eing rich," but
as nearly all my possessions are visible to the naked eye, and
their history and acquisition are known to so many, I think I am
not required to prove that I have not made them as the result of
legislation or my holding public trusts.

My second term in the Senate expired on the 4th of March, 1873.
The election of my successor devolved upon the legislature that
convened on the first Monday of January, 1872.

The canvass in Ohio, in the summer and fall of 1871, was an active
and exciting one and attracted great interest in other states.
The result would indicate the strength or weakness of Grant's
administration. I felt it was necessary, not only for my re-
election, but for the success of the Republican party, that every
effort should be made to elect a Republican majority in the
legislature, and I, therefore, at the state convention and in most
of the congressional districts of Ohio, made earnest speeches in
behalf of the state ticket and members of the legislature. I
received many letters of encouragement, one of which, from Senator
Carpenter in reference to my speech in the convention, I insert:

"Washington, D. C., July 20, 1871.
"Hon. John Sherman.

"Dear Sir:--I have just read your speech to the state convention
of Ohio. _It is splendid_. The only fault I have to find with it
is, that you have covered the whole ground and reduced us 'lesser
lights' to the necessity of repeating and elaborating. This is
_very mean of you;_ you might have left some topic of the next
campaign untouched, for us to dwell upon. But you have pre-empted
everything and we must follow after.

"Very truly yours,
"Matt H. Carpenter."

The legislature was elected in October, 1871, but the majority for
the Republicans was so small that the election of a Republican
Senator was in doubt.

I received many hearty letters of congratulation on our success in
Ohio from my colleagues in the Senate, among them one from Senator
Conkling as follows:

"Utica, N. Y., October 13, 1871.
"Hon. John Sherman, Mansfield, Ohio.

"My Dear Sir:--Having waited for certainties touching your election
and the legislature, and having watched the canvass with sincere
solicitude, I congratulate you most heartily upon the result.

"Your own speeches have been among the best you ever made, and your
canvass has been full of the pluck without which no canvass and no
political contest is thorough or truthful.

"This state is ours u