s rejected.

My position was highly commended by the public press and by many
distinguished soldiers, including Governor Foraker, who wrote me,
saying: "It may be some gratification to you to know that your
course, in regard to the pension bill, meets with the earnest
approval of all right-minded men in this part of the state."

On the 3rd of July the following resolution was adopted by the
Senate on my motion:

"_Resolved_, That the Senate will meet at the usual hour on Friday,
the 4th day of July instant, and, after the reading of the journal
and before other business is done, the secretary of the Senate
shall read the Declaration of American Independence."

On introducing the resolution, I said:

"Never till during our Civil War, so far as the records show or as
is known or is recollected, did Congress meet on the 4th of July.
During the Civil War we did meet habitually on the 4th of July,
but it was only on the ground that those who had control then
believed that the business then requiring attention was proper to
be done on the 4th of July. We have only met once since on the
4th of July, and that was in 1870, at a time of great political
excitement. An effort was made to adjourn when the Senate met that
day, but the session was continued--a long, exciting, and unpleasant
session--on the 4th of July, 1870.

"I do not doubt that to-morrow it will be well to sit, because the
committees of conference are carrying on their business and I have
no objection to sitting; but I think we ought to recognize, by
common consent, the importance of the day and the fact that it is
a national anniversary celebrated all over the United States, by
reading that immortal paper which is the foundation of American
independence."

Congress adjourned July 7, 1884.

CHAPTER XLVII.
MY PARTICIPATION IN THE CAMPAIGN OF 1884.
Again Talked of as a Republican Candidate for the Presidency--I
Have no Desire for the Nomination--Blaine the Natural Candidate of
the Party--My Belief that Arthur Would be Defeated if Nominated--
Speech at Washington, D. C., for Blaine and Logan--Opening of the
Ohio Campaign at Ashland--Success of the Republican State Ticket
in October--Speeches in Boston, Springfield, Mass., New York and
Brooklyn--Address to Business Men in Faneuil Hall--Success of the
National Democratic Ticket--Arthur's Annual Message to Congress--
Secretary McCulloch's Recommendations Concerning the Further Coinage
of Silver Dollars--