tent as it was compact.

His political observations covered nearly half a century, and spanned
the successive epoches which stretched from the struggle over
Nullification to the war of secession and the work of Reconstruction.
But through most of this long and stirring era he was engaged in the
practice of his profession and the acquisition of wealth. In this work
he was peculiarly successful. To the subtlety of an acute legal mind
he added the sagacity of a keen business man. He attained especial,
indeed almost unrivaled eminence as a corporation lawyer, and thus
gained a practice which leads to larger rewards than can be found in
other legal fields. While acquiring great reputation he amassed a
great fortune, and when at last he entered upon his political career he
combined the resources of a full treasury with the arts of an
unrivalled manager.

Mr. Tilden has been the subject of vehement and contradictory
judgments. His friends have well-nigh canonized him as representing
the highest type of public virtue; his foes have painted him as an
adept in craft and intrigue. His partisans have held him up as the
evangel of a new and purer dispensation; his opponents declare that his
ability is marred by selfishness and characterized by cunning. His
followers have exalted him as the ablest and most high-minded statesman
of the times; his critics have described him as a most artful, astute,
and unscrupulous politician. The truth doubtless lies between the
two extremes. Adroit, ingenious and wary, skillful to plan and strong
to execute, cautious in judgment and vigorous in action, taciturn and
mysterious as a rule and yet singularly open and frank on occasions,
resting on the old traditions yet leading in new pathways, surprising
in the force of his blows and yet leaving a sense of reserved power,
Mr. Tilden unquestionably ranks among the greatest masters of political
management that our day has seen. Certain it is that his extraordinary
success and his exceptional position had inspired the Democratic party
with the conviction that he was the one man to command victory, and he
moved forward to the Presidential nomination with a confidence which
discouraged his opponents and inspired his supporters with a sense of
irresistible strength.

When the Convention assembled a futile attempt was made to organize a
movement against Mr. Tilden. His undisguised autocracy in New York
had provoked jealousies and enmities which