THE DIARY OF JOHN BEATTY, JANUARY-JUNE
1884
Part IV*
edited by HARVEY S. FORD
Head Librarian, Toledo Blade
Sunday, May 11, 1884 Went to hear Dr. Gladden this morning.
He preached from the text "Lord I
believe help thou my unbelief." It
was the posture of the man's mind which
interested the preacher. It
was that of one trying to believe and
anxious to have all impediments
to full belief cleared away. Not that of
one who exclaims obstinately
"I do not believe convince me if
you can." "I shall not seek for the
proof, but when brought to me I will
consider it." There are some
things that can only come to men who are
willing and anxious to re-
ceive them. You may warm a man's body
against his will, force food
down his throat sufficient to sustain
life, but you cannot compel him
to love. He must be willing to do this
before he can do it. If he averts
his face from God and looks persistently
in the wrong direction he is
not likely to come to believe in God and
love Him. But if on the con-
trary he turns his face toward God and
shows a willingness to receive
Him, he is likely to have any doubts
which he may have entertained
removed, and to become a Christian. A
person may not by conversion
at once become a saint, but he changes
his attitude with respect to God.
He turns his face toward Him, he says
"Lord I believe help thou my
unbelief." The plant that has grown
yellow and feeble in the shade,
when transferred to the sunlight does
not at once assume the deep green
indication of health, but it is in the
way thereafter to find strength, and
if it continues in the sunlight will
obtain it.
Monday, May 12, 1884 The plan of attack referred to under date
of May 5th was agreed upon nearly a week
before the date named, in
my office, but there was some little
delay in putting it into execution.
Mr. Sherman's friends have been timid,
and the plan itself as it is now
being carried out was suggested by me
and not assented to by them
until after much unnecessary
consultation, but I think by this time
* Parts I, II, and III of General
Beatty's diary appeared in the April and
October, 1949, and January 1950 issues
of the Quarterly, Vols. LVIII, pp. 119-151,
390-427, and LIX, pp. 58-91.
165
166 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
the blow has been delivered, and we are
likely to ascertain the effect
of it by the latter part of the week.
Kurtz writes me from Washington
under date of the 12th (he means the
11th) that he expects to have
the work done by Tuesday. "15,000
is the number and every thing re-
lating to it has been most carefully
done." What he means by this is
that they have mailed from New York
15,000 envelopes, containing
clippings from newspapers and other
matter adverse to Mr. Blaine's
candidacy, to leading Republicans of the
counties and townships of
Ohio, with a view to creating public
sentiment opposed to his nomination.
If the work results as I think it will,
there will be an almost universal
feeling among the people that Mr. Blaine
could not be elected if he were
nominated and this will doubtless have
the effect of preventing the Ohio
delegation from going to him at Chicago.
Certainly it will prevent his
getting the whole of it, and possibly it
will deter all, although I think
the probabilities are that certain of
the delegates would stick to him
even if they know he would be beaten in
the general election.
Tuesday, May 13, 1884 We expected today to have a decision
by the Supreme Court as to the
constitutionality of the statute under
which our bank is organized but none was
made. We have some reason
to apprehend that the Judges are divided
on it and are therefore fearful
that it may go against us. This would
compel reorganization, and just
how to reorganize and continue the
business we find it somewhat difficult
to determine. Then again we are fearful
that such a decision as we ap-
prehend would disturb our depositors and
so lead to a run, which is
not by any means a pleasant feature of
the banking business to con-
template. All business however has its
troubles and perplexities, and
that of banking is by no means an
exception to the general rule. I
sometimes regret that I ever engaged in
it, but then I doubt not I
should have found difficulties in any
other calling, and possibly less
enjoyment than I have in this. It is
natural I suppose for us to think
that others get along better and more
happily than ourselves. Their
troubles don't trouble us. Ours do.
Wednesday, May 14, 1884 The day has been one of anxiety and
trouble. The bank failures in New York
are likely to shake the con-
fidence of the people in all moneyed
institutions and bring upon the
country another panic like that of '73.
The failure of the Marine
National Bank and Grant & Ward a few
days ago has now been followed
by the suspension of the Metropolitan
National and the Second National
and by a number of brokers and private
bankers, and these could hardly
The Diary of John Beatty 167
tumble without carrying with them many
others, how many only time
can determine, for New York being the
money center of the country,
where banks everywhere have their
surplus funds, the failure of a
large New York bank like the
Metropolitan National may affect banks
1000ds of miles away, and will create a
distrust of banks wherever they
may be located. This however is not the
only trouble which I have to think
over, for one more direct and
threatening is staring our own bank in
the face. In a conversation with Judge
McIlvaine69 to night I received
some very suggestive hints which led me
to conclude that the decision
of the court as to the constitutionality
of the law under which we are
organized would be adverse to the banks,
and in addition to the scare
this decision would give the depositors
in this financial crisis, would
be the fact that it might render some of
our securities valueless, and
so lessen our ability to respond
promptly to the demands of panicky
depositors.
Thursday, May 15, 1884 The financial cyclone which struck Wall
street yesterday has left behind it many
wrecks, but still it has been
followed by some cheerful indications
that business may as a con-
sequence of its visitation seek a secure
basis upon which to build.
Speculators in rotten stocks, who hope
to grow rich suddenly by ques-
tionable methods, have been taught a
severe lesson, but while these may
not profit much by it, it is to be hoped
that others will do so, and
henceforth go more slowly and safely.
The Metropolitan National bank
which shut its doors yesterday re-opened
them this morning under the
supervision of a new president, and was
able by the help of other
banks to meet all demands. The Second
National which was reported as
suspended did not suspend at all and was
able to respond in cash to
all callers. One or two additional
brokers and private bankers went
under today, among these the old house
of Fish & Hatch, but upon
the whole the prospect is more
encouraging than it was yesterday, and
the reopening of the Metropolitan which
is one of the largest banks in
the city will have a good effect upon
the country generally. It will show
panicky people that a bank may be
temporarily short of cash, and yet
be strong in securities, which are in
fact better than ready money, be-
cause they afford an interest which the
money does not.
69 George W. McIlvaine was born in
Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the
bar in 1845 and soon moved to New
Philadelphia. He was a Republican and was
elected a judge of the court of common
pleas in 1861 and reelected in 1866. In
1870 McIlvaine was elected to the
supreme court of Ohio. He was reelected in
1875 and 1880, and in 1885 he declined a
fourth nomination for reasons of health.
He died in 1887.
168 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
Friday, May 16, 1884 15,000 "clippings" from newspapers adverse
to the nomination of Mr. Blaine, and the
same number of a circular
written by me entitled "What should
be done" have been printed in
Washington, and addressed there to
Republicans of Ohio, and these
taken to New York City to be mailed. By
this time they are probably
being worked out through the country
post offices to the people for whom
they were intended. What effect this
matter may have on public sentiment
in this state it is as yet too early to
determine, but I think it will have a
tendency to make the voters regard Mr.
Blaine's nomination as an
unfortunate one for the party, and so
deter their representatives at
Chicago from making it. The point made
prominent in the batch of
clippings is that Blaine could not carry
the state of New York, and
that without this state the success of
the party at this time would
be certainly improbable, and probably
impossible. The recent troubles
in Wall street will be likely to direct
the attention of the country
to an able financier and conservative
man like Mr. Sherman, and
possibly suggest to people generally
that in a period of business de-
pression and financial uncertainty it
would be well to have a safe man
in the Executive chair. It is quite
certain at any rate that the troubles
to which I refer will not strengthen Mr.
Blaine, for he lacks all the
qualities which would commend a man to
the people in a time of
financial distress.
Saturday, May 17, 1884 The flurry in New York seems to have passed
over and the newspapers talk of it as
simply a brokers panic which is
not going to have any unfavorable effect
upon the solid business of
the Country, but I think it will be
found that the people of Wall street
are not the only persons who have been
dabbling in rotten stock, and
that business men of the cities and
villages of the interior have been
trying their luck in this hazardous
business, and that from this time on
for months banks and business houses
will drop by the way, and carry
down others with them, and while these
disasters may not assume the
proportions of a general panic like that
of '73, they will have a tendency
to destroy confidence, lessen values,
and make business everywhere dull
and inactive. Business men are like
foundation stones, if one becomes
loosened or displaced others are sure to
be unsettled by it, and the de-
fective section continues to crumble and
fall until finally the safety
of the edifice requires a new and better
laid substructure.
A Mr. Pledger, a colored man from
Georgia and a delegate from
that state to the National Republican
Convention, called on me to day.
The Diary of John Beatty 169
He claims that he--and I take it his
state's delegation-is for Arthur
first and Sherman second. He denounces
Blaine in the bitterest terms,
and affirms that by defeating the Force
Bill, so called, he is responsible
for the present unfortunate condition of
the colored people of the
south.
Sunday, May 18, 1884 This morning went with Hobart and Lucy
to the City park, and lay for a time in
the shadow of a tree on the
margin of the little lake watching the
swan sail about on the water.
There was a family consisting of two old
and four young, in which the
children were most interested, and
whenever it went out for a voyage
the mother swan would go before, the
little swans in the middle, with
the father swan keeping guard in the
rear.
This evening I attended the Broad Street
Methodist Church, and
heard brother Crook argue that it was
wiser and better at all times
and under all circumstances to do right
than under any circumstances
to do wrong--That Moses abandoned all
the wealth and honors of
royalty to become the leader of a few
humble and persecuted people,
and as the result became one of the
great historical characters of the
world--that he put his trust in God and
was successful, while Napoleon
put his trust in the strongest battalion
and failed, and others relied
upon their riches, the extent of their
domain or their own skill and
courage and were beaten in the race. It
is a little difficult to determine
just what success is. If it is a thing
that comes after death like fame,
it can be of but little value to the man
who struggles for it, but is now
unconscious of it. Is not the highest
success that thing which brings
content in this world and a reasonable
assurance of happiness in the
next. This doubtless comes from doing
right if it comes at all, but if
this is the highest success, Moses was
no more successful than the
humblest man may be, and the space one
occupies in history can not
be taken as the measure of one's
success.
Monday, May 19, 1884 I had something to say about success on
the preceding page, but I think what the
world means by the word
is confined wholly to this life. Taking
this limited view of it then
what is it to be successful, and what is
the highest success which any
man may achieve? Of course the man who
sets out to make money may
become very rich, but his wealth was
intended at first as a means to
comfort and happiness, and if it brings
to him care, anxiety and
trouble the objects he sought to attain
are farther away from him in
the end than they were at the beginning
so that he can not be said to
170 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
have been successful. And if his cares
increase with his riches as is
generally the case, he must realize
towards the close of life that
it has been a mortifying failure, and so
of the statesman or professional
man, if all his struggles to obtain
prominence, but breed other con-
tests, and annoyances, he can not claim
that he has made success in
life. There is some pleasure it is true
and to this extent compensation,
in feeling that one is recognized as
great in this or that line, and possibly
there is no reflection more gratifying
than that one will be remembered
favorably by his friends and especially
by his own family after he
is dead and gone, and so far as the
prosecution of this or that calling
serves to suggest these agreeable
thoughts, it brings that reward which
may properly be called success, but
success in whatever shape it comes
must be something that contributes to
one's happiness, and I apprehend
that no men fail so entirely as those
who gather great riches for as a
rule the more they get the more greedy
they become, and the more
dissatisfied they are with what they
have.
Tuesday, May 20, 1884 I have been so much occupied by little
matters connected with my business, and
with a building we have in
progress that I have not even looked
over a newspaper to day, and this
fact reminds me of the danger there has
been with respect to news-
papers and the reading of them within
the last forty years. The first
paper I recollect was the Sandusky
Clarion, published weekly by David
Campbell and mainly interesting to me
because my grandfather's name
--(my own also) figured in about every
issue of it as a person whose
lands were to be sold at the door of the
Courthouse by the sheriff to
satisfy an execution in favor of some
confiding creditor. Grandfather
always paid his debts like an honest
man, but generally in a public
and rather ostentatious way. For ten or
fifteen years after my attention
was first directed to the Clarion, I
never to my recollection saw a daily
paper. The people with whom I lived from
1840 to 1846 took a Hagers-
town (Maryland) paper for the edification
of an old aunt of the
family who was born there. The Hagerstown
Torchlight, I think it was,
made weekly visits to the house, and Mr.
Cutter, the head of the family,
was fond of the Louisville Journal then
edited by Prentice, but as a
rule one newspaper a week, and this a
very small one, was all the
average citizen ever indulged in. Now,
however, we read the Journal
in the morning, the Commercial
Gazette and the Inquirer at noon and
the Dispatch & often the Times
in the evening. In fact we should feel
utterly lost and undone if compelled to
go back to the old custom of
The Diary of John Beatty 171
reading but one paper a week and that a
very poor one for news and
only noticeable for its faulty grammer
and stupidity--
Wednesday, May 21, 1884 Had an interview with General Ruloff
Brinkerhoff70 of Mansfield
this evening respecting the probable action
of the Supreme Court of Ohio on the bank
act. Our fear in regard to
the character of the decision likely to
be made, and confirmed by a
statement of Govr. Hoadly to the effect
that Payne--I suppose Senator
Payne, said that--Supreme Judge
Boynton71 who is one of the attornies
against the bank is reported to have
told his friends in confidence that
when the case was first argued McIlvaine
and Okey72 were of the opinion
that the statute was unconstitutional
and that the three other Judges
sustained the law but finally two of the
three went over to McIlvaine
and Okey and that Judge Johnson is the
only one who holds that the
law is constitutional. If this
information be correct it would look very
much as if the danger we apprehended is
upon us, and that the thing
to do was to take immediate steps to
meet it--Boynton is the brother in
law of McIlvaine and would be as likely
to get at the inside of the
70 Roeliff (not Ruloff) Brinkerhoff was
born in New York state and as a
young man went to Tennessee as a tutor
in private families. About 1850 he settled
in Mansfield, Ohio, where he was
admitted to the bar and became editor and owner
of the Mansfield Herald. He
served as a quartermaster in the Civil War and at-
tained the brevet rank of brigadier
general. At first a free-soil Democrat, Brinker-
hoff became a Republican, and then,
following the unsuccessful Liberal Republican
movement of 1872, a Democrat once more;
he was described as a "Jeffersonian
democrat, a believer in free trade, hard
money, home rule, and the non-interference
principles of government
generally." In 1873 Brinkerhoff became cashier of a
Mansfield bank and later its president.
In October 1875 he founded the Ohio
Archaeological Society at his home in
Mansfield and obtained $2,500 from the
general assembly to finance an
archaeological exhibit at the centennial exposition
in Philadelphia the next year. By 1883
this society had become practically in-
operative, but it was revived and
incorporated as the Ohio State Archaeological
and Historical Society in March 1885.
Brinkerhoff succeeded Rutherford B. Hayes
as president of the revived society
after the latter's death in 1893 and held that
office for fifteen years. Brinkerhoff
was much interested in prison reform, and he
also succeeded Hayes as president of the
American National Prison Congress.
71 Washington Wallace Boynton was born
in Lorain County and admitted to
the bar in 1856. He was a representative
in the general assembly, 1866-68, and was
the author of an amendment to the Ohio
constitution which proposed to eliminate
the qualifying word "white"
from the document. At the same time, the general
assembly ratified the 14th amendent to
the federal constitution, so that state action
was really unnecessary. However,
Boynton's proposed amendment was decisively
beaten in the election of 1867; but
inasmuch as the 14th amendment to the federal
constitution had already been ratified
it was held that Negroes could vote in Ohio
anyway. A Republican, Boynton was
elected to the state supreme court in 1876,
but he resigned in 1881 for reasons of
health.
72 John Waterman Okey was born in Monroe
County and admitted to the
bar in 1849. Okey was a Democrat and
served as both a probate and common pleas
judge before being elected to the
supreme court in 1877. In 1881 he became chief
justice and the next year was reelected
to the court. He died in July 1885.
172 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
matter as anybody. But just what to do
is most diffcult to determine.
The people, owing to recent troubles in
Wall Street, and numerous
failures elsewhere are ready for a
panic, and will not a decision that
the statute under which the banks are
organized is invalid, bring them all
down upon us at once.
Thursday, May 22, 1884 The dominant thought with me today has
been the apprehended decision of the
Supreme Court on the Bank
Case. It may not affect us disastrously
and it may involve some of us
in bankruptcy and ruin. The uncertainty
connected with it and the
suspense are its annoying features. If a
man knows absolutely that he
is going to the dogs he can harden
himself to meet his fate, but to be
alternately depressed by fear and
elevated by hope is a condition of
continuous unrest and disquietude. You
do not know the character of
the dangers you may have to encounter
and therefore can make no
preparation for it. The law is a
mysterious bundle of old precedents
and principles, many of them
contradictory, and difficult to apply to
certain phases of business affairs. If
you go to a lawyer for infor-
mation he ascertains on which side your
interest lies, and seeks such
rulings, decisions and arguments as may
afford you encouragement, but
at the same time gives you to understand
that Judges have differed in
their interpretation of the law, and in
their decisions on this and that
point and you leave him feeling that it
would after all be about as
well to decide important questions by
the toss of a copper, as to sub-
mit them to either judge or jury. If men
who have been doing business
in conformity to a law, which has stood
for ten years unquestioned,
are not to be protected and sustained by
the courts, of what use is law,
and must every man become a
constitutional lawyer before he ventures
to trust to an act of the legislative
body.
Friday, May 23, 1884 We have hope to day that the danger we
have been fearing from the decisions of
the Supreme Court has been or
may be averted for the time being, and
that before it comes finally
we may so prepare for it as to render
the blow comparatively harm-
less. Brinkerhoff ascertained
incidentally that Governor Hoadly's son
was largely interested in one or more of
the building and loan associa-
tions of Cincinnati, and when he told
the Governor that the life of
these corporations was directly involved
in the pending case and that
an adverse decision would wind them up
suddenly and with great loss to
those who had invested in them, the
Governor manifested great in-
The Diary of John Beatty 173
terest in the matter, not only because
of his son's connection with
them, but obviously because such a
decision would be damaging to many
people of Cincinnati, as well as
elsewhere, and moreover because its
political effect would probably be
injurious to his party. At any rate,
prompted by one or more of the motives
suggested, he sent for Judge
Okey and after an interview with him,
sent word to Brinkerhoff that the
papers in the case would go into a box
and not be taken out until
October, so that I think the intention
is to withhold the decision un-
til after the election.
Received a letter from Senator Sherman
today urging me to attend
the Chicago Convention, and replied to
it by saying that I would do
so if possible for me to leave home at
that time. I think now that this
bank case has been postponed, that I may
safely get away.
Saturday, May 24, 1884 As the time draws near for the gathering
of the delegates of the Republican party
in Convention at Chicago, the
selection of the candidate becomes more
and more the topic of dis-
cussion. It is quite certain now that
Arthur and Blaine will each have
large followings, and it seems as if the
former would lead on the
first ballot. It is rumored however that
there are some indications in
the southern states of a break from
Arthur to Blaine, on the ground
that the states which are expected to
give their electoral votes to the
nominee should not be overruled in the
selection of a candidate by
those which are sure to go for the
democracy, or in other words,
it is agreed that it is but fair that
the states which are relied upon to
elect the man, should be permitted to
choose him. How much truth
there may be in this rumor that Arthur's
friends south will not adhere
to him I know not, but I am of the
opinion that if they were to leave
him they would be more likely to go to
Sherman than to Blaine. In
fact I think Logan would be more
acceptable to them than the Maine
statesman, for so far as I can learn the
colored men of the South-
and these constitute the bulk of the
Republican party in that section,
are particularly hostile to Mr. Blaine
for the reason stated by Pledger
under date of the 17th instant. A large
number of gentlemen will leave
here on Saturday evening next to attend
the Convention.
Sunday, May 25, 1884 I have spent much of the day in getting a
mental grip on the address which I
expect to deliver at Delaware next
Friday on the occasion of unveiling the
soldiers monument.
This afternoon wife, Lucy, Hobart and I
took a street car ride down
174 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
to High Street in one direction, and out
to the Fair Grounds in another,
and this evening I attended the Broad
Street M E Church, and heard
Mr. Crook deliver a sermon from the text
"The Sabbath was made for
man." In it he undertook to teach
that all labor except such as was
charitable and necessary should be
avoided and the day given to rest
and moral and religious reflection. One
of the difficulties attending the
practical application of the theory is
that of being able to tell exactly
where the necessary ends, and the
unnecessary begins--A strict en-
forcement of the Mosaic law in respect
to the day would require the
cessation of all labor--including man
and beast, servant and master.
The more liberal rule laid down by
Christ would seem to allow of
harmless recreation, and necessary work,
but as before suggested the
difficulty is to distinguish between
harmless and necessary and the
harmful and unnecessary. It seemed to be
the preacher's idea that
Sunday trains, papers, driving, letter
and newspaper delivery should
all stop on Sunday but the theory with
respect to the day if carried to
its logical results would I apprehend
make the day one of discomfort
and weariness rather than of rest and
solace.
Monday, May 26, 1884 This evening I went with Mr. Hinman to
Trinity Church to hear a Mr. Campbell,
an Englishman, lecture on the
subject of temperance. He is working
under the auspices of the Episcopal
Church, and endeavoring to get the
members of that body to take an
active interest in the subject. He does
not believe that prohibition is
practicable, and seeks therefore to
unite the total abstainer and the
moderate drinker on what he regards as a
temperate basis, and the
pledge he requires simply forbids the
frequenting of tippling houses,
public drinking, drinking to excess, and
the inviting of others to drink.
The moderate use of liquors at the
family table, and at meals is not
prohibited. He claims that the
established church has accomplished a
good and great work in England by its
labor in this direction, and that
many who took the pledge of moderation,
finally became abstainers,
and that as the result of this effort on
the part of the church the con-
sumption of liquors had been very
materially diminished in England,
and many thousands of people perceptably
benefitted. If the custom of
toasting which prevails so universally
in this country could be abolished,
then would certainly much good follow,
but I fear if the church should
take the ground that moderate drinking
might be indulged in with
impunity, that its younger members might
be encouraged to acquire
The Diary of John Beatty 175
tastes which as they grew older would
develop into desires which they
would be unable to control.
Tuesday, May 27, 1884 Received an invitation to day from the
committee having in charge the
Decoration Ceremonies at Delaware on
the 30th instant to be present on the
evening of the 29th at a reception
to be given General W. S. Rosecrans, but
I replied that I was unable to
leave home on that day. The General was
born in Delaware County
and will be the living hero of the
occasion and very justly, for he
has rendered great service to the
country and won for it a number of
important victories. The early
engagement of the war known as the
battle of Rich Mountain was a small
affair when contrasted with later
contests, but it gave to McClellan his
great start as a commanding officer,
and for it he was indebted wholly to
Rosecrans. At Iuka, Corinth and
Stone River the latter acquitted himself
most honorably. In the advance
on the fortified position of the rebel
army at Tullahoma and in crossing
the Tennessee and flanking Bragg out of
Chattanooga, he displayed the
highest quality of generalship, and had
he won the battle of Chickamauga,
he would have become the idol of the nation
and either the president of
the United States or the General of the
Army. The misinterpretation of
an order on the part of Wood, or
possibly a misapprehension of the
condition of the Right Wing on the part
of Rosecrans, or probably
the failure to push his army into
Chattanooga and fight the battle
there, spoiled one of the finest
reputations of the war and left one of
its ablest leaders to a position in the
hearts of the people far below that
occupied by many men inferior to him in
point of military sagacity
and service rendered.73
Wednesday, May 28, 1884 Mr.
Hinman had an interview with
Governor Hoadly today respecting the
probable action of the supreme
court with respect to the
constitutionality of the bank law. The Governor
said that at the request of General
Brinkerhoff and prompted by his
own feeling that an adverse decision
would at this time affect disastrously
the business interests of the state, and
possibly precipitate a panic, he
73 William Starke Rosecrans graduated
from West Point in 1842. He attained
the rank of major general in the Civil
War. He was minister to Mexico, 1868-69;
a Democratic representative in congress
from California, 1881-85; and register of
the treasury, 1885-93. In 1869 the
Democrats of Ohio nominated him for governor.
Rosecrans, who was then in California,
declined the nomination, and in his letter
to the committee he took sharp issue
with the principles of the Democratic platform
by demanding equal rights for Negroes
and the immediate resumption of gold
payments on government obligations.
176 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
had had a very free conversation with
Judge Okey, in which he had
suggested the reasons for postponement
of the decision in case it was
to be against the constitutionality of
the statute, and the judge had
given him to understand that he need
feel no uneasiness on the subject,
that the case would not be acted upon
during the present term, and
that there would probably be a good deal
more to be said on the subject
before it was finally determined. From
this latter remark Judge Hoadly
inferred that it was not by any means
sure that the decision would be
adverse to the banks, but it seems to me
if the decision was to be in
their favor-or rather if it was clear to
the minds of a majority of
the Judges that the statute is
constitutional that they would render a
decision at once and thus relieve the
vast interests involved from all
anxiety in respect to the matter. There
are however in the case before
the court many other points to be
decided upon besides the main one
referred to, and it may be possible that
these occasion the delay.74
Thursday, May 29, 1884 Called at the Neil this morning to see
Genl Rosecrans who is on his way to
Delaware to attend the soldiers
meeting which is to take place on
tomorrow. The General is in splendid
health, and was in the best of humor. He
said he did not propose to make
a speech at Delaware, but would simply
give a free and easy talk to
his old neighbors, and went on to say
that he remembered the town
very well where from the log cabin in
which he was born near Berk-
shire, Delaware County, he heard the
wolves howl, and that they had
good strong voices, and that when he
asked his mother what they were
she told him they were gray wolves.
Since that-the short space of not an
old man's life, the forest has been cut
down, and the ground cleared, and
productive farms made, and I presume
there has not been either wolf,
bear or deer in Delaware County for the
last thirty five or forty years.
What has become of the wild beasts so
abundant when Rosecrans was
a child? Have they been exterminated or
gradually driven westward
before the advancing tide of
civilization?
Friday, May 30, 1884 Went to Delaware on the noon train. The
town was thronged with people. The
number was estimated at fifteen
thousand. The procession was formed and
the carriages ready to start
74 The result was, however, in General
Beatty's favor. In February 1885 the
supreme court finally handed down its
decision in this case (Dearborn v. North-
western Savings Bank). Chief Justice McIlvaine wrote the decision, which held
that the law under which Beatty's bank
had been organized was constitutional. 42
O. S. 617.
The Diary of John Beatty 177
when I arrived. A seat was given me
beside General Robinson, the
Republican candidate for secretary of
state, and in the same carriage
were Judge McWray and Carey Paul,
members of the reception com-
mittee. Genl Rosecrans occupied the
foremost carriage with Judge T C
Jones and others. Govr Hoadly on
horseback accompanied by his staff
also mounted and in uniform headed the
column, and the march about
the city occupied perhaps an hour. When
we returned to the court house
in front of which the monument to the
soldiers of Delaware County is
located, the Governor, Genl Rosecrans
and others were conducted to a
platform and the exercises were opened
by prayer. Genl Morgan of
Mt. Vernon was then introduced and began
a rather stilted oration, but
after about ten minutes apparently
stumbled, broke down, and then
assured his hearers that he had not said
a word that he intended to say
and after a few complimentary allusions
to Hoadly and Rosecrans took
his seat. Rosecrans occupied half an
hour. Hoadly then [word illegible]
in a short speech intended as a bid for
the presidency. My name was
called but being appointed for the
evening meeting I did not respond--
In the evening the City Hall was crowded
and I spoke nearly an hour
but did not deliver myself well, and sat
down feeling that I had made
a failure.
Saturday, May 31, 1884 At 5 o'clk P M in company with many
other Columbus men I took the train for
Chicago, and as I had been
unable to obtain a sleeping car berth, I
spent the time until we reached
Bradford Junction in the smoking car
looking over the evening paper
and observing the country which at this
season is very pleasant to one
who has been confined to the dusty or
muddy streets of a city. At Brad-
ford I changed to a sleeping car and
found in it many delegates and some
others on their way to the convention.
Among the latter were Mr. Joseph
Turney,75 Ex-Treasurer of State with his
wife and daughter. Captain
L. D. Myers, postmaster of this city,
Mr. Cameron and Mr. Woodburn
of Marysville. It was nearly midnight
before I lay down to rest, and
as I had been up until two o'clk the
night before, I was in good con-
dition to enjoy even a bed in a sleeping
car, and the remainder of the
night passed ever too quickly to give me
all the sleep I needed. The
topic for all tongues before retiring
was the probably candidate. A ma-
jority of those in the car were
favorable to Sherman, and thought the
75 Joseph Turney, a Republican of
Cleveland, was twice treasurer of Cuyahoga
County (1866-70) and twice treasurer of
Ohio (1880-84).
178 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
east and west would be compelled as at
Cincinnati eight years ago,
and Chicago four years ago, to meet on
Ohio as middle ground.
Sunday, June 1, 1884 It was about 8 o'clk in the morning when we
reached Chicago. I had not taken the
trouble to engage rooms in ad-
vance, and so I put my carpet sack and
over coat in the cloak room of
the Depot building, took breakfast in
the dining room of the station,
and then proceeded leisurely downtown
to look for quarters. Finding all
the principal hotels crowded to
overflowing, I sought for accomodations
at humbler and less desirable places,
and concluded for a time that I was
not likely to find any house where I
could settle down comfortably, but
finally I bethought myself of a fair
hotel located two squares outside
of the section most frequented by
politicians and strangers, and going
to it I obtained a single room, and
found a good table, and so was in
a situation to pass the time very
comfortably, and subsequently had
reason to congratulate myself on having
escaped the brass bands, un-
ceasing noise, and overwhelming
confusion which prevailed in the larger
and more popular hotels. During the day
I met a number of my old
friends of the 40th, 41st, and 42d
Congresses, among these Burt Van
Horn of New York who sat beside me
during one session, Tyner of
Indiana, Peter Clever Shanks of the
same state, Halsey of New Jersey,
Delano of this state, and General Amasa
Cobb,76 now of Lincoln Nebraska.
Monday, June 2, 1884 The Ohio delegates favorable to the nom-
ination of Senator Sherman, with a few
other gentlemen known to be
friends of the senator, met in Judge
Forakers room to consult as to the
best means of promoting his candidacy.
When the roll of Ohio dele-
gates was called it was claimed that
twenty five of the 46 men con-
76 Burt Van Horn was a New York farmer
who served three terms in congress,
1861-63 and 1865-69. James Noble Tyner
was an Indiana lawyer who was an
elector for Lincoln in 1860; a
congressman for three terms, 1869-75; and postmaster
general in Grant's cabinet from July 12,
1876, until March 3, 1877. John Peter
Cleaver (not Clever) Shanks attained the
brevet rank of major general in the
Civil War and served five terms in
congress, 1861-63, and 1867-75. George Armstrong
Halsey was a New Jersey leather
manufacturer who served two terms in congress,
1867-69 and 1871-73. Columbus Delano was
born in Vermont and brought to Mt.
Vernon, Ohio, in 1817 at the age of
eight. He seconded the nomination of Lincoln
at the Republican convention of 1860 and
served in congress from 1865 to 1867.
He successfully contested the election
of George W. Morgan to the next congress
and again served from June 3, 1868, to
March 3, 1869. He was secretary of the
interior in Grant's cabinet from
November 1, 1870, until October 19, 1875. Amasa
Cobb was a private in the war with
Mexico and a brevet brigadier general in the
Civil War. He was a member of congress
from Wisconsin for four terms, 1863-71.
Afterwards he moved to Nebraska, where
he served fourteen years as associate and
chief justice of the state supreme court. All of these
men were Republicans.
The Diary of John Beatty 179
stituting the delegation could be relied
upon to stand by Sherman, and
at my suggestion a committee consisting
of Samuel Craighead, Amor
Smith, Mark Hanna and C. L. Kurtz77 was
appointed to take special
charge of Mr. Sherman's interests and
direct the movements of those
desiring his success.
The sentiment is strongly for Blaine,
and the public rooms and
corridors of the Grand Pacific and
Palmer are crowded with his en-
thusiastic admirers. In fact I think of
the outsiders in attendance upon
the convention 4/5ths are for him, and
whenever Arthurs name is
mentioned it is drowned out by a great
shout for the "plumed knight."
While on the way from my hotel-the
Griggs, to the Grand Pacific,
I met Genl Milo S. Hascall78 of
Goshen Indiana, an old army acquaint-
ance, and after waiting long enough for
him to deposit his baggage and
obtain his supper at the Sherman house,
we went together to the
Pacific. The Lincoln Club of Cincinnati
had just arrived and preceded
by a band marched to the headquarters of
the Ohio delegation. Of course
there must be speech making at such a
time and I was caught up by a
parcel of enthusiastic gentlemen shoved
through the crowd and helped on
to a table and [word illegible] to make
a speech which I did to their
satisfaction apparently.
Tuesday, June 3, 1884 I am indebted to the kindness of Colonel
W. C. Cooper79 the Ohio
member of the National Committee for a ticket
to the convention. The seat to which it
admitted me was in a box near
the platform containing nine chairs. In
the box were Columbus Delano,
ex-secretary of the Interior, Judge W.
H. Upson80 of Akron, late of the
Supreme Court of this state, Lovell
Harris, a republican candidate for
77 Craighead was a delegate from the
fourth (Dayton) district; Smith was a
delegate from the second (Cincinnati)
district; Hanna was a delegate at large; and
Kurtz, like Beatty, had no official
capacity at the convention.
78 Milo Smith Hascall graduated from
West Point in 1852 but resigned from
the army the next year to practice law
and build railroads in Indiana. He became
a brigadier general in the Civil War and
commanded an army corps in the Atlanta
campaign. After the war he became a
banker, and then in 1890 he moved to Chicago
and went into the real estate business.
79 William Craig Cooper was born in Mt.
Vernon and admitted to the bar in
1853. He was colonel of the 142d Ohio
Volunteer Infantry at the end of the Civil
War and judge advocate general of Ohio
from 1879 to 1884. He was elected
Republican national committeeman from
Ohio in 1876. Cooper served one term in
the general assembly (1872-74) and three
in congress (1885-91).
80 William H. Upson was born in Worthington and graduated from Western
Reserve in 1842. He was a state senator
(1854-56) and a member of congress two
terms (1869-73). Upson served as a state
supreme court justice for a few months
by appointment of Governor Foster but
was defeated as a candidate for this office
in 1883.
180 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
Presidential elector, and some others of
less prominence, and among
the latter an old gentlemen of rather
rough appearance, and exceedingly
tall. He was probably some friend or
relation of Colonel Cooper who
had left Ohio long since to find a home
in the West. At any rate this
old gentleman startled us some what by
rising up in his seat and in a
loud voice introducing to us a common
faced man of perhaps forty, as
the grandson of the great Daniel Boone,
a soldier during the
war, who had been conscripted into the
Confederate service, deserted
from it, joined the Union army and been
wounded four times in battle.
It struck me that the recipient of this
eulogy enjoyed it far less than
either the eulogist or his hearers. The
old gentleman was as proud and
pleased as he could have been had he
been presenting General Grant.
In the adjoining box to us was Mrs.
Powell Clayton of Arkansas, whose
vivacious tongue became suddenly silent
when a motion was made to
substitute the name of Lynch of
Mississippi for that of her husband
for the position of temporary chairman
of the convention.81
Wednesday, June 4, 1884 When I reached the Pacific this morning
I found General Harrison C. Hobart
awaiting my arrival. He had come
over from Milwaukee to see me, and so we
locked arms and went out
on the street to find if possible a
quiet place in which to talk over old
times. Going southward so as to get away
from the crowd, he told me
that his health during the past year had
been far from good, and that
there were times when he felt that his
system was breaking down and
that the end of all things for him was
very near and that he had kept
in retirement as much as possible, with
the determination to meet his
fate as quietly and calmly as he could,
but that for the last few months
he had grown stronger and that he felt
encouraged by the hope that
there were still some years of life
before him. I observed however that
the old gentleman's hand trembled, and
that there was an occasional
twitch about the lips, which betokened
some impairment of the nervous
system, and that he was still far from
well. We visited together a very
life like and wonderful panorama of the
battle field of Gettysburg, and
then walked down to the lake and took a
chair in the park and talked
until it was time for the convention to
convene when I gave him my
ticket and accompanied him to the
Exposition building and told him
81 The motion carried by the following
vote: John R. Lynch, 424; Powell
Clayton, 384. Lynch, a Negro, was an
Arthur delegate, and the vote was heralded
as an anti-Blaine victory. The Ohio
delegates cast 24 votes for Clayton and 22 for
Lynch.
The Diary of John Beatty 181
where to enter. When the convention adjourned we met again. He
returned to Milwaukee on the evening
train. We shall, I fear, not meet
many more times in this world.82
Thursday, June 5, 1884 Yesterday afternoon in company with
Hanna and Harts83 of the Ohio
delegation I visited the headquarters of
the Massachusetts delegation where a
conference of the Edmunds men
was being held. Senator Hoar presided
over the meeting, Gov Smith of
Vermont made a dull speech, Geo. William
Curtis of New York made a
brilliant one, Gov Long of
Massachusetts84 spoke sensibly and to the
point. Young Rosevelt of New York a
bright cheery fellow, who has
accidentally caught the eye of the
people and had his head turned
82 General
Hobart still had many years ahead of him, however, for he did not
die until January 26, 1902. He and
Beatty became friends during the war, and he was,
perhaps, the closest of all Beatty's
army acquaintances. Harrison Carroll Hobart was
born in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, on
January 31, 1815. He graduated from
Dartmouth in 1842 and was admitted to
the bar in 1845. The next year he moved
to Wisconsin and at once took a
prominent part in politics as a Democrat. He was
elected to the territorial legislature,
and--after Wisconsin was admitted to the union
in 1848--to both houses of the state
legislature; he was elected speaker of the
lower house in 1849. He was twice
defeated as a Democratic candidate for congress
and twice defeated as a Democratic
candidate for governor of Wisconsin. In 1867
he urged the ratification of the
fourteenth amendment, and after this difference
with his party he took little part in
politics, although he held several municipal
offices in Milwaukee. At the outbreak of
the Civil War, Hobart at once enlisted, and
by the end of hostilities he held the
brevet of brigadier general. He served on the
eastern shore of Maryland, at New
Orleans and on the lower Mississippi, and in
Kentucky and Tennessee. Hobart commanded
the 21st Wisconsin Infantry. He was
captured at Chickamauga and taken to
Libby prison in Richmond. There he and
other officers undertook to obtain their
freedom by digging a tunnel. Hobart was
in charge, and on the night of February
9, 1864, one hundred and nine prisoners
passed through the tunnel; Hobart and
fifty-six others managed to reach the Federal
lines and safety. An account of Hobart's
escape was published as an appendix to
General Beatty's war diary. After a
leave at home Hobart returned to the army
and served in the Atlanta campaign, the
march to the sea, and Sherman's final push
north through the Carolinas. In the
grand review in Washington at the end of the
war Hobart marched at the head of the
brigade he had commanded since the fall
of Atlanta. At his death it was said
that "no man in Wisconsin . . . has lived a
more exemplary public and private
life." State Historical Society of Wisconsin,
Proceedings (1903), 148-160.
83 Alphonso Hart was a delegate from the
11th district (Hillsboro). He was
born in Trumbull County and admitted to
the bar in 1851. He was a state senator
for two terms, 1862-64 and 1872-74,
lieutenant governor of Ohio from 1874 to 1876,
and a member of congress from 1883 to
1885.
84 George Frisbie Hoar was a
representative in congress from Massachusetts
from 1869 until 1877 and a senator from
1877 until his death in 1904. John Gregory
Smith was successively president of the
Northern Pacific and Central Vermont
railroads and a war governor of Vermont
(1863-65). George William Curtis was
the distinguished editor of "The
Easy Chair" in Harper's Magazine who led the
bolt from Blaine to Cleveland and helped
to insure the latter's victory. John Davis
Long was governor of Massachusetts,
1880-83; representative in congress, 1883-89;
and secretary of the navy from 1897
until 1902.
182 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
thereby made a few remarks which he
intended to be lively, but which
were in fact common place and dull.85
This evening when I sought to enter the
Convention I found that a
mob had taken possession of the building
by means of fraudulent tickets,
and so I failed to obtain admission and
lost what I most desired, to wit:
the nominating speeches. Of course I can
read the speeches, but a speech
like a song derives much of its power
from the manner in which it is
delivered. A poor voice, or defective
gesticulation, may render a good
speech, or rather a well composed and
pithy speech ineffective and
powerless. The Hotels and streets are
ringing for Blaine. Nothing but
an immediate consolidation of the field
can prevent his nomination.
Friday, June 6, 1884 The failure of the opposition to obtain a
vote last night after the candidates
were put in the field prevents any
combination likely to insure the defeat
of Blaine. Bands, Glee Clubs,
and processions were playing, singing
and shouting for Blaine when I
went to my hotel at two oclk this
morning, and at 9 a. m. everybody
is predicting his nomination on the
second or third ballot. A number
of Ohio delegates who were thought to be
solid for Sherman are waver-
ing in their allegiance to him. Others
who it was believed would come
to him on the second or third ballot,
are out spoken in their devotion
to Blaine, and express a determination
to stand by him to the end. We
had hopes yesterday of perfecting a
combination with the Edmunds men
and to this end Carl Shurz86 told me to
advise the Sherman men to stand
firm, but as there was no ballot last
night there can be no concentration
this morning and the opposition is at
loose ends. Met my old acquain-
tance Genl Geo Many87 of
Tennessee, he is more garrulous than ever and
85 Theodore Roosevelt (Beatty misspelled
his name) went to Chicago as chair-
man of the New York delegation and as an
Edmunds supporter upon whom the
Mugwumps counted heavily. Years later
William Roscoe Thayer wrote: "I cher-
ished, what seems to me now the sadly
foolish dream, that with Roosevelt in the
convention the abomination (i. e., the
nomination of Blaine) could not happen. I
thought of him as a paladin against whom
the forces of evil would dash themselves
to pieces." Theodore Roosevelt,
An Intimate Biography (Cambridge, 1919), 51.
86 Carl Schurz (not Shurz) proved to be
the most effective Mugwump orator
in the ensuing campaign. Born in
Germany, Schurz became the United States
minister to Spain (1861), a major
general in the Civil War, a senator from Wis-
consin (1869-75), and secretary of the
interior in Hayes's cabinet (1877-81).
Schurz served on the editorial board of
the New York Evening Post and succeeded
Curtis as the editor of "The Easy
Chair" in Harper's.
87 George Maney (not Many) was born in
Franklin, Tennessee. He served
in the war with Mexico and after the war
was admitted to the bar. During the
Civil War he served in the Confederate
army, attained the rank of brigadier
general, and was wounded at Chattanooga.
In the years following the war Maney
became the president of a railroad and
served in the Tennessee legislature. Not-
The Diary of John Beatty 183
is becoming a bore. While balloting is
in progress in convention, the
yelling and howling and singing for
Blaine is going on in the hotels
and on the streets. At four oclk he is
nominated, at five I get in readiness
to return home, and at 8 30 leave
Chicago.
Saturday, June 7, 1884 Reached Columbus at 8 30. Keifer was on
the train and among other things
illustrative of Blaine's venom and
duplicity was this: Garfield, Conkling,
Platt and Arthur were likely to
get along well: the former had agreed
that no appointments should be
made for New York until the latter
gentlemen were consulted [the ref-
erence here is to the beginning of the
Garfield administration]. Blaine's
dislike of Conkling was intense and his
desire to make Robertson col-
lector sincere. As soon as he heard that
Conkling and his friends were
likely to control in the matter, he
sought an interview with Garfield, in
which the whole subject was discussed
until after midnight, the secretary
threatening to resign if Robertson were
not appointed, but at the same
time professing great desire to remain,
and great regard for the Presi-
dent, and a willingness to pledge himself
in case Garfield would accede
to his wishes not to be a candidate for
the presidency against him, but
to use his influence to nominate him for
a second term. And as the
result of all this beseeching,
threatening, and promising at two oclk in
the morning, Garfield agreed to appoint
Robertson without further con-
sultation with Conkling and his friends,
and in violation of his promise
to them, and to take upon himself all
the responsibility therefor, and
thereupon the President and his
secretary embraced each other and so
separated, the one to be branded as
false and ungrateful and then to be
shot down by a crank and be made a
martyr of and a political saint,
and the other to be nominated at
Chicago. This comes from Chandler
with whom Blaine was at the time
intimate and from Nichol who was a
confidant of Garfield.88
withstanding his Confederate background
Maney was a Republican and a delegate
to the national conventions of 1884 and
1888. In the administrations of Garfield
and Arthur, Maney was minister to
Colombia and Bolivia, and in Harrison's ad-
ministration he was minister to Paraguay
and Uruguay.
88 This was the contemporary view of the
celebrated appointment of Judge
Robertson. It is described in detail by
Theodore Clarke Smith, Garfield's biographer.
Smith, however, holds that Garfield had
given no formal pledge to Conkling and
also denies that Blaine had compelled
Garfield to make the break with Conkling:
"There was and is no evidence for
this belief [i. e., that in a stormy scene Blaine
had coerced Garfield into appointing
Robertson] beyond the admitted fact that
Blaine spent nearly two hours with
Garfield the night before the Robertson nomina-
tion was sent in." The Life and
Letters of James Abram Garfield (2 vols., New
Haven, 1925), II, 1106-1107.
184 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
Sunday, June 8, 1884 In continuation of the topic of the preceding
page, or rather of one suggested thereby
is the statement made to me by
Columbus Delano, in the strictest
confidence--for Delano is a cautious
man, while we were walking from the
Pacific to the Sherman house to
make a call on the Alabama delegation.
During Garfield's Credit
Mobilier troubles, and when everybody in
the House of Representatives
believed that he was at least guilty of
prevarication, Blaine went to
Delano and told him that he must aid in
obtaining for Garfield the
Governorship of one of the Territories,
that in the first place it was
very doubtful perhaps impossible for him
to be reelected, and if re-
elected he (Blaine) would not know where
to put him on committees-
that if appointed to responsible
committees to which on the score of
length of service he would be entitled
there would be general dissatis-
faction in the House and throughout the
country, and that the thing to
do therefore was to get rid of him in
such a way as would harm him
least. Delano told Blaine he would not
aid him in such a work-would
not ask the President to appoint him to
the place named and that if
Garfields constituents returned him the
speaker should place him on
such committees as he was entitled to in
view of length of service and
ability.89 Much of Blaine's
popularity in Ohio comes from the fact that
he is thought to have been Garfield's
best friend when in truth he cared
nothing for him except to use him for
promotion of his own success.
Monday, June 9, 1884 While my thoughts are running on Blaine
I may as well tell a little incident of
my own experience with him. He
was Speaker of the House during Grant's
first term and Genl Ruloff
Brinkerhoff of Mansfield was an
applicant for the Hague Mission.
Brinkerhoff had been stationed in Maine
during a part of the war and
having abundant leisure had aided Blaine
by making speeches in the
district and so the two men were
apparently on the most intimate and
friendly terms and Blaine was
encouraging Brinkerhoff to believe that
he was making frequent visits to the
president for the sole purpose of
urging his appointment, but still the
appointment was not made and the
matter remained at a stand still.
Finally I spoke to Blaine in Brinker-
hoff's behalf, and was told that he
(Blaine) was doing everything he
possibly could to secure Brinkerhoff's
appointment, that he had gone to
the President on purpose to urge it, and
that the General might rely
89 Blaine did hesitate, but in the end
he reappointed Garfield chairman of the
committee on appropriations and member
of the committee on rules. Smith, Life
and Letters of Garfield, I, 563.
The Diary of John Beatty 185
upon his active support and influence
in the matter. On the next day
Senator Sherman and I called at the
White House to expedite the case
if possible, and after we had made our
statements, the President said
that Hugh Ewing ought to be recalled as
he was acting badly, and that
Blaine only the day before had urged him
to appoint Charles Ewing and
remove Hugh.90 The fact is
Blaine had never mentioned Brinkerhoff's
name to the President at all and had
lied to both him and me. I left
the Executive Mansion determined to tell
Blaine he was a liar, but
Sherman argued that it would injure both
Brinkerhoff and myself and
so dissuaded me.
Tuesday, June 10-11, 1884 Genl John G. Mitchell91 of this city
married Laura Platt, the neice of
Ex-president Hayes. Going down town
Sunday night together he told me that
while in New York he was in the
company of a number of gentlemen when
Robert Ingersoll92 repeated
this story of Blaine and Hayes. Blaine
was the leading candidate at the
Cincinnati Convention in 1876, but after
his defeat he turned in and
worked zealously for the election of
Hayes. Soon after the inauguration
of the latter, Blaine called at the
White House with a bundle of papers
having reference to offices to be filled
in Maine, some of which had re-
cently become vacant, and had not been
provided for by Grant because
he thought the appointments properly
belonged to his successor. Blaine
spoke of the necessity for immediate
action, and explained as far as he
could the qualifications and character
of this applicant and that, and
finally said that he had no desire to
influence the President's action with
respect to them, knowing as he did his
views on the subject of the inter-
90 Hugh Boyle and Charles Ewing were
sons of Thomas Ewing, the Whig
cabinet officer and senator from Ohio.
Both were lawyers. Hugh was a brevet major
general and Charles was a brigadier
general during the Civil War. Hugh was
minister to Holland from 1866 to 1870,
at which time Charles was practicing law in
Washington.
91 At the beginning of the Civil War,
Mitchell was the adjutant of Beatty's
regiment, the 3d Ohio Infantry, and
there are many references to him in Beatty's
war diary. Curiously, one of the first
(the entry for October 16, 1861) refers to
Mitchell as being "hopelessly in
love" and to his intention to marry as soon as the
war was over. John Beatty, Memoirs of
A Volunteer 1861-1863, edited by Harvey S.
Ford (New York, 1946), 68. Mitchell was
born in Piqua in 1838, graduated from
Kenyon in 1859, and admitted to the bar
two years later. He served in the 3d Ohio
from July 1861 until September 1862 and
then was transferred to the 113th Ohio.
At the end of the war he held the brevet
of major general. Mitchell died in 1894.
92 Robert Ingersoll was "the great
agnostic" whose attacks on formal religion
were so celebrated in the last quarter
of the nineteenth century. Ingersoll also was
a great orator and had placed Blaine's
name in nomination at the Republican con-
vention of 1876. It was on this occasion
that Ingersoll coined the phrase "plumed
knight" in reference to Blaine by
which the latter was known thereafter.
186 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
ference of members of congress in the
matter of appointments, but he
wanted him to know that one of the
applicants--naming him, was his
(Blaine's) life long bitter personal
enemy. Hayes listened courteously,
and promised to consider the case
promptly, and a few days thereafter
much to the Maine Senator's astonishment
sent to the Senate the name of
Blaine's enemy for confirmation. During
Hayes' four year occupation
of the White House Blaine never called
on him again.93 Mitchell could
not believe that Hayes had so needlessly
and foolishly affronted one to
whom he was under so many obligations,
and so asked W. K. Rogers,94
Hayes private secretary if there was any
truth in Ingersoll's story. Rogers
replied that he was sorry to say it was
entirely true. Hayes was a fre-
quent visitor at Mitchell's house before
his election to the Presidency
and is still, so that the latter has had
an opportunity to know him well.
Prior to his occupancy of the Executive
Mansion he was a modest sens-
ible man, not unduly tenacious of his
own opinions and therefore in-
clined to make reasonable concessions to
others. But after his elevation
he was surrounded by a lot of office
seeking sycophants who made him
believe that he was a born ruler-a
predestinated King, and that what-
ever he did must of necessity be right,
and that the absolute proof of
the righteousness of his acts lay in the
fact that they differed from what
other men would have probably done under
similar circumstances.
Hayes was always I think inclined to be
one of the "holier than thou"
men, and his elevation and surroundings
led him very quickly to the
conclusion that he was infallible, and
that God had raised him up
especially for the Presidency as He had
Aaron for the Priesthood and
Christ for the redemption of men. Unless
the Great Father is kinder to
him than the people of the present day,
he is likely to be damned to all
eternity for his betrayal of the
Republicans of the South, and the little-
ness and slushiness of his
administration.
93 Hayes's biography states that the
difference between the two men originated
when Hayes refused to appoint Frye to
the cabinet at Blaine's request. Charles
Richard Williams, The Life of
Rutherford Birchard Hayes (2 vols., Cambridge,
1914), II, 16.
94 William K. Rogers was Hayes's law
partner in Cincinnati from 1854 to
1856, after which Rogers moved to
Minnesota. Hayes's biographer wrote of Rogers
that he was "a man of scholarly
tastes, of pleasant manners, and of dignified ap-
pearance, but who was deficient in
practical sagacity, inexperienced in public affairs,
and unacquainted with public men. He had
tried the ministry, the law, and business
pursuits without achieving success; and
always Mr. Hayes had come to his rescue
when he was in straits--remaining true
to the early friendship and finding pleasure
in his loyalty and his agreeable
personality." Rogers was Hayes's private secretary
while the latter was in the White House.
Hayes described Rogers as "a man of
fine culture, noble sentiments, a true
friend. Too guileless for practical life and so
unselfish and unsuspecting that his
business ventures have generally been failures."
Williams, Life of Hayes, II, 302.
The Diary of John Beatty 187
Thursday, June 12, 1884 It has been charged that Stanley Mathews
[Matthews] was appointed a Justice of
the Supreme Court in pursuance
of a bargain entered into between
Garfield and Whitelaw Reid of the
New York Tribune. The terms of the
alleged bargain were that Reid
should support Garfield and Garfield
allow Reid to dictate appoint-
ments. I had little faith in the story
not because I thought either of the
parties too scrupulous to make such a
bargain, but because I could not
see any advantage in such arrangement
for Reid. But Keifer tells me
that General Irvin McDowell brought the
two men together at his house,
and that they agreed to work together,
substantially as charged, that
this occurred prior to the Chicago
Convention of 1880 and that im-
mediately after Garfield's nomination,
Reid visited Mentor to assure
himself that Garfield still remembered
the terms of the contract, and
was willing to stand by it, and having
satisfied himself on this score
he continued to "boom" his
friend and confederate, and that the nomina-
tion of Stanley Mathews-Jay Gould's
friend and possibly Reid's, was
one of the results of the bargain
between the Editor and the statesman.
General McDowell speaks of the meeting
of the two men and of this
friendly alliance, and of his bringing
them together, as if by his action
in the matter he had rendered the
country a service.95
Friday, June 13, 1884 The Republican State Central Committee
held its first meeting at the Neil House
last night, and organized by
electing Judge J. W. O'Neal of Lebanon,
Warren County, chairman,
J. M. Brown96 of Toledo vice
chairman, and A. C. Caine of Perry county
secretary. The meeting was not
harmonious. At 12 oclk midnight I was
called out of bed to receive a committee
consisting of Brown, Caine and
Clark which had been sent out to offer
me the chairmanship of the
Executive Committee, but I told
them that my business required so
much of my attention that it would be
impossible for me to accept the
place, and after much urging on their
part, and a positive refusal to
95 Smith, however, says that Garfield
"instantly refused" Reid's request that
he appoint to the supreme
court someone acceptable to "New York financial
elements," and in proof thereof he
quotes from a letter Garfield wrote to Reid
elaborating on his reasons for refusal.
Matthews had served in the senate from
1877 to 1879, but in 1880 he had not
been a candidate for reelection, thus leaving
the field clear for Garfield. Therefore,
"doubtless Garfield felt this [i. e., Matthews'
appointment to the supreme court in
1881] was politically necessary." Life and
Letters of Garfield, II, 1029-1030, 1146.
96 James M. Brown was born in Delaware
County and worked as a printer as
a young man. In 1858 he abandoned
printing to study law and was admitted to the
bar two years later. He moved to Toledo
and went into partnership with General
John C. Lee (who was lieutenant governor
of Ohio in the first two Hayes adminis-
trations). Brown was postmaster at Toledo
from 1890 to 1894.
188 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
serve on mine they returned to the Neil
and elected J. F. Oglevee chair-
man and J. K. Brown formerly of Guernsey
County secretary and then
selected as members of the Executive
Committee, Chas Foster, J. B.
Foraker, Mark Hanna, T. Ewing Miller and
James Poindexter. This
committee is strong enough in the way of
talent and experience, but the
members-a majority of them live so far
away that they are not likely
to render much assistance to the
chairman in prosecuting the work of
the campaign. I would have been put on
it but for two reasons-in the
first place I preferred not to serve,
and in the second I declined
peremptorily to accept a place on any
committee with Foster.97
Saturday, June 14, 1884 The financial troubles in New York a
week or two ago have been followed by
the failure of the Penn Bank of
Pittsburgh, by the failure of banks in
West Virginia, and in other sec-
tions of the country, and by the
discovery of defalcations on the part
of bank officials, notably that of the
cashier of the National Bank of
Commerce, Cleveland for $100,000, until
the people have lost to some
extent their confidence in the integrity
of bank officials, and in the safety
of banks generally. I think today that
we have in our own business had
some indication of this impaired
confidence on the part of the people,
in banking institutions. Quite a number
withdrew their deposits under
such circumstances as led us to conclude
that they had been prompted
to do it by fear that they might lose
their money if they trusted us
longer. The daily papers in great
headlines announce every bank failure,
and seem to take great pains to enlarge
upon it, and to encourage the
belief that all bankers are dishonest.
This of course has its effect on
the reader and to make himself safe
beyond peradventure he rushes to
the bank and checks out his money. Then
again borrowers who fail at
such times to obtain accomodations from
the bank nose around among
its depositors and by [word illegible]
insinuations against its credit so
work upon the fears of the depositor
that he concludes that it is better
to draw the money from the bank and lend
it at the higher rate of
interest which the borrower is willing
to give-he thinks he runs less
risk of loss and is sure of a bigger
profit by so doing.
97 Beatty received three more votes than
Oglevee in the election for chairman
of the executive committee. As finally
constituted, and according to an authorita-
tive source, the Republican executive
committee was as follows: John F. Oglevee
of Columbus, chairman; Charles Foster of
Fostoria; Joseph B. Foraker of Cincin-
nati; Marcus A. Hanna of Cleveland; Benjamin
W. Arnett of Xenia; Charles C.
Walcutt of Columbus; T. Ewing Miller of
Columbus; Smith L. Johnson of Colum-
bus; Joshua K. Brown of Guernsey,
secretary. Joseph P. Smith, History of the
Republican Party in Ohio (2 vols., Chicago, 1898), I, 492.
The Diary of John Beatty 189
Sunday, June 15, 1884 The day is one of the pleasantest of June
days, and June has the finest days of
the whole year. The rain of the
days before and of last night have left
vegetation at its freshest, and the
atmosphere cool and bracing, and with
the sun shining from a clear
sky there is nothing lacking to a
perfect day.
Mrs. B went to Cardington yesterday to
be gone probably a week.
I have put in my time mainly in
preparing an article in reply to
certain statements made by Dr.
Washington Gladden in his contribution
in the Century of this month. In
speaking of the "Use and abuse of
parties" he takes occasion to say
that the two leading parties of this
country exist simply for the purpose of
getting the offices, and that
there is nothing in the way of principle
to hold a man to either, so that
he abandons nothing worth clinging to
when he goes from the one to
the other. To this I take exception.
Then again he says that the south-
ern question is dead and has dropped out
of politics. This statement I
contend is untrue, that the question can
neither die nor be dropped
until the freedmen south are either
permitted to vote and have their
votes counted, or disfranchised by the
adoption of an educational or
property qualification which would
result in the diminution of the
representation of southern states in
Congress and the electoral college.
Monday, June 16-18, 1884 This evening I revised the article
written yesterday criticizing Dr. Gladden.
It will appear in the Ohio
State Journal of tomorrow morning. I doubt not it will seem poor
enough and that the Dr. will riddle it
if he responds, but if I seek to
strike a blow I must not complain if one
and a harder is returned. At
any rate. I think I am right in the
matter and until convinced to the
contrary will maintain my view of the
case as best I can, although I
feel that in a conflict with one of the
Dr's learning and ability the
chances are against my coming out of the
fight with credit.
One should of course exercise his
individual judgement in politics,
and stand by what he believes is right
even if in doing so he is opposed
by his own party friends, but he should
at least concede some things to
the opinion of others and should
construe a doubt possibly against
himself and in favor of the majority to
maintain parties, and keep up
party organizations. Some concessions
must be made to those who co-
operate with us to reach a common end.
If the trend of the party is in
the right direction substantially it is
better to act with it than to stand
aloof and allow a party to succeed whose
purposes are manifestly bad,
and whose control would endanger
important public interest. In the
190 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
North we have free speech, and
untramelled political action. That is to
say no man is coerced to vote against
his conviction. At any rate no man
has ever been deterred from casting his
vote as he deemed best by intimi-
dation or violence, and a man here would
stand disgraced who undertook
to compel another by scourging or
wounding either to remain away from
the polls or vote otherwise than he saw
fit, so that the tendency here at
least is towards free speech, free
ballots and a fair count, and where
this is the party trend the Republicans
are in majority. On the other
hand in the late slave states they have
as yet no practical appreciation of
the doctrine or principle of equality.
The white race is still esteemed to
be the superior race, the belief that
slavery is ordained of God, still
dominates the popular mind, and the idea
that a negro should either
vote or associate with the whites on
terms of equality, or be admitted
to the same churches, the same cars, the
same places of public resort
is repudiated--with scorn. In these
states the democratic party is in
majority. The question at issue between
the two parties then is that of
the equality of men, and the truth or
principle underlying this contest
is the same that the revolutionary
fathers declared to be self evident
to wit: all men are created equal and
endowed &c and govt's derive
their just powers from the consent of
the governed &c.
You can not judge of the character,
disposition, and inclinations of
a great party from the acts or
utterances of a single individual, or from
the condition of things in one locality
for both may be exceptional. What
is the condition of the people in the
south where democracy has full
sway, and toward what does the party
tend? What is the condition of
the people in the North where
republicanism prevails, and what is the
party trend? Where are schools most
abundant, the rights of men most
jealously guarded, life most safe,
political speech and action freest, the
constitution most respected, and the
laws most rapidly enforced. You
get the average of parties as you obtain
the average of anything else,
not simply by looking at the
largest--the tallest and the best but by an
accurate survey of the whole. We get
suggestion of heaven from the
church and of hell from the brothel, but
because the church is not so
good as heaven we should not abandon it
for the brothel which is not
so bad as hell. The members of this or
that party or this or that locality
may be below the average just as in
another they may be above, but
when the party is strongest and most
flowering, we look for the fruit by
which the tree is to judged, not where
it is weakest and its tendencies
curbed by influences more potent than
its own--that there are fair
minded democrats, honest &
intelligent, and there are also narrow minded
The Diary of John Beatty 191
republicans, ignorant besotted and
dishonest and there are sections
where the members of the party are so
demoralized, as to be a disgrace
to the party.
Thursday, June 19, 1884 As Senator Hoar's report on the Missis-
sippi political murders is in line with
my letter in reply to Dr. Gladden,
or rather in criticism of him, I shall
insert such extracts from it as I
have been able to obtain from the
newspapers. The report states that
the census of 1880 shows 6,632,000
colored people in the former slave
states, and then says.
[At this point General Beatty had pinned
to the page of his diary
several newspaper clippings, which may
be summarized as follows:
Forty-four members of the house of
representatives were given to
the states by this negro population.
Mississippi owed four of its seven
representatives to the state's colored
population. The states of Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,
Mississippi, South Carolina, and Virginia
had fifty congressmen together, and
twenty-six of them represented Negro
citizens who were not permitted to cast
their votes freely.
Senator Hoar's report, as recounted in
the clippings, then went on
to discuss some outrages in Copiah
County, Mississippi. Copiah County
had a population of 27,552, of which
13,101 were white and 14,442 were
colored. The county was divided into
five electoral precincts, and
precinct 3 was a Republican stronghold,
since it contained 2,338 colored
and 1,536 white persons. Two weeks
before the election the Democrats
began a terroristic program designed to
keep the Negro voter from the
polls in the third precinct. They
started by riding about the country at
night indiscriminately firing all types
of weapons, including a cannon.
They then killed, wounded, and assaulted
"a large number of persons."
Among those killed was a man named
Matthews. "Matthews was slain
solely because he was an eminent and
influential Republican, that his
death might strike terror into the
opponents of the Democratic party,
and enable that party, being in a
minority of legal votes, to take pos-
session of Copiah County. . . . We
believe that the result of the next
election in Mississippi will have no
relation whatever to the will of the
majority of her people. They say in
defense of these practices that they
are necessary to preserve their
civilization. We do not see the necessity.
The sooner a civilization perishes which
is based on cheating and murder
the better." The report concluded
that unless Mississippi took steps on
its own account to remedy the situation
it might "compel Congress to
enter upon the discussion whether her
representation in Congress must
192 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
be diminished by a number proportioned
to those of her legal voters
whose right of suffrage is practically
and effectively denied."--H. S. F.]
Friday, June 20, 1884 While the scenes described in this report
are transpiring in certain sections of
the south, notably in Mississippi,
in other parts the negro is being
systematically cheated out of his ballot
under laws passed by democratic
legislatures to facilitate fraudulent
elections, and encourage them. This is
notably the case in South
Carolina's where in addition to other
devices they have adopted the
eight box system by which democratic
judges of election so adjust the
boxes and change them that an illiterate
voter must be told where to
deposit his ballot in order to have it
counted. The democratic voter is
told, and the republican is not and the
latter is therefore as likely to
get it in the wrong box as in the right,
in fact he is more likely to do so.
Saturday, June 21, 1884 The democratic primaries were held in
this city and county this afternoon. For
a week or more candidates for
Judges, for Congress, and for less
important offices have been actively
engaged in visiting the voters and
seeking to get delegates friendly to
them sent to the county, judicial and
Congressional conventions. It would
seem that of all men, those who are to
sit as judges and decide between
men without respect to their political
affiliation should not descend to
the dirty work of electioneering, and
yet they do not hesitate to do so,
and in this city men seeking judicial
honor have for weeks prior to the
primary and general election frequented
the lowest of tippling houses,
and consorted with the vilest class of
men outside of the penitentiary.
As one of the results of this method of
obtaining judicial office, we have
had notoriously corrupt judges on the
bench like Green and drunken
judges like Wiley, and incompetent ones
whose names I shall not mention
for as a rule they have been the best
dispensers of justice, because they
were ordinarily honest and as a rule
meant to do right. It seems to me
that the time must come soon when the
people discover that there should
be an independent judiciary whose term shall continue through life
unless displaced by impeachment for
maladministration of justice. Just
how these judges should be selected is
the problem which no one method
has satisfactorily solved.
Sunday, June 22, 1884 It is astonishing how little errors of the
type setter pass unobserved by the proof
reader. In my article in
criticism of Dr. Gladden a week ago I
much referred to that Command-
The Diary of John Beatty 193
ment which forbids the bearing of false
witness etc and in my care to
have it right I looked it up and
mentioned it as the ninth, but the com-
positor set it up tenth and I
failed to notice it when I read the proof.
Again in setting up a quotation from Dr.
Gladden's article a change of
a word or two was made, but as it did
not alter the sense I failed to
observe that also.
Tonight Rev Mr. Crook preached a sermon
on Bishop Simpson,
whose death occurred last week. I heard
the Bishop preach some years
ago. He was an awkward ungainly man,
with a face not at all likely
to suggest great intellectual power, and
a voice not so soft and musical
as to be pleasing to the ear, but nothwithstanding
these defects, and the
lack of early culture he was one of the
most interesting and eloquent
speakers I ever heard. He was evidently
a man of good judgment, great
intellectual activity, and great
earnestness, who when thoroughly aroused,
captivated his audience by the strength
of his argument and the zealous
animated manner in which it was
presented.
Monday, June 23, 1884 Judge William Lawrence, now in the Treas-
ury Dept at Washington, called at the
bank this morning. He is one of
the trustees of the Wesleyan College of
Delaware Ohio and was on his
way to that place to attend a meeting of
the Board. He expressed himself
as feeling quite confident that Blaine
would be elected, but based his hopes
of success almost wholly on the tendency
of the Democratic party to
make blunders. He said they never failed
to do this, and were absolutely
sure to do it at this time. Thurman he
thought was their strongest candi-
date, but he would not be nominated
because his party would fear that
he could not carry Ohio in October, and
Ohio against one of its own
men in October, would insure defeat in
November. Cleveland he said
was not popular in New York City because
he had vetoed a bill reducing
fares on the elevated rail road of that
city to five cents. This action
saved to the owners of these roads
millions of dollars per annum, and
was believed to have been influenced by
desire to curry favor with the
rich, and this belief has alienated from
him the good feeling and confi-
dence of the poor, who would have been
greatly benefitted by low fares.98
98 The elevated railroad was controlled
by Jay Gould, who of course was
pleased by Cleveland's veto of the fare
reduction bill. Cleveland vetoed the bill
because it was unconstitutional, but he
realized that his action would be misinter-
preted, and on the night that he sent
his veto to the legislature he is said to have
remarked, "By tomorrow at this time
I shall be the most unpopular man in the
State of New York." Allan Nevins, Grover
Cleveland, A Study In Courage (New
York, 1932), 115-116.
194 Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly
Bayard99 is a gentleman of culture and
an honest man, but his southern
speeches in the early part of the war
would lose him every northern state.
Tuesday, June 24, 1884 The delegates to the Democratic State Con-
vention are present in moderate numbers
to day, and the lobby of the
Neil is thronged with politicians. The
struggle is mainly on the Delegates
at large to the National Convention, and
over the Committee on Resolu-
tions. There are out and out free
traders insisting that the party should
commit itself against all tariff laws.
Others insist upon a tariff for
revenue only, still others for a
protective tariff, so that the convention
is not likely to take emphatic and
decisive ground on the question, but
will in all probability straddle it-that
is to say make a two faced plank
or one with even more faces so that it
may be interpreted to suit all
shades of opinion on this subject.100
General Brinkerhoff is here as a delegate
from Richland County,
and thinks that he has found an old law
on the statute book passed
before the ratification of the present
constitution by the people, and still
in force, under which our bank may be
reorganized in case the law of
'73 should be held by the Supreme Court
to be unconstitutional. If his
conjectures with respect to this law
which is entitled the Free bank law
should prove to be correct, we shall be
relieved of considerable anxiety
with respect to our business matters.
Wednesday, June 25, 1884 Dr. Gladden's reply to my criticisms on
his article entitled the use and abuse
of parties appeared in the Journal
of this morning. It is written in a
temperate dignified tone, but is I think
by no means a refutation of the charges of
incorrectness, and ill founded
99 Thomas Francis Bayard was born in
Delaware of a family long prominent
in that state. In 1869 he succeeded his
father, James Asheton Bayard, as United
States Senator from Delaware and served
in the senate until 1885, when he resigned
to become secretary of state. Bayard was
secretary of state throughout Cleveland's
first administration, 1885-89, and
ambassador to Great Britain in Cleveland's second
term, 1893-97. Bayard received 170 votes
for president at the Democratic national
convention at Chicago in 1884.
100 The Democratic state convention met
at Comstock's Opera House, Colum-
bus, June 24 and 25. Allen G. Thurman,
John R. McLean, Durbin Ward, and
George Hoadly were elected as delegates
at large to the national convention, and
James W. Newman was renominated for
secretary of state. On the tariff, the
Democratic state platform had this to
say:
"We favor a tariff for revenue,
limited to the necessities of the Government
economically administered....
"The just demands of the
wool-growers of the state and country for an
equitable readjustment of duties on wool
(unjustly reduced by a Republican Con-
gress), so that the industry shall be
fully and equally favored with other industries
ought to be complied with."
The Diary of John Beatty 195
conclusions which I made against him. He
undertakes to show that
there are no definite and clearly
defined issues dividing political parties
at this time, and adopts as the heading
of his communication "Decaying
parties and dead issues." He thinks
that the colored men of the south
are doing quite as well as could be
expected, that the good men in the
parties joined them when parties had
principles, and adhere to them
still simply for lack of a better place
to go to, that the statesmen of
the present time do not compare
favorably in point of honesty and
ability with those who have passed away,
that the negro should be left
to the irresistable power of the moral
and social forces which in good
time will bring about his deliverance.
He quotes De Tocqueville to
show that parties disintegrate when they
have accomplished the par-
ticular work which called them into
being, and from Frederick Douglass
and other colored men to show that the
present condition of the freedman
is a hopeful one.
Thursday, June 26, 1884 To night I finished a reply to Dr. Glad-
den's rejoinder, and undertook to show
that he underestimated the south-
ern question-that it was in fact a very
definite and clearly defined issue
between the two parties, and one of the
utmost importance to the country.
I also insisted that the statesmen of to
day were in no way inferior to
those of the past and that the
principles involved in the pending election
were as vital to the honor of the
country and the well being of the people
as any on which the people had hitherto
divided, and that it was charac-
teristic of men to underrate the present
and to overrate the past-that it
was our habit to slander our great men
while they were alive and cover
them with fulsome eulogy when they
died-that in forming our estimate
of parties we must not take simply
either the best or worst members, but
look at the whole, and where the party
was strongest and most flourishing
we should look for the fruit by which
the tree is to be judged, not where
it is weakest and its tendencies curbed
by more potent influences than its
own--that in the Republican states north
the tendency was toward free
speech and free political action and in
the Democratic states south it was
exactly the reverse.
[At this point Beatty's diary broke off,
and he made no further
entries.-H. S. F.]
THE DIARY OF JOHN BEATTY, JANUARY-JUNE
1884
Part IV*
edited by HARVEY S. FORD
Head Librarian, Toledo Blade
Sunday, May 11, 1884 Went to hear Dr. Gladden this morning.
He preached from the text "Lord I
believe help thou my unbelief." It
was the posture of the man's mind which
interested the preacher. It
was that of one trying to believe and
anxious to have all impediments
to full belief cleared away. Not that of
one who exclaims obstinately
"I do not believe convince me if
you can." "I shall not seek for the
proof, but when brought to me I will
consider it." There are some
things that can only come to men who are
willing and anxious to re-
ceive them. You may warm a man's body
against his will, force food
down his throat sufficient to sustain
life, but you cannot compel him
to love. He must be willing to do this
before he can do it. If he averts
his face from God and looks persistently
in the wrong direction he is
not likely to come to believe in God and
love Him. But if on the con-
trary he turns his face toward God and
shows a willingness to receive
Him, he is likely to have any doubts
which he may have entertained
removed, and to become a Christian. A
person may not by conversion
at once become a saint, but he changes
his attitude with respect to God.
He turns his face toward Him, he says
"Lord I believe help thou my
unbelief." The plant that has grown
yellow and feeble in the shade,
when transferred to the sunlight does
not at once assume the deep green
indication of health, but it is in the
way thereafter to find strength, and
if it continues in the sunlight will
obtain it.
Monday, May 12, 1884 The plan of attack referred to under date
of May 5th was agreed upon nearly a week
before the date named, in
my office, but there was some little
delay in putting it into execution.
Mr. Sherman's friends have been timid,
and the plan itself as it is now
being carried out was suggested by me
and not assented to by them
until after much unnecessary
consultation, but I think by this time
* Parts I, II, and III of General
Beatty's diary appeared in the April and
October, 1949, and January 1950 issues
of the Quarterly, Vols. LVIII, pp. 119-151,
390-427, and LIX, pp. 58-91.
165