Mr. Vanderbilt proceeded to give reasons. He had received letters from
strangers inquiring about her pedigree, care, age, treatment, etc.,
which he could not answer without more labor than he was willing to
perform. As a final reason, he said: "When I drive up Broadway, people
do not say, 'There goes Vanderbilt,' but they say, 'There goes Maud S.'"

When General Grant was on his journey around the world I wrote him a
letter occasionally, and occasionally I received a letter in reply. In
two of my letters I mentioned as a fact what I then thought to be the
truth, that there was a very considerable public opinion in favor of
his nomination for President in 1880, and that upon his return to the
country some definite action on his part might be required. Upon a
recent examination of his letters, I find that they are free from any
reference to the Presidency. If Mr. Conkling, General Logan, Mr.
Cameron, and myself came to be considered the special representatives
of General Grant at the Chicago Convention of 1880, the circumstance was
not due to any designation by him prior to the Galena letter, of which
I am to speak and which was written while the convention was in session,
and when the contest between the contending parties was far advanced.

Our title was derived from the constant support that we had given him
through many years and from his constant friendship for us through the
same many years. We were of the opinion then, and in that belief we
never faltered, that the nomination and election of General Grant were
the best security that could be had for the peace and prosperity of
the country. That opinion was supported by an expressed public
sentiment in the conventions of New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois,
and in other parts of the country there were evidences of a disposition
in the body of the people to support General Grant in numbers far in
excess of the strength of the Republican Party.

The mass of the people were not disturbed by the thought that General
Grant might become President a third time. They did not accept the
absurd notion that experience, successful experience, disqualified a
man for further service. Nor did that apprehension influence any
considerable number of the leaders. They demanded a transfer of power
into new hands. This, unquestionably, was their right, and as a
majority of the convention, as the convention was constituted finally,
they were able to assert and to mainta