emory was a sceptre so
gracefully relinquished. Nothing in his three-and-a-half years of office
did him more credit. I think we never had a better President than Mr.
Arthur. He was fortunate in having in his Cabinet as chief adviser Mr.
Frederick T. Frelinghuysen.

My office as a minister compelled me to see, first and foremost, the
righteous uplift of the events as I passed along with them. These were
not always the most conspicuous elements of public interest, but they
comprised the things and the people I saw.

I recall, for instance, chief amongst the incidents of Mr. Cleveland's
administration, that the oath of office was administered upon his
mother's Bible. Many people regarded this as mere sentimentality. To me
it meant more than words could express. The best of Bibles is the
mother's. It meant that the man who chose to be sworn in on such a book
had a grateful remembrance. It was as though he had said, "If it had not
been for her, this honour would never have come to me." For all there is
of actual solemnity in the usual form of taking an oath, people might
just as well be sworn in on a city directory or an old almanac. But, as
I said then, I say now--make way for an administration that starts from
the worn and faded covers of a Bible presented by a mother's hand at
parting.

Mr. Blaine's visit to the White House to congratulate the victor, his
cordial reception there, and his long stay, was another bright side of
the election contest. There must have been a good deal of lying about
these two men when they were wrestling for the honours, for if all that
was said had been true the scene of hearty salutation between them would
not only have been unfit, but impossible.

All this optimism of outlook helped to defeat the animosity of the
previous campaign. A crowning influence upon the national confusion of
standards was the final unanimous vote in Congress in favour of putting
General Grant on the retired list, with a suitable provision for his
livelihood, in view of a malady that had come upon him. It had been a
long, angry, bitter debate, but the generous quality of American
sympathy prevailed. Men who fought on the other side and men who had
opposed his Presidential policy united to alleviate his sickness, the
pulsations of which the nation was counting. President Arthur's last act
was to recommend General Grant's relief, and almost the first act of Mr.
Cleveland's administration was to ratify it. Republics