that it 'will not be the organ of any party, sect, or body' (Life and Letters, i. 238). It thus inaugurated a new departure in American journalism, and it influenced Public opinion in the United States, not by the extent of its circulation, which was comparatively small, but by its literary power and transparent honesty. Its contributors included the most accomplished men of letters on both sides of the Atlantic. (Sir) Leslie Stephen [q. v. Suppl. II], who stayed with Godkin in New York in 1868 and formed a high opinion of his character and capacity, was English correspondent of the paper from that year till 1873 (Maitlanp's Life, i. 207-237). The 'Nation' 'was read by the two classes which in America have most to do with forming political and economic opinion, editors and university teachers' (Bryce, p. 378). Its superiority was 'due to one man, Mr. E. L. Godkin, with whom,' wrote J. R. Lowell, ' I do not always agree, but whose ability, information, and unflinching integrity have made the "Nation" what it is ' (Life and Letters, i. 251). He was a determined opponent of corruption in political and municipal life in America. Though his political sympathies had lain with the republican as against the democratic party, yet on public grounds, as a civil service reformer and as a freetrader, in 1884, he supported Cleveland's candidature for the presidency as against Blaine. His paper was the recognised organ of the independents or 'Mugwumps' between 1884 and 1894. On the other hand he strongly opposed Cleveland when in 1895 he attacked England in his Venezuelan message. He was especially outspoken against Tammany Hall and its system, and was subjected in consequence to virulent attacks and constant libel actions by the leaders of Tammany. In December 1894, after the temporary defeat of Tammany, largely or mainly owing to his efforts, he was presented with a loving cup 'in grateful recognition of fearless and unfaltering service to the city of New York' (Life and Letters, ii. 181). He was opposed to the Spanish-American war, as well as to the South African war of Great Britain, and to the American annexation of Hawaii and the Philippines. He was also opposed, on economic grounds, to high tariffs, to the silver policy, and to bimetallism.
In 1870 he decHned an offer of the professorship of history at Harvard University. In 1875 he removed to Cambridge, Massachusetts, but went back to New York in 1877. In 1875 he became a member of a commission appointed to devise a 'Plan for the government of cities in the State of New York,' which reported to the New York Legislature in 1877. In 1895 he was made an unpaid civil service commissioner. In 1889 he paid a visit to England, after an interval of twenty-seven years. Thereafter he kept in close touch with men and events in the United Kingdom, among the closest of his English friends being Mr. James Bryce and Professor A. V. Dicey. He was, like his father before him, a lifelong advocate of home rule for Ireland, and contributed two articles to the liberal 'Handbook of Home Rule' (1887) edited by Mr. Bryce. As home ruler, free trader, opponent of war and annexation, and advocate of honest and economical administration, he was in line with the advanced section of the hberal party in the United Kingdom, before socialism had come to the front, and he criticised with some bitterness the leaders on the tory side. His views are fully expounded in his 'Reflections and Comments' (New York, 1895) ; 'Problems of Modern Democracy' (New York, 1 896) ; and 'Unforeseen Tendencies of Democracy' (Boston, 1898). In 1897 he was made, to his great pleasure, an hon. D.C.L. of Oxford. After serious illness in 1900 he sailed for England in May 1901, spent some time in the New Forest, died at Greenway on the Dart in Devonshire on 21 May 1902, and was buried in Hazelbeach churchyard in Northamptonshire. An inscription on his grave by Mr. Bryce describes him as 'Publicist, economist and moralist.' In Ms memory the 'Godkin Lectures,' on 'The Essentials of Free Government and the Duties of the Citizen,' were established at Harvard University.
Godkin was married twice: (1) in 1859, at Newhaven, Connecticut, to Frances Elizabeth (d. 1875), elder daughter of Samuel Edmund Foote, by whom he had three children, one of whom, a son, survived him ; (2) in 1884 to Katherine, daughter of Abraham Sands. Both wives were of American birth.
Godkin was a man of marked talent. He combined with wide reading and knowledge of many countries a personal attraction which made him the 'faithful friend and charming companion' of the leaders of thought in both England and America. He gave his life's work to his adopted country, the United States, but he was never completely assimilated. Matthew Arnold considered him 'a typical specimen of the Irishman of culture ' {Life and Letters, ii. 1). His Irish blood gave him singular frankness
