_PUCK, August 11th, 1886._
“Mr. Tilden’s death is to be regretted by his friends and by his
political enemies. He was a man of principles and ideas. He had
ambitions that looked higher than to the mere accumulation of money
or the acquirement of that cheap, ephemeral power which flatters
some small souls. And beside this he had courage and independence,
and the breeding and education of a gentleman. Many were forced, by
conscience and conviction, to oppose his political aspirations; but
all found him an adversary to be respected, and a man of dignity and
power. History must record of Samuel J. Tilden that he did his best to
purify a great party fallen into a frightful moral decadence in its
own Capuan stronghold,--must note his wonderful work in the cause of
civic honesty and good government, and his loyalty to his country at
a time when all his affiliations must have inclined him to disloyalty
or to an indifferent neutrality. And more than this, History must say
of him that he suffered a cruel wrong with dignified fortitude, and by
his wisdom and self-restraint relieved his country from a well-grounded
fear of dangerous civil disturbance. Remembering this, it is easy for
the most partisan spirit to forget much else, and to do honor to the
dead statesman and patriot.”--PUCK, _August 11th, 1886_.
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