Sherman's entry into Atlanta on the first day of September and Sheridan's brilliant Shenandoah victories in October greatly assisted the cause, but Grant was still apparently baffled before the strong defenses of Petersburg when election day dawned upon the country.

In the spring of 1861 the volunteers had gone out as to a picnic, expecting a few scratches, a great deal of entertainment, and some glory. But by this time the people had had more than three years of actual war, and they knew what it meant. They had seen hundreds of thousands of their young men marching to the camp and the battlefield, and they had learned what proportion of them came back maimed and shattered or came back not at all. They saw the Government spending $3,000,000 a day in a wasteful process that actually destroyed nearly all the values, while gold was selling at 250, and they were piling up a national debt which it seemed doubtful if they could ever pay. They saw the conscription wheels turning in the provost-marshals' offices, in districts where recruiting was slow, and knew that it might be anybody's turn to go next. They saw the ghastly photographs of the occasional prisoners that were brought from Confederate stockades. They heard the threats of interference by European powers, never quite hushed while the war lasted. And they had the privilege of a secret ballot, if they chose to make it so. On that November day there was such a hush over the land as had never been known when an election was in progress. It was the most solemn and the most orderly that we had ever seen, and when the boxes were opened it was found that the people had decided-by a popular majority of more than 400,000 and an electoral majority of ten to one-that the country should not be divided and that human slavery should exist within its borders no more forever.

Even in the face of this discouragement, the Confederate armies were able to hold out, and did hold out, until April, 1865, a month after the time when a new Administration with a new policy, would have been inaugurated had the decision been the other way.

If there is one achievement of the American people of which they have more reason to be proud than of all others, that achievement, it seems to me, was the reelection of President Lincoln.

If, then, I have studied correctly the history of the great war, its progress presents five apparent turning-points:

First, the refusal of Kentucky to go out of the Union, which deprived the Confederacy of any natural line of defense west of the Alleghanies and threw open its back door.

Second, the battle of Bull Run, which convinced the Southern people of their invincibility and made it certain that they would fight to exhaustion.

Third, the Emancipation Proclamation, which placed the struggle on its true issue.

Fourth, the battle of Gettysburg, which put an end to any hope of carrying the war into the North.

Fifth, the election of 1864, which decided that there should be no cessation of hostilities till the Confederacy ceased to exist.

A refusal, a panic, a proclamation, a battle, and an election. The first we probably owe to the Unionist teachings and influence of Henry Clay; the second, to accident; the third, to the sagacity of Abraham Lincoln; the fourth, to the Confederate chieftain's incapacity for the highest generalship, and the fifth, to the long-sighted wisdom and sincere devotion of the people of the loyal States. Nevertheless, had all these failed us except the last, I believe the integrity of the great Republic would still have been preserved, though necessarily at heavier cost.

VI. TRIBUTES TO HON. HAMILTON FISH, HON. JOHN JAY, HON. ROBERT C. WINTHROP, AND OTHERS.

By Gen. JAMES GRANT WILSON, President of the American Authors Guild.

This association has to mourn the loss, since our last meeting, of six highly valued members, who, with a single exception, had passed the psalmist's three-score and ten. These are the brilliant young historian, Herbert Tuttle, whose eulogy by Dr. Adams you have heard this evening; the learned librarian, William Frederick Poole, one of our esteemed presidents, for many years in charge of the Boston Atheneum, and later of the formation of the Newberry Library of Chicago, who was the author of various useful contributions to American history as well as library topics, including his valuable Index to Periodical Literature, which has passed through three editions; and the genial James Clarke Welling, for nearly half a century a resident of this city, the earlier half of that period actively occupied in editing the National Intelligencer, the latter half the successful president of Columbian University. It was chiefly through the courtesy of Dr. Welling that this association for so many years has enjoyed the privilege of holding its annual meetings in this convenient and central hall. Three other members of national reputation who have recently rested from their labors and joined the great majority will be the subject of this address, to which your attention is now invited.

Hamilton Fish was born in New York City in 1808. He was a descendant of sturdy Peter Stuyvesant, and possessed many of the best traits of the last of the Dutch governors. Gradu ated from Columbia College in 1827, he was admitted to the bar three years later, and soon after entered political life, being elected to Congress in 1842. Six years later he became gov ernor of the State, defeating the two Democratic candidates. It may be questioned if, among the many able governors of the past one hundred and sixteen years, New York has ever had a

more honored and efficient chief magistrate. Soon after, Governor Fish was elected to the United States Senate, where he acted with the Republican party, strongly opposing the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. He took an active part in the Presidential campaign in favor of Lincoln, and eight years later was conspicuous among those who advocated the choice of General Grant for the Presidency, bearing a prominent part in the campaign. He served as Secretary of State during Grant's two terms. In his intercourse with foreign powers, the lofty character of Secretary Fish, his personal and political probity, his dignity, which was based upon the highest ideals of honorable conduct, were among the most potent factors of his successful diplomacy, which included the settlement of the Alabama claims against Great Britain. Indeed, his whole life was a spotless record of public service in the loftiest positions the State and Nation could confer.

Secretary Fish was for sixty-one years a member of the New York Historical Society, and for several years its president; a life member of the American Historical Association; president general of the Society of the Cincinnati, of which his father, Col. Nicholas Fish, was one of the founders; president of the board of trustees of Columbia College, to which he bequeathed unconditionally $50,000, and an original trustee of the Peabody Education Fund. Increasing infirmities induced Secretary Fish to gradually retire during the last few years from active participation in the duties of some of these positions. Visiting him at his beautiful country home on the banks of the Hudson opposite West Point a few months before his death, which occurred September 7, 1893, he said:

Pray thank Winthrop for his kind inquiries as to my health, which is certainly not very good at present. Yes, we have been friends for more than sixty years. Half a century ago we were in Congress together, and for a considerable period have been associated in the Peabody Trust. Ever since we first met as young men we have been warm friends and frequent correspondents. He is almost the only survivor among my youthful contemporaries, and it was exceedingly kind of you to associate our names by dedicating the first and third volumes of your Memorial History of New York to us.

The Secretary possessed a retentive memory which held fast, as with hooks of steel, to anything worth remembering. He vividly recalled some of the famous debates which he heard nearly three-score years ago between Benton, Bayard, Calhoun, Clay, and Webster, as well as many of the survivors of