ut, fortified by _The
Nation_, we thought that we held our own in this daily discussion.

In my conversion from a belief in a protective tariff to the advocacy
of one for revenue only, I recognize an obligation to Godkin, but his
was only one of many influences. I owe _The Nation_ much for its
accurate knowledge of foreign affairs, especially of English politics,
in which its readers were enlightened by one of the most capable of
living men, Albert V. Dicey. I am indebted to it for sound ideas on
municipal government, and for its advocacy of many minor measures, such
for instance as the International Copyright Bill. I owe it something for
its later attitude on Reconstruction, and its condemnation of the negro
carpet-bag governments in the South. In a word, _The Nation_ was on the
side of civilization and good political morals.

Confessing thus my great political indebtedness to Godkin, it is with
some reluctance that I present a certain phase of his thought which was
regretted by many of his best friends, and which undoubtedly limited his
influence in the later years of his life. A knowledge of this
shortcoming is, however, essential to a thorough comprehension of the
man. It is frequently said that Godkin rarely, if ever, made a
retraction or a rectification of personal charges shown to be incorrect.
A thorough search of _The Nation's_ columns would be necessary fully to
substantiate this statement, but my own impression, covering as it does
thirty-three years' reading of the paper under Godkin's control,
inclines me to believe in its truth, as I do not remember an instance of
the kind.

A grave fault of omission occurs to me as showing a regrettable bias in
a leader of intelligent opinion. On January 5, 1897, General Francis A.
Walker died. He had served with credit as an officer during our Civil
War, and in two thoughtful books had made a valuable contribution to its
military history. He was superintendent of the United States Census of
1870, and did work that statisticians and historians refer to with
gratitude and praise. For sixteen years he served with honor the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology as its president. He was a
celebrated political economist, his books being (I think) as well known
in England as in this country. Yale, Amherst, Harvard, Columbia, St.
Andrews, and Dublin conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. Withal he
served his city with public spirit. Trinity Church, "crowded and silent"
in cel