Mr. Gould’s name is unidentified with any great public benefactions. Astor and Tilden founded libraries, Drew established a theological seminary, George I. Seney distributed millions and Vanderbilt endowed a hospital, but Gould’s purse was never opened by any such generous ambition. He was kind to his relatives, gave his brother a good position in the Missouri Pacific railroad and built his sisters a school in Camden. He gave liberally to alleviate the suffering by the Chicago fire and by the Memphis yellow-fever plague, made big subscriptions to the Grant and Garfield funds, and added eighty acres to the Mount Vernon property. This was nearly all he did in a public way. Gould’s politics sprang from his pocket, not from his patriotism. He has already been quoted as saying that “in Republican districts he was a Republican, in Democratic districts a Democrat, and in all an Erie man.” But Mr. Gould was more a Republican than anything else, for he obtained, or thought he could obtain, more recognition and protection from that party than from the Democratic. The Republican party was the party of large land grants, of liberal appropriations and of corporation tendencies. In presidential elections Mr. Gould often contributed heavily to the Republican campaign fund, and his check was always solicited and joyfully received. In 1880 his money was probably part of that which bought Indiana for the Republicans, and it was charged that he obtained reward from President Garfield in the appointment of Stanley Matthews as associate justice of the Supreme Court, whose views relative to the Pacific railroads and other corporation questions were understood to be favorable to Gould. This charge, of course, was hard to prove, and may be unjust to both Garfield and Matthews. In 1884 Gould supported Blaine. He was present at the celebrated millionaire dinner given to Blaine at Delmonico’s two or three evenings before the election, and which, with the Burchard incident, probably turned the evenly-balanced scales of public opinion against the Maine statesman. Gould’s money was powerful and his presence was contaminating, and the public distrusted any of its servants who seemed to be friendly with him. One of the most sensational stories about Mr. Gould’s career is told by a prominent politician now in Washington.