such States were so vaguely defined under existing
legislation--that no certain declaration of the result could be made.
The public mind was confounded with perplexity and excitement, and
there began to be heard the threatenings of civil war.

Perhaps the nation did not realize the danger; but the danger was
present, and threatened to be overwhelming. The Republican party in
possession of the Government was not willing to lose its advantage,
and the Democratic party, declaring its majority to be rightful, was
ready to rise in insurrection. As to the facts in the case, neither
Samuel J. Tilden nor General R.B. Hayes was clearly elected to the
presidency. The Democrats had carried two or three States by the
persuasion of shotguns, and the Republicans with the aid of electoral
commissions had counted in the electoral votes of a State or two which
they did not carry at all. The excitement increased with the approach
of winter, and it was proposed in a leading Democratic journal of the
West that a hundred thousand Democrats should rise and march unarmed
on Washington City, there to influence the decision of the disputed
question.

When Congress convened in December, the whole question of the disputed
presidency came at once before that body for settlement. The situation
was seriously complicated by the political complexion of the Senate
and the House of Representatives. In the former body the Republicans
had a majority sufficient to control its action, while in the House
the Democratic majority was still more decisive and equally willful.

At length the necessity of doing _something_ became imperative. The
great merchants and manufacturers of the country and the boards of
trade in the principal cities grew clamorous for a peaceable
adjustment of the difficulty. The spirit of compromise gained ground,
and it was agreed to refer the disputed election returns to a joint
high commission, to consist of five members chosen from the United
States Senate, five from the House of Representatives, and five from
the Supreme Court.

The judgment of this tribunal was to be final. The commission was
accordingly constituted. The disputed returns were sent, State by
State, to the High Court for decision. That body was itself divided
politically, and _every member decided each question according to his
politics_. The Republicans had seven votes in the court, the Democrats
seven votes, and one vote, that of Judge Joseph P. Bradley, was sai