later de-
veloped, for the opposition seized
upon the subject and waged vigor-
Gus poster and speaking campaign ir
the last hours of the contest, and is
| believed, as a consequence, to have
resulted in Cleveland's election.
NATURALLY, DR.. Burchard made
an effort to end the harm of his
indiscreet remark, and on Sunday,
November /. 1884, he caused the fol-
lowing card to the public to be print
ed in the New York newspapers. and
The Star of that date also included
it in its news items, as follows:
The purport of my words in the
address of welcome to Hon. j. G.
Blaine at the Fifth Avenue Hotel
October 20, 1894, has been wholly
misunderstood. I did not intend to
cast any reflection on the Roman
Catholic Church and was speaking
of a party and of the doings of the
Democratic party. I am the last
person in a promiscuous aSsemblage
to characterize any religious denomi-
nation Extensively and believe in the
most perfect religious freedom and
liberation of all religious opinions.
desire to emphasize the fact that
alone am responsible for the Ian
guage and sentiment of my address. u
During the next campaign, when