ild a cathedral?"

"No," answered the clergyman; "all he had in his pocket was two
dollars and fifty cents."

Governor Tilden had many followers and friends whose admiration
for him amounted almost to adoration. They believed him capable
of everything, and they were among the most intelligent and able men
of the country.

John Bigelow, journalist, author, and diplomat, was always sounding
his greatness, both with tongue and pen. Abram S. Hewitt was an
equally enthusiastic friend and admirer. Both of these gentlemen,
the latter especially, were, I think, abler than Mr. Tilden, but
did not have his hypnotic power.

I was dining one night with Mr. Hewitt, whose dinners were always
events to be remembered, when Mr. Tilden became the subject of
discussion. After incidents illustrating his manifold distinctions
had been narrated, Mr. Hewitt said that Mr. Tilden was the only one
in America and outside of royalties in Europe who had some
blue-labelled Johannisberger. This famous wine from the vineyards
of Prince Metternich on the Rhine was at that time reported to be
absorbed by the royal families of Europe.

Our host said: "The bouquet of this wonderful beverage is unusually
penetrating and diffusing, and a proof is that one night at a dinner
in the summer, with the windows all open, the guests noticed this
peculiar aroma in the air. I said to them that Governor Tilden had
opened a bottle of his Johannisberger."

The governor's residence was on the other side of Gramercy Park
from Mr. Hewitt's. The matter was so extraordinary that everybody
at the table went across the park, and when they were admitted
they found the governor in his library enjoying his bottle of
blue-labelled Johannisberger.

When Mr. Tilden was elected governor, my friend, General Husted,
was speaker of the assembly, which was largely Republican. The
governor asked General Husted to come down in the evening, because
he wanted to consult him about the improvements and alterations
necessary for the Executive Mansion, and to have the speaker secure
the appropriation. During the discussion the governor placed
before the speaker a bottle of rare whiskey, with the usual
accompaniments. In front of the governor was a bottle of his
Johannisberger and a small liqueur glass, a little larger than
a thimble, from which the governor would from time to time taste
a drop of this rare and exquisite fluid. The general, after a
while, could not restrain