at the lower end of the town, held his position on the bluffs of the Little Horn until General Gibbon arrived with reïnforcements and saved the remnant from destruction.

Other divisions of the army were soon hurried to the scene of hostilities. During the summer and autumn the Indians were beaten in several engagements, and negotiations were opened looking to the removal of the Sioux to the Indian Territory. But still a few desperate bands held out against the authority of the Government; besides, the civilized Nations of the Territory objected to having the fierce savages of the North for their neighbors. On the 24th of November, the Sioux were decisively defeated by the Fourth Cavalry, under Colonel McKenzie, at a pass in the Big Horn Mountains. The Indians lost severely, and their village, containing a hundred and seventy-three lodges, was entirely destroyed. The army now went into winter-quarters at various points in the hostile country; but active operations were still carried on by forays and expeditions during December and January. On the 5th of the latter month, the savages were again overtaken and completely routed by the division of General Miles; and with the opening of spring the remaining bands, under Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, were so scattered as to be able to offer no further serious resistance.

But the excitement occasioned by these events, and even the interest felt in the Centennial celebration, was soon overshadowed by the agitation of the public mind, attendant upon the twenty-third Presidential election. Before the close of June the national conventions were held and standard-bearers selected by the two leading political parties. General Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio and William A. Wheeler of New York, were chosen as candidates by the Republicans; Samuel J. Tilden of New York and Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana, by the Democrats. A third-THE INDEPENDENT GREENBACK—party also appeared, and presented as candidates Peter Cooper of New York and Samuel F. Cary of Ohio. The canvass began early and with great spirit. The battle-cry of the Democratic party was Reform-reform in the public service and in all the methods of administration. For it was alleged that many of the departments of the Government and the officers presiding therein had become corrupt in practice and in fact. The Republicans answered back with the cry of Reform,-averring a willingness and an anxiety to correct public abuses of whatsoever sort, and to bring to condign punishment all who dared to prostitute the high places of honor to base uses. To this it was added that the nationality of the United States, as against the doctrine of State sovereignty, must be upheld, and that the rights

of the colored people of the South must be protected with additional safeguards. The Independent party echoed the cry of Reform—monetary reform first, and all other reforms afterwards. For it was alleged by the leaders of this party that the measure of redeeming the national legal-tenders and other obligations of the United States in gold-which measure was advocated by both the other parties-was a project unjust to the debtor-class, iniquitous in itself, and impossible of accomplishment. And it was further argued by the Independents that the money-idea itself ought to be revolutionized, and that a national paper currency ought to be provided by the Government, and be based, not on specie, but on a bond bearing a low rate of interest, and interconvertible, at the option of the holder, with the currency itself. But the advocates of this theory had only a slight political organization, and did not succeed in securing a single electoral vote. The real contest lay-as it had done for twenty yearsbetween the Republicans and the Democrats. The canvass drew to a close. The election was held; the general result was ascertained, and both parties claimed the victory! The election was so evenly balanced between the two candidates, there had been so much irregularity in the voting and subsequent electoral proceedings in the States of Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Oregon, and the powers of Congress over the votes of such States were so vaguely defined, under existing legislation, that no certain declaration of the result could be made. The public mind was confounded with perplexity and excitement; and more than once were heard the ominous threatenings of civil war.

ment.

When Congress convened in December, the whole question of the disputed presidency came at once before that body for adjustThe situation was seriously complicated by the political complexion of the Senate and the House of Representatives. In the former body the Republicans had a majority sufficient to control its action; while in the House the Democratic majority was still more decisive and equally willful. The debates began and seemed likely to be interminable. The question at issue was as to whether the electoral votes of the several States should, at the proper time, be opened and counted by the presiding officer of the Senate, in accordance with the immemorial and constitutional usage in such cases, or whether, in view of the existence of duplicate and spurious returns from some of the States, and of alleged gross irregularities and frauds in others, some additional court ought to be constituted to open and count the ballots. Meanwhile the necessity of doing something became more and more imperative. The great merchants and manufacturers

of the country and the boards of trade in the principal cities grew clamorous for a speedy and peaceable adjustment of the difficulty. The spirit of compromise gained ground; and after much debating in Congress it was agreed that all the disputed election returns should be referred to A JOINT HIGH COMMISSION, consisting of five members to be chosen from the United States Senate, five from the House of Representatives, and five from the Supreme Court. The judgment of this tribunal should be final in all matters referred thereto for decision. The Commission was accordingly constituted. The counting was begun as usual in the presence of the Senate and the House of Representatives. When the disputed and duplicate returns were reached they were referred, State by State, to the Joint High Commission; and on the 2d of March, only two days before the time for the in auguration, a final decision was rendered. The Republican candidates were declared elected. One hundred and eighty-five electoral votes were cast for Hayes and Wheeler, and one hundred and eighty-four foi Tilden and Hendricks. The greatest political crisis in the history of the country passed harmlessly by without violence or bloodshed.

CHAPTER LXIX.

HAYES'S ADMINISTRATION, 1877–1881.

UTHERFORD B. HAYES, nineteenth President of the United States, was born in Delaware, Ohio, on the 4th day of October, 1822. His ancestors were soldiers of the Revolution. His primary education was received in the public schools. Afterward, his studies were extended to Greek and Latin at the Norwalk Academy; and in 1837 he became a student at Webb's preparatory school, at Middletown, Connecticut. In the following year, he entered the Freshman class at Kenyon College, and in 1842 was graduated from that institution with the highest honors of his class. Three years after his graduation, he completed his legal studies at Harvard University, and soon afterward began the practice of his profession, first at Marietta, then at Fremont, and finally as city solicitor, in Cincinnati. Here he won distinguished reputation as a lawyer. During the Civil War he performed much honorable service in the Union cause, rose to the rank of major-general, and in 1864, while still in the field, was elected to Congress. Three years later he was chosen governor of his native

State, and was reëlected in 1869, and again in 1875. At the Cincinnati convention of 1876, he had the good fortune to be nominated for the presidency over several of the most eminent men of the nation.

In his inaugural address, delivered on the 5th of March,* President Hayes indicated the policy of his administration. The patriotic and conciliatory utterances of the address did much to quiet the bitter spirit of partisanship which for many months had disturbed the country. The distracted South was assured of right purposes on the part of the new chief-magistrate; a radical reform in the civil service was avowed as a part of his policy; and a speedy return to specie payments was recommended as the final cure for the deranged finances of the nation. The immediate effect of these assurances-so evidently made in all good faith and honesty-was to rally around the incipient administration the better part of all the parties and to introduce a new era of good feeling" as peaceable and beneficent in its character as the former turbulence had been exciting and dangerous.

On the 8th of March, the President named the members of his cabinet. Here, again, he marked out a new departure in the policy of the government. For the cabinet, though exceptionably able and statesmanlike, was noticeably non-partisan in its character. As secretary of state William M. Evarts, of New York, was chosen; John Sherman, of Ohio, was named as secretary of the treasury; George W. McCrary, of Iowa, secretary of war; Richard W. Thompson, of Indiana, secretary of the navy; Carl Schurz, of Missouri, secretary of the interior; Charles E. Devens, of Massachusetts, attorney-general; and David M. Key, of Tennessee, postmaster-general. These nominations were duly ratified by the Senate; and the new administration and the new century of the republic were ushered in together.

The history of Our Country has thus been traced from the times of the aborgines to the present day. The story is done. The Republic has passed through stormy times, but has at last entered her Second Century in safety and peace. The clouds that were recently so black overhead have broken, and are sinking behind the horizon. The temple of Freedom reared by our fathers still stands in undiminished glory. THE PAST HAS TAUGHT ITS LESSON; THE PRESENT HAS ITS DUTY, AND THE FUTURE ITS HOPE.

The 4th of March fell upon Sunday. The same thing happened in the case of Washington's administration (second term); with Monroe (second term); and with Taylor, 1849;—and the same will again occur in 1905.

WH

CHAPTER LXX.

CONCLUSION.

HAT, then, of the outlook for the American Republic? What shall another century bring forth? What is to be the destiny of this vigorous, aggressive, self-governing Anglo-American race? How will the picture, so well begun, be completed by the annalists of posterity? Is it the sad fate of humanity, after all its struggles, toils, and sighing, to turn forever round and round in the same beaten circle, climbing the long ascent from the degradation of savage life to the heights of national renown only to descend again into the fenlands of despair? Is Lord Byron's gloomy picture of the rise and fall of nations indeed a true portrayal of the order of the world?

Here is the moral of all human tales,—

"Tis but the same rehearsal of the past,

First freedom and then glory—when that fails,
Wealth, vice, corruption, barbarism at last;
And History with all her volumes vast
Hath but one page!

Or has the human race, breaking the bonds of its servitude and escaping at last from its long imprisonment, struck out across the fields of sublime possibility the promised pathway leading to the final triumph? There are still doubts and fears-perplexities, anxieties, and sometimes anguish-arising in the soul of the philanthropist as he turns his gaze to the future. But there are hopes also, grounds of confidence, auspicious omens, tokens of the substantial victory of truth, inspirations of faith welling up in the heart of the watcher as he scans the dappled horizon of the coming day.

As to present achievement the American people have far surpassed the expectations of the fathers. The visions and dreams of the Revolutionary patriots have been eclipsed by the luster of actual accomplishment. The territorial domains of the Republic enclose the grandest belt of forest, valley, and plain that the world has in it. Since the beginning of time no other people have possessed such a territory—so rich in resources, so varied in products, so magnificent in physical aspect. Soil and climate, the distribution of woods and