im whom
he had just met for the first time during the whole ride of
half an hour on the same engrossing subject, as he had to
me before.

I think there can be no doubt that Chief Justice Chase, like
many other great men, was consumed by an eager and passionate
ambition for the Presidency. That has been true of other
great statesmen as well as of many small statesmen. It has
been specially true of great orators. The American people
are fond of eloquent speech. They make their admiration known
to the speaker in a way that is quite likely to turn his head.
In Plato's day the bee Hymettus mingled with the discourse
as it came forth. To-day the bee lights in his ear and fills
his fancy with delightful dreams of a hive by the Potomac,
thatched with flowers and redolent with the incense of flattery.

I do not doubt that if Salmon P. Chase had been elected President
of the United States he would have administered that lofty
office honorably and to the advantage of the country. But
I think that his ambition clouded his judgment, and inclined
him, perhaps unconsciously, to take an attitude as a Judge
on some of the political questions on which parties were divided
after President Grant came in, which would be acceptable to
the Democrats, and would make it possible for him to accept
their nomination. But all this is merest speculation. If
he had maintained his mental and physical vigor it is quite
likely that he would have been nominated when Greeley was
nominated. If he had been, it is not unlikely, in my opinion,
that he would have been elected. I thought at the time that
if Mr. Adams had been nominated in 1872, he might have been
chosen. The discontent with Grant was far-reaching, for the
reasons I have stated elsewhere. But the nomination of Greeley
was ludicrous and preposterous. Almost every attack on the
first Administration of President Grant was answered by the
political speakers on his side by a quotation from Greeley
or the New York _Tribune._ A candidate seeking an election
by reason of the mistakes his antagonist has made in accordance
with his own advice, does not stand much chance of winning.
The Southern people, even the white Democrats, always had
a kindly feeling for Grant. They did not resent what he had
done as a soldier, as they resented what Greeley had said
as a politician. They knew too, in spite of their strong
differences with Grant, the innate honesty, justice and courage
of the man