ly occupied in political topics, such as reconstruction
and elections. The Democratic party, for the first time in twenty
years, had control of both Houses, but it neither adopted nor
proposed any important financial legislation at that session, the
only law passed in respect to coin, currency or bonds which I recall
being one to provide for the exchange of subsidiary coins for lawful
money, and making such coins a legal tender in all sums not exceeding
ten dollars. Congress seemed to be content with the operations of
the treasury department at that time, and certainly made no obstacle
to their success.

About the 1st of May, Mrs. Sherman, accompanied by our adopted
daughter, Mary Sherman, then a young schoolgirl twelve years old,
and Miss Florence Hoyt, of New York, Miss Jennie Dennison, of
Columbus, and Miss Julia Parsons, of Cleveland, three bright and
accomplished young ladies, embarked on the steamer Adriatic for a
visit to Europe. Mrs. Sherman placed Mary in a very good school
at Neuchatel, Switzerland, and then with her companions visited
the leading cities of Europe.

After accompanying the party to New York I went to Mansfield, and
as my family was absent and the homestead occupied by comparative
strangers, I stopped at the St. James hotel where, as was natural,
I met a great many of my old neighbors and friends, both Democrats
and Republicans, who welcomed me home.

Among my visitors were several reporters from different parts of
the country who wanted to interview me and especially to learn if
I was a candidate for governor, and why I came home. In the
afternoon I visited my farm near by and my homestead of about twenty
acres adjoining the city. I found them in the usual neglected
condition of the property of a non-resident proprietor, with many
of the fences down. In the evening I was serenaded at the hotel
and made a brief speech to a large audience, commencing as follows:

"I am very happy to be again in your midst, to see your faces and
to greet you as friends. The shaking of your hands is more grateful
to me than the music of bands or any parade. I never felt like
making an explanation in coming before you until now. I found when
I arrived in my old home that the papers said I came west seeking
the nomination for governor. I came purely on private business--
to repair my fences and look after neglected property."

The reporters seized upon the reference to my fences, and construed
it as