INTRODUCTION
AT the request of my daughter and my son and by the
advice of my friends, the Honorable J. C. Bancroft
Davis and the Honorable William A. Richardson, I
am venturing upon the task of giving a sketch of my experiences
in life during three fourths of a century. The wisdom
of such an undertaking is not outside the realm of debate. A
large part of my manhood has been spent in the politics of my
native state, and in the politics of the country. For many
years I have had the fortune to be associated with those in
whose hands the chief powers were lodged. I have been a
witness of, and in some cases an actor in, events that have
changed the character of the institutions and affected the
fortunes of the country. Those events and their consequences
must in time disturb, if they do not change, the institutions of
other countries.
In the course of this long period I have had opportunities to know some of the principal actors in those important events. In a few cases I am in possession of knowledge not now in the possession of any other person living. These considerations may in some degree justify my undertaking.
On the other hand I have not kept a record of events, and I have had occasion often, especially in the practice of my profession, to notice the imperfections of the human memory. Much that I shall write must depend upon the fidelity of that faculty, although in some cases my recollections may be verified or corrected by the public records.
The recollections of actors, when those recollections are reported in good faith, constitute quite as safe a basis for an
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