I beg
to assure my readers that I make these observations partly
as a critic and partly as a penitent.
I wrote to Benjamin Harrison after the Presidential campaign
of 1896, urging him to consent to come to the Senate from
Indiana, citing the example of Presidents Adams and Johnson,
both of whom came back to public life after they had been
President, although Mr. Johnson did not live to render any
service in the Senate.
In my letter I expressed my sense of the great value of what
he had done in the campaign. In reply I got the following
letter. Nobody who reads it will doubt that the man who wrote
it had a kind and affectionate heart.
November 10, 1896
674 NORTH DELAWARE STREET,
INDIANAPOLIS, IND.
_My dear Senator:_
It is very kind of you to take note of my work in the campaign,
and I value very highly what you say of it--though your friendship
has perhaps, in some degree, spoiled your judgment. I am
thoroughly tired of the cares and excitements incident to
public life in our country. To you I may say that the people
of this state seem to be more strongly attached to me than
ever.
Pages:
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736