Recollections of Forty Years in the House, Senate and Cabinet Part 112

Our Party Takes Its Departure on the "City of New York" on May 1-- Personnel of the Party--Short Stop in London--Various Cities in Italy Visited--Sight-Seeing in Rome--Journey to Pompeii and Naples --Impressions of the Inhabitants of Southern Italy--An Amusing Incident Growing Out of the Ignorance of Our Courier--Meeting with Mr. Porter, Minister to Rome--Four Days in Florence--Venice Wholly Unlike Any Other City in the World--Favorable Impression of Vienna --Arrival at Paris--Reception by the President of the Republic of France--Return Home--My Opinion Concerning England and Englishmen --Reception at Washington--Campaigning Again for Foraker--Ohio Ballot Box Forgery and Its Outcome--Address at Cleveland on "The Congress of American States"--Defeat of Foraker for Governor.

Soon after the close of the called session in April, 1889, Mrs.

Sherman and I concluded to make a trip to Europe. Both of us had been confined more than usual for over a year, and needed recreation and a change of scene. We went to New York on the 27th of April, stopping with my niece, Mrs. Alfred M. Hoyt. On the next day we witnessed from the battery the naval parade in honor of the centennial of the inauguration of Washington. On the first of May my little party, composed of Mrs. Sherman, Miss May Hoyt, my daughter Mary and myself, were driven to the steamer "City of New York," and there met Senator Cameron and his wife, with their infant child and nurse, Mrs. Colgate Hoyt, a niece of mine, with four children and nurse, and Mrs. Henry R. Hoyt, child and nurse. With this large party we had a joyous and happy voyage. Among the pa.s.sengers we found many agreeable companions and had the usual diversions, such as music, singing and card playing. We arrived at Queenstown on the 8th of May without any special incident, proceeding thence to Liverpool and London, where we stopped at the Hotel Metropole.

Here all our companions except our family party of four left us.

As it was our desire to visit Italy before the hot weather set in, we determined to push on as rapidly as convenient to Naples. We spent a day or two in London. We pushed on to Paris via Folkestone and Boulogne. We remained three days at the Hotel Liverpool in Paris and there met several friends, among them Mrs. William Mahone and daughter, and Major and Mrs. Rathbone. On the 14th we went to Lyons, the 15th to Ma.r.s.eilles, and the 16th to Nice. On the 17th we visited Monte Carlo, and on the 18th went to Genoa. Here we spent two days in visiting the most interesting places in that ancient and interesting city. From thence, on the 20th, we went to Rome. The city had already been abandoned by most of the usual visitors, but we did not suffer from the heat, and leisurely drove or walked to all the princ.i.p.al places of interest, such as the ruins of the Roman forum, the Colosseum, the baths of Caracalla and St. Peter's, and the many churches in that ancient city. In the six days in Rome we had, with the aid of maps and a good guide, visited every interesting locality in that city, and had extended our drives over a large part of the Campagna. At Liverpool I had employed a Swiss with the awkward name of Eichmann as my courier.

He had a smattering knowledge of many languages, but could not speak any well; he proved to be faithful, and, so far as I could discover, was honest. He relieved us from petty cares and could generally find the places I wished to see. On the 27th we went to Naples, and on the 28th by steamer to Sorrento and Capri. On the 29th we traveled by carriage to Pompeii and thence to Naples. On the 30th we drove about Naples as well as we could, but here we began to feel the heat, which was damp and depressing. It is the misfortune of this city that, although surrounded on all sides by the most beautiful and picturesque scenery of sea and mountain, in a land rich in historical and poetical annals, yet a large portion of the inhabitants impress a stranger with the conviction that they are the poorest, and perhaps the most ignorant, population in Europe. It is a sad reflection, that applies especially to all parts of southern Italy, that the descendants of the Romans, once the rulers of the world, are now cla.s.sed among the lowest in intelligence in the Christian and civilized world. I remember two things about Naples, one that Mount Vesuvius was in partial action during our stay, and that we had a full opportunity to explore the ruins of Pompeii.

About this time there occurred an amusing incident growing out of the ignorance of a common American phrase on the part of my courier.

Mr. Oates, of Alabama, a leading Member of the House of Representatives, was traveling with his wife and friends on the same general route that I was. We frequently met and had pleasant and friendly chats.

Eichmann noticed our intimacy and was very polite to Mr. Oates.

One day, as my party and I were about to enter a car, some one said: "Is not that John Sherman?" Mr. Oates said, in the hearing of Eichmann: "Yes, that is Sherman," and added as a compliment: "He was a good watchdog in the treasury." Eichmann catching the phrase "watchdog" applied to me regarded it as a gross insult. He rushed into my car, his face aflame with pa.s.sion and his English more confused than usual, and said: "That man," pointing to Oates, "was not your friend; he called you, sir, a watchdog; yes, sir, a watchdog. He has but one arm, sir, one arm, or I would have chastised him." I had great difficulty in persuading him what a "watchdog" meant, that it was intended as a compliment, not as an insult.

On the 31st we returned to Rome. During my stay there I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Porter, our minister to Rome. He was hardly yet installed in his duties, as the king had been absent, but returned from Germany the day I arrived. Porter and I had been in Congress together, and boarded at the same house. He was not only a man of ability, but of pleasing address and manners.

Everybody I saw in Rome was talking about the heat and moving out of town. On June 1, I went to Florence. There we spent four days very pleasantly. The hotel was good, the weather all we could desire, and the people we met, looked contented and comfortable.

They were in striking contrast with their countrymen in Naples.

There was an air about the place that indicated prosperity. Florence is an art gallery. Several of our countrymen, famous as artists, of whom I can recall Powers, Meade and Turner, were not only pursuing, but learning, their art. I was told that a considerable part of the population were engaged in painting and sculpture. No doubt their wages were small but food and clothing were also low.

We would gladly have remained longer in Florence if my plan of travel would have allowed it. Not only was the city and all the treasures of art interesting, but the country around was picturesque and highly cultivated. We could ride in any direction over admirable roads and almost every place had an historical interest. I witnessed there a review of several thousand troops, but was especially interested in a body of small men well drilled for rapid movements.

The parade was on Sunday and the ladies objected to a parade on that day. I observed that in the Latin states I visited, Sunday was generally selected for such displays. I purchased two works of art from American artists. I commend the wisdom of their choice of location, for in Florence the love of art, especially of sculpture, is more highly appreciated than in any other city of Europe that I have visited.

Our next stopping place was Venice. The chief attraction of this city is that it is unlike any other city in the world in its location, its architecture, its history and in the habits and occupation of its people. It is literally located in the sea; its streets are ca.n.a.ls; its carriages are gondolas and they are peculiar and unlike any other vessel afloat. Magnificent stone palaces rise from the waters, and the traveler wonders how, upon such foundations, these buildings could rest for centuries. Its strange history has been the basis of novels, romances, dramas and poetry, by writers in every country and clime. Its form of government was, in the days of the Doges, a republic governed by an aristocracy, and its wealth was the product of commerce conducted by great merchants whose enterprise extended to every part of the known habitable globe.

We visited St. Mark's cathedral, the palace of the Doges, and the numerous places noted in history or tradition. We chartered a gondola and rode by moonlight through the Grand Ca.n.a.l and followed the traditional course of visitors. The glory of Venice is gone forever. We saw nothing of the pomp and panoply of the ancient city. The people were poor and the palaces were reduced to tenement houses. Venice may entice strangers by its peculiar situation and past history, but in the eye of an American traveler it is but a great ruin. The wages paid for labor were not sufficient to supply absolute necessities.

The construction of the railroad to Vienna is a remarkable feat of engineering. The route over the Semmerling pa.s.s presents difficulties far greater than any encountered in the United States. We spent four days in and about Vienna. Its location on the River Danube was a good one for a great city. The surrounding country was interesting and well cultivated. The comparison between the people of Vienna and Venice was very much in favor of Vienna. The city was clean, well built, with many signs of growth and prosperity.

The people were comfortably clad, and the crowds that gathered in the parks and gardens to hear the music of the military bands were orderly and polite. Among the European cities I have visited, I recall none that made a more favorable impression on my mind than Vienna. I found no difficulty in making my English understood, and it was said of the people of that city that they generally knew enough of the English and French languages, in addition to their native German, to sustain a conversation in either. We visited Colonel Fred. Grant, then our minister to Austria, at Vosben, about twenty miles by rail from Vienna. I did not seek to make acquaintances in Vienna, as my time would not allow it, but, from a superficial view, I believed that the people of that city were intelligent, social and friendly, with more of the habits of Frenchmen than of the Germans of Berlin, or of the English of London.

From Vienna we followed the line of railroad through Salzburg, Innsbruck, to Zurich, stopping at each place for a day. This a very interesting country, generally picturesque, and in some places mountainous. Here we see the southern German in his native hills.

A vein of superst.i.tion colors their creed as good Catholics. They are, as a rule, loyal to their emperor, and content with their condition. The pa.s.sage from the Tyrol into Switzerland is not marked by national boundaries, such as rivers or mountains, nor does the population vary much until one reaches Zurich. In our progress thus far, from Nice through Italy and Austria, our party had been traveling over, to us, a new and strange land. At Zurich we entered within a region visited by Mrs. Sherman and myself in 1859. The cities and mountains of Switzerland seemed familiar to us. Great changes, however, had occurred in modes of travel in this short period in these old countries. Railroads traversed the valleys and crossed the mountains, where we had traveled in the stage coach. At Lucerne I went up a tramway to the top of Mt.

Pilatus, at a grade of from 25 to 35 degrees. I did not feel this in ascending, but in descending I confess to experiencing real fear. The jog-jog of the cogwheels, the possibility of their breaking, and the sure destruction that would follow, made me very nervous. I would have been less so but for a lady unknown to me, sitting by my side, who became frightened and turned deathly pale.

I was glad indeed when we reached the lake.

From Lucerne Mrs. Sherman went to Neuchatel to meet my niece, Mrs.

Huggins, then sick at that place. The remainder of the party went to Interlaken and the valley in which it is situated. I have no room for the description of mountain scenery, and no language can properly convey a sense of its grandeur. I have mentally contrasted Mt. St. Bernard and the Simplon with Pike's Peak and Mt. Washburn, and feel quite sure that in grandeur and in extent of view the American mountains are superior to those named in Europe, but the larger population in easy reach of the mountains of Switzerland will give them the preference for a generation or more. Then Mt.

Shasta will take its place as the most beautiful isolated mountain in the world, and the Rocky Mountain range will furnish a series of mountains surpa.s.sing the mountains of Switzerland; but both South America and Asia contain mountains thousands of feet higher than either or any of the mountains of Europe or North America.

Without going into details of travels over familiar ground all our party arrived safely at Paris on the 2nd of July, 1889. Unfortunately, Mrs. Sherman was called back to Neuchatel on the 4th of July, on account of the continued serious illness of Mrs. Huggins, the balance of the party remaining in Paris. We were in that city two weeks and attended the international exposition many times. The French people know better than any other how to conduct such a show. The great building in which it was held was so arranged that similar articles were grouped together, and yet all productions of a country were in convenient proximity. The French are artists in almost every branch of human industry. They are cheerful, gay and agreeable. They are polite and therefore sensitive of any slight, neglect or rudeness and promptly resent it.

While in Paris we formed some agreeable acquaintances. Whitelaw Reid, our minister to France, entertained elegantly his countrymen and his a.s.sociates in the diplomatic corps. From him our little party, especially the two young ladies, received many courtesies, and through him we had invitations from the President of the French Republic and officers of the exposition. The reception at the palace of the president was in striking and pleasing contrast with that given by the emperor in 1867, already referred to. The later reception was simple in form, something like a reception by the President of the United States, but where it differed it was an improvement upon our custom. The invitation was quite general and extended to the diplomatic corps, to all persons representing any article in the exposition, and to many citizens and visitors in Paris, who were named by the diplomatic corps or by the officers of the French government. I think that fully as many persons were present as usually attend the receptions of our President. Each invited guest, as he entered the reception room, gave his name, and, if escorting others, gave their names to the officer in charge.

The name was announced to the president, who stood a few paces in the rear, the guests and the president bowed but did not shake hands and the guests pa.s.sed on through a suite of rooms or into the garden. Miss Hoyt, my daughter and I attended the reception with Mr. and Mrs. Reid. As Mr. Reid entered the room his name and office were announced, and the president and he advanced towards each other, shook hands, and I and my party were introduced and we shook hands. This occupied but a moment and the reception of others went on, only occasionally interrupted by the president when he chose to recognize some one by handshaking. When we were received, as stated, we were introduced by Mr. Reid to several persons on attendance on the president, and then retired with the pa.s.sing company. In this way the president and his wife escaped the extreme fatigue of shaking hands with thousands of people in rapid succession, often producing soreness and swelling of hands and arms. I hope some President of the United States will be bold enough to adopt, as he can, this simple measure of relief practiced by the President of the French Republic. The French government also furnishes a house ample enough for a large reception, which the United States does not do, but I trust will.

We left Paris on the 15th of July and joined Mrs. Sherman at Neuchatel. After two days at this delightful place we went to Basle and thence down the Rhine, stopping at places of interest on the way, but this is a journey I had taken before.

We made a brief visit to Amsterdam and the Hague, and then went to Brussels, with which city we had become acquainted on our previous visit. We arrived in England about the 1st of August and remained in London, or its environs, a week, most of the time in the country.

During my stay I did not seek to form new acquaintances and most of the people I knew were absent in the country. From London we went to Oxford and remained several days visiting the colleges and the country around, especially the beautiful palace of the Duke of Marlborough. From there we went to Leamington, and made short excursions to Warwick Castle, Kenilworth, Stratford and Coventry.

We then visited the English lakes, including Windermere. I was especially interested in the games, races and wrestling at Grasmere.

From there we went to Chester spending several days in that city and surrounding country. We visited the magnificent estate of the Duke of Westminster, a few miles from Chester, and drove through Gladstone's place, but he was then absent. In Chester we met Justice Gray and his wife, and Bancroft Davis and his wife. With them we drove in the old-fashioned coach in and about the environs of Chester. From thence we went to Liverpool, remaining about a week in that city.

It is scarcely necessary to state that such a rapid, transient visit could hardly convey a proper conception of England or Englishmen. Our view was like that of the English traveler in America when he undertakes to describe our vast country on a trip of a month from New York to San Francisco. My idea of Great Britain is based, not upon flying visits, but upon my study of English history and literature. The political inst.i.tutions of Great Britain are rapidly approaching our own. While progressive, the people of that country are also conservative, but with each successive decade they extend the power of the House of Commons so that already in some respects it represents better the public sentiment than the Congress of the United States. It responds quickly to a change of popular opinion. The functions of the crown are now more limited than those of our President, while the House of Commons can at any moment put an end to the ministry, and if necessary a new House of Commons can be convened within a brief period, and a new ministry be formed or the old one confirmed according to the popular will.

All the governments of Europe are following in the same path, so that we may fairly hope that in a brief time Europe will become republican in substance if not in form.

We returned in the steamer "City of New York," the vessel on which we went over, and arrived in New York on the 12th of September.

My wife, daughter and myself returned to Washington, improved in health and strength.

On the evening of the next day after my arrival a large company, estimated at 1,500 people, led by the Marine band, marched to my house. The report given by the "Republican" of Washington the next morning is substantially correct and is here inserted:

"To General Grosvenor had been a.s.signed the duty of formally welcoming the Senator, and he did so in a very pleasant speech.

He spoke of the thirty-five years of faithful service which had been rendered Ohio by John Sherman, as Representative, Senator, cabinet officer and citizen; touched upon the eagerness with which Ohio looked for the Senator's return; referred happily to the Senator's wife and daughter, and then launched out upon the broad ocean of Ohio politics. He closed by saying that one of the chief causes of Ohio Republican exultation on this occasion lay in the fact that the Senator had returned to do n.o.bly his part toward the re-election of Governor Foraker and the election of a Republican Senator to succeed Mr. Payne.

"The welcome was punctuated with applause, and when the speech and the uproar had ceased the band played 'Home Again.' The crowd cheered once more as Senator Sherman stepped forward and commenced his reply.

"Appreciation of the welcome which had been extended to him by friends from Ohio and friends in Washington brightened his opening remarks, and he said that, although his home was in Ohio, yet he had been so long a resident of this city that he felt himself almost ent.i.tled to the rights of citizenship here, without, of course, losing his allegiance to the people of his native state. The joys of home and the pleasures of foreign lands were dilated upon, and the Senator said: 'No American can travel anywhere without having a stronger love and affection for his native land. This is the feeling of every American, and it is sometimes too strongly and noisily expressed to be acceptable abroad. We do sometimes carry the flag too high and flaunt it offensively.'

"Previous visits to Europe were referred to, and the Senator went on: 'And now let me say to you that while we boast in America of the rapid progress we have made in growth, population, wealth and strength, yet it is equally true that some of the oldest nations in the world are now keeping pace with us in industry, progress and even in liberal inst.i.tutions. Everywhere in these old countries the spirit of nationalism is growing stronger and stronger.

'Thirty years ago Italy had at least five different forms of government; now it is under one rule. Twenty-two years ago France was an empire, under the almost absolute dominion of Napoleon III; now it is a republic, with all the forms of republican inst.i.tutions, but without the stability of our government. The kingdom of Prussia has been expanded into the great German empire, among the strongest, if not the strongest, of the military powers in the world. The inst.i.tutions of Great Britain have become liberalized until it is a monarchy only in name, the queen exercising far less power than the President of the United States. The whole tendency of events is to strengthen and at the same time popularize government.'

"The popularity of Americans in Europe was mentioned, and it was said of them that while abroad they were not partisans, but patriots; they believed that any party at home was better than all parties in foreign lands. The signs of war abroad and of peace in the United States were sketched, and the veterans who fought for the Union were eulogized and said to be ent.i.tled to the most liberal treatment. The Republican party, having saved the Union should be the governing party, and it should be heartily supported by all true patriots."

As I concluded, the audience came forward and shook hands with me.

Later addresses were delivered by Thomas B. Coulter, ex-Lieutenant Governor Wm. C. Lyons, of Ohio, Rev. Wm. Warring, J. H. Smyth and ex-Speaker Warren J. Keifer.

Quite a number of callers were received in the house by Mrs. and Miss Sherman.

During the balance of the month of September I remained in Washington engaged in writing letters, dictating interviews, and preparing for the gubernatorial contest in Ohio, then in active progress.

Governor Foraker was the Republican candidate for re-election, and James E. Campbell, formerly a Republican and recently a Democratic Member of Congress, was the opposing candidate. Both of these gentlemen were lawyers of ability, in the prime of life and living in adjoining counties. The canva.s.s had become interesting before my return and I desired to do all I could in aid of Foraker. He was nominated while I was still in Europe, for the third term, and under conditions that weakened him somewhat. Still, his ability as a debater, his popular manners, and his interesting history, seemed to a.s.sure his success. I returned to Ohio with my family about the 1st of October, and made my first speech in this canva.s.s at the Wayne county fair, at Orrville, on the 10th. I was introduced to the audience by M. L. Smyser, the Member of Congress from that district, in terms too complimentary to quote. He gave notice that Campbell would speak to them on the next day on behalf of the Democratic party. In explanation of my appearance there where politics were generally excluded I said:

"It is rather unusual at a county fair, where men of all parties are invited to exhibit and compare their productions, to discuss party politics. Therefore, I hesitated to accept your invitation to speak here in behalf of the Republican party; but upon being advised by my friend, Mr. Smyser, your Representative in Congress, that the same invitation was extended to Governor Foraker and Mr.

Campbell, the two candidates for governor, that Governor Foraker could not attend, but Mr. Campbell had accepted, I concluded also to accept, and am now here to give you the reasons for my political faith."

This speech was prepared for the occasion, and was chiefly on the choice between the Mills tariff bill and the Senate bill, both of which failed to pa.s.s in the preceding Congress. I discussed state issues briefly, including recent frauds at elections, the alleged bribery and corruption in the election of Mr. Payne as Senator, and the importance of nonpartisan boards of election. I closed by saying:

"This is not a contest between Governor Foraker and Mr. Campbell.

I have the highest regard for both of these gentlemen. Governor Foraker is one of the ablest, one of the most brilliant, men in public life. He was one of the youngest soldiers in the Union army, and, though young, rendered important services at critical periods of the war. He has made his own way in the world, and has filled with distinction every place a.s.signed him. He has made an efficient governor, and I can see no force in the objection that he is running for a third term. If he has performed his duties exceptionally well in the past, it is good reason why he should be continued in office in the future. I have also the pleasure of a very kindly acquaintance with Mr. Campbell, whom I regard as a gentleman of merit and ability. Either of these gentlemen will perform the personal duties of the office with credit to the state, but the contest is not between them, but between the two parties they represent. Governor Foraker represents the principles and tendencies of the Republican party, its progressive national policy, the purity of elections, state and national, and its willingness to take the lead in Ohio in all proper measures to promote good order, temperance and morality, so far as they can be promoted by human laws and popular opinion.

"Mr. Campbell represents the aims and tendencies of the Democratic party, its jealousy of national authority, its want of genuine patriotism, its reactionary policy as to tariff laws, its lawless disregard of fair elections, both north and south, the criminal gangs that disgrace our cities, and its low tone on all questions affecting good order and morals. In my view the choice is as plain as the sunlight of heaven in favor of the Republican party. It may falter for a time in meeting new questions, it may be disturbed by pa.s.sing clouds, and, like all human agents, may yield to expediency or be tarnished with the corruption and faults of individuals, yet it is the best organized guide in state and national affairs, and should, and I confidently trust will, receive the hearty support of the people of Ohio."

The reporter, in his description of the meeting, said:

"Senator Sherman was in excellent form to-day; his voice was clear, strong and its carrying power excellent. He spoke with uncommon vigor and, of course, without notes or ma.n.u.script. There was something in his manner that seemed to carry conviction with it.

The people knew they were listening to an honest man who was a thorough master of every subject upon which he touched. He spoke as one having authority, and the weight of forty years of st.u.r.dy public life went into his utterances."

It was about this period that the Ohio ballot box forgery matter became a subject of discussion. On the 11th of September, Richard G. Wood appeared in Columbus, and delivered to Foraker the following paper, and received the governor's recommendation for the smoke inspectorship in Cincinnati:

"Washington, D. C., July 2, 1888.

"We, the undersigned, agree to pay the amounts set opposite, or any part thereof, whenever requested so to do by John R. McLean, upon 'Contract No. 1,000,' a copy of which is to be given to each subscriber upon payment of any part of the money hereby subscribed.

"It is understood that each subscription of five thousand dollars shall ent.i.tle the subscriber thereof to a one-twentieth interest in said contract.