retain him in the Cabinet, urged him to delay his action, with the hope that the difficulty might be obviated.  Willing to oblige his friend, and anxious to serve the country, Mr. Stewart consented to do this, but finding that certain persons were seeking to make his nomination a source of trouble to the Administration, offered either to resign the place or to relinquish his entire interest in his business during the period of his Secretaryship, and to donate his immense profits for that time to the poor of the city of New York.  This sacrifice, he hoped, would render him eligible; but the President was unwilling to accept the princely offer—­the noblest ever made by any man—­and Mr. Stewart finally withdrew from the contest.

There can be no doubt that he would have been the best Secretary that could have been placed at the head of the Treasury.  His great financial experience and his unquestioned ability were better qualifications than those possessed by any politician in the land.  Perhaps the best proof of the satisfaction which his appointment produced in the minds of the thinking men of the country is the manner in which the news affected the money market.  Gold fell as soon as the announcement was made.

Few strangers ever come to New York and depart without visiting Stewart’s famous store at the corner of Tenth Street and Broadway.  The lower, or wholesale store, is far more important to its owner; but it conducts its operations exclusively with dealers, and in such a quiet and systematic way that it seems to attract but little attention among the masses.  It is the upper or retail store that is the wonder of the great city in which it is located.

It is constructed of iron, in the style of arcade upon arcade, and is lighted by numerous windows.  It fronts two hundred feet on Broadway, and three hundred feet on Ninth and Tenth Streets.  It covers an area of about two acres, is five stories and an attic in height, and has two cellars underneath.  It is warmed by steam, and contains several steam-engines for hoisting goods, running the machines employed in the manufacturing department, and forcing water into the immense tank at the top of the building.  Six elevators and several handsome stairways connect the various floors.  Three of the elevators are used for conveying customers up and down, and the others for hoisting and lowering goods.  The building is lighted by several thousand gas jets, which are all set aflame simultaneously by electricity.

The various floors, with the exception of the first, are broken only by a rotunda, which extends to the roof, and is inclosed at each floor by a massive iron balustrade.  Leaning over one of these balustrades, and looking up or down, the sight is brilliant and attractive.  Thousands of persons are scattered about the floors making purchases.  Hundreds of clerks, salesmen, and cash boys are busy serving them, and the buzz and hum of human voices under the vast roof sounds like the droning of a hive of bees.