from the people of my native state.

On the 28th of November Mrs. Ellen Ewing Sherman, wife of General
Sherman, died at her home in New York. She had been in feeble
health, but was taken seriously ill about three weeks before her
death. She was an accomplished woman of marked ability inherited
from her father, a devout Christian of the Catholic faith. Her
life had been devoted to the relief of suffering and want. This
sad calamity was a source of great grief to her own family and that
of her husband. She was married to General Sherman on the 1st of
May, 1850, at Washington, when her father was a member of the
cabinet of President Taylor. Throughout her entire life she was
an affectionate wife and a devoted mother. Her remains were removed
to St. Louis, and were there buried beside those of two sons and
three grandchildren.

The winter of 1888-89, after the political excitement of the year
before, seemed a tranquil period of rest. The coming change of
administration excited some interest, especially the selection of
a cabinet. Blaine and I were frequently mentioned in the public
prints for appointment as Secretary of State, but I gave no attention
to the rumors. I did not care to decline an office not tendered
to me, though I had definitely made up my mind not to accept any
executive office. The duties of a Senator were familiar and
agreeable to me. I doubted the wisdom of competing presidential
candidates accepting cabinet appointments under a successful rival.
The experiment of Lincoln, with Chase and Seward as his principal
advisers, was not a good example to follow.

The short session of the 50th Congress, commencing December 3,
1888, was mainly occupied with the tariff question, already referred
to, but without hope of passing any tariff bill. Many other
questions of public policy were also discussed, but as a rule were
postponed to the next Congress, which it was known would be Republican
in both branches. Perhaps the most interesting topic of debate
was the condition of affairs in Samoa. As chairman of the committee
on foreign relations, on the 29th of January, 1889, I presented
to the Senate a full statement of the complications in that far
distant group of islands. In opening I said:

"The time has arrived when Congress, and especially the Senate,
must give intelligent attention to the questions involved in the
occupation and settlement of the Samoan Islands. These questions
are now exciti