Except Mr.
Tilden, the wisest among the leaders knew not precisely what to do.
From New Orleans, on the Saturday night succeeding the presidential election, I had telegraphed to Mr.Tilden detailing the exact conditions there and urging active and immediate agitation.

The chance had been lost.

I thought then and I still think that the conspiracy of a few men to use the corrupt returning boards of Louisiana, South Carolina and Florida to upset the election and make confusion in Congress might by prompt exposure and popular appeal have been thwarted.

Be this as it may, my spirit was depressed and my confidence discouraged by the intense quietude on our side, for I was sure that beneath the surface the Republicans, with resolute determination and multiplied resources, were as busy as bees.
Mr.Robert M.McLane, later Governor of Maryland and later still Minister to France--a man of rare ability and large experience, who had served in Congress and in diplomacy, and was an old friend of Mr.
Tilden--had been at a Gramercy Park conference when my New Orleans report arrived, and had then and there urged the agitation recommended by me.

He was now again in New York.