His passage through the State was a triumphal
march. He was received as I had predicted. In Worcester
we had no hall large enough to hold the crowds that thronged
to see him, and were compelled to have the meeting in the
skating-rink. Chandler went back to Michigan full of satisfaction
with his reception. I think he would have been among the
most formidable candidates for the Presidency at the next
election, but for his sudden death. If he had been nominated,
he would undoubtedly have been elected. But, a short time
after, he was one morning found dead in his bed at Chicago.
In his death a great and salutary force was subtracted from
the public life of the country, and especially from the public
life of the great State to whose history he had contributed
so large and noble a part.
I have found among some old notes a few sentences with which
I presented him to a mighty audience in my own city:
"Worcester is here in person to-night to give a welcome from
the heart of Massachusetts to the Senator of Michigan. If
our guest had nothing of his own to recommend him, it would
be enough to stir the blood of Massachusetts that he represents
that honored State, another New England in her interests and
in her opinions.
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