“Longworth,” says one who knew him, “is a problem and a riddle—­a problem worthy of the study of those who delight in exploring that labyrinth of all that is hidden and mysterious, the human heart; and a riddle to himself and others.  He is a wit and a humorist of a high order; of keen sagacity and shrewdness in many other respects than in money matters; one who can be exact to a dollar, and liberal, when he chooses, with thousands; of marked peculiarity and tenacity in his own opinions, yet of abundant tolerance to the opinions, however extravagant, of others—­a man of great public spirit and sound general judgment.

“In addition to all this, it would be difficult to find an individual of his position and standing so perfectly free from pride, in the ordinary sense.  He has absolutely none, unless it be the pride of eccentricity.  It is no uncommon circumstance for men to become rich by the concentration of time, and labor, and attention to some one object of profitable employment.  This is the ordinary phase of money-getting, as closing the ear and pocket to applications for aid is that of money-saving.  Longworth has become a rich man on a different principle.  He appears to have started upon the calculation that if he could put any individual in the way of making a dollar for Longworth, and a dollar for himself at the same time, by aiding him with ground for a lot, or in building him a house on it; and if, moreover, he could multiply cases of the kind by hundreds, or perhaps thousands, he would promote his own interests just in the same measure as he was advancing those of others.  At the same time he could not be unconscious that, while their half was subdivided into small possessions, owned by a thousand or more individuals, his half was a vast, boundless aggregate, since it was the property of one man alone.  The event has done justice to his sagacity.  Hundreds, if not thousands, in and adjacent to Cincinnati, now own houses and lots, and many have become wealthy, who would, in all probability, have lived and died as tenants under a different state of case.  Had not Mr. Longworth adopted this course, he would have occupied that relation to society which many wealthy men now sustain, that of getting all they can and keeping all they get.”

In politics, Mr. Longworth was a Whig, and afterward a Republican.  During the famous Clay campaign he was asked to give one hundred dollars to help defray the expenses of the party.

“I never give something for nothing,” said he.  “We might fail to elect Clay, as we did before, and I should fling away the hundred dollars.”

The applicant, who was himself a man of wealth, assured him that there was no doubt of Clay’s election.

“There can be no chance of your losing,” he said.

“Well,” replied Longworth, “I’ll tell you what I will do.  I will give you the hundred dollars, but mind, you shall be personally responsible to me for its return if Clay is not elected.”