Themainlineofhisargumentfinished，therecamesomethingevenfiner;for，inspiredbythepresenceofthegreatmassofstudents，heendedhisspeechwithanespecialappealtothem。TakingashistestthenotedpassageintheletterwrittenbyMacaulaytoHenryRandall，thebiographerofJefferson，——theletterinwhichMacaulayprophesieddestructiontotheAmericanRepublicwhenpovertyshouldpinchanddiscontentbewide—spreadinthecountry，——heappealedtotheseyoungmentoseetoitthatthisprophecyshouldnotcometrue;heaskedthemtofollowinthis，asinsimilarquestions，theirreasonandnottheirprejudices，andfromthishewentonwithastatementofthemotiveswhichoughttogovernthemandthelinetheyoughttopursueintheefforttoredeemtheircountry。
Neverwasspeechmoresuccessful。Itcarriedtheentireaudience，andleftinthatregionhardlyashredofthegreenbacktheory。WhentheelectiontookplaceitwasobservedthatinthosedistrictswhereConklingandGarfieldhadspoken，thegreenbackheresywasannihilated，whileinotherdistrictswhichhadbeencountedasabsolutelysurefortheRepublicanparty，andtowhich，therefore，theseoratorshadnotbeensent，therewasagreatincreaseinthevoteforcurrencyinflation。
Ihaveoftenalludedtothisresultasananswertothosewhosaythatspeakingproducesnorealeffectontheconvictionsofmenregardingpartymatters。Somespeakingdoesnot，butthereisakindofspeakingwhichdoes，andofthiswerethesetwomasterpieces，sodifferentfromeachotherinmatterandmanner，andyetconverginguponthesamepoints，intellectualandmoral。
BeforeIcloseregardingGarfield，itmaybewelltogiveafewmorerecollectionsofhim。Themeetingended，wedrovetomyhouseontheuniversitygrounds，andshortlybeforeourarrivalheaskedme，``Howdidyoulikemyspeech？’’Ianswered:``Garfield，Ihaveknownyoutoolongandthinktoohighlyofyoutoflatteryou;butIwillsimplysaywhatIwouldsayunderoath:itwasthebestspeechIeverheard。``Thisutteranceofminewasdeliberate，expressingmyconviction，andhewasevidentlypleasedwithit。
Havingsettleddowninfrontofthefireinmylibrary，webegantodiscussthepoliticalsituation，andhistalkremainstomeamongthemostinterestingthingsofmylife。Hesaidmuchregardingthehistoryofthecurrencyquestionandhisrelationstoit，andfromthisranrapidlyandsuggestivelythroughamultitudeofotherquestionsandtherelationsofpublicmentothem。Onethingwhichstruckmewashisjudiciallyfairandevenkindlyestimatesofmenwhodifferedfromhim。Veryrarelydidhespeakharshlyorsharplyofanyone，differinginthisgreatlyfromMr。Conkling，who，inallhisconversations，andespeciallyinoneatthatsamehousenotlongbefore，seemedtoconsidermenwhodifferedfromhimasenemiesofthehumanrace。