"Princeton Mch 22, 1902 Don't forget at any time-whatever you do that 'good men are scarce.' As for myself-the scarcity of good men being entirely irrelevant-I shall, on my own account, and because I am led to believe it is desired by my wife and children, live as long as I can. To this end, I intend to start in a few days on a trip to Florida, in the hope that warm weather will force the miserable thing that has held me so long, to let go its grip. Mrs. Cleveland will go with me and, after staying a week or so will return-leaving me there. This movement does not in any of its phases indicate anything serious, but rather a tendency on the part of weak human nature to excuse loaferism by impressing into its service a hint of impaired health. The days are near at hand when the trout in your new pond will be looking for you; and you won't be there to meet their expectations-and haply your own. I wish I could hope to 'blunder away' at them myself. "With us there is occasionally a slight intimation the Spring will come-sometime-though I have not much faith in its innuendoes. I see however as I write, eight children, happy in self-delusion, playing on our grounds." CRITICISM OF THE SENATE "Gray Gables. Buzzards Bay. Massachusetts July 27, 1902 "I do not recall the incident Mr. Nelson refers to that is in just the way he puts it. ingly and deliberately sent two nomina- came once at my request and in the course not make it too severe. Of all things that extreme. "I wrote an article for the Saturday Evening Post (Philadelphia) which appeared sometime in April last entitled "The President and His Patronage,' which I hope Mr. Nelson has seen. It might give him a hint or two. "If an article is to appear in the Century intending to inform our people of Senatorial abuses, it ought to be so thorough as to leave nothing further to be said. The combination among the members of that body to oppose any Presidential nomination distasteful to the Senators of a State, is not put any too strong by Mr. Nelson and can be abundantly established by instances." 1 HOME SURROUNDINGS" "Gray Gables. Buzzards Bay. "I read your John Wesley poem with great delight, and I thank you for sending it to me. You remember the story of the man, who after hearing Webster speak, put the climax on his praise of the grand effort, by exclaiming: 'Why I understood every word of it.' I not only understood but felt every word of your poem. I thank God that I have had an experience and home surroundings which make me more sensitive, as the years pass, to the things you have so touchingly defined." "I made a nomination once in New Jersey which caused McPherson to give me notice that he would hereafter make no recommendations for appointment in his State-to which I replied that I would get along without that assistance. I know1 See "The Overshadowing Senate," by Henry Loomis Nelson, THE CENTURY for February, 1903. LXXIX-4 "Tamworth N. H. July 30, 1905 "We arrived at home safely early Thursday afternoon. Jefferson and Lamont! who next? As Charley Goodyear said at Millbrook: "They are all leaving us. "Princeton, Jan 2, 1906 "I received your letter this morning. I would be provoked with you for getting sick again and subjecting yourself to another term of house-imprisonment if it were not for the fact that I myself entered upon a like line of conduct on Christmas morning, and persisted until I saw a new light a day or two ago. I am now fully convinced that a real sensible man may sometimes be overtaken by sickness; but I am as fully determined that at a time like this, when good men are so dreadfully scarce, it behooves you and me to look out." "THE HEIGHTS OF SIXTY-NINE" "Stuart March 18, 1906 'From the heights of sixty nine, I write to assure you that this is a happy day in my life, and to tell you how happy I am that you have made it so-more by your own loving message of congratulation than by those you have inspired. I have been so deeply impressed by it all, that I have had many struggles between smiles. and tears as I read the words of affection and praise that have met me at the gate of entrance to another year. Somehow I am wondering why all this should be, since I have left many things undone I ought to have done in the realm of friendship, and since in the work of public life and effort, God has never failed to clearly make known to me the path of duty. And still it is in human nature for one to hug the praise of his fellows and the affection of friends, to his bosom as his earned possessions. I am no better than this; but I shall trust you to acquit me of affectation when I say to you that in to-day's mood there comes the regret that the time is so shortened within which I can make further payment to the people that have honored and trusted me, and can make amends for neglected friendships. "You speak in your note to Doctor Bryant of the mode of acknowledging the congratulations that I have received. There are more than fifty of them. A majority at least I want to acknowledge entirely in my own way and in my own hand. Will it not do for me to write replies to as many as possible while here (though it will have to be done under difficulties) and postpone the others until I return to Princeton probably the 10th of April or thereabouts? Is it your proposition to send to each a copy of a reply I shall write without my signature, or to return copies here for me to sign after they are made under your direction? "It 's not a very convenient place to write, but I believe I could dispose of a number of replies if it will do to defer the remainder to my return." As a matter of fact Mr. Cleveland finally insisted upon acknowledging all these letters with his own hand. "THE CALDWELL INCIDENT" His A SMALL, self-constituted committee, some time before Mr. Cleveland's seventieth birthday, began making arrangements for a public celebration of that event. portrait was to be painted for the occasion. When the time came to obtain his consent, he firmly declared that he could not "lend" his 'countenance" to the affair, and the plan had to be relinquished. However, on the birthday, Professor West (at his initiation), with President John H. Finley and myself, placed a bronze commemorative tablet (which a small group had subscribed for) in the room in which Mr. Cleveland was born. "Princeton March 25, 1907 "It was a complete misfit-a travesty on things as they should be-that I should be disporting in balmy air and all creature comforts, while you cold, hungry and miserably forlorn, were finding your way to Caldwell, for the purpose of marking the time and place of my birth. You did what you ought not to have done. There is no process of calculation by which it can be made to appear a profitable investment for you. And yet when men reach the age of seventy I believe their mental movements grow self-centred to such an extent, that, consciously or unconsciously, they sort of believe their gratitude to be in some measure compensating to those who know them or suffer discomforts on their behalf. "I am so near to this memorable age of seventy, that I cannot tell at this moment how much I am under the influence of this idea. But my dear friend, one thing I know: Your kindnesses have been so many, and have extended through so many years, that the pages set apart for their record are full; and I long ago abandoned all hope of redeeming the one-sidedness of the account. MR. CLEVELAND AT HIS SUMMER HOME, "INTERMONT," TAMWORTH, N. H. White House. Before leaving the East Room for the state dining-room Mr. Procter (formerly Governor Roosevelt's chief, Procter being president of the Civil Service Commission) said to me: "Do you remember that the first time Roosevelt dined in this house it was when he and I and our wives were invited by the Clevelands to meet you and Mrs. Gilder?" I said: "I remember the dinner, but I would n't repeat that without making sure from the President himself." Pretty soon I saw Procter and the President and Mrs. Gilder with their heads together, and coming up I heard the President say: "Yes, that 's a fact; that was the first time I ever dined in the keep a little of the flavor of his talk. I did this because I knew that he was neglecting his own record, and it seemed a pity, for his sake, to let so many interesting incidents, and so many illuminating phrases, pass into oblivion. But I was not willing to spoil a valued intercourse by getting into an anxious state of mind about it, as would have been the case if I had tried persistently to follow up his conversation with notes. So this "Record of Friendship" is necessarily brief, though I hope not without use in presenting some of the characteristics of the man to the minds of those who have desired a nearer acquaintance with an important and little known personality. In deed, I may say here that I am extremely gratified at the reception given this "Record," as indicated by the comments of the press and by letters and word of mouth. My chief object in publication seems to have been already largely accomplished. I wish I could give a better idea of the President's humorous side. His sister, Mrs. Yeomans, very kindly lets me print her account, in a letter to me, of a slight but indicative incident of his boyhood: In the fifties the N. Y. State Fair was held alternately in various cities-before permanent grounds and buildings were placed at Syracuse. Utica was the place selected the year that Grover was in school, and our family resided in Clinton, which was but eight miles from Utica. Uncle Lewis Allen was then a breeder of Short Horn Cattle and much interested in the Exhibit of stock, and made daily trips from our house during Fair week, always inviting some of the family to accompany him. Grover was pleased with the animal shows and went from one group to another examining them critically but making no comments. A group of young donkeys with greatly accentuated ears seemed to fascinate him, and after observing them for some time he inquired their age, and was told they were but six months old. Quite incredu lously, but without a smile he asked, "Are the ears the same age?" A shout of laughter from the bystanders. followed him, as he sauntered indifferently away and a droll look accompanied his recital when he told us, in a nonchalant way, of the incident on his return home. I was so much younger than my brother, and had such a respect for his standing and influence among the flock of children to which I belonged, that he became a hero to me at an early age, and whatever he did was more or less remarkable in my eyes. I was convulsed with laughter or dissolved in tears according to his mood, so that when I read that he was a man utterly without humor I hardly recognized him. There are any number of stories of Mr. Cleveland's amusing sayings, one of the best known being his remark to his friend Professor John H. Finley, when Mr. Finley told him that there was water in the cellar of the house which he rented from the ex-President in Princeton. To which the landlord promptly replied: "What did you expect? Champagne?" LOOKING BACK IN his conversation he had an endless store of humorous and serious recollec |