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diff --git a/13637-0.txt b/13637-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9503693 --- /dev/null +++ b/13637-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6196 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13637 *** + + Note: The Table of Contents and the list of illustrations were added + by the transcriber. + + + + + McCLURE'S MAGAZINE + + JANUARY, 1896 + + Vol. VI, JANUARY, 1896, NO. 2 + + + + + TABLE OF CONTENTS + + ILLUSTRATIONS + ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Edited by Ida M. Tarbell. + Lincoln's First Experiences in Illinois. + In Charge of Denton Offutt's Store. + The Clary's Grove Boys. + Lincoln Studies Grammar. + A Candidate for the General Assembly. + The Black Hawk War. + Lincoln a Captain. + The Black Hawk Campaign. + Electioneering for the General Assembly. + EUGENE FIELD AND HIS CHILD FRIENDS. By Cleveland Moffett. + POEMS OF CHILDHOOD, By Eugene Field. + With Trumpet and Drum. + The Delectable Ballad of the Waller Lot. + The Rock-a-by Lady. + "Booh!" + The Duel. + The Ride to Bumpville. + So, So, Rock-a-by so! + Seein' Things. + A CENTURY OF PAINTING. By Will H. Low. + THE DEFEAT OF BLAINE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. By Murat Halstead. + THE SILENT WITNESS. By Herbert D. Ward + THE SUN'S LIGHT. By Sir Robert Ball, + CHAPTERS FROM A LIFE. By Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, + Life in Andover before the War. + THE WAGER OF THE MARQUIS DE MÉROSAILLES. By Anthony Hope, + MISS TARBELL'S LIFE OF LINCOLN. + + + ILLUSTRATIONS + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1861. + THE KIRKHAM'S GRAMMAR USED BY LINCOLN AT NEW SALEM. + A CLARY'S GROVE LOG CABIN. + NANCY GREEN. + DUTCH OVEN. + LINCOLN IN 1858. + JOHN POTTER. + JOHN A. CLARY. + SITE OF DENTON OFFUTT'S STORE. + ZACHARY TAYLOR. + BOWLING GREEN'S HOUSE. + THE BLACK HAWK. + WHIRLING THUNDER. + WHITE CLOUD, THE PROPHET. + BLACK HAWK. + LINCOLN IN 1860. + BLACK HAWK WAR RELICS. + MAJOR ROBERT ANDERSON. + MONUMENT AT KELLOGG'S GROVE. + JOHN REYNOLDS, GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS 1831-1834. + ELIJAH ILES. + A DISCHARGE FROM SERVICE IN BLACK HAWK WAR SIGNED BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN. + MAP OF ILLINOIS IN 1832. + A FACSIMILE OF AN ELECTION RETURN WRITTEN BY LINCOLN. + VIEW OF THE SANGAMON RIVER NEAR NEW SALEM. + EUGENE FIELD TELLING A STORY. + THE LAST PORTRAIT OF EUGENE FIELD. + LUCY ALEXANDER KNOTT. + JAMES BRECKINRIDGE WALLER, JR. + KENDALL EVANS. + WILLIAM AND KENT CLOW. + ROSWELL FRANCIS FIELD, EUGENE FIELD'S YOUNGEST SON. + ELIZABETH WINSLOW, + IRVING WAY, JR.. + KATHERINE KOHLSAAT. + PARK YENOWINE, + THE SABINE WOMEN. + JACQUES LOUIS DAVID AS A YOUNG MAN. + MICHEL GÉRARD AND HIS FAMILY. + POPE PIUS VII. + JUSTICE AND DIVINE VENGEANCE PURSUING CRIME. + THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN. + HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE. + PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN. + PRUD'HON. + THE PRINCESS VISCONTI. + THE COUNTESS REGNAULT DE SAINT-JEAN-D'ANGELY. + THE ARRIVAL OF A DILIGENCE. + BRUTUS CONDEMNING HIS SONS TO DEATH. + THE BURIAL OF ATALA. + MADAME LEBRUN AND HER DAUGHTER. + FRANCIS I., KING OF FRANCE, AND CHARLES V., EMPEROR OF THE HOLY + ROMAN EMPIRE. + JAMES G. BLAINE. + MR. BLAINE IN 1891. + MR. BLAINE AT HIS DESK IN THE STATE DEPARTMENT. + FACSIMILE OF THE LETTER WRITTEN BY MR. BLAINE TO MR. HALSTEAD. + BLAINE'S GRAVE AT WASHINGTON, D.C.. + STATUE OF WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. + ANNA SYMMES HARRISON, + THE SILENT WITNESS. + "MOVE ON, WILL YER!" + "AM--I--IMPRISONED BECAUSE I AM FRIENDLESS AND POOR?" + "OH, MY GOD!" HE SOBBED. "MY GOD! MY GOD!" + THE SUN'S CORONA. + ERUPTIVE PROMINENCE AT 10.34 A.M. + ERUPTIVE PROMINENCE AT 10.40 A.M. + ERUPTIVE PROMINENCE AT 10.58 A.M. + THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY BUILDINGS, ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS. + PROFESSOR AUSTIN PHELPS'S STUDY. + VIEW LOOKING FROM THE FRONT OF ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS'S HOME. + DR. EDWARDS A. PARK. + THE PHYSICIAN RECEIVING THE PRINCESS IN THE MARQUIS'S SICKROOM. + SHE STOLE UP AND SAW MONSIEUR DE MÉROSAILLES SITTING ON THE GROUND. + LINCOLN IN 1863. + LINCOLN IN 1854. + LINCOLN IN FEBRUARY, 1860. + + + + +[Illustration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1861.--NOW FIRST PUBLISHED. + +From a photograph owned by Allen Jasper Conant, to whose courtesy +we owe the right to reproduce it here. This photograph was taken in +Springfield in the spring of 1861, by C.S. German.] + + + + +MCCLURE'S MAGAZINE + + +VOL. VI. JANUARY, 1896. NO. 2. + + + + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN. + +EDITED BY IDA M. TARBELL. + +LINCOLN AS STOREKEEPER AND SOLDIER IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR. + +_This article embodies special studies of Lincoln's life in New Salem +made for this Magazine by J. McCan Davis_. + + +LINCOLN'S FIRST EXPERIENCES IN ILLINOIS. + +It was in March, 1830, when Abraham Lincoln was twenty-one years of +age, that he moved from Indiana to Macon County, Illinois. He spent +his first spring in the new country helping his father settle. In the +summer of that year he started out for himself, doing various kinds of +rough farm work in the neighborhood until March of 1831, when he went +to Sangamon town, near Springfield, to build a flatboat. In April he +started on this flatboat for New Orleans, which he reached in May. +After a month in that city, he returned, in June, to Illinois, where +he made a short visit at his parents' home, now in Coles County, and +in July went to New Salem, to take charge of a store and mill owned by +Denton Offutt, who had employed him on the flatboat.[A] The goods for +the new store had not arrived when Lincoln reached New Salem. Obliged +to turn his hand to something, he piloted down the Sangamon and +Illinois rivers, as far as Beardstown, a flatboat bearing the family +and goods of a pioneer bound for Texas. At Beardstown he found +Offutt's goods waiting to be taken to New Salem. As he footed his +way home he met two men with a wagon and ox-team going for the goods. +Offutt had expected Lincoln to wait at Beardstown until the ox-team +arrived, and the teamsters, not having any credentials, asked Lincoln +to give them an order for the goods. This, sitting down by the +roadside, he wrote out; and one of the men used to relate that it +contained a misspelled word, which he corrected. + + +IN CHARGE OF DENTON OFFUTT'S STORE. + +The precise date of the opening of Denton Offutt's store is not known. +We only know that on July 8, 1831, the County Commissioners' Court of +Sangamon County granted Offutt a license to retail merchandise at New +Salem; for which he paid five dollars, a fee which supposed him to +have one thousand dollars' worth of goods in stock. When the oxen +and their drivers returned with the goods, the store was opened in a +little log house on the brink of the hill, almost over the river. + +[Illustration: THE KIRKHAM'S GRAMMAR USED BY LINCOLN AT NEW +SALEM.--NOW FIRST PUBLISHED.] + +The copy of Kirkham's Grammar studied by Lincoln belonged to a man +named Vaner. Some of the biographers say Lincoln borrowed [it,] but +it appears that he became the owner of the book, either by purchase +or through the generosity of Vaner, for it was never returned to the +latter. It is said that Lincoln learned this grammar practically by +heart. "Sometimes," says Herndon, "he would stretch out at full length +on the counter, his head propped up on a stack of calico prints, +studying it; or he would steal away to the shade of some inviting +tree, and there spend hours at a time in a determined effort to fix +in his mind the arbitrary rule that 'adverbs qualify verbs, adjectives +and other adverbs.'" He presented the book to Ann Rutledge [the story +of Ann Rutledge will appear in a future number of the Magazine], and +it has since been one of the treasures of the Rutledge family. After +the death of Ann it was studied by her brother, Robert, and is now +owned by his widow, who resides at Casselton, North Dakota. The title +page of the book appears above. The words, "Ann M. Rutledge is +now learning grammar," were written by Lincoln. The order on James +Rutledge to pay David P. Nelson thirty dollars and signed "A. Lincoln, +for D. Offutt," which is shown above, was pasted upon the front cover +of the book by Robert Rutledge. From a photograph made especially for +MCCLURE'S MAGAZINE.--_J. McCan Davis_.] + +The frontier store filled a unique place. Usually it was a "general +store," and on its shelves were found most of the articles needed in a +community of pioneers. But to be a place for the sale of dry goods and +groceries was not its only function; it was a kind of intellectual +and social centre. It was the common meeting-place of the farmers, the +happy refuge of the village loungers. No subject was unknown there. +The _habitués_ of the place were equally at home in talking politics, +religion, or sport. Stories were told, jokes were cracked and laughed +at, and the news contained in the latest newspaper finding its way +into the wilderness was discussed. Such a store was that of Denton +Offutt. Lincoln could hardly have chosen surroundings more favorable +to the highest development of the art of story-telling, and he had not +been there long before his reputation for drollery was established. + + +THE CLARY'S GROVE BOYS. + +But he gained popularity and respect in other ways. There was near the +village a settlement called Clary's Grove. The most conspicuous part +of the population was an organization known as the "Clary's Grove +Boys." They exercised a veritable terror over the neighborhood, and +yet they were not a bad set of fellows. Mr. Herndon, who had a cousin +living in New Salem at the time, and who knew personally many of the +"boys," says: + +"They were friendly and good-natured; they could trench a pond, dig +a bog, build a house; they could pray and fight, make a village or +create a state. They would do almost anything for sport or fun, love +or necessity. Though rude and rough, though life's forces ran over +the edge of the bowl, foaming and sparkling in pure deviltry for +deviltry's sake, yet place before them a poor man who needed their +aid, a lame or sick man, a defenceless woman, a widow, or an orphaned +child, they melted into sympathy and charity at once. They gave all +they had, and willingly toiled or played cards for more. Though +there never was under the sun a more generous parcel of rowdies, a +stranger's introduction was likely to be the most unpleasant part of +his acquaintance with them." + +[Illustration: A CLARY'S GROVE LOG CABIN,--NOW FIRST PUBLISHED. + +From a water-color by Miss Etta Ackermann, Springfield, Illinois. +"Clary's Grove" was the name of a settlement five miles southwest of +New Salem, deriving its name from a grove on the land of the Clarys. +It was the headquarters of a daring and reckless set of young men +living in the neighborhood and known as the "Clary's Grove Boys." This +cabin was the residence of George Davis, one of the "Clary's Grove +Boys," and grandfather of Miss Ackermann. It was built seventy-one +years ago--in 1824--and is the only one left of the cluster of cabins +which constituted the little community.] + +Denton Offutt, Lincoln's employer, was just the man to love to boast +before such a crowd. He seemed to feel that Lincoln's physical prowess +shed glory on himself, and he declared the country over that his clerk +could lift more, throw farther, run faster, jump higher, and wrestle +better than any man in Sangamon County. The Clary's Grove Boys, of +course, felt in honor bound to prove this false, and they appointed +their best man, one Jack Armstrong, to "throw Abe." Jack Armstrong +was, according to the testimony of all who remember him, a "powerful +twister," "square built and strong as an ox," "the best-made man that +ever lived;" and everybody knew the contest would be close. Lincoln +did not like to "tussle and scuffle," he objected to "woolling and +pulling;" but Offutt had gone so far that it became necessary to +yield. The match was held on the ground near the grocery. Clary's +Grove and New Salem turned out generally to witness the bout, and +betting on the result ran high, the community as a whole staking their +jack-knives, tobacco plugs, and "treats" on Armstrong. The two men +had scarcely taken hold of each other before it was evident that the +Clary's Grove champion had met a match. The two men wrestled long and +hard, but both kept their feet. Neither could throw the other, and +Armstrong, convinced of this, tried a "foul." Lincoln no sooner +realized the game of his antagonist than, furious with indignation, +he caught him by the throat, and holding him out at arm's length, he +"shook him like a child." Armstrong's friends rushed to his aid, and +for a moment it looked as if Lincoln would be routed by sheer force of +numbers; but he held his own so bravely that the "boys," in spite of +their sympathies, were filled with admiration. What bid fair to be +a general fight ended in a general hand-shake, even Jack Armstrong +declaring that Lincoln was the "best fellow who ever broke into the +camp." From that day, at the cock-fights and horse-races, which +were their common sports, he became the chosen umpire; and when the +entertainment broke up in a row--a not uncommon occurrence--he acted +the peacemaker without suffering the peacemaker's usual fate. Such was +his reputation with the "Clary's Grove Boys," after three months in +New Salem, that when the fall muster came off he was elected captain. + +[Illustration: NANCY GREEN. + +Nancy Green was the wife of "Squire" Bowling Green. Her maiden name +was Nancy Potter. She was born in North Carolina in 1797, and married +Bowling Green in 1818. She removed with him to New Salem in 1820, and +lived in that vicinity until her death in 1864. Lincoln was a constant +visitor in Nancy Green's home.] + +Lincoln showed soon that if he was unwilling to indulge in "woolling +and pulling" for amusement, he did not object to it in a case of +honor. A man came into the store one day who used profane language +in the presence of ladies. Lincoln asked him to stop; but the man +persisted, swearing that nobody should prevent his saying what he +wanted to. The women gone, the man began to abuse Lincoln so hotly +that the latter finally said, coolly: "Well, if you must be whipped, I +suppose I might as well whip you as any other man;" and going outdoors +with the fellow, he threw him on the ground, and rubbed smartweed in +his eyes until he bellowed for mercy. New Salem's sense of chivalry +was touched, and enthusiasm over Lincoln increased. + +[Illustration: DUTCH OVEN + +From a photograph made for this Magazine. + +Owned by Mrs. Ott, of Petersburg, Illinois. These Dutch ovens were in +many cases the only cooking utensils used by the early settlers. The +meat, vegetable, or bread was put into the pot, which was then placed +in a bed of coals, and coals heaped on the lid.] + +His honesty excited no less admiration. Two incidents seem to have +particularly impressed the community. Having discovered on one +occasion that he had taken six and one-quarter cents too much from +a customer, he walked three miles that evening, after his store was +closed, to return the money. Again, he weighed out a half-pound of +tea, as he supposed. It was night, and this was the last thing he +did before closing up. On entering in the morning he discovered a +four-ounce weight on the scales. He saw his mistake, and closing up +shop, hurried off to deliver the remainder of the tea. + +[Illustration: LINCOLN IN 1858. + +After a photograph owned by Mrs. Harriet Chapman of Charleston, +Illinois. Mrs. Chapman is a grand-daughter of Sarah Bush Lincoln, +Lincoln's step-mother. Her son, Mr. R.N. Chapman of Charleston, +Illinois, writes us: "In 1858 Lincoln and Douglas had a series of +joint debates in this State, and this city was one place of meeting. +Mr. Lincoln's step-mother was making her home with my father and +mother at that time. Mr. Lincoln stopped at our house, and as he was +going away my mother said to him: 'Uncle Abe, I want a picture of +you.' He replied, 'Well, Harriet, when I get home I will have one +taken for you and send it to you.' Soon after, mother received the +photograph she still has, already framed, from Springfield, Illinois, +with a letter from Mr. Lincoln, in which he said, 'This is not a very +good-looking picture, but it's the best that could be produced from +the poor subject.' He also said that he had it taken solely for my +mother. The photograph is still in its original frame, and I am sure +is the most perfect and best picture of Lincoln in existence. We +suppose it must have been taken in Springfield, Illinois."] + +[Illustration: JOHN POTTER. + +From a recent photograph. John Potter, born November 10, 1808, was +a few months older than Lincoln. He is now living at Petersburg, +Illinois. He settled in the country one and one-half miles from New +Salem in 1820. Mr. Potter remembers Lincoln's first appearance in New +Salem in July, 1831. He corroborates the stories told of his store, +and of his popularity in the community, and of the general impression +that he was an unusually promising young man.] + + +LINCOLN STUDIES GRAMMAR. + +As soon as the store was fairly under way Lincoln began to look about +for books. Since leaving Indiana, in March, 1830, he had had, in his +drifting life, little leisure or opportunity for study--though he had +had a great deal for observation. Nevertheless his desire to learn +had increased, and his ambition to be somebody had been encouraged. +In that time he had found that he really was superior to many of those +who were called the "great" men of the country. Soon after entering +Macon County, in March, 1830, when he was only twenty-one years old, +he had found he could make a better speech than at least one man who +was before the public. A candidate had come along where John Hanks and +he were at work, and, as John Hanks tells the story, the man made a +speech. "It was a bad one, and I said Abe could beat it. I turned down +a box, and Abe made his speech. The other man was a candidate--Abe +wasn't. Abe beat him to death, his subject being the navigation of +the Sangamon River. The man, after Abe's speech was through, took him +aside, and asked him where he had learned so much and how he could do +so well. Abe replied, stating his manner and method of reading, what +he had read. The man encouraged him to persevere." + +He had found that people listened to him, that they quoted his +opinions, and that his friends were already saying that he was able +to fill any position. Offutt even declared the country over that "Abe +knew more than any man in the United States," and "some day he would +be President." + +[Illustration: JOHN A. CLARY. + +John A. Clary was one of the "Clary's Grove Boys." He was a son of +John Clary, the head of the numerous Clary family which settled in the +vicinity of New Salem in 1818. He was born in Tennessee in 1815 and +died in 1880. He was an intimate associate of Lincoln during the +latter's New Salem days.] + +Under this stimulus Lincoln's ambition increased. "I have talked with +great men," he told his fellow-clerk and friend, Greene, "and I do not +see how they differ from others." He made up his mind to put himself +before the public, and talked of his plans to his friends. In order +to keep in practice in speaking he walked seven or eight miles to +debating clubs. "Practising polemics" was what he called the exercise. +He seems now for the first time to have begun to study subjects. +Grammar was what he chose. He sought Mentor Graham, the schoolmaster, +and asked his advice. "If you are going before the public," Mr. Graham +told him, "you ought to do it." But where could he get a grammar? +There was but one, said Mr. Graham, in the neighborhood, and that was +six miles away. Without waiting further information the young man rose +from the breakfast-table, walked immediately to the place, borrowed +this rare copy of Kirkham's Grammar, and before night was deep into +its mysteries. From that time on for weeks he gave every moment of his +leisure to mastering the contents of the book. Frequently he asked his +friend Greene to "hold the book" while he recited, and, when puzzled +by a point, he would consult Mr. Graham. + +Lincoln's eagerness to learn was such that the whole neighborhood +became interested. The Greenes lent him books, the schoolmaster kept +him in mind and helped him as he could, and even the village cooper +let him come into his shop and keep up a fire of shavings sufficiently +bright to read by at night. It was not long before the grammar was +mastered. "Well," Lincoln said to his fellow-clerk, Greene, "if that's +what they call a science, I think I'll go at another." He had made +another discovery--that he could conquer subjects. + +[Illustration: SITE OF DENTON OFFUTT'S STORE. + +From a photograph taken for this Magazine. + +The building in which Lincoln clerked for Denton Offutt was standing +as late as 1836, and presumably stood until it rotted down. A slight +depression in the earth, evidently once a cellar, is all that remains +of Offutt's store. Out of this hole in the ground have grown three +trees, a locust, an elm, and a sycamore, seeming to spring from the +same roots, and curiously twined together; and high up on the sycamore +some genius has chiselled the face of Lincoln.] + +Before the winter was ended he had become the most popular man in New +Salem. Although in February, 1832, he was but twenty-two years of age, +had never been at school an entire year in his life, had never made a +speech except in debating clubs and by the roadside, had read only the +books he could pick up, and known only the men who made up the poor, +out-of-the-way towns in which he had lived, "encouraged by his great +popularity among his immediate neighbors," as he says himself, he +decided to announce himself, in March, 1832, as a candidate for the +General Assembly of the State. + +[Illustration: ZACHARY TAYLOR. + +At the breaking out of the Black Hawk war, Zachary Taylor, afterwards +general in the Mexican War, and finally President of the United +States, was colonel of the First Infantry. He joined Atkinson at the +beginning of the war, and was in active service until the end of the +campaign.] + + +A CANDIDATE FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. + +The only preliminary expected of a candidate for the legislature of +Illinois at that date was an announcement stating his "sentiments with +regard to local affairs." The circular in which Lincoln complied with +this custom was a document of about two thousand words, in which he +plunged at once into the subject he believed most interesting to his +constituents--"the public utility of internal improvements." + +[Illustration: BOWLING GREEN'S HOUSE. + +From a photograph taken for this Magazine. + +Bowling Green's log cabin, half a mile north of New Salem, just under +the bluff, still stands, but long since ceased to be a dwelling-house, +and is now a tumble-down old stable. Here Lincoln was a frequent +boarder, especially during the period of his closest application to +the study of the law. Stretched out on the cellar door of his cabin, +reading a book, he met for the first time "Dick" Yates, then a +college student at Jacksonville, and destined to become the great "War +Governor" of the State. Yates had come home with William G. Greene +to spend his vacation, and Greene took him around to Bowling Green's +house to introduce him to "his friend, Abe Lincoln." Unhappily there +is nowhere in existence a picture of the original occupant of this +humble cabin. Bowling Green was one of the leading citizens of the +county. He was County Commissioner from 1826 to 1828; he was for many +years a justice of the peace; he was a prominent member of the Masonic +fraternity, and a very active and uncompromising Whig. The friendship +between him and Lincoln, beginning at a very early day, continued +until his death in 1842.--_J. McCan Davis_.] + +At that time the State of Illinois--as, indeed, the whole United +States--was convinced that the future of the country depended on the +opening of canals and railroads, and the clearing out of the rivers. +In the Sangamon country the population felt that a quick way of +getting to Beardstown on the Illinois River, to which point the +steamer came from the Mississippi, was, as Lincoln puts it in his +circular, "indispensably necessary." Of course a railroad was the +dream of the settlers; but when it was considered seriously there was +always, as Lincoln says, "a heart-appalling shock accompanying the +amount of its cost, which forces us to shrink from our pleasing +anticipations." Improvement of the Sangamon River he declared the most +feasible plan. That it was possible, he argued from his experience +on the river in April of the year before (1831), when he made his +flatboat trip, and from his observations as manager of Offutt's +saw-mill. He could not have advocated a measure more popular. At +that moment the whole population of Sangamon was in a state of wild +expectation. Some six weeks before Lincoln's circular appeared, a +citizen of Springfield had advertised that as soon as the ice went +off the river he would bring up a steamer, the "Talisman," from +Cincinnati, and prove the Sangamon navigable. The announcement had +aroused the entire country, speeches were made, and subscriptions +taken. The merchants announced goods direct per steamship "Talisman" +the country over, and every village from Beardstown to Springfield was +laid off in town lots. When the circular appeared the excitement was +at its height. + +[Illustration: THE BLACK HAWK. + +From a photograph made for this Magazine. + +After a portrait by George Catlin, in the National Museum at +Washington, D.C., and here reproduced by the courtesy of the director, +Mr. G. Brown Goode. Makataimeshekiakiak, the Black Hawk Sparrow, +was born in 1767 on the Rock River. He was not a chief by birth, but +through the valor of his deeds became the leader of his village. He +was imaginative and discontented, and bred endless trouble in +the Northwest by his complaints and his visionary schemes. He was +completely under the influence of the British agents, and in 1812 +joined Tecumseh in the war against the United States. After the close +of that war, the Hawk was peaceable until driven to resistance by +the encroachments of the squatters. After the battle of Bad Axe he +escaped, and was not captured until betrayed by two Winnebagoes. He +was taken to Fort Armstrong, where he signed a treaty of peace, and +then was transferred as a prisoner of war to Jefferson Barracks, now +St. Louis, where Catlin painted him. Catlin, in his "Eight Years," +says: "When I painted this chief, he was dressed in a plain suit of +buckskin, with a string of wampum in his ears and on his neck, and +held in his hand his medicine-bag, which was the skin of a black hawk, +from which he had taken his name, and the tail of which made him a +fan, which he was almost constantly using." In April, 1833, Black Hawk +and the other prisoners of war were transferred to Fortress Monroe. +They were released in June, and made a trip through the Atlantic +cities before returning West. Black Hawk settled in Iowa, where he and +his followers were given a small reservation in Davis County. He died +in 1838.] + +[Illustration: WHIRLING THUNDER. + +From a photograph made for this Magazine. + +After a painting by R.M. Sully in the collection of the State +Historical Society of Wisconsin, and here reproduced through the +courtesy of the secretary, Mr. Reuben G. Thwaites. Black Hawk had +two sons; the elder was the Whirling Thunder, the younger the Roaring +Thunder; both were in the war, and both were taken prisoners with +their father, and were with him at Jefferson Barracks and at Fortress +Monroe and on the trip through the Atlantic cities. At Jefferson +Barracks Catlin painted them, and the pictures are in the National +Museum. While at Fortress Monroe the above picture of Whirling Thunder +was painted. A pretty anecdote is told of the Whirling Thunder. While +on their tour through the East the Indians were invited to various +gatherings and much done for their entertainment. On one of these +occasions a young lady sang a ballad. Whirling Thunder listened +intently, and when she ended he plucked an eagle's feather from his +head-dress, and giving it to a white friend, said: "Take that to your +mocking-bird squaw." Black Hawk's sons remained with him until his +death in 1838, and then removed with the Sacs and Foxes to Kansas.] + + +Lincoln's comments in his circular on two other subjects on which +all candidates of the day expressed themselves are amusing in their +simplicity. The practice of loaning money at exorbitant rates was then +a great evil in the West. Lincoln proposed a law fixing the limits of +usury, and he closed his paragraph on the subject with these words, +which sound strange enough from a man who in later life showed so +profound a reverence for law: + + "In cases of extreme necessity, there could always be means + found to cheat the law; while in all other cases it would have + its intended effect. I would favor the passage of a law on + this subject which might not be very easily evaded. Let it be + such that the labor and difficulty of evading it could only be + justified in cases of greatest necessity." + +A change in the laws of the State was also a topic which he felt +required a word. "Considering the great probability," he said, "that +the framers of those laws were wiser than myself, I should prefer not +meddling with them, unless they were attacked by others; in which case +I should feel it both a privilege and a duty to take that stand which, +in my view, might tend most to the advancement of justice." + +[Illustration: WHITE CLOUD, THE PROPHET. + +From a photograph made for this Magazine. + +After a painting in the collection of the State Historical Society of +Wisconsin, and here reproduced through the courtesy of the secretary, +Mr. Reuben G. Thwaites. The chief of an Indian village on the Rock +River, White Cloud was half Winnebago, half Sac. He was false and +crafty, and it was largely his counsels which induced Black Hawk to +recross the Mississippi in 1832. He was captured with Black Hawk, was +a prisoner at both Jefferson Barracks and Fortress Monroe, and made +the tour of the Atlantic cities with his friends. The above portrait +was made at Fortress Monroe by R.M. Sully. Catlin also painted White +Cloud at Jefferson Barracks in 1832. He describes him as about forty +years old at that time, "nearly six feet high, stout and athletic." He +said he let his hair grow out to please the whites. Catlin's picture +shows him with a very heavy head of hair. The prophet, after his +return from the East, remained among his people until his death in +1840 or 1841.] + +[Illustration: BLACK HAWK. + +From a photograph made for this Magazine. + +After an improved replica of the original portrait painted by R.M. +Sully at Fortress Monroe in 1833, and now in the museum of the State +Historical Society of Wisconsin, at Madison. It is reproduced through +the courtesy of the secretary of the society, Mr. Reuben G. Thwaites.] + +[Illustration: LINCOLN IN 1860 + +From a photograph loaned by H.W. Fay of DeKalb, Illinois. After +Lincoln's nomination for the presidency, Alex Hesler of Chicago +published a portrait he had made of Lincoln in 1857. (See McCLURE'S +MAGAZINE for December, p. 13.) At the same time he put out a portrait +of Douglas. The contrast was so great between the two, and in the +opinion of the politicians so much in Douglas's favor, that they +told Hesler he must suppress Lincoln's picture; accordingly the +photographer wrote to Springfield requesting Lincoln to call and sit +again. Lincoln replied that his friends had decided that he remain +in Springfield during the canvass, but that if Hesler would come to +Springfield he would be "dressed up" and give him all the time he +wanted. Hesler went to Springfield and made at least four negatives, +three of which are supposed to have been destroyed in the Chicago +fire. The fourth is owned by Mr. George Ayers of Philadelphia. The +above photograph is a print from one of the lost negatives.] + +The audacity of a young man in his position presenting himself as a +candidate for the legislature is fully equalled by the humility of the +closing paragraphs of his announcement: + + "But, fellow-citizens, I shall conclude. Considering the great + degree of modesty which should always attend youth, it is + probable I have already been more presuming than becomes me. + However, upon the subjects of which I have treated, I have + spoken as I have thought. I may be wrong in regard to any or + all of them; but, holding it a sound maxim that it is better + only sometimes to be right than at all times to be wrong, so + soon as I discover my opinions to be erroneous, I shall be + ready to renounce them. + + "Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it + be true or not, I can say, for one, that I have no other so + great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow-men by + rendering myself worthy of their esteem. How far I shall + succeed in gratifying this ambition is yet to be developed. + I am young, and unknown to many of you. I was born, and have + ever remained, in the most humble walks of life. I have no + wealthy or popular relations or friends to recommend me. My + case is thrown exclusively upon the independent voters of the + county; and, if elected, they will have conferred a favor + upon me for which I shall be unremitting in my labors to + compensate. But, if the good people in their wisdom shall see + fit to keep me in the background, I have been too familiar + with disappointments to be very much chagrined." + +[Illustration: BLACK HAWK WAR RELICS. + +Tomahawk. Indian Pipe. Powder-horn. Flintlock Rifle. Indian Flute. +Indian Knife. + +From a photograph made for this Magazine. + +This group of relics of the Black Hawk War was selected for us from +the collection in the museum of the Wisconsin Historical Society by +the Secretary, Mr. Reuben G. Thwaites. The coat and chapeau belonged +to General Dodge, an important leader in the war. The Indian relics +are a tomahawk, a Winnebago pipe, a Winnebago flute, and a knife. The +powder-horn and the flintlock rifle are the only volunteer articles. +One of the survivors of the war, Mr. Elijah Herring of Stockton, +Illinois, says of the flintlock rifles used by the Illinois +volunteers: "They were constructed like the old-fashioned rifle, only +in place of a nipple for a cap they had a pan in which was fixed an +oil flint which the hammer struck when it came down, instead of the +modern cap. The pan was filled with powder grains, enough to catch the +spark and communicate it to the load in the gun. These guns were all +right, and rarely missed fire on a dry, clear day; but unless they +were covered well, the dews of evening would dampen the powder, and +very often we were compelled to withdraw the charge and load them over +again. We had a gunsmith with us, whose business it was to look after +the guns for the whole regiment; and when a gun was found to be damp, +it was his duty to get his tools and 'draw' the load. At that time the +Cramer lock and triggers had just been put on the market, and my +rifle was equipped with these improvements, a fact of which I was very +proud. Instead of one trigger my rifle had two, one set behind the +other--the hind one to cock the gun, and the front one to shoot it. +The man Cramer sold his lock and triggers in St. Louis, and I was one +of the first to use them."] + +Very soon after Lincoln had distributed his handbills, enthusiasm +on the subject of the opening of the Sangamon rose to a fever. +The "Talisman" actually came up the river; scores of men went to +Beardstown to meet her, among them Lincoln, of course; and to him was +given the honor of piloting her--an honor which made him remembered by +many a man who saw him that day for the first time. The trip was +made with all the wild demonstrations which always attended the first +steamboat. On either bank a long procession of men and boys on foot or +horse accompanied the boat. Cannons and volleys of musketry were +fired as settlements were passed. At every stop speeches were made, +congratulations offered, toasts drunk, flowers presented. It was +one long hurrah from Beardstown to Springfield, and foremost in +the jubilation was Lincoln, the pilot. The "Talisman" went as near +Springfield as the river did, and there tied up for a week. When +she went back Lincoln again had a conspicuous position as pilot. The +notoriety this gave him was quite as valuable politically, probably, +as was the forty dollars he received for his service financially. + +[Illustration: MAJOR ROBERT ANDERSON. + +From a photograph in the war collection of Robert A. Coster. + +Born in Kentucky in 1805. In 1825 graduated at West Point. Anderson +was on duty at the St. Louis Arsenal when the Black Hawk war broke +out. He asked permission to join General Atkinson, who commanded the +expedition against the Indians; was placed on his staff as Assistant +Inspector General, and was with him until the end of the war. Anderson +twice mustered Lincoln out of the service and in again. When General +Scott was sent to take Atkinson's place, Anderson was ordered to +report to the former for duty, and was sent by him to take charge of +the Indians captured at Bad Axe. It was Anderson who conducted Black +Hawk to Jefferson Barracks. His adjutant in this task was Lieutenant +Jefferson Davis. From 1835-37 Anderson was an instructor at West +Point. He served in the Florida War in 1837-38, and was wounded at +Molino del Rey in the Mexican War. In 1857 he was appointed Major of +the First Artillery. On November 20, 1860, Anderson assumed command +of the troops in Charleston Harbor. On April 14 he surrendered +Fort Sumter, marching out with the honors of war. He was made +brigadier-general by Lincoln for his service. On account of failing +health he was relieved from duty in October, 1861. In 1865 he was +brevetted major-general. He died in France in 1871.] + +While the country had been dreaming of wealth through the opening of +the Sangamon, and Lincoln had been doing his best to prove that +the dream was possible, the store in which he clerked was "petering +out"--to use his own expression. The owner, Denton Offutt, had proved +more ambitious than wise, and Lincoln saw that an early closing by +the sheriff was probable. But before the store was fairly closed, and +while the "Talisman" was yet exciting the country, an event occurred +which interrupted all of Lincoln's plans. + + +THE BLACK HAWK WAR. + +One morning in April a messenger from the governor of the State rode +into New Salem scattering a circular. It was an address from Governor +Reynolds to the militia of the northwest section of the State, +announcing that the British band of Sacs and other hostile Indians, +headed by Black Hawk, had invaded the Rock River country, to the great +terror of the frontier inhabitants; and calling on the citizens who +were willing to aid in repelling them, to rendezvous at Beardstown +within a week. + +[Illustration: MONUMENT AT KELLOGG'S GROVE. + +On June 24, 1832, Black Hawk attacked Apple River Fort, fourteen miles +east of Galena, Illinois, but was unable to drive out the inmates. The +next day he attacked a spy battalion of one hundred and fifty men +at Kellogg's Grove, sixteen miles further east. A detachment of +volunteers relieved the battalion, and drove off the savages, about +fifteen of whom were killed. The whites lost five men, who were buried +at various points in the grove. During the summer of 1886 the remains +of these men were collected and, with those of five or six other +victims of the war, were placed together under the monument here +represented.--See "The Black Hawk War," by Reuben G. Thwaites, Vol. +XII. in Wisconsin Historical Collections. This account of the Black +Hawk War is the most trustworthy, complete, and interesting which has +been made.] + +The name of Black Hawk was familiar to the people of Illinois. He +was an old enemy of the settlers, and had been a tried friend of the +British. The land his people had once owned in the northwest of the +present State of Illinois had been sold in 1804 to the government of +the United States, but with the provision that the Indians should +hunt and raise corn there until it was surveyed and sold to settlers. + +[Illustration: JOHN REYNOLDS, GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS 1831-1834. + +After a steel engraving in the Governor's office, Springfield, +Illinois. John Reynolds, Governor of Illinois from 1831 to 1834, was +born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, February 26, 1788. He was +of Irish parentage. When he was six months old his parents moved to +Tennessee. In 1800 they removed to Illinois. When twenty years old, +John Reynolds went to Knoxville, Tennessee, to college, where he spent +two years. He was admitted to the bar at Kaskaskia in 1812. In the war +of 1812 he rendered distinguished service, earning the title of "the +Old Ranger." He began the practice of law in the spring of 1814. In +1818 he was made an associate justice of the Supreme Court; in 1826 he +was elected a member of the legislature; and in 1830, after a stirring +campaign, he was chosen Governor of Illinois. The most important event +of his administration was the Black Hawk War. He was prompt in calling +out the militia to subdue the Black Hawk, and went upon the field +in person. In November, 1834, just before the close of his term as +Governor, he resigned to become a member of Congress. In 1837, aided +by others, he built the first railroad in the State--a short line of +six miles from his coal mine in the Mississippi bluff to the bank of +the river opposite St. Louis. It was operated by horse power. He again +became a member of the legislature in 1846 and 1852, during the latter +term being Speaker of the House. In 1860, in his seventy-third year, +he was an anti-Douglas delegate to the Charleston convention, +and received the most distinguished attentions from the Southern +delegates. After the October elections, when it became apparent that +Lincoln would be elected, he issued an address advising the support +of Douglas. His sympathies were with the South, though in 1832 he +strongly supported President Jackson in the suppression of the South +Carolina nullifiers. He died in Belleville in May, 1865. Governor +Reynolds was a quaint and forceful character. He was a man of much +learning; but in conversation (and he talked much) he rarely rose +above the odd Western vernacular, of which he was so complete a +master. He was the author of two books--one an autobiography, and the +other "The Pioneer History of Illinois."] + +Long before the land was surveyed, however, squatters had invaded +the country, and tried to force the Indians west of the Mississippi. +Particularly envious were these whites of the lands at the mouth of +the Rock River, where the ancient village and burial place of the Sacs +stood, and where they came each year to raise corn. Black Hawk had +resisted their encroachments, and many violent acts had been committed +on both sides. + +Finally, however, the squatters, in spite of the fact that the line of +settlement was still fifty miles away, succeeded in evading the real +meaning of the treaty and in securing a survey of the desired land at +the mouth of the river. Black Hawk, exasperated and broken-hearted at +seeing his village violated, persuaded himself that the village had +never been sold--indeed, that land could not be sold: + + "My reason teaches me," he wrote, "that land cannot be sold. + The Great Spirit gave it to his children to live upon, and + cultivate, as far as is necessary for their subsistence; and + so long as they occupy and cultivate it, they have the right + to the soil, but if they voluntarily leave it, then any other + people have a right to settle upon it. Nothing can be sold but + such things as can be carried away." + +Supported by this theory, conscious that in some way he did not +understand he had been wronged, and urged on by White Cloud, the +prophet, who ruled a Winnebago village on the Rock River, Black Hawk +crossed the Mississippi in 1831, determined to evict the settlers. A +military demonstration drove him back, and he was persuaded to sign a +treaty never to return east of the Mississippi. "I touched the goose +quill to the treaty, and was determined to live in peace," he wrote +afterward; but hardly had he "touched the goose quill" before his +heart smote him. Longing for his home; resentment at the whites; +obstinacy; brooding over the bad counsels of White Cloud and his +disciple Neapope, an agitating Indian who had recently been East to +visit the British and their Indian allies, and who assured Black Hawk +that the Winnebagoes, Ottawas, Chippewas, and Pottawottomies would +join him in a struggle for his land, and that the British would +send him "guns, ammunition, provisions, and clothing early in the +spring"--all persuaded the Hawk that he would be successful if he made +an effort to drive out the whites. In spite of the persuasion of many +of his friends and of the Indian agent in the country, he crossed the +river on April 6, 1832, and with some five hundred braves, his squaws +and children, marched to the Prophet's town, thirty-five miles up the +Rock River. + +As soon as they heard of Black Hawk's invasion, the settlers fled in +a panic to the forts in the vicinity, and they rained petitions for +protection on Governor Reynolds. General Atkinson, who commanded a +company at Fort Armstrong, wrote the governor he must have help; +and accordingly on the 16th of April Governor Reynolds sent out +"influential messengers" with a sonorous summons. It was one of +these messengers riding into New Salem who put an end to Lincoln's +canvassing for the legislature, freed him from Offutt's expiring +grocery, and led him to enlist. + +[Illustration: ELIJAH ILES, CAPTAIN OF COMPANY IN WHICH LINCOLN SERVED +AS PRIVATE IN BLACK HAWK WAR. + +From a photograph made for this Magazine. + +After a painting by the late Mrs. Obed Lewis, niece of Major Iles, and +owned by Mr. Obed Lewis, Springfield, Illinois. Elijah Iles was born +in Kentucky, March 28, 1796, and when young went to Missouri. There he +heard marvellous stories about the Sangamon Valley, and he resolved +to go thither. Springfield had just been staked out in the wilderness, +and he reached the place in time to erect the first building--a rude +hut in which he kept a store. This was in 1821. "In the early days in +Illinois," he wrote in 1883, "it was hard to find good material for +law-makers. I was elected a State Senator in 1826, and again for a +second term. The Senate then comprised thirteen members, and the House +twenty-five." In 1827 he was elected major in the command of Colonel +T. McNeal, intending to fight the Winnebagoes, but no fighting +occurred. In the Black Hawk War of 1832, after his term as a private +in Captain Dawson's company had expired, he was elected captain of a +new company of independent rangers. In this company Lincoln reenlisted +as a private. Major Iles lived at Springfield all his life. He died +September 4, 1883.] + +There was no time to waste. The volunteers were ordered to be at +Beardstown, nearly forty miles from New Salem, on April 22d. Horses, +rifles, saddles, blankets were to be secured, a company formed. It was +work of which the settlers were not ignorant. Under the laws of +the State every able-bodied male inhabitant between eighteen and +forty-five was obliged to drill twice a year or pay a fine of one +dollar. "As a dollar was hard to raise," says one of the old settlers, +"everybody drilled." + + +LINCOLN A CAPTAIN. + +Preparations were quickly made, and by April 22d the men were at +Beardstown. Here each company elected its own officers, and Lincoln +became a candidate for the captaincy of the company from Sangamon to +which he belonged. + +His friend Greene gave another reason than ambition to explain his +desire for the captaincy. One of the "odd jobs" which Lincoln had +taken since coming into Illinois was working in a saw-mill for a man +named Kirkpatrick. In hiring Lincoln, Kirkpatrick had promised to +buy him a cant-hook to move heavy logs. Lincoln had proposed, if +Kirkpatrick would give him two dollars, to move the logs with a common +hand-spike. This the proprietor had agreed to, but when pay day came +he refused to keep his word. When the Sangamon company of volunteers +was formed, Kirkpatrick aspired to the captaincy; and Lincoln, knowing +it, said to Greene: "Bill, I believe I can now pay Kirkpatrick for +that two dollars he owes me on the cant-hook. I'll run against him for +captain;" and he became a candidate. The vote was taken in a field, +by directing the men at the command "march" to assemble around the man +they wanted for captain. When the order was given, three-fourths of +the men gathered around Lincoln.[B] In Lincoln's curious third-person +autobiography he says he was elected "to his own surprise;" and adds, +"He says he has not since had any success in life which gave him so +much satisfaction." + +[Illustration: A DISCHARGE FROM SERVICE IN BLACK HAWK WAR SIGNED BY +ABRAHAM LINCOLN, AS CAPTAIN.] + +The company was a motley crowd of men. Each had secured for his outfit +what he could get, and no two were equipped alike. Buckskin breeches +prevailed. There was a sprinkling of coon-skin caps, and the blankets +were of the coarsest texture. Flintlock rifles were the usual arm, +though here and there a man had a Cramer. Over the shoulder of each +was slung a powder-horn. The men had, as a rule, as little regard for +discipline as for appearances, and when the new captain gave an order +were as likely to jeer at it as to obey it. To drive the Indians out +was their mission, and any orders which did not bear directly on that +point were little respected. Lincoln himself was not familiar with +military tactics, and made many blunders of which he used to tell +afterwards with relish. One of these was an early experience in +drilling. He was marching with a front of over twenty men across +a field, when he desired to pass through a gateway into the next +inclosure. + +"I could not for the life of me," said he, "remember the proper word +of command for getting my company _endwise_, so that it could get +through the gate; so, as we came near the gate, I shouted, 'This +company is dismissed for two minutes, when it will fall in again on +the other side of the gate!'" + +Nor was it only his ignorance of the manual which caused him trouble. +He was so unfamiliar with camp discipline that he once had his +sword taken from him for shooting within limits. Another disgrace he +suffered was on account of his disorderly company. The men, unknown to +him, stole a quantity of liquor one night, and the next morning were +too drunk to fall in when the order was given to march. For their +lawlessness Lincoln wore a wooden sword two days. + +But none of these small difficulties injured his standing with the +company. Lincoln was tactful, and he joined his men in sports as well +as duties. They soon grew so proud of his quick wit and great strength +that they obeyed him because they admired him. No amount of military +tactics could have secured from the volunteers the cheerful following +he won by his personal qualities. + +The men soon learned, too, that he meant what he said, and would +permit no dishonorable performances. A helpless Indian took refuge +in the camp one day; and the men, who were inspired by what Governor +Reynolds calls _Indian ill-will_--that wanton mixture of selfishness, +unreason, and cruelty which seems to seize a frontiersman as soon as +he scents a red man--were determined to kill the refugee. He had a +safe conduct from General Cass; but the men, having come out to kill +Indians and not having succeeded, threatened to take revenge on the +helpless savage. Lincoln boldly took the man's part, and though he +risked his life in doing it, he cowed the company, and saved the +Indian. + +[Illustration: MAP OF ILLINOIS IN 1832, PREPARED SPECIALLY FOR +MCCLURE'S MAGAZINE. + +[Transcriber's note: The map includes the following legend: The black +line indicates the route Lincoln is supposed to have followed with +the army as far as Whitewater, where he was dismissed. When the +army started from near Ottawa, after the 20th of June, to follow +the Indians up Rock River, Lincoln's battalion was sent towards the +northwest, and joined the main army near Lake Koshkonong early in +July. Soon after he went to Whitewater, where, about the middle of the +month, his battalion was disbanded, and he returned by foot and canoe +to New Salem. The dotted line shows the route he is supposed to have +taken. The towns named on the map are those with which Lincoln was +connected either in his legal or his political life.] + + +THE BLACK HAWK CAMPAIGN. + +It was on the 27th of April that the force of sixteen hundred men +organized at Beardstown started out. The spring was cold, the roads +heavy, the streams turbulent. The army marched first to Yellow Banks +on the Mississippi, then to Dixon on the Rock River, which they +reached on May 12th. None but hardened pioneers could have +endured what Lincoln and his followers did in this march. They had +insufficient supplies; they waded in black mud for miles; they swam +rivers; they were almost never dry or warm; but, hardened as they +were, they made the march gayly. At Dixon they camped, and near here +occurred the first bloodshed of the war. + +A body of about three hundred and forty rangers, not of the regular +army, under Major Stillman, asked to go ahead as scouts, to look for +a body of Indians under Black Hawk, rumored to be about twelve miles +away. The permission was given, and on the night of the 14th of +May Stillman and his men went into camp. Black Hawk heard of their +presence. By this time the poor old chief had discovered that the +promises of aid from the Indian tribes and the British were false, +and, dismayed, he had resolved to recross the Mississippi. When he +heard of the whites near he sent three braves with a white flag to ask +for a parley and permission to descend the river. Behind them he sent +five men to watch proceedings. Stillman's rangers were in camp when +the bearers of the flag of truce appeared. The men were many of them +half drunk, and when they saw the Indian truce-bearers, they rushed +out in a wild mob, and ran them into camp. Then catching sight of +the five spies, they started after them, killing two. The three who +reached Black Hawk reported that the truce-bearers had been killed +as well as their two companions. Furious at this violation of faith, +Black Hawk "raised a yell," and declared to the forty braves, all he +had with him, that they must have revenge. The Indians immediately +sallied forth, and met Stillman's band of over three hundred men, +who by this time were out in search of the Indians. Black Hawk, too +maddened to think of the difference of numbers, attacked the whites. +To his surprise the enemy turned, and fled in a wild riot. Nor +did they stop at their camp, which from its position was almost +impregnable; they fled in complete panic, _sauve qui peut_, through +their camp, across prairie and rivers and swamps, to Dixon, twelve +miles away, where by midnight they began to arrive. The first arrival +reported that two thousand savages had swept down on Stillman's camp +and slaughtered all but himself. Before the next night all but eleven +of the band had arrived. + +Stillman's defeat, as this disgraceful affair is called, put all +notion of peace out of Black Hawk's mind, and he started out in +earnest on the warpath. Governor Reynolds, excited by the reports of +the first arrivals from the Stillman stampede, made out that night, +"by candle-light," a call for more volunteers, and by the morning of +the 15th had messengers out and his army in pursuit of Black Hawk. But +it was like pursuing a shadow. The Indians purposely confused their +trail. Sometimes it was a broad path, then it suddenly radiated to all +points. The whites broke their bands, and pursued the savages here and +there, never overtaking them, though now and then coming suddenly on +some terrible evidences of their presence--a frontier home deserted +and burned, slaughtered cattle, scalps suspended where the army could +not fail to see them. + +This fruitless warfare exasperated the volunteers; they threatened +to leave, and their officers had great difficulty in making them obey +orders. On reaching a point in the Rock River, beyond which lay the +Indian country, a company under Colonel Zachary Taylor refused to +cross, and held a public indignation meeting, urging that they had +volunteered to defend the State, and had the right, as independent +American citizens, to refuse to go out of its borders. Taylor heard +them to the end, and then said: "I feel that all gentlemen here are +my equals; in reality, I am persuaded that many of them will, in a +few years, be my superiors, and perhaps, in the capacity of members of +Congress, arbiters of the fortunes and reputation of humble +servants of the republic, like myself. I expect then to obey them as +interpreters of the will of the people; and the best proof that I will +obey them is now to observe the orders of those whom the people have +already put in the place of authority to which many gentlemen around +me justly aspire. In plain English, gentlemen and fellow-citizens, the +word has been passed on to me from Washington to follow Black Hawk +and to take you with me as soldiers. I mean to do both. There are the +flatboats drawn up on the shore, and here are Uncle Sam's men drawn up +behind you on the prairie." The volunteers were quick-witted men, +and knew true grit when they met it. They dissolved their meeting and +crossed the river without Uncle Sam's men being called into action. + +[Illustration: A FACSIMILE OF AN ELECTION RETURN WRITTEN BY LINCOLN AS +CLERK IN 1832. NOW FIRST PUBLISHED. + +From the original now on file in the County Clerk's office, +Springfield, Illinois. The first civil office Lincoln ever held +was that of election clerk, and the return made by him, of which a +facsimile is here presented, was his first official document. The New +Salem election of September 20, 1832, has the added interest of having +been held at "the house of John McNeil," the young merchant who was +then already in love with Ann Rutledge, the young girl to whom Lincoln +afterwards became engaged. All the men whose names appear on this +election return are now dead except William McNeely, now residing at +Petersburg. John Clary lived at Clary's Grove; John R. Herndon was +"Row" Herndon, whose store Berry and Lincoln purchased, and at whose +house Lincoln for a time boarded; Baxter Berry was a relative of +Lincoln's partner in the grocery business, and Edmund Greer was a +school-teacher, and afterward a justice of the peace and a surveyor. +James Rutledge was the keeper of the Rutledge tavern and the father +of Ann Rutledge; Hugh Armstrong was the head of the numerous Armstrong +family; "Uncle Jimmy" White lived on a farm five miles from New Salem, +and died about thirty years ago in the eightieth year of his age; +William Green (spelled by the later members of the family with a +final "e") was the father of William G. Greene, Lincoln's associate +in Offutt's store; and as to Bowling Green, more is said elsewhere. +In the following three or four years, very few elections were held +at which Lincoln was not a clerk. It is a somewhat singular fact +that Lincoln, though clerk of this election, is not recorded as +voting.--_J. McCan Davis._] + +The march in pursuit of the Indians led the army to Ottawa, where the +volunteers became so dissatisfied that on May 27th and 28th Governor +Reynolds mustered them out. But a force in the field was essential +until a new levy was raised; and a few of the men were patriotic +enough to offer their services, among them Lincoln, who on May 29th +was mustered in at the mouth of the Fox River by a man in whom, thirty +years later, he was to have a keen interest--General Robert Anderson, +commander at Fort Sumter in 1861. Lincoln became a private in Captain +Elijah Iles's company of Independent Rangers, not brigaded--a company +made up, says Captain Iles in his "Footsteps and Wanderings," +of "generals, colonels, captains, and distinguished men from the +disbanded army." General Anderson says that at this muster Lincoln's +arms were valued at forty dollars, his horse and equipment at one +hundred and twenty dollars. The Independent Rangers were a favored +body, used to carry messages and to spy on the enemy. They had no +camp duties, and "drew rations as often as they pleased." So that as a +private Lincoln was really better off than as a captain.[C] + +With the exception of a scouting trip to Galena and back, fruitful of +nothing more than Indian scares, Major Iles's company remained quietly +in the neighborhood of the Rapids of the Illinois until June 16th, +when Major Anderson mustered it out. Four days later, June 20th, +at the same place, he mustered Lincoln in again as a member of an +independent company under Captain Jacob M. Early. His arms were +valued this time at only fifteen dollars, his horse and equipment at +eighty-five dollars.[D] The army moved up Rock River soon after the +middle of June. Black Hawk was overrunning the country, and scattering +death wherever he went. The settlers were wild with fear, and most +of the settlements were abandoned. At a sudden sound, at the +merest rumor, men, women, and children fled. "I well remember these +troublesome times," says one old Illinois woman. "We often left our +bread dough unbaked to rush to the Indian fort near by." When Mr. +John Bryant, a brother of William Cullen Bryant, visited the colony in +Princeton in 1832, he found it nearly broken up on account of the +war. Everywhere the crops were neglected, for the able-bodied men were +volunteering. William Cullen Bryant, who travelled on horseback in +June from Petersburg to near Pekin and back, wrote home: "Every few +miles on our way we fell in with bodies of Illinois militia proceeding +to the American camp, or saw where they had encamped for the night. +They generally stationed themselves near a stream or a spring in the +edge of a wood, and turned their horses to graze on the prairie. +Their way was barked or girdled, and the roads through the uninhabited +country were as much beaten and as dusty as the highways on New York +Island. Some of the settlers complained that they made war upon the +pigs and chickens. They were a hard-looking set of men, unkempt and +unshaved, wearing shirts of dark calico and sometimes calico capotes." + +Soon after the army moved up the Rock River, the independent spy +company, of which Lincoln was a member, was sent with a brigade to the +northwest, near Galena, in pursuit of the Hawk. The nearest Lincoln +came to an actual engagement in the war was here. The skirmish of +Kellogg's Grove took place on June 25th; Lincoln's company came up +soon after it was over, and helped bury the five men killed. It was +probably to this experience that he referred when he told a friend +once of coming on a camp of white scouts one morning just as the sun +was rising. The Indians had surprised the camp, and had killed and +scalped every man. + +"I remember just how those men looked," said Lincoln, "as we rode up +the little hill where their camp was. The red light of the morning sun +was streaming upon them as they lay heads towards us on the ground. +And every man had a round red spot on the top of his head about as big +as a dollar, where the redskins had taken his scalp. It was frightful, +but it was grotesque; and the red sunlight seemed to paint everything +all over." Lincoln paused, as if recalling the vivid picture, and +added, somewhat irrelevantly, "I remember that one man had buckskin +breeches on."[E] + +By the end of the month the troops crossed into Michigan +Territory--what is now Wisconsin--and July was spent in floundering +through swamps and stumbling through forests, in pursuit of the now +nearly exhausted Black Hawk. A few days before the last battle of +the war, that of Bad Axe on August 2d, in which the whites finally +massacred most of the Indian band, Lincoln's company was disbanded at +Whitewater, Wisconsin, and he and his friends started for home. The +volunteers in returning, in almost every case, suffered much from +hunger. Mr. Durly, of Hennepin, Illinois, who walked home from Rock +Island, says all he had to eat on the journey was meal and water baked +in rolls of bark laid by the fire. Lincoln was little better off. The +night before his company started from Whitewater he and one of his +mess-mates had their horses stolen; and, excepting when their more +fortunate companions gave them a lift, they walked as far as Peoria, +Illinois, where they bought a canoe, and paddled down the Illinois +River to Havana. Here they sold the canoe, and walked across the +country to New Salem. + +[Illustration: VIEW OF THE SANGAMON RIVER NEAR NEW SALEM. + +The town lay along the ridge marked by the star.] + + +ELECTIONEERING FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. + +Lincoln arrived only a few days before the election, and at once +plunged into "electioneering." He ran as "an avowed Clay man," and +the county was stiffly Democratic. However, in those days political +contests were almost purely personal. If the candidate was liked +he was voted for irrespective of principles. Around New Salem +the population turned in and helped Lincoln almost to a man. "The +Democrats of New Salem worked for Lincoln out of their personal regard +for him," said Stephen T. Logan, a young lawyer of Springfield, who +made Lincoln's acquaintance in the campaign. "He was as stiff as a man +could be in his Whig doctrines. They did this for him simply because +he was popular--because he was Lincoln." + +It was the custom for the candidates to appear at every gathering +which brought the people out, and, if they had a chance, to make +speeches. Then, as now, the farmers gathered at the county-seat or at +the largest town within their reach on Saturday afternoons, to dispose +of produce, buy supplies, see their neighbors, and get the news. +During "election times" candidates were always present, and a regular +feature of the day was listening to their speeches. Public sales also +were gatherings which they never missed, it being expected that after +the "vandoo" the candidates would take the auctioneer's place. + +Lincoln let none of these chances to be heard slip. Accompanied by his +friends, generally including a few Clary's Grove Boys, he always was +present. The first speech he made was after a sale at Pappsville. What +he said there is not remembered; but an illustration of the kind +of man he was, interpolated into his discourse, made a lasting +impression. A fight broke out in his audience while he was on the +stand, and observing that one of his friends was being worsted, he +bounded into the group of contestants, seized the fellow who had his +supporter down, threw him "ten or twelve feet," mounted the platform, +and finished the speech. Sangamon County could appreciate such +a performance; and the crowd that day at Pappsville never forgot +Lincoln. + +His appearance at Springfield at this time was of great importance to +him. Springfield was not at that time a very attractive place. Bryant, +visiting it in June, 1832, said that the houses were not as good as at +Jacksonville, "a considerable proportion of them being log cabins, +and the whole town having an appearance of dirt and discomfort." +Nevertheless it was the largest town in the county, and among its +inhabitants were many young men of education, birth, and energy. One +of these men Lincoln had become well acquainted with in the Black +Hawk War--Major John T. Stewart,[F] at that time a lawyer, and, like +Lincoln, a candidate for the General Assembly. He met others at this +time who were to be associated with him more or less closely in the +future in both law and politics, such as Judge Logan and William +Butler. With these men the manners which had won him the day at +Pappsville were of no value; what impressed them was his "very +sensible speech," and his decided individuality and originality. + +The election came off on August 6th. The first civil office Lincoln +ever held was that of clerk of this election. The report in his hand +still exists; as far as we know, it is his first official document. + +Lincoln was defeated. "This was the only time Abraham was ever +defeated on a direct vote of the people," say his autobiographical +notes. He had a consolation in his defeat, however, for in spite of +the pronounced Democratic sentiments of his precinct, he received two +hundred and seventy-seven votes out of three hundred cast.[G] + +_(Begun in the November number, 1895; to be continued.)_ + +[Footnote A: The story of Lincoln's first seventeen months in +Illinois, outlined in this paragraph, is told in MCCLURE'S MAGAZINE +for December.] + +[Footnote B: This story of Kirkpatrick's unfair treatment of Lincoln +we owe to the courtesy of Colonel Clark E. Carr of Galesburg, +Illinois, to whom it was told several times by Greene himself.] + +[Footnote C: William Cullen Bryant, who was in Illinois in 1832 at the +time of the Black Hawk War, used to tell of meeting in his travels in +the State a company of Illinois volunteers, commanded by a "raw youth" +of "quaint and pleasant" speech, and of learning afterwards that this +captain was Abraham Lincoln. As Lincoln's captaincy ended on May 27th, +and Mr. Bryant did not reach Jacksonville, Illinois, until June 12th, +and as the nearest point he came to the army was Pleasant Grove, eight +miles from Pekin on the Illinois River, and that was at a time when +the body of Rangers to which Lincoln belonged was fifty miles away on +the rapids of the Illinois, it is evident that the "raw youth" could +not have been Lincoln, much as one would like to believe that it was. +See "Life of William Cullen Bryant," by Parke Godwin, vol. i. page +283. Also Prose of William Cullen Bryant, edited by Parke Godwin, vol. +ii. page 20.] + +[Footnote D: See Wisconsin Historical Collections, vol. x., for Major +Anderson's reminiscences of the Black Hawk War.] + +[Footnote E: Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln by Noah Brooks.] + +[Footnote F: There were many prominent Americans in the Black Hawk +War, with some of whom Lincoln became acquainted. Among the best known +were General Robert Anderson; Colonel Zachary Taylor; General Scott, +afterwards candidate for President, and Lieut.-General; Henry Dodge, +Governor of the Territory of Wisconsin and United States Senator; Hon. +William L.D. Ewing and Hon. Sidney Breese, both United States Senators +from Illinois; William S. Hamilton, a son of Alexander Hamilton; +Colonel Nathan Boone, son of Daniel Boone; Lieutenant Albert Sydney +Johnston, afterwards a Confederate general. Jefferson Davis was not in +the war, as has been so often stated.] + +[Footnote G: In the New Salem precinct, at the August election of +1832, exactly three hundred votes were cast. Of these Lincoln received +277. The facts upon this point are here stated for the first time. +The biographers as a rule have agreed that Lincoln received all of the +votes cast in the New Salem precinct except three. Mr. Herndon places +the total vote at 208; Nicolay and Hay, at 277; and Mr. Lincoln +himself, in his autobiography, has said that he received all but seven +of a total of 277 votes, basing his statement, no doubt, upon memory. +An examination of the official poll-book in the County Clerk's office +at Springfield shows that all of these figures are erroneous. The fact +remains, however--and it is a fact which has been commented upon by +several of the biographers as showing his phenomenal popularity--that +the vote for Lincoln was far in excess of that given any other +candidate. The twelve candidates, with the number of votes of each +were: Abraham Lincoln, 277; John T. Stewart, 182; William Carpenter, +136; John Dawson, 105; E.D. Taylor, 88; Archer G. Herndon, 84; Peter +Cartwright, 62; Achilles Morris, 27; Thomas M. Neal, 21; Edward +Robeson, 15; Zachariah Peters, 4; Richard Dunston, 4. + +Of the twenty-three who did not vote for Lincoln, ten refrained from +voting for Representative at all, thus leaving only thirteen votes +actually cast against Lincoln. Lincoln is not recorded as voting. The +judges were Bowling Green, Pollard Simmons, and William Clary, and the +clerks were John Ritter and Mentor Graham.--_J. McCan Davis._] + + + + +[Illustration: EUGENE FIELD TELLING A STORY TO "SISSY" KNOTT AND +'LISBETH AND MARTHA WINSLOW.] + + + + +EUGENE FIELD AND HIS CHILD FRIENDS.[H] + +BY CLEVELAND MOFFETT. + + +The form of the expressions of regard and regret called out on all +sides by the untimely death of Eugene Field, at his home in Chicago, +on November 4, 1895, makes clear that the character in which the +public at large knew and loved Mr. Field best was that of the poet of +child life. What gives his child-poems their unequalled hold on the +popular heart is their simplicity, warmth, and genuineness; and these +qualities they owe to the fact that Field himself lived in the +closest and fondest intimacy with children, had troops of them for +his friends, and wrote his poems directly under their suggestion and +inspiration. Mr. T.A. Van Laun of Chicago, who was one of Mr. Field's +closest friends, has kindly given me many reminiscences, and helped +me to much material, illustrating all sides of Mr. Field's life, among +others this fine relation with the children. A characteristic incident +occurred on Field's marriage day. The hour of the ceremony was all +but at hand, and the bridal party was waiting at the church for the +bridegroom to appear. But he did not come; and, after an anxious +delay, some of his friends went in search of him. They found him a +short distance away, engaged in settling a dispute that had arisen +among some street gamins over a game of marbles. There he was, down on +his knees in the mud, listening to the various accounts of the origin +of the quarrel; and it was only on the arrival of his friends that he +suddenly recollected his more pressing and more pleasant duties. + +One day, as was often happening, Field received a letter written in +the scrawling hand of a child, which told him how the writer, a little +girl, had read most of his poems, spoke of the pleasure they had given +her, and said that when she grew up she intended to be just such a +writer as he was. Following his usual kindly custom, Field answered +this letter, telling the child of the beauties of nature that +surrounded him, of the twittering birds, and the lovely flowers he had +in sight from his window, and concluding: "Now I must go out and shoot +a buffalo for breakfast." + +Dr. Gunsaulus of Chicago, who was one of Mr. Field's most intimate +friends, tells a story of Field's first visit to his house that shows +how quick the poet was to make himself at home with children. For +years the little ones in the Doctor's household had heard of Eugene +Field as a wonderful person; and when they were told that he had +come to see them their delight knew no bounds, and they ran into the +library to pay him homage. It was in the evening, and, presumably, +Field had already dined; but he told the children with his first +breath that he wanted to know where the cookery was. They, overjoyed +at being asked a service they were able to render, trooped out into +the kitchen with Field following. The store of eatables was duly +exposed, and Field seized upon a turkey, or what remained of one from +dinner, and carried it into the dining-room. There he seated himself +at table, with the children on his knees and about him, and fell to +with a good appetite, talking to the little ones all the time, telling +them quaint stories, and making them listen with all their eyes and +ears. Having thus become good friends and put them quite at their +ease, he spent the rest of the evening singing lullabies to them, and +reciting his verses. Naturally, before he went away the children +had given him their whole hearts. And this was his way with all the +children with whom he came in contact. + +One day on the cars Mr. Field chanced to sit near a workingman who +had with him his wife and baby. The father, it seemed, had heard Field +lecture the night before, and had been deeply impressed. With great +deference he brought his child up to Field, and said: "Now, little +one, I want you to look at this gentleman. He is Mr. Field, and when +you grow up you'll be glad to know that once upon a time he spoke to +you." At this Field took the baby in his arms, and played with it +for an hour, to the surprise and, of course, to the delight of the +parents. + +Of recent years Mr. Field rarely went to the office of the Chicago +"News," the paper for which during the last ten years he had written +a daily column under the title of "Sharps and Flats," but did most of +his work at his home in Buena Park, which he called the Sabine Farm. +Here he began his day about nine o'clock, by having breakfast served +to him in bed, after which he glanced through the papers, and then +settled himself to his writing, with feet high on the table, and his +pages before him laid neatly on a piece of plate glass. He wrote with +a fine-pointed pen, and had by him several different colored inks, +with which he would illuminate his capitals and embellish his +manuscript. The first thing he did was his "Sharps and Flats" column, +which occupied three or four hours, the task being usually finished +by one o'clock. His other work he did in the afternoons and evenings, +writing at odd hours, sometimes in the garden if the weather was +pleasant. He was much interrupted by friends dropping in to see him; +but, however busy, he welcomed whoever came, and would turn aside +good-naturedly from his manuscript to entertain a visitor or to hear a +story of misfortune. After dinner he retired to his "den" to read; for +he read constantly, whatever the distractions about him, and was much +given to reading in bed. + +And of all his visitors the most constant and appreciative were +children. These he never sent away without some bright word, and +he rarely sent them away at all. Nowhere could they find such an +entertaining playmate as he--one who would tell them such wonderful +stories and make up such funny rhymes for them on the spur of the +moment, and romp with them like one of themselves. It was in the +homely incidents of these visits, and the like intimacy with his own +children, that he found the subjects for his poems. He could voice the +feelings of a child, because he knew child life from always living it. + +On his own children he bestowed pet names--"Pinney," "Daisy," +"Googhy," "Posey," and "Trotty;" and they almost forgot that they +had others. His eldest daughter, for instance, now a lovely girl of +nineteen, has remained "Trotty" from her babyhood, and "Trotty" she +will always be. At her christening Field had an argument with his +wife about the name they should give her. Mrs. Field wished her to be +called Frances, to which Field objected on the ground that it would +be shortened into Frankie, which he disliked. Then other names were +suggested, and, after listening to this one and that one, Field +finally said: "You can christen her whatever you please, but I shall +call her Trotty." "Pinney" was named from the comic opera "Pinafore," +which was in vogue at the time he was born; and "Daisy" got his name +from the song, popular when he was born: "Oh My! A'int He a Daisy?" + +A devotion so unfailing in his relations with children would, +naturally, show itself in other relations. His devotion to his wife, +for example, was of the completest. In all the world she was the one +woman he loved, and he never wished to be away from her. In one of his +scrap-books, under her picture, are written these lines: + + You are as fair and sweet and tender, + Dear brown-eyed little sweetheart mine! + As when, a callow youth and slender, + I asked to be your valentine. + +Often she accompanied him on his readings. Last summer it happened +that they went together to St. Joe, Missouri, the home of Mrs. Field's +girlhood. On their arrival, Mrs. Field's friends took possession of +her and carried her off to a lunch-party, where it was arranged that +Mr. Field should join her later. But he, left alone, was swept by his +thoughts back to the time when, a youth of twenty-one, he had here +paid court to the woman now his wife, then a girl of sixteen; and +so affected was he by these memories that, instead of going to the +lunch-party, he took a carriage, and all alone drove to the places +which he and she had been wont to visit in the happy time of their +love-making, especially to a certain lover's lane where they had taken +many a walk together. + +[Illustration: THE LAST PORTRAIT OF EUGENE FIELD. + +From a copyrighted photograph by Place & Coover, Chicago; reproduced +by permission of the Etching Publishing Co., Chicago.] + +The day before Field's death the mail brought a hundred dollars in +payment for a magazine article he had written. It was in small bills, +and there was quite a quantity of them. As he lay in bed, Field spread +them out on the covers, and then called Mrs. Field. As she came in she +said: "Why, what are you doing with all that money?" + +Field, laughing, snatched the bills up and tucked them under the +pillow, saying: "You shan't have it, this is my money." After his +death, the bills, all crumpled up, were found still under his pillow. + +It was a common happening in the "News" office, while Mr. Field still +did his work there, for some ragged, unwashed, woe-begone creature, +too much abashed to take the elevator, to come toiling up the stairs +and down the long passage into one of the editorial rooms, where he +would blurt out fearfully, sometimes half defiantly, but always as if +confident in the power of the name he spoke: "Is 'Gene Field here?" +Sometimes an overzealous office-boy would try to drive one of these +poor fellows away, and woe to that boy if Field found it out. "I knew +'Gene Field in Denver," or, "I worked with Field on the 'Kansas City +Times,'"--these were sufficient pass-words, and never failed to call +forth the cheery voice from Field's room: "That's all right, show him +in here; he's a friend of mine." And then, after a grip of the hand +and some talk over former experiences--which Field may or may not have +remembered, but always pretended to--the inevitable half dollar or +dollar was forthcoming, and another unfortunate went out into the +world blessing the name of a man who, whether he was orthodox or not +in his religious views, always acted up to the principle that it is +more blessed to give than to receive. + +[Footnote H: NOTE.--See a "Conversation" between Eugene Field and +Hamlin Garland, in which Mr. Field tells the story of his literary +life, McCLURE'S MAGAZINE for August, 1893. Also a series of portraits +of Eugene Field in McCLURE'S MAGAZINE for September, 1893. Price +fifteen cents.] + + + + +POEMS OF CHILDHOOD, BY EUGENE FIELD. + + +The choicest literary expression of Eugene Field's intimacy with +the children is found in four volumes published by Messrs. Charles +Scribner's Sons--"A Little Book of Western Verse," "Second Book of +Verse," "With Trumpet and Drum," and "Love-Songs of Childhood." It +is only a few years since the earliest of these was published; but no +books are better known, and they hold in the hearts of their readers +the same fond place that their author held in the hearts of the +children whose thoughts and adventures he so aptly and tenderly +portrayed. By the kind permission of the publishers, we reproduce +here a few of the best known of the poems, adding pictures of +the particular child friends of Mr. Field who inspired them. The +selections are from the last two volumes--"With Trumpet and Drum" +and "Love-Songs of Childhood." The pictures are from Mr. Field's own +collection, which chanced to be in New York at the time of his death; +and the identifying phrases quoted under several of them were written +on the backs of the photographs by Mr. Field's own hand. + + +WITH TRUMPET AND DRUM. + + With big tin trumpet and little red drum, + Marching like soldiers, the children come! + It's this way and that way they circle and file-- + My! but that music of theirs is fine! + This way and that way, and after a while + They march straight into this heart of mine! + A sturdy old heart, but it has to succumb + To the blare of that trumpet and beat of that drum! + + Come on, little people, from cot and from hall-- + This heart it hath welcome and room for you all! + It will sing you its songs and warm you with love, + As your dear little arms with my arms intertwine; + It will rock you away to the dreamland above-- + Oh, a jolly old heart is this old heart of mine, + And jollier still is it bound to become + When you blow that big trumpet and beat that red drum. + + So come; though I see not _his_ dear little face + And hear not _his_ voice in this jubilant place, + I know he were happy to bid me enshrine + His memory deep in my heart with your play-- + Ah me! but a love that is sweeter than mine + Holdeth my boy in its keeping to-day! + And my heart it is lonely--so, little folk, come, + March in and make merry with trumpet and drum! + + +THE DELECTABLE BALLAD OF THE WALLER LOT. + + Up yonder in Buena Park + There is a famous spot, + In legend and in history + Yelept the Waller Lot. + + There children play in daytime + And lovers stroll by dark, + For 'tis the goodliest trysting-place + In all Buena Park. + + Once on a time that beauteous maid, + Sweet little Sissy Knott, + Took out her pretty doll to walk + Within the Waller Lot. + + While thus she fared, from Ravenswood + Came Injuns o'er the plain, + And seized upon that beauteous maid + And rent her doll in twain. + + Oh, 'twas a piteous thing to hear + Her lamentations wild; + She tore her golden curls and cried: + "My child! My child! My child!" + + Alas, what cared those Injun chiefs + How bitterly wailed she? + They never had been mothers, + And they could not hope to be! + + "Have done with tears," they rudely quoth, + And then they bound her hands; + For they proposed to take her off + To distant border lands. + +[Illustration: LUCY ALEXANDER KNOTT.--"HEROINE OF THE 'BALLAD OF THE +WALLER LOT'" (NOTE BY EUGENE FIELD ON PHOTOGRAPH). + +From a photograph by Max Platz, Chicago.] + + But, joy! from Mr. Eddy's barn + Doth Willie Clow behold + The sight that makes his hair rise up + And all his blood run cold. + + He put his fingers in his mouth + And whistled long and clear, + And presently a goodly horde + Of cowboys did appear. + + Cried Willie Clow: "My comrades bold, + Haste to the Waller Lot, + And rescue from that Injun band + Our charming Sissy Knott! + "Spare neither Injun buck nor squaw, + But smite them hide and hair! + Spare neither sex nor age nor size, + And no condition spare!" + + Then sped that cowboy band away, + Full of revengeful wrath, + And Kendall Evans rode ahead + Upon a hickory lath. + + And next came gallant Dady Field + And Willie's brother Kent, + The Eddy boys and Robbie James, + On murderous purpose bent. + + For they were much beholden to + That maid--in sooth, the lot + Were very, very much in love + With charming Sissy Knott. + +[Illustration: JAMES BRECKINRIDGE WALLER, JR.--"A 'WALLER LOT' COWBOY +OF RARE PROMISE" (NOTE BY EUGENE FIELD ON PHOTOGRAPH). + +From a photograph by Gehrig & Windeatt, Chicago.] + + What wonder? She was beauty's queen, + And good beyond compare; + Moreover, it was known she was + Her wealthy father's heir! + + Now when the Injuns saw that band + They trembled with affright, + And yet they thought the cheapest thing + To do was stay and fight. + + So sturdily they stood their ground, + Nor would their prisoner yield, + Despite the wrath of Willie Clow + And gallant Dady Field. + + Oh, never fiercer battle raged + Upon the Waller Lot, + And never blood more freely flowed + Than flowed for Sissy Knott! + +[Illustration: KENDALL EVANS.--"HE RODE A HICKORY LATH IN THE FAMOUS +BATTLE OF 'THE WALLER LOT'" (NOTE BY EUGENE FIELD ON PHOTOGRAPH). + +From a photograph by Coover, Chicago.] + + An Injun chief of monstrous size + Got Kendall Evans down, + And Robbie James was soon o'erthrown + By one of great renown. + + And Dady Field was sorely done, + And Willie Clow was hurt, + And all that gallant cowboy band + Lay wallowing in the dirt. + + But still they strove with might and main + Till all the Waller Lot + Was strewn with hair and gouts of gore-- + All, all for Sissy Knott! + + Then cried the maiden in despair: + "Alas, I sadly fear + The battle and my hopes are lost, + Unless some help appear!" + + Lo, as she spoke, she saw afar + The rescuer looming up-- + The pride of all Buena Park, + Clow's famous yellow pup! + +[Illustration: WILLIAM AND KENT CLOW.--"TWO REDOUBTABLE HEROES OF 'THE +WALLER LOT'" (NOTE BY EUGENE FIELD ON PHOTOGRAPH). + + From a photograph by D.R. Coover, Chicago.] + + "Now, sick 'em, Don," the maiden cried, + "Now, sick 'em, Don!" cried she; + Obedient Don at once complied-- + As ordered, so did he. + + He sicked 'em all so passing well + That, overcome by fright, + The Indian horde gave up the fray + And safety sought in flight. + + They ran and ran and ran and ran + O'er valley, plain, and hill; + And if they are not walking now, + Why, then, they're running still. + + The cowboys rose up from the dust + With faces black and blue; + "Remember, beauteous maid," said they, + "We've bled and died for you! + + "And though we suffer grievously, + We gladly hail the lot + That brings us toils and pains and wounds + For charming Sissy Knott!" + + But Sissy Knott still wailed and wept, + And still her fate reviled; + For who could patch her dolly up-- + Who, who could mend her child? + + Then out her doting mother came, + And soothed her daughter then; + "Grieve not, my darling, I will sew + Your dolly up again!" + + Joy soon succeeded unto grief, + And tears were soon dried up, + And dignities were heaped upon + Clow's noble yellow pup. + + Him all that goodly company + Did as deliverer hail-- + They tied a ribbon round his neck, + Another round his tail. + + And every anniversary day + Upon the Waller Lot + They celebrate the victory won + For charming Sissy Knott. + + And I, the poet of these folk, + Am ordered to compile + This truly famous history + In good old ballad style. + + Which having done as to have earned + The sweet rewards of fame, + In what same style I did begin + I now shall end the same. + + So let us sing: Long live the King, + Long live the Queen and Jack, + Long live the ten-spot and the ace, + And also all the pack! + + +THE ROCK-A-BY LADY. + + The Rock-a-By Lady from Hushaby Street + Comes stealing; comes creeping; + The poppies they hang from her head to her feet, + And each hath a dream that is tiny and fleet-- + She bringeth her poppies to you, my sweet, + When she findeth you sleeping! + + There is one little dream of a beautiful drum-- + "Rub-a-dub!" it goeth; + There is one little dream of a big sugar-plum, + And lo! thick and fast the other dreams come + Of popguns that bang, and tin tops that hum, + And a trumpet that bloweth! + + And dollies peep out of those wee little dreams + With laughter and singing; + And boats go a-floating on silvery streams, + And the stars peek-a-boo with their own misty gleams, + And up, up, and up, where the Mother Moon beams, + The fairies go winging! + + [Illustration: ROSWELL FRANCIS FIELD, EUGENE FIELD'S YOUNGEST SON + AND THE INSPIRER OF "THE ROCK-A-BY LADY," "BOOH," + AND MANY OTHER POEMS IN THE VOLUME "LOVE-SONGS OF CHILDHOOD." + + From a photograph by Stein, Chicago.] + + Would you dream all these dreams that are tiny and fleet? + They'll come to you sleeping; + So shut the two eyes that are weary, my sweet, + For the Rock-a-By Lady from Hushaby Street, + With poppies that hang from her head to her feet, + Comes stealing; comes creeping. + + +"BOOH!" + + On afternoons, when baby boy has had a splendid nap, + And sits, like any monarch on his throne, in nurse's lap, + In some such wise my handkerchief I hold before my face, + And cautiously and quietly I move about the place; + Then, with a cry, I suddenly expose my face to view, + And you should hear him laugh and crow when I say "Booh!" + + Sometimes the rascal tries to make believe that he is scared, + And really, when I first began, he stared, and stared, and stared; + And then his under lip came out and farther out it came, + Till mamma and the nurse agreed it was a "cruel shame"-- + But now what does that same wee, toddling, lisping baby do + But laugh and kick his little heels when I say "Booh!" + + He laughs and kicks his little heels in rapturous glee, and then + In shrill, despotic treble bids me "do it all aden!" + And I--of course I do it; for, as his progenitor, + It is such pretty, pleasant play as this that I am for! + And it is, oh, such fun! and I am sure that we shall rue + The time when we are both too old to play the game of "Booh!" + + +THE DUEL. + + The gingham dog and the calico cat + Side by side on the table sat; + 'Twas half-past twelve, and (what do you think!) + Nor one nor t'other had slept a wink! + The old Dutch clock and the Chinese plate + Appeared to know as sure as fate + There was going to be a terrible spat. + _(I wasn't there; I simply state + What was told to me by the Chinese plate!)_ + + The gingham dog went "bow-wow-wow!" + The calico cat replied "mee-ow!" + The air was littered, an hour or so, + With bits of gingham and calico, + While the old Dutch clock in the chimney-place + Up with its hands before its face, + For it always dreaded a family row! + _(Now mind: I'm only telling you + What the old Dutch clock declares is true!)_ + +[Illustration: ELIZABETH WINSLOW, TO WHOM THE POEM OF "THE DUEL" IS +DEDICATED.] + + The Chinese plate looked very blue, + And wailed, "Oh, dear! what shall we do!" + But the gingham dog and the calico cat + Wallowed this way and tumbled that, + Employing every tooth and claw-- + In the awfullest way you ever saw-- + And, oh! how the gingham and calico flew! + _(Don't fancy I exaggerate-- + I got my news from the Chinese plate!)_ + + Next morning, where the two had sat + They found no trace of dog or cat; + And some folks think unto this day + That burglars stole that pair away! + But the truth about the cat and pup + Is this: they ate each other up! + Now what do you really think of that! + _(The old Dutch clock it told me so, + And that is how I came to know.)_ + +[Illustration: IRVING WAY, JR., TO WHOM THE POEM OF "THE RIDE TO +BUMPVILLE" is DEDICATED. + +From a photograph by Leonard, Topeka, Kansas.] + + +THE RIDE TO BUMPVILLE. + + Play that my knee was a calico mare + Saddled and bridled for Bumpville; + Leap to the back of this steed, if you dare, + And gallop away to Bumpville! + I hope you'll be sure to sit fast in your seat, + For this calico mare is prodigiously fleet, + And many adventures you're likely to meet + As you journey along to Bumpville. + + This calico mare both gallops and trots + While whisking you off to Bumpville; + She paces, she shies, and she stumbles, in spots, + In the tortuous road to Bumpville! + And sometimes this strangely mercurial steed + Will suddenly stop and refuse to proceed, + Which, all will admit, is vexatious indeed, + When one is en route to Bumpville! + + She's scared of the cars when the engine goes "Toot!" + Down by the crossing at Bumpville; + You'd better look out for that treacherous brute + Bearing you off to Bumpville! + With a snort she rears up on her hindermost heels, + And executes jigs and Virginia reels-- + Words fail to explain how embarrassed one feels + Dancing so wildly to Bumpville. + It's bumpytybump and it's jiggytyjog, + Journeying on to Bumpville; + It's over the hilltop and down through the bog + You ride on your way to Bumpville; + It's rattletybang over boulder and stump, + There are rivers to ford, there are fences to jump, + And the corduroy road it goes bumpytybump, + Mile after mile to Bumpville! + + Perhaps you'll observe it's no easy thing + Making the journey to Bumpville, + So I think, on the whole, it were prudent to bring + An end to this ride to Bumpville; + For, though she has uttered no protest or plaint, + The calico mare must be blowing and faint-- + What's more to the point, I'm blowed if I ain't! + So play we have got to Bumpville. + +[Illustration: KATHERINE KOHLSAAT. "TO HER," WROTE MR. FIELD ON THE +PHOTOGRAPH, "THE HUSH-A-BY SONG ENTITLED 'SO, SO, ROCK-A-BY SO,' IS +DEDICATED."] + + +SO, SO, ROCK-A-BY SO! + + So, so, rock-a-by so! + Off to the garden where dreamikins grow; + And here is a kiss on your winkyblink eyes, + And here is a kiss on your dimpledown cheek, + And here is a kiss for the treasure that lies + In a beautiful garden way up in the skies + Which you seek. + Now mind these three kisses wherever you go-- + So, so, rock-a-by so! + + There's one little fumfay who lives there, I know, + For he dances all night where the dreamikins grow; + I send him this kiss on your droopydrop eyes. + I send him this kiss on your rosyred cheek. + And here is a kiss for the dream that shall rise + When the fumfay shall dance in those far-away skies + Which you seek. + Be sure that you pay those three kisses you owe-- + So, so, rock-a-by so! + + And, by-low, as you rock-a-by go, + Don't forget mother who loveth you so! + And here is her kiss on your weepydeep eyes, + And here is her kiss on your peachypink cheek, + And here is her kiss for the dreamland that lies + Like a babe on the breast of those far-away skies + Which you seek-- + The blinkywink garden where dreamikins grow-- + So, so, rock-a-by so! + +[Illustration: PARK YENOWINE, "THE YOUNG GENTLEMAN," WROTE MR. FIELD +ON THE PHOTOGRAPH, "TO WHOM 'SEEIN' THINGS AT NIGHT' IS DEDICATED." + +From a photograph by Stein, Milwaukee.] + + +SEEIN' THINGS. + + I ain't afeard uv snakes, or toads, or bugs, or worms, or mice, + An' things 'at girls are skeered uv I think are awful nice! + I'm pretty brave, I guess; an' yet I hate to go to bed, + For when I'm tucked up warm an' snug an' when my prayers are said, + Mother tells me "Happy dreams!" and takes away the light, + An' leaves me lyin' all alone an' seein' things at night! + + Sometimes they're in the corner, sometimes they're by the door, + Sometimes they're all a-standin' in the middle uv the floor; + Sometimes they are a-sittin' down, sometimes they're walkin' round + So softly an' so creepy-like they never make a sound! + Sometimes they are as black as ink, an' other times they're white-- + But the color ain't no difference when you see things at night! + + Once, when I licked a feller 'at had just moved on our street, + An' father sent me up to bed without a bite to eat, + I woke up in the dark an' saw things standin' in a row, + A-lookin' at me cross-eyed an' p'intin' at me--so! + Oh, my! I wuz so skeered that time I never slep' a mite-- + It's almost alluz when I'm bad I see things at night! + + Lucky thing I ain't a girl, or I'd be skeered to death! + Bein' I'm a boy, I duck my head an' hold my breath; + An' I am, oh! _so_ sorry I'm a naughty boy, an' then + I promise to be better an' I say my prayers again! + Gran'ma tells me that's the only way to make it right + When a feller has been wicked an' sees things at night! + + An' so, when other naughty boys would coax me into sin, + I try to skwush the Tempter's voice 'at urges me within; + An' when they's pie for supper, or cakes 'at 's big an' nice; + I want to--but I do not pass my plate f'r them things twice! + No, ruther let Starvation wipe me slowly out o' sight + Than I should keep a-livin' on an' seein' things at night! + + + + +[Illustration: THE SABINE WOMEN. FROM A PAINTING BY DAVID. + +The legend of the Sabine women is familiar. In the early days of Rome, +Romulus, the city's founder and first king, finding his subjects much +lacking in wives, invited the Sabines, a neighboring people, into the +city for a feast and games; and in the midst of the sport, he and his +followers seized the Sabine mothers and daughters by force of arms, +and married them out of hand. David's picture represents the seizure. +Classical subjects were especially preferred by David and his school.] + + + + +A CENTURY OF PAINTING. + +NOTES BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL.--THE ART OF FRANCE IN THE BEGINNING +OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.--DAVID AND HIS FOLLOWERS. + +BY WILL H. LOW. + + +When the potter's daughter of remote antiquity first drew the incised +line around her lover's shadow cast upon the wall by the accomplice +sun, art had its birth. Before that time primitive man had +endeavored--with who knows what desire to leave behind him some trace +of his passage upon earth--to make upon bones rude tracings of +his surroundings. The proof of the universality of art is in these +manifestations, of which the logical outcome was the complete and +splendid art of Greece. Through the sequence of Byzantine art we +come to Giotto, who, a shepherd's son under the skies of Italy, was +reinspired at the source of nature, and became the first painter as +we to-day know painting. From Giotto descends in direct line the great +family of artists who, in the service of the spiritual and temporal +sovereigns of the earth, shed illustration upon their craft and +undying lustre on their names until the old order, changing, giving +way to the new, enfranchised art in the great upheaval of the latter +part of the eighteenth century. + +It is well, in order to understand the position in which this great +revolution left art, to briefly consider the conditions preceding +it. Painting, up to the end of the seventeenth century, had been +essentially the handmaiden of religion; and religion in its turn had +been so closely allied to the state that, when declining faith let +down the barriers, art took for the first time its place among the +liberal professions whose first duty is to find in the necessities +of mankind a reason for their existence. Small wonder, then, that, +accustomed to be fostered and encouraged, to be held aloof from the +material necessity of earning their daily bread, the artists of this +period sought protection from the only class which in those days +had the leisure to appreciate or the fortune to encourage them. The +people, the "general public," as we say to-day, did not exist, except +as a mass of patient workers in the first part, as a clamorous rabble +demanding its rights in the latter part, of the century. Hence the +patronage of art, its very existence, depended on the pleasure of the +nobility, and naturally enough its themes were measured according to +the tastes of its patrons. Much that was charming was produced, but +never before did art portray its epoch with such great limitations. +The persistent blindness to the signs and portents gathering thick +about them which characterized the higher classes of the time, may be +felt in its art; of the great outside world, of the hungry masses so +soon to rise in rebellion, nothing is seen. One may walk through the +palaces at Versailles, may search through the pictures of the epoch in +the Louvre, or linger at Sans Souci in Potsdam--where Frederick filled +his house with sculptured duchesses in classical costume playing +at Diana, and covered his walls with Watteaus and his ceilings with +decorations by Pesne, a less worthy Frenchman--and remain in complete +ignorance of hungry Jacques, who, with pike-staff and guillotine, was +so soon to change all that and usher in the period of the Revolution, +Before the evil day dawned for the gilded gentry of France, however, +the British colonies in America, influenced by the teachings of the +precursors of the French Revolution, and aided by their isolation, +were to establish their independence. + +[Illustration: JACQUES LOUIS DAVID AS A YOUNG MAN. FROM A PAINTING BY +HIMSELF. + +The exact date of this picture is unknown; but it was, presumably, +painted before 1775, when David, having received the Prix de Rome, +went to Italy for the first time. It was given to the Louvre, where it +now is, by the painter Eugene Isabey in 1852; David had presented it +to the elder Isabey, also a painter.] + +It was undoubtedly at this time, when revolt was in the air and man +was preoccupied with his primal right to liberty of existence, that +art was given the bad name of a luxury. Until its long prostitution +throughout the seventeenth century, its mission had been noble; but +now, coincident to the fall of the old _régime_, the people, from an +ignorance which was more their misfortune than their fault, confounded +art with luxuries more than questionable, in which their whilom +superiors had indulged while they lacked bread. With the curious +assumption of Spartan virtue which rings with an almost convincing +sound of true metal through so many of the resolutions passed by the +National Convention of France, in the days following the holocaust of +the Reign of Terror, there was serious debate as to whether pictures +and statues were to be permitted to exist or their production +encouraged. + +This debate must have fallen strangely on the ears of one of the +members of the Convention, who had already made his power as an artist +felt, and who was from that time for more than forty years to be the +directing influence, not only of French art, but of painting on the +Continent in general. This man, Jacques Louis David, in point of fact +was soon practically to demonstrate to his colleagues that art had +as its mission other aims than those followed by the painters of the +preceding generations. It fell that Lepelletier, one of the members of +the Convention, was assassinated, and David's brush portrayed him as +he lay dead; and the picture, being brought into the legislative hall, +moved the entire assembly to a conviction that the art of the painter +struck a human chord which vibrated deep in the heart of man. + +[Illustration: MICHEL GÉRARD AND HIS FAMILY. FROM A PAINTING BY DAVID. + +Michel Gérard was a member of the National Assembly, the body which +ruled France in the first years of the Revolution, from 1789 to 1791. +The picture represents him in the midst of his family, attired with +the simplicity affected by the Revolutionary leaders at that time.] + +But a little later, when Marat, "the Friend of Man," was stricken +down, a voice rose in the Convention, "Where art thou, David?" And +again, responding to the call, he painted the picture of the dead +demagogue lying in his bath, his pen in hand, a half-written screed on +a rude table improvised by placing a board across the tub; and again +the picture, more eloquent, more explanatory of character and of +epoch than any written page of history, was a convincing argument that +painting was not a plaything. + +Born August 21, 1748, a man over fifty years of age when this century +commenced, David may yet be considered entirely our own; for the ideas +of his country, despite minor influences that have affected modern +art, have prevailed in the art of all other countries, and these +principles were largely formulated by him. France has been throughout +this century the only country which has steadfastly encouraged art, +with a system of education unsurpassed in any epoch, and by the +maintenance of a standard which, however rebellious at times, every +serious artist has been and is obliged to acknowledge. A cousin--or, +as some authorities have it, a grand-nephew--of Boucher (the artist +who best typifies the frivolity of the art of the eighteenth century, +so that there is grim humor in the thought that this iconoclast was of +his blood), David was twenty-seven years of age when, in 1775, he won +the Prix de Rome, which enabled him to go to Italy for four years at +the expense of the government. He was the pupil of Vien, a painter +whose chief merit it was to have inspired his pupil with a hatred of +the frivolous Pompadour art of the epoch; and David only obtained the +coveted prize after competing five successive years. It is instructive +to learn that of this first sojourn at Rome almost nothing remains in +the way of painting; for the young artist, endowed with the patience +which is, according to Goethe, synonomous with genius, devoted all his +time to drawing from the antique. + +It was here and during this time, doubtless, that he formed his +conviction that painting of the highest type must conform to classical +tradition--that all nature was to be remoulded in the form of antique +sculpture. But it was also at this time, and owing to his stern +apprenticeship to the study of form, that he acquired the mastery of +drawing which served him so well when in the presence of nature; and +with no other preoccupation than to reproduce his model, he painted +the people of his time and produced his greatest works. For by a +strange yet not unprecedented contradiction, David's fame to-day +rests, not upon the great classical pictures which were the admiration +of his time and by which he thought to be remembered, but on the +portraits which, with his mastery of technical acquirement, he painted +with surprising truth and reality. + +The time was propitious, however, for David. France, the seeds of +revolution germinating in its soil, looked upon the Republic of Rome +as the type from which a system could be evolved that would usher in +a new day of virtuous government; and when, after a second visit to +Rome, David returned home with a picture representing the oath of the +Horatii, Paris received him with open arms. The picture was exhibited, +and viewed by crowds, burning, doubtless, in their turn to have +weapons placed in their hands with which to conquer their liberties. +This was in 1786; but years after, in the catalogue of the Salon +of 1819, we read this note: "The Oath of the Horatii, the first +masterpiece which restored to the French school of painting the purity +of antique taste." + +At the outbreak of the Revolution David abandoned painting; and +on January 17, 1793, as a member of the Convention, voted for the +execution of Louis XVI. It was during this period that were painted +his pictures of Lepelletier and Marat, in which his cold, statuesque, +and correct manner was revivified and warmed to life--paradoxically +enough, to paint death. A friend of Robespierre, he was carried down +at the overthrow of the "little lawyer from Arras," and imprisoned +in the Luxembourg. His wife--who had left him at the outset of his +political life, horrified at the excesses of the time--now rejoined +him in his misfortune; and inspired by her devotion, David made the +first sketch of the Sabine women. + +Released from prison October 26, 1795, he returned to his art; and +in 1800 the Sabines was exhibited in a room in the Louvre, where it +remained for more than five years, during which time it constantly +attracted visitors, and brought to the painter in entrance fees more +than thirteen thousand dollars. Early in the career of Napoleon, David +had attracted his attention; and he had vainly endeavored to induce +the artist to accompany him on the Egyptian campaign. On the accession +of Napoleon as Emperor, therefore, we find in the Salon catalogues, +"Monsieur David, first painter to his Imperial Majesty," in place of +plain "Citizen David" of the Revolutionary years. + +Napoleon ordered from David four great paintings. The Coronation and +the Distribution of Flags alone were painted when the overthrow of the +Empire, and the loyalty of David to his imperial patron, caused him to +be exiled in 1816. He went to Brussels, where, on December 29, 1825, +he died. The Bourbons, masters of France, refused to allow his body to +be brought back to his country; but Belgium gave him a public funeral, +after which he was laid to rest in the Cathedral of Brussels. + +[Illustration: POPE PIUS VII. FROM A PAINTING FROM LIFE BY DAVID, NOW +IN THE LOUVRE. + +Pius VII. was the Pope who, in 1804, consecrated Napoleon I. as +Emperor of France. Later he opposed Napoleon's aggressions, and was +imprisoned for it, first in Italy and afterwards in France. In 1814 +he recovered his freedom and his dominions, temporal as well as +spiritual. The above picture is, perhaps, the best example of what may +be termed the official portrait (as the preceding picture is of the +familiar portrait) of David. It was painted in 1805, in the apartment +assigned to the Pope in the Tuileries.] + +This dominant artistic influence of France in the first quarter of +this century is not entirely extinguished to-day. The classical spirit +has never been entirely absent from any intellectual manifestation of +the French; but in David and his pupils it was carried to an extremity +against which the painters of the next generation were to struggle +almost hopelessly. Time, which sets all things right, has placed +David in his proper place; and while to-day we may admire the immense +knowledge of the man as manifested in the great classical pictures, +like the Horatii, the Sabines, or the Leonidas at Thermopylæ, +we remain cold before their array of painted statues. His +portraits--Marat, the charming sketch of Madame Recamier, his own +portrait as a young man, the group of Michel Gérard and his family, +and the Pope Pius VII.--give the touch of nature which is needed to +kindle the fire of humanity in this man of iron. + +[Illustration: JUSTICE AND DIVINE VENGEANCE PURSUING CRIME. FROM A +PAINTING BY PRUD'HON. + +This picture was painted for the Criminal Court of the Palace of +Justice in Paris. At the time of the Restoration in 1816 the picture +was replaced by a crucifix, and removed to the Luxembourg gallery, +where it remained until 1823, when it was placed in the Louvre. It is +considered Prud'hon's masterpiece.] + +It is as though nature had wished a contrast to this coldly +intellectual type that there should have existed at the same time +a painter who, seeking at the same inexhaustible fountain-head of +classicism, found inspiration for an art almost morbid in excess of +sentiment. Pierre Prud'hon was born at Cluny in Burgundy, April 4, +1758, the son of a poor mason who, dying soon after the boy's birth, +left him to the care of the monks of the Abbey of Cluny. The pictures +decorating the monastery visibly affecting the youth, the Bishop of +Macon placed him under the tuition of one Desvoges, who directed +the school of painting at Dijon. Here his progress was rapid, but at +nineteen the too susceptible youth married a woman whose character and +habits were such that his life was rendered unhappy thenceforward. + +In 1780 Prud'hon went to Paris to prosecute his studies; and there, +two years after, was awarded a prize, founded by his province, which +enabled him to go to Rome. It is characteristic of the man that, in +the competition for this prize, he was so touched by the despair of +one of his comrades competing with him that he repainted completely +his friend's picture--with such success that it was the friend to +whom the prize was awarded, and who, but for a tardy awakening of +conscience, would have gone to Rome in his place. + +The judgment rectified, Prud'hon went to Rome, where he stayed seven +years, studying Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, and above all Correggio, +whose influence is manifest in his work, and returned to Paris in +1789. Unknown, and timid by nature, he attracted little attention, and +for some years gained his living by designing letter-heads, visiting +cards, which were then of an ornate description, and the many trifles +which constitute a present resource to the unsuccessful painter even +to-day. + +[Illustration: THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN. FROM A PAINTING BY +PRUD'HON. + +This picture was ordered by the Emperor Napoleon for the chapel of +the Tuileries. It was exhibited in the Salon of 1819, and, after the +Revolution of 1848, was removed from the Tuileries to the Louvre, +where it has since remained.] + +It was not until 1796 that some of the charming drawings which he had +made commenced to attract attention. A series of designs illustrating +Daphnis and Chloe, for the publishing house of Didot _ainé_, +were particularly noticeable; and through this work he made the +acquaintance of M. Frochot, by whose influence he received a +commission for a decoration for the palace of St. Cloud, which is now +placed in the Louvre. + +[Illustration: HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE. FROM A DRAWING BY PRUD'HON. + +This charming drawing, which forms part of the collection in the +Louvre, is a study for a projected painting, and is, by its grace of +line and composition, peculiarly typical of the painter. Hector, about +to depart for his combat with Ajax, and having bidden farewell to +Andromache, his wife, desires to embrace his son. But the child, +frightened at the emotion of which he is witness, takes refuge in his +mother's arms.] + +Life now became somewhat easier, and in 1803--having long been +separated from his wife--a talented young woman, Mlle. Mayer, became +his pupil, and relations of a more tender character were established. +The pictures of Mlle. Mayer are influenced by her master to a degree +that makes them minor productions of his own; and her unselfish, +though unconsecrated, devotion to him makes up the sum of the little +happiness which he may have had. + +In 1808 Prud'hon's picture of Justice and Divine Vengeance pursuing +Crime was ordered for the Palace of Justice, and was shown at the +Salon of that year, where the presence of David's Sabines and its +influence as shown in many of the productions of his pupils were not +enough to rob Prud'hon of a legitimate success, and the cross of the +Legion of Honor was accorded him. The Assumption of the Virgin was +exhibited in 1819; but before that Prud'hon had been made a member of +the Institute, and (it passed for a distinction) drawing-master to the +Empress Marie Louise. + +Many pictures, all characterized by a subtile charm, were produced +during this happy period; but in 1821 Mlle. Mayer, preyed upon by her +false position, committed suicide, and Prud'hon lingered in continual +sorrow until February 16, 1823, when he died. The work of Prud'hon +covers a wide range, of which not the least important are the drawings +which he made with a lavish hand. As has been observed, he was a true +child of his time, and the classic influence is strongly felt in his +work; but translated through his temperament, it is no longer lifeless +and cold. It is eloquent of the early ages of the world, when life was +young and maturity and age bore the impress of a simple life, little +perplexed by intricate problems of existence. Throughout his work, +in the recreation of the myths of antiquity or in the rarer +representation of Christian legend, his style is sober and +dignified--as truly classic as that of David; but permeating it all +is the indescribable essence of beauty and youth, the reflection, +undoubtedly, of a man who, rarely fortunate, capable of grave +mistakes, has nevertheless left much testimony to the love and esteem +in which he was held. + +François Gérard, one of the many faithful followers of David, was born +May 4, 1770, at Rome, where his father had gone in the service of the +ambassador of France. He went to France in his twelfth year, and at +sixteen was enrolled in the school of David. As a docile pupil he +entered the competition for the Roman prize in 1789; but Girodet +having obtained the first place, a second prize was awarded, and the +next year the death of his father prevented him from finishing his +competition picture; so that he is one of the exceptions amongst +David's pupils, inasmuch as he did not obtain the Prix de Rome. In +1790, however, he accompanied his mother, who was an Italian, to +her native country. But his sojourn there was short, as in 1793 +he solicited the influence of David to save him from the general +conscription; which was done by naming him a member of the +Revolutionary tribunal. By taking refuge in his studio and feigning +illness, he avoided the exercise of his judicial functions; and the +storm passing away, he exhibited in 1795 a picture of Belisarius which +attracted attention. + +[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN. FROM A PAINTING BY PRUD'HON, +IN THE LOUVRE.] + +In 1806 Napoleon made him the official portrait painter attached +to his court, and ordered the picture of the battle of Austerlitz, +finished in 1810. This and indeed all of Gérard's pictures are marked +by all the defects of David's methods, and lack the virile quality of +his master. His portraits, however, have many qualities of grace and +good taste, and his success in France was somewhat analogous to that +of Lawrence in England. Under the Restoration his vogue continued; in +1819 he was given the title of baron; and, dying in Paris on January +11, 1837, he left as his legacy to the art of his time no less +than twenty-eight historical pictures, many of great dimensions, +eighty-seven full-length portraits, and over two hundred smaller +portraits, representing the principal men and women of his time. The +portraits of the Countess Regnault de Saint-Jean-d'Angely and of the +Princess Visconti are both excellent specimens of the work of this +estimable painter. + +[Illustration: PRUD'HON. FROM A PEN DRAWING BY HIMSELF.] + +Of the pictures which testify to the industry and talent of +Louis-Léopold Boilly, who was born at La Bassée, near Lille, on July +5, 1761, the Louvre possesses but one specimen; namely, the Arrival of +a Diligence before the coach-office in Paris. This is undoubtedly due +to the fact that with the preoccupation of the public mind with the +events of the time, and the prevailing taste for great historical +pictures, Boilly's art, so sincere and so intimate in character, was +underestimated. It is certainly not due to any lack of industry on the +part of the painter. Even at the age of eleven years he undertook to +paint, for a religious fraternity of his native town, two pictures +representing the miracles of St. Roch. These still exist, and they are +said to be meritorious. His facility in seizing the resemblance of +his sitter was evidently native, for when only thirteen years of age, +without instruction of any kind, he left his parents, and established +himself as a portrait painter first at Douai and afterwards at Arras. +In 1786 he went to Paris, where he lived until his death. Here +he painted a great number of pictures of small size, representing +familiar scenes of the streets and of the homes of Paris, and an +incredible number of portraits. + +[Illustration: THE PRINCESS VISCONTI. FROM A PAINTING BY +FRANÇOIS-PASCAL-SIMON (BARON) GÉRARD. + +The picture gives an interesting study of the costume of the First +Empire, and is a work conceived in the style of the time when the +recent publication of "Corinne" by Madame de Staël had influenced the +popular taste. The original painting is now in the Louvre.] + +A valiant craftsman, happy in his work, following no school but that +of nature, careless of official honor (which came to him only when, +late in life, on the demand of the Academy, the government accorded +him the cross of the Legion of Honor in 1833), his life was +uneventful. But his little pictures pleased the people who saw +themselves so truthfully depicted, and to-day they are more highly +esteemed than are the works of many of his at-the-time esteemed +contemporaries. He painted for seventy-two years, produced more +than five thousand portraits, an incredible number of pictures and +drawings, and died, his brush in hand, on January 5, 1845. The +little picture of the Arrival of a Diligence presents, with exquisite +truthfulness, a Paris unlike the brilliant city of our day, the +Paris where Arthur Young in his travels in 1812 notes the absence of +sidewalks; a city inhabited by slim ladies dressed _à la Grecque_, and +by high-stocked gentlemen content to travel by post. It is a canvas of +more value than the pretentious and tiresome historical compositions +of the time, and suggests the reflection that many of the David pupils +might have been better employed in putting their scientific accuracy +of drawing to the service of rendering the life which they saw about +them, instead of producing the arid stretches of academy models posing +as Hector or Romulus. + +Guillaume-Guillon Lethière, a painter in whose veins there was an +admixture of negro blood, would hardly have echoed the sentiments +of this last paragraph, as he lived and worked in the factitious +companionship of the Greeks and Romans. So clearly, however, does the +temperament of a painter inspire the character of his work that we +may be glad that this was the case; for, of his school, Lethière alone +infuses into his classicism something of the turbulent life which +marked his own character. + +[Illustration: THE COUNTESS REGNAULT DE SAINT-JEAN-D'ANGELY. FROM A +PAINTING BY BARON GÉRARD, IN THE LOUVRE.] + +Born in Guadeloupe January 10, 1760, coming to Paris when very young, +he took the second prize of Rome in 1784, with a picture of such merit +that the regulation was infringed and he was given leave to go to Rome +at the same time as the winner of the first prize. His first picture +was exhibited in the form of a sketch in the Salon of 1801; and not +until eleven years after was the great canvas of Brutus Condemning his +Sons to Death shown at the Salon of 1812. The other picture by which +he is best known, the Death of Virginia, is, like the preceding, in +the Louvre; and though the sketch of this was exhibited in 1795, the +picture only took definite form in 1828. + +[Illustration: THE ARRIVAL OF A DILIGENCE. FROM A PAINTING BY +LOUIS-LÉOPOLD BOILLY. + +This picture, now in the Louvre, is the only example of this artist's +work shown there, and is particularly interesting as showing the Paris +of 1803, when the streets had no sidewalks. The scene is laid at +the place of arrival and departure of the coaches which from Paris +penetrated into all parts of France, and were the only means of +transport or communication.] + +Meanwhile Lethière had travelled much in England and Spain, and had +been for ten years director of the French School of Fine Arts in Rome. +His life was adventurous, and it is told of him that he was often +involved in quarrels, and fought a number of duels with military +officers because, humble civilian that he was, he yet dared to wear +the mustache! In 1822 he returned definitely to Paris, where he was +made a member of the Institute and professor in the School of Fine +Arts, and where he died April 21, 1832. The quality of his work is +well characterized by Charles Blanc, who writes of it "as producing +the effect of a tragedy sombre and pathetic." + +The picture of the Burial of Atala, from Châteaubriand's well-known +story, is interesting as showing the methods of the David school +applied to subjects of less heroic mould than the master and his +disciples were wont to treat. Anne-Louis Girodet de Roucy Trioson, +born at Montargis January 3, 1767, was one of the most convinced +adherents of his master David; and while competing for the Prize +of Rome, which he won in 1789, was accustomed each morning before +beginning his work to station himself in front of David's picture of +the Horatii as before a shrine, invoking its happy influence. Such +devotion received its official reward, and after five years spent +in Rome his great (and tiresome) picture of the Deluge met with +the greatest favor, and in 1810 was awarded the medal for the best +historical picture produced in the preceding decade. The Burial of +Atala, painted in 1808, is, however, a work of charm in composition +and sentiment; and though in color it is dry and uninteresting, is +not unworthy of the popularity which it has enjoyed from the vantage +ground of the Louvre for more than four-score years. Girodet died in +Paris, December 9, 1824, after having received all the official honors +which France can award to a painter. + +The charming face of Marie-Anne-Elizabeth Vigée-Lebrun, who, with +the arms of her daughter encircling her, smiles on us here, was +undoubtedly not painted in this century, as the painter was born +in Paris April 16, 1755, and it is as a young mother that she has +represented herself. But as its author lived until March 30, 1842, +she should undoubtedly figure among the painters of this century. From +early girlhood until old age, + + "_Lebrun, de la beauté le peintre et le modèle._" + +as Laharpe sang, was, though largely self-taught, a formidable +concurrent to painters of the sterner sex. Married when very young +to Lebrun, a dealer in pictures and critic of art, a pure marriage of +convention, she left France shortly before the Revolution, and went +to Italy. Before her departure she was high in favor at the court, and +painted no less than twenty portraits of Marie Antoinette. + +[Illustration: BRUTUS CONDEMNING HIS SONS TO DEATH. FROM A PAINTING BY +LETHIÈRE. + +Brutus led in overthrowing the tyranny of Tarquin the Proud and +establishing a republic in Rome. He was then elected one of the +two consuls. His two sons were detected in a conspiracy to restore +Tarquin, and he, as consul, himself condemned them to death.] + +[Illustration: THE BURIAL OF ATALA. FROM A PAINTING BY GIRODET, IN THE +LOUVRE. + +Atala, the heroine of a romance by Châteaubriand, was the daughter of +a North American Indian chief, passionately in love with the chief +of another tribe, with whom she fled into the desert. But having been +religiously vowed to virginity by her mother, she remains faithful to +the vow, and finally in despair poisons herself.] + +[Illustration: MADAME LEBRUN AND HER DAUGHTER. FROM A PAINTING BY +MADAME LEBRUN HERSELF. + +This picture, painted for a private patron, passed, at the period of +the French Revolution, into the possession of the French nation, and +is now in the Louvre. There is in the Louvre also another by Madame +Lebrun, representing herself and her daughter, one which the artist +bequeathed to the Louvre at her death, in 1842. Of the two, while +both are charming, the one here printed represents the painter at her +best.] + +Fortune favored her in Italy, whence she went to Vienna, Prague, +Dresden, and Berlin. In each and every capital the same success, +due to her talent, beauty, and amiability, followed her; and at last +arriving in St. Petersburg, she remained there until 1801, when she +returned to Paris. Some time after, she visited England, where she +remained three years, and then returned by way of Holland to France +in 1809. The Academy of France and the academies of all other European +countries admitted her to membership. + +Indefatigable as a worker during her long career, she produced an +immense number of portraits; and while she painted comparatively few +subject pictures, she arranged her models in so picturesque a fashion +that, as in the example here given, her portraits have great charm of +composition. With a virile grasp of form, tempered though it be with +grace, Madame Lebrun offers an interesting example of woman's work +in art; and, while she has nothing to concede to the painters of her +time, is no less interesting as showing that by force of native +talent the woman of the early part of the century had in her power the +conquest of nearly all the desired rights of the New Woman. She has +left extremely interesting memoirs of her life, written in her old +age, and there are many anecdotes bearing testimony to her wit. One of +these goes back to the time when Louis XVIII., then a youth, enlivened +the sittings for his portrait by singing, quite out of tune. "How do +you think I sing?" inquired he. "Like a prince," responded the amiable +artist. + +With Antoine Jean Gros we come to the last and the greatest of the +pupils of David. Born in Paris March 16, 1771, he competed but once, +in 1792, for the Prix de Rome, was unsuccessful, but undertook the +voyage thither on his own slender resources the next year. Italy was +in a troubled state--he who troubled all Europe in the early years +of the century being there at the head of his army; and in 1796, at +Genoa, Gros attracted the attention of Madame Bonaparte. It was she +who proposed that Gros should paint Napoleon; and Gros consequently +went to Milan, and after the battle of Arcole painted the hero +carrying the tricolor across the bridge at the head of his grenadiers. +The picture pleased Bonaparte, who had it engraved, and gave Gros a +commission to collect for the Louvre the chief artistic treasures of +Italy. These functions occupied him until 1801, during which period, +however, he executed a number of successful portraits. + +Returning to Paris after nine years, he painted the Hospital at +Jaffa, representing Napoleon visiting the fever-stricken soldiers. +The success of this picture, exhibited in 1804, was very great; and +it remains Gros's best title to remembrance. In it is something of +the reality poetized and seen through the eyes of an artist which +characterizes the work of Eugene Delacroix. + +The force of David, however, was too great for Gros; at fifty years of +age we find him demanding counsel of the master, who sternly bids him +leave his "futile subjects," and devote his time to great historical +epochs of the past. When David was sent into exile in 1816, it was to +Gros that he confided the direction of his school; and this task, and +the production of immense canvases like the Battle of the Pyramids, +filled his life. The picture here reproduced, the Visit of Charles the +Fifth and Francis the First to the Tombs of the Kings in the Cathedral +of St. Denis, was painted in 1812. + +[Illustration: FRANCIS I., KING OF FRANCE, AND CHARLES V., EMPEROR OF +THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, VISITING THE TOMBS OF THE FRENCH KINGS AT ST. +DENIS. FROM A PAINTING BY BARON GROS, IN THE LOUVRE. + +Between 1520 and 1545 all Europe was kept in distress and turmoil by +a quarrel between Francis I. and Charles V., the chief subject of +contention being the duchy of Milan, which Charles held and Francis +claimed. Four separate wars were waged by Francis against Charles, +all of them unsuccessful. But their majesties had intervals of outward +friendship, and in one of these Francis invited Charles, then setting +out from Spain for the Low Countries, to pass through France and visit +him. The visit was duly paid, was one of great state and ceremony, +and from it is derived the incident portrayed in the above picture. +Francis is the figure in the centre; Charles, suited in black, +standing at his right.] + +The revolt which was already making itself felt in French art was +a thorn in the flesh of the sensitive Gros. In vain were all the +artistic honors showered upon him. In 1824 he was made a baron; since +1816 he had been a member of the Institute; and the crosses of most of +the orders of Europe, and the medals of all the exhibitions were his. +Nevertheless, about him younger painters revolted. In his secret soul, +doubtless, he felt sympathy with their methods. But the commands of +the terrible old exile of Brussels were still in his ears. + +Finally a portrait of King Charles X., the decorations in the Museum +of Sovereigns, and a picture exhibited in the Salon of 1835 were in +turn harshly criticized by the press, which looked with favor on the +younger men; and Gros, full of years, and of honors which had brought +fortune in their train, was found drowned in a little arm of the Seine +near Meudon, June 26, 1835. In despair he had taken his own life. With +him died David's greatest pupil and a part of David's influence. But +that portion of the teachings of the master most consonant with +French character is not without effect to-day. Less strong than in the +generation following David, absolutely extinct if we are to believe +the extremists among the men of to-day, it yet remains a leaven to the +fermenting mass of modern production. Perhaps its healthy influence +is the best monument to the man who "restored to France the purity of +antique taste." + + + + +[Illustration: JAMES G. BLAINE. + +From a photograph by Handy, Washington.] + + + + +THE DEFEAT OF BLAINE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. + +BY MURAT HALSTEAD. + + +The fame of Blaine does not decline, but increases and will endure. +It was not his destiny to fill the greater office created by our +Constitution, but with a distinction exceeding that of the majority of +Presidents, he is enrolled, with Clay, Webster, and Seward, among the +illustrious Secretaries of State. The defeat of James G. Blaine for +the Presidency in 1884 will rank among the memorable disappointments +and misfortunes of the people with that of Henry Clay, forty years +before. + +Late in the week before the meeting of the Chicago National Republican +Convention in 1884, I received in Cincinnati a telegram from Mr. +Blaine requesting me to call on him in Washington, where he lived on +the opposite side of Lafayette Square from that of the celebrated +old house where he spent his last days. He was engaged on his "Twenty +Years in Congress." I called on him the day after his despatch reached +me, making haste, for I was about to go to Chicago; and he first said +he feared he had sent for me on an insufficient errand, and after +a moment's pause began to speak of the approaching convention, and +quickly used the expression--"I am alarmed." + +[Illustration: MR. BLAINE IN 1891. + +This is accounted one of the best portraits of Mr. Blaine in +existence. It is from a photograph taken at Bar Harbor in the autumn +of 1891 by Mr. A. von Mumm Schwartzenstein, then _Charge d'Affaires_ +of the German Empire at Washington, and is here reproduced by the kind +permission of Mr. W.E. Curtis.] + +"Concerning what are you frightened?" I inquired; and added: "You +surely are not afraid you are not going to be nominated?" + +He responded with a flash of his eyes and a smile: "Oh, no; I am +afraid I shall be nominated, and have sent for you for that reason, +and want you to assist in preventing my nomination." I shook my head, +and Mr. Blaine asked: "Why not?" + +I said I had not been so long in his confidence and known by his +friends to be of them, to venture upon such an enterprise as working +in opposition. If I should appear actively against him, no matter how +I presented the matter, the easy answer to any argument of mine would +be that I had relapsed into personal antagonism to him. I then said: +"I have not heard of this;" and asked: "Are there many who know that +you are against your candidacy?" He said he had talked freely to +that effect, and mentioned William Walter Phelps as one who was fully +acquainted with his views, and also Colonel Parsons, of the Natural +Bridge, Virginia, then in the house. I said: "Mr. Blaine, I think +it is too late. I have looked over the field, and your nomination is +almost certain--the drift is your way. Why precisely do you object, +and what exactly do you think should happen?" He replied in his +rapid way with much feeling, and I believe his very words were: "The +objection to my nomination is that I cannot be elected. With the South +solid against us we cannot succeed without New York, and I cannot +carry that State. There are factions there and influences before +voting and after voting, such that the party cannot count upon +success with me. I am sure of it--I have thought it all over, and my +deliberate judgment is as I tell you. I know, too, where I am strong +as well as where I am weak--and we might, if we should get into the +campaign with my name at the head of the ticket, think we were going +to win. We would get to believing it, perhaps, but we should miss it +in the end, if not by a great deal, just a little. With everything +depending on New York," he continued, "it would be a mistake to +nominate me. This is not new to me--I have weighed all the chances. +Besides"--and here he kindled--"why should we let the country go into +the hands of Democrats when we can name a ticket that is certain to be +elected--one that would sweep every Northern State?" + +"What is it?" I asked. + +The answer came with vivid animation: "William T. Sherman and Robert +T. Lincoln." This idea was instantly amplified. "The names of Sherman +and Lincoln put together would be irresistible. That ticket would +elect itself. We should have a campaign of marching and song. We need +the inspiration, and 'Marching Through Georgia' and 'We Are Coming, +Father Abraham,' would give it. We must not lose this campaign, and I +am alarmed by the prospect of losing it in my name." + +"But," I interposed, "it is the report and the public opinion that +General Sherman would not consent to be a candidate; that he would +throw the party down that would nominate him. Why not try the other +Sherman?" + +Mr. Blaine's response was that John Sherman would have the like +difficulty in carrying New York that he would have himself. The +element of military heroism was wanting. He had written to General +Sherman on the subject, and of course the General thought he could +not consent to be President--for that was what it amounted to--but his +reasoning was fallacious. If General Sherman had the question put to +him--whether to be President himself or turn the office over to the +Democratic party, with the Solid South dominant--he would see his duty +and do it, though his reluctance was real. + +I said General Sherman could not consent to appear in competition with +his brother John at Chicago, though he had a funny way of looking +on John in West Point style as a "politician," and that was an +insuperable difficulty; and that, Mr. Blaine did not seem to have +thought of as a serious element in the case, but he realized the force +of it. I was anxious to hear more about the correspondence between +Blaine and General Sherman; but was only told that the letter to the +General was a call to consider that circumstances might arise, and +should do so, in which the General's sense of duty could be appealed +to, and be as strong as that to take up arms had been when the Union +demanded defenders. + +[Illustration: MR. BLAINE AT HIS DESK IN THE STATE DEPARTMENT. + +From a photograph by Miss F.B. Johnston.] + +Arrived at Chicago, I soon ascertained that Mr. Blaine had been doing +a good deal of talking of the same kind I had heard, but he had +not been able to impress the more robust of those favorable to his +nomination with the view that he should be heeded. They insisted that +he was not wise, but timid; that he did not like war and would do too +much for peace; that he especially miscalculated when he said he could +not carry New York, for he was the very man who could carry it; +that his personal force was far beyond his own estimation; that his +intuitions were like those of a woman, but were not infallible; that +his singing the campaign was a fancy; that "Marching Through +Georgia" would wear out, and was of the stuff of dreams. Mr. Blaine's +accredited friends felt that things had gone too far to permit a +change to be contemplated. They were half mad at Blaine for his +Sherman and Lincoln proposal, which was confidentially in the air, +regarding it as not favorable to themselves. They said they could +carry the country more certainly with Blaine than Sherman, for Sherman +was an uncertain political quantity, and might turn out to be almost +the devil himself. Some of them said he would proclaim martial law and +annihilate the Constitution! They were sure the force of the celebrity +of General Sherman in a campaign had been overestimated by Blaine, who +had the caprice and high color in his imagination that produce +schemes too fine for success. In a word, Sherman and Lincoln were not +practical politicians. Blaine's idea was not politics, but poetry. +What they wanted was the magnetism and magic of Blaine. The country +was at any rate safely in the hands of the Republican party. They had +nearly lost the election because they had not nominated Blaine eight +years before, and won with Garfield because he was a Blaine man. The +wisdom of the Republican politicians was thus against Blaine's ticket +so far as it was known; and those favorable to President Arthur, John +Sherman, John A. Logan, and George F. Edmunds did not give the least +credit to the statement that Blaine did not want the nomination. His +rumored objection to making the race--of course the real reasons +were not known--was regarded as a mere "play" in politics, if not +altogether fantastic; and they pursued their own courses heedless of +the real conditions. There was a singular complication of errors of +judgment in the Blaine opposition. The friends of Arthur took the +complimentary resolutions from a majority of the States to mean his +nomination. In truth, the significance of that unanimity was quite +otherwise. Ohio was not solid for Sherman. It is a State that has been +very hard to manage in national conventions--was so in the time when +Chase was the Republican leader--divided in '60, nominating Lincoln, +and rarely presented a front without a flaw for a national candidate. +The energy of Logan's friends was not sufficiently supported to give +confidence. The reformers by profession and of prominence were for +Edmunds; and they were a body of men who had force, if judiciously +applied, to have carried the convention, provided they divested +themselves of the peculiarities of extreme elevation that prevent +efficiency. While they assumed to have soared above practical politics +and to abhor the ways of the "toughs" in championing candidates, they +subordinated their own usefulness to a sentiment that was limited to +a senator--Mr. Edmunds. It was clear at an early hour that the +nomination of Mr. Edmunds was impossible. He was put into the combat +by Governor Long with a splendid speech, and the mellow eloquence of +George William Curtis was for him, and Carl Schurz was a counsellor +who upheld the banner of the lawyer statesman of Vermont. The +conclusion was to stick to Edmunds; and they stuck until the last, and +frittered away their influence. They were in such shape they might, +by going in force, at a well-selected time and in a dramatic way, have +carried the convention with them. They could not, however, get their +own consent to go for Logan, or Arthur, or either of the Shermans; and +so Blaine was overruled and nominated. + +He did a wonderful work in the campaign, and was himself apparently +satisfied at last that his apprehensions as to New York had been +unwarranted. Still his words came back to me often during the heat of +the summer and the fierce contest. "I cannot carry New York; we shall +lose it, perhaps by just a little--but we shall lose it;" and so we +did. As the vote was counted the plurality of Mr. Cleveland over Mr. +Blaine in the decisive State was one thousand and forty-seven. Gail +Hamilton says, in her "Life of Blaine," of the New York election, that +there was a plurality claimed on election day for Cleveland of +fifty thousand, and "the next day the figures came down to seventeen +thousand; then to twelve thousand; the next day to five thousand, and +at length dwindled to four hundred and fifty-six." The election was on +the 4th, and it was nearly two weeks before a decision was announced. +General Butler "openly proclaimed that the New York vote for himself +was counted to Cleveland." The "just a little" by which Blaine was +beaten was on the face of the returns one thousand and forty-seven, +and John Y. McKane was ten years afterward convicted of frauds that +were perpetrated as he willed, that amounted to thousands. There was +a fraud capacity in the machines of many times the plurality by which +Blaine was defeated, and there never was a rational doubt that it was +exerted. A change of six hundred votes would have given the Plumed +Knight the Presidency, and outside the Solid South he had a popular +majority, "leaving out the protested vote of New York and Brooklyn, of +nearly half a million." Mr. Blaine, when it became known that the New +York vote was held to be against him, and civil war was threatened +if the returns were rectified, telegraphed to friends asking their +opinion of the New York situation; and I had the honor to be one +consulted. My reply was that the New York influences that had +prevailed to cause the declaration of a plurality for Cleveland +would be sufficient to maintain that determination. Then came the +opportunity of those unkindly toward Mr. Blaine to charge him with +forcing himself on the Republican party and ruining it with his +reckless candidacies, and I thought the facts within my knowledge +should be given the public, and wrote to General Sherman, asking him +to allow me to publish the correspondence between himself and Blaine, +proving that the nomination, instead of being forced by Blaine for +himself, was forced upon him; and I wrote to Blaine also, to the same +effect. I received from the General the remarkable letters following: + +GENERAL SHERMAN TO MR. HALSTEAD. + + 912 GARRISON AVENUE, + + ST. LOUIS, MO., _November 17, 1884._ + + DEAR HALSTEAD:--After my former letter, when I went to put the + newspaper slip into my scrap-book, I discovered my mistake + in attributing the article to the "Louisville" instead of the + "London Times." My opinion is nevertheless not to contest the + matter, as the real truth will manifest itself.[I] + + I think Arthur could have carried the Republicans past the + last election[J]--but no man can tell what issues would have + been made in case of his nomination. So the wisest conclusion + is to accept gracefully the actual result, and to profit + by the mistakes and accidents sure to attend the new + administration, handicapped as it will surely be by the hot + heads of the South. Truly yours, + + W.T. SHERMAN. + + + 912 GARRISON AVENUE, + + ST. LOUIS, MO., _November 21, 1884._ + + DEAR HALSTEAD:--I have yours of the 19th. The letter of Blaine + to me was meant as absolutely confidential, and of course I + would not allow any person to see it without his consent. I + am not sure that I would, even with his consent, because + I believe the true policy is to look ahead and not behind. + Blaine's letter without any answer would be incomplete, and + surely I will not have my letter published, as it contained + certain points purely personal which the public has no right + to. New questions will arise, and these will give you plenty + of occupation without raking up the past. + + Wishing you always all honor and fame, I am, + + Truly yours, + + W.T. SHERMAN. + +The letters that passed between Blaine and Sherman have appeared +in Gail Hamilton's "Biography of Blaine," but have not commanded +attention according to their interest, because they have not +been framed by the relation of the circumstances that gave them +significance and that are supplied in this article. + + +MR. BLAINE TO GENERAL SHERMAN. + + (Confidential.) + + Strictly and absolutely so. + + WASHINGTON, D.C., _May 25, 1884._ + + MY DEAR GENERAL:--This letter requires no answer. After + reading it carefully, file it away in your most secret drawer, + or give it to the flames. + + At the approaching convention in Chicago it is more than + possible--it is indeed not improbable--that you may be + nominated for the Presidency. If so you must stand your hand, + accept the responsibility, and assume the duties of the place + to which you will surely be chosen if a candidate. You must + not look upon it as the work of the politicians. If it comes + to you, it will come as the ground-swell of popular demand; + and you can no more refuse than you could have refused to obey + an order when you were a lieutenant in the army. If it comes + to you at all, it will come as a call of patriotism. It would, + in such an event, injure your great fame as much to decline it + as it would for you to seek it. Your historic record, full + as it is, would be rendered still more glorious by such an + administration as you would be able to give the country. Do + not say a word in advance of the convention, no matter who may + ask you. You are with your friends, who will jealously guard + your honor. + + Do not answer this. + + JAMES G. BLAINE. + + +GENERAL SHERMAN TO MR. BLAINE. + + ST. LOUIS, _May 28, 1884._ + + HON. J.G. BLAINE. + + MY DEAR FRIEND:--I have received your letter of the 25th; + shall construe it as absolutely confidential, not intimating + even to any member of my family that I have heard from you; + and though you may not expect an answer, I hope you will not + construe one as unwarranted. I have had a great many letters + from all points of the compass to a similar effect, one or + two of which I have answered frankly; but the great mass + are unanswered. I ought not to subject myself to the cheap + ridicule of declining what is not offered; but it is only fair + to the many really able men who rightfully aspire to the high + honor of being President of the United States to let them know + that I am not, and must not be construed as, a rival. In every + man's life there occurs an epoch when he must choose his + own career, and when he may not throw the responsibility, + or tamely place his destiny in the hands of friends. Mine + occurred in Louisiana when, in 1861, alone in the midst of a + people blinded by supposed wrongs, I resolved to stand by the + Union as long as a fragment of it survived to which to cling. + Since then, through faction, tempest, war, and peace, my + career has been all my family and friends could ask. We are + now in a good home of our choice, with reasonable provision + for old age, surrounded by kind and admiring friends, in a + community where Catholicism is held in respect and veneration, + and where my children will naturally grow up in contact + with an industrious and frugal people. You have known and + appreciated Mrs. Sherman from childhood, have also known each + and all the members of my family, and can understand, without + an explanation from me, how their thoughts and feelings should + and ought to influence my action; but I will not even throw + off on them the responsibility. I will not, in any event, + entertain or accept a nomination as a candidate for President + by the Chicago Republican convention, or any other convention, + for reasons personal to myself. I claim that the Civil War, + in which I simply did a man's fair share of work, so perfectly + accomplished peace, that military men have an absolute right + to rest, and to demand that the men who have been schooled in + the arts and practice of peace shall now do their work equally + well. Any senator can step from his chair at the Capitol into + the White House, and fulfil the office of President with more + skill and success than a Grant, Sherman or Sheridan, who were + soldiers by education and nature, who filled well their office + when the country was in danger, but were not schooled in + the practices by which civil communities are, and should be, + governed. I claim that our experience since 1865 demonstrates + the truth of this my proposition. Therefore I say that + "patriotism" does not demand of me what I construe as a + sacrifice of judgment, of inclination, and of self-interest. + I have my personal affairs in a state of absolute safety and + comfort. I owe no man a cent, have no expensive habits + or tastes, envy no man his wealth or power, [have] no + complications or indirect liabilities, and would account + myself a fool, a madman, an ass, to embark anew, at sixty-five + years of age, in a career that may, at any moment, [become] + tempest-tossed by the perfidy, the defalcation, the + dishonesty, or neglect of any one of a hundred thousand + subordinates utterly unknown to the President of the United + States, not to say the eternal worriment by a vast host of + impecunious friends and old military subordinates. Even as it + is, I am tortured by the charitable appeals of poor distressed + pensioners; but as President, these would be multiplied beyond + human endurance. I remember well the experience of Generals + Jackson, Harrison, Taylor, Grant, Hayes and Garfield, all + elected because of their military services, and am warned, not + encouraged, by their sad experiences. No--count me out. The + civilians of the United States should, and must, buffet with + this thankless office, and leave us old soldiers to enjoy the + peace we fought for, and think we earned. + + With profound respect, your friend, + + W.T. SHERMAN. + + +[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF THE LETTER WRITTEN BY MR. BLAINE TO MR. +HALSTEAD JUST AFTER MR. BLAINE'S DEFEAT FOR THE PRESIDENCY IN 1884, +AND NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED--THE SAME LETTER THAT IS EMBODIED IN THE +TEXT OF THIS ARTICLE ON PAGE 169.] + +[Illustration: CONTINUATION OF FACSIMILE OF LETTER.] + +[Illustration: CONTINUATION OF FACSIMILE OF LETTER.] + +There is intrinsic evidence that these letters were not written with a +thought of possible publication. That which General Sherman says +about Catholicism could only have been told to a close and sympathetic +friend. Mrs. Sherman and Mr. Blaine were cousins, and their mothers +were Catholics. Mrs. Sherman was one whose devotion to the Church was +intense; and General Sherman could not endure the thought that her +religion should be subjected to such discussions as were certain to +arise in a Presidential campaign. She was a very noble and gifted +woman, and the happiness of herself and husband in their domestic life +was beautiful and elevated. + +James G. Blaine was nearer the Presidency than any other man who did +not reach the office. It was by a very narrow margin that he +missed the nomination in Cincinnati in 1876; and the opposition he +encountered there from Republican editors was regretted by all of +them, because they believed when the storm ceased that he had been +accused excessively, sensationally, and maliciously, and condemned--by +those who did not appreciate his vindication--on evidence that was +indicated but not presented--on letters supposed to have been taken +from the original package, and that were not produced because they +never existed. The investigations were largely instigated and carried +on to continue agitation with the purpose to strike down a brilliant +man whose genius gave him almost incredible promotion, and to assail +him because he was lofty and aspiring. The personal fight that he made +in Congress when cruelly set upon was one of the most effective that +ever took place in a public body. A competent observer, who was a +spectator of the scene in the House when the Mulligan letters were +read, said as Blaine came down the aisle, the letters in his hand, +and called upon all the millions of his countrymen to be witnesses: "I +thought his fist was going right up through the dome." Unhappily, his +exciting experiences in the course of these fierce controversies, with +the conduct of his Cincinnati campaign, and the sultry weather, caused +his prostration, attended with hours of unconsciousness, just at +the critical time when the delegates were assembling in national +convention. The local influences; the Republican editorial antagonism; +the enthusiastic efforts for Bristow; the strenuous perseverance of +Morton of Indiana; the prestige of Conkling, backed with the high +favor of Grant; the solidity of Ohio for Hayes--all would have been +overwhelmed but for the incident of the fall of Blaine in a swoon at +the door of the church which he was in the habit of attending and that +he was about to enter with his wife. It is reasonable to believe, +if he had been the candidate that year, he could have carried the +election unequivocally, and that his administration would have vastly +strengthened the Republican party. It is due President Hayes, however, +to say that his administration of the great office was an era of good +for the country, and that he was succeeded by a Republican; but the +fact of a disputed Presidency had a far-reaching evil influence, and +prevented showing fair play in New York in 1884. Blaine lost in his +illness coincident with the Cincinnati convention the confidence of +the country in his firm health and strength, and that handicapped him +to his grave. Perhaps it is even more important that he lost faith +in himself as a strong man, and had almost a superstition that if he +became President it would be for him personally a fatality. And yet +he was intellectually a growing man for fifteen years after his +Cincinnati defeat. His greater works, his most influential ideas, the +full fruition of his gifts, were after that catastrophe. + +Mr. Blaine was so strong and so weak, so delicate and so tenacious, +that he was as constant a puzzle to those who loved him as to his +enemies, to the best-informed as to the most ill-informed. Those +very near to him took the liberty of laughing at him about his two +overcoats, and his going to bed and sending for a doctor in the +afternoon, and getting off with gayety to the opera in the evening; +about an alleged indigestion followed by eating a confection that +would have tested the hardihood of a young candy-eater. One who +studied him with affection wrote of him that he had an association +of qualities giving at once sensitiveness and endurance, and we were +indebted to this for the faculties, the capacities, that made up +the man whose influence had been so remarkable and his popularity a +phenomenon. He was of fine sensibilities, and there was nothing on +earth or in the air that did not tell him something. He was like an +instrument of music that a breath would move to melody, and that was +ever in tune for any wind that blew, and yet had patient strength, and +wore like steel. He had a rare make-up of refinement and power, and +life was sweeter and brighter and more costly far to him than to the +ordinary man. + +It was after his first and, as it turned out, final defeat for the +Presidency, in his earliest effort for the office, that his fame grew +splendid. His campaigning was fascinating, and his speeches, as the +years passed, took greater variety. In his tour when a candidate in +1884, his addresses were marvellous in aptitude and in a thousand +felicities. There was much said of the fact that he was not a lawyer, +and an affected superiority to him by gentlemen whose profession +permitted "fees," and there was a system of deprecation to the effect +that he only harangued, that he had neither originality nor grace. But +after Garfield's death and the retirement of the Secretary from the +Cabinet, he turned to writing history "as a resource," and his great +work is of permanent value to the country, while his Garfield oration +is one of the masterpieces of the highest rank; and there came +straight from his brain two far-flashing ideas--that of the union +of American nations, and to protect the policy of protection with +reciprocity--and in the two there is the manifestation of that +crowning glory of public life which enters the luminous atmosphere +of immortality--statesmanship. That he had not the opportunity of the +execution of these policies--of guiding and shaping their triumph--was +not his fault but his fate. Their time may be coming but slowly, +yet it surely will come. His zeal in behalf of making the protective +principle irresistible by associating it intimately with reciprocity, +was so strong that he grew impatient when others were tedious in +comprehension; and there was a story of his concluding a sharp +admonition to the laborers on the tariff schedules by "smashing his +new silk hat on a steam-heater in the committee-room." He was asked by +a friend who rode out with him to see the statue that he thought the +most accurate and impressive of all the likenesses of Lincoln and was +fond of driving to see, located in a park east of the Capitol--that +by Story--whether he had "smashed a new silk hat" on a steam-heater +on behalf of reciprocity; and he softly responded, "It was not a new +hat." + +That Mr. Blaine was keenly disappointed when defeated for the +Presidency at Cincinnati, there is no doubt; and that he began then to +see that it was not his destiny to be President, is certain. + +There is a great contrast in his favor in his manner of bearing this +disappointment with that of Clay and Webster under somewhat similar +circumstances. Clay was furious at the nomination of General William +Henry Harrison, and greeted with unmeasured denunciation those +responsible for that judicious act; and Webster was bitter when Taylor +and Scott were nominated in the first instance, but came, after a +time, grandly out of the clouds. It is an interesting coincidence that +Webster when Secretary of State was a candidate for the Presidential +nomination against his chief, President Fillmore, and died, on the +24th of October, 1852, a few months after Scott's triumph at Baltimore +and a few days before the popular election of Pierce. The enduring +memory of Mr. Blaine appeared in the last October he lived, in the +precise remark, when something was said of the death of Webster, "Ah! +day after to-morrow it will be forty years since Webster died." The +news of the nomination of Hayes, Blaine received serenely, and before +the vote was declared in the convention sent the nominee a cordial +telegram of congratulation. When he knew at Augusta in 1884 that he +was beaten, he said: "Personally I care less than my nearest friends +would believe, but for the cause and for many friends I profoundly +deplore the result." And that was the entire truth. He felt that he +had not been fairly beaten, but he gave utterance only to the public +wrong done in the unfairness, and left that expression as a warning to +the country. He did not, as we have seen, follow the example of Clay, +who persistently favored his own candidacy. On the contrary, Blaine +did not covet the Presidency, and tried to avoid the personal strife +of 1884, and not for any of the apprehensive motives attributed to +him by those who acted upon the feeling in his case that the spirit of +justice was malevolent. + +I feel that I should not now deal fairly with the public if I did +not give here the letter from Blaine in my possession, that more +completely than any published gives expression to his personal bearing +when defeated. + + +LETTER FROM MR. BLAINE TO MR. HALSTEAD. + + (Personal.) + + AUGUSTA, MAINE, _16th Nov., '84._ + + DEAR MR. HALSTEAD:--I think there would be no harm to the + public and no personal injustice if you should insert the + three enclosed items in your editorial columns. + + I feel quite serene over the result. As the Lord sent upon us + an ass in the shape of a preacher, and a rainstorm, to lessen + our vote in New York, I am disposed to feel resigned to the + dispensation of defeat, which flowed directly from these + agencies. + + In missing a great honor I escaped a great and oppressive + responsibility. You know--perhaps better than any one--how + _much I didn't want_ the nomination; but perhaps, in view of + all things, I have not made a loss by the canvass. At least I + try to think not. The other candidate would have fared hard in + Maine, and would have been utterly broken in Ohio. + + Sincerely, + + JAMES G. BLAINE. + + Of course all this is private. + + _P.S._--This note was written before receipt of yours. Pray + publish nothing of the kind you intimate unless you first + permit me to see the proof. Don't be afraid of the enclosed + items. They are rock-ribbed for truth and for a good rendering + of public opinion. + +Mr. Blaine refers in the closing paragraph to the proposition I made +to him to publish the true story of his candidacy--substantially the +same pressed upon the attention of General Sherman. Between them they +suppressed me, but it is due them that this chapter of history should +be known now that they are gone. + +I had the privilege of walking with Mr. Blaine in the beautiful and +fragrant parks at Homburg, in Southern Germany, in the summer of 1887, +and discussing with him the question whether he should be a candidate +for the Republican nomination the next spring. He then seemed to be +very well, but exertion speedily fatigued him. He was on sight a very +striking personage, and always instantly regarded with interest by +strangers. His personal appearance was of the utmost refinement and of +irreproachable dignity. His absolute cleanliness was something dainty, +his dress simple but fitting perfectly and of the best material. His +face was very pale, but his sparkling eyes contradicted the pallor. + +His form was erect, and his figure that of youth. His hair and beard +were exquisitely white. His mouth had the purity of a child's, and +he never had tasted tobacco or used spirituous liquors, save when his +physician had recommended a little whiskey, and then not enough to +color a glass. He drank sparingly of claret and champagne, caring only +for the flavor. He was gentle, kindly, genial, and in a manly sense +beautiful. There are many distinguished English people at Homburg in +the season, and they were gratified to meet Mr. Blaine, and charmed +with him. It required no ceremony to announce him as a personage--a +man who had made events--and he never posed or gave the slightest +hint, in his movements, of conscious celebrity. I never saw him +bothered by being aware of himself but once, and that was when, across +the street from the Fifth Avenue Hotel, in the dusk of an evening, he +shaded his face with his hand, and looked curiously at ten thousand +people who were gazing at the house, and shouting madly for him, +expecting that he would appear at a window and make acknowledgment of +their enthusiasm. Suddenly he saw in the glance of one beside him that +he was curiously yet doubtfully regarded, and hastened away in fear of +his friends, who in their delight at discovering him would have become +a mob. + +In Homburg he seemed to care for others' opinions about the proper +course for him to take; and the substance of that which I had to +say--and he seemed to think me in a way representative--was that he +alone must decide for himself, as he only knew all the circumstances +and elements that must be considered in a decision. Once we walked +the main street of the town in the night--and it is then a very lonely +place, for it is the fashion to get up in the morning at six o'clock, +and take the waters and the music--and that time I was impressed, and +the impression abided, that the inner conviction of Mr. Blaine was he +had not the vitality to safely take the Presidency if he held it in +his hand; that he believed the office would wear him out--that it was +a place of dealing with persons who would worry away his existence; +that he felt he could not endure the wear and tear and pressure of +the first position, and preferred the Secretaryship of State, with +the hope of going on with his South American policy, which he had +developed in Garfield's time, brief as that was; and I conjectured +that all this had been in his mind when he wanted Sherman and Lincoln +to be the ticket in 1884. And it occurred to me with so much force as +the logic of many things he said, that I accepted it as true, and was +reminded of his weary exclamation once of a good friend whose moods +were changeable: "Now that he is right, stay with him. He takes the +health out of me with his uncertainties." + +The Secretaryship of State he cared for; in that office the world was +all before him, and he was fully himself, and was not fretted by +a perpetual procession of favor-seekers. The argument his urgent +admirers used with him was that it would be easier to make up his mind +than to convince a President, and that as the Chief of State he could +throw the work on the Cabinet; but he was not satisfied. The Florence +letter to me seemed familiar, for it was a reminder of Homburg, and +its sincerity was in all the lines and between the lines; and it was +addressed to a friend in Pittsburg, that it might not be suppressed in +New York. He had very close and influential friends who did not divine +his true attitude, or would not admit that they had, and insisted that +he was really well and strong and tough, better than he had been, and +that he should not be humored in his fancy that he was an invalid. +This feeling continued even to 1892, though he had been meantime +painfully broken by a protracted illness. It will be remembered that +in the correspondence between General Harrison as President-elect and +Mr. Blaine, when the Secretaryship of State was offered and accepted, +there appeared harmony of views concerning Pan-Americanism; that Mr. +Blaine enjoyed the office and that his official labors during the +Harrison Administration were of the highest distinction, showing +his happiest characteristics. The difference as to duties that arose +between the President and the Secretary was forgotten, and their +mutual sympathies abounded, when there came upon them, in their +households, the gravest, tenderest sorrows. + +[Illustration: BLAINE'S GRAVE AT WASHINGTON, D.C. THE TREE AT THE LEFT +MARKS THE HEAD OF THE GRAVE, AND THE FIRST OF THE THREE LOW STONES IN +THE FOREGROUND, NUMBERING FROM THE LEFT, MARKS THE FOOT. + +From a photograph by Miss F.B. Johnston.] + +When Mr. Blaine was for the last time in New York on his way to +Washington, stopping as was his habit at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, +he asked me to walk with him to his room, fronting on Twenty-third +Street, on the parlor floor; and he slowly, as if it were a task, +unlocked the door. There was a sparkle of autumnal crispness in +the air, and he had a fire, that glittered and threw shadows about +fitfully. There was not much to say. It was plain at last that Mr. +Blaine was fading, that he had within a few weeks failed fast. His +great, bright eyes were greater than ever, but not so bright. His face +was awfully white; not that brainy pallor that was familiar--something +else! He seated himself in the light of the fire, on an easy-chair. +There was a knock at his door, and a servant handed him a card, and +he said: "No;" and we were alone. I could not think of a word of +consolation; and in a moment he appeared to have forgotten me, and +stared in a fixed, rapt dream at the flickering flame in the grate. +It occurred to me to get up and go away quietly, as conversation was +impossible--for there was too much to say. It came to me that I ought +not to leave him alone. Something in him reminded me of the mystical +phrases of the transcendent paragraph of his oration on Garfield, +picturing the death of the second martyred President, by the ocean, +while far off white ships touched the sea and sky, and the fevered +face of the dying man felt "the breath of the eternal morning." + +Some weeks earlier Mr. Blaine and I had had a deep talk about men and +things, and he was very kind, and his boundless generosity of +nature never revealed itself with a greater or sadder charm. He now +remembered that conversation--as a word disclosed--and said: "I could +have endured all things if my boys had not died." The door opened, +and his secretary walked in--and I took Mr. Blaine's hand for the +last time, saying, "Good-night," and he said, with a look that meant +farewell--"Good-by." + +His grave is on a slope that when I saw it was goldenly sunny, and +the turf was strewn by his wife's hand with lilies--for it was Easter +morning! Close at his left was a steep, grassy bank, radiantly blue +with violets, and there was in the shining air the murmurous hum +of bees, making a slumbrous, restful music. Blaine's monument is a +hickory tree whose broken top speaks of storms, and at his feet is +a stone white as new snow, and on it only--and they are enough--the +initials "J.G.B.," that were the battle-cry of millions, and are and +shall be always to memory dear. + +[Footnote I: This related to a matter General Sherman had mentioned in +another letter, and did not refer to the subject I was trying to get +him to consider.] + +[Footnote J: General Sherman differed in this judgment with Blaine and +many Republicans who were not unfriendly to Arthur.] + + + + +THE NEW STATUE OF WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. + +BY FRANK B. GESSNER. + + +The erection of an equestrian statue of General William Henry +Harrison, in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a fitting but also a tardy +commemoration of a man who rendered his State and the nation most +distinguished services. For fifty years there has been talk of doing +him honor in some such fashion, and even the statue which as this +Magazine goes to press is being formally dedicated in Cincinnati +(in the presence of a grandson of the subject who is himself an +ex-President), has been completed for some years, and has been stowed +away in dust and darkness because there was not public interest enough +in the matter to meet the cost of setting it up. + +Although now almost a forgotten figure, General Harrison was one +of the ablest and worthiest of our public men. Born in Berkeley, +Virginia, February 9, 1773, he grew to manhood with the close of +the Revolution and the establishment of the national government. His +father was the friend of Washington, and when the son went into the +Western wilds he held a commission as ensign signed by the first of +the Presidents. At the age of thirty he was a delegate in Congress +from the Northwest Territory. For a succeeding decade he was governor +of that wide stretch of country which in time he saw carved into +States all owing much to his genius as warrior and statesman. In the +second war with Great Britain he commanded the Western armies, and won +the notable victories of Tippecanoe and the Thames. The first gave him +a name which became the slogan of the Whigs in the memorable campaign +of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." At the battle of the Thames fell +Tecumseh, whose death broke the Indian power east of the Mississippi. +After the war of 1812 General Harrison was successively Congressman, +Senator of the United States, and Minister to Colombia. + +[Illustration: STATUE OF WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, MADE FOR THE CITY OF +CINCINNATI BY MR. L.T. REBISSO. + +From a photograph by Landy, Cincinnati.] + +Returning in 1830 to his home at North Bend, on the line between +Indiana and Ohio, he lived more or less in retirement until 1836, when +he was made the Whig candidate for President. He was defeated; but in +1840 he was again the nominee, and, after the greatest campaign of the +century, was elected, defeating Martin Van Buren. The campaign of 1840 +was called the "log-cabin and hard-cider" campaign, though the +reputed log-cabin home of the Whig candidate was in reality a spacious +mansion. General Harrison was inaugurated March 4, 1841, and on April +4, a month later, he died in the White House, a victim of exposure and +the wearing importunities of office-seeking constituents. Something of +the character of the man is disclosed in his last words, spoken four +hours before his death. To whom he thought himself speaking can only +be conjectured--Vice-President Tyler, some authorities claim; but he +was heard by his physician to say: "Sir, I wish you to understand +the true principles of the government. I wish them carried out. I ask +nothing more." + +Physically, General Harrison has been described as "about six feet +high," straight and rather slender, and of "a firm, elastic gait," +even in his last years. He had "a keen, penetrating eye," a "high, +broad and prominent" forehead, and "rather thin and compressed lips." + +[Illustration: ANNA SYMMES HARRISON, WIFE OF PRESIDENT WILLIAM HENRY +HARRISON, AND GRANDMOTHER OF PRESIDENT BENJAMIN HARRISON. + +From a painting in possession of the Harrison family.] + +Mrs. Harrison was not with her husband at his death, and never became +an inmate of the White House. For that reason there hangs on its walls +no portrait of her, among those of the various ladies of the mansion. +She was the daughter of John Cleves Symmes, a scion of the Colonial +aristocracy. She loved better than the excitement of social life in +Washington the domestic peace of her North Bend home and the society +of her thirteen children, growing up in usefulness and honor. In her +youth she had been a great belle, and she remained a beautiful +woman even in her declining years. She was educated in that first +fashionable school for young women in America founded by Isabella +Graham in the city of New York. A sister, Polly Symmes, was also a +famous beauty. They went together to share their father's fortunes +in the unsettled West, and both found their fates in the hand of the +Miamis. Polly married Peyton Short, who became a millionaire. + +Mrs. Harrison had been detained by illness from going with her husband +to witness the proudest event of his life, his inauguration; and she +had purposed following him to Washington later in the spring, when the +weather should be more favorable for the long, wearisome journey by +stage-coach. But, alas! before the spring fully opened, instead of +following him to Washington she was following his body to its silent, +stone-walled tomb, overlooking the wide sweep of the Ohio southward. +This noble woman lived to be eighty-nine and to see her grandson, +Benjamin Harrison, now ex-President, a general in the Union army. +She retained to the last much of her beauty and that sweetness of +disposition which has endeared her memory to those of her blood who +knew her best. She sleeps by the side of her husband in the old vault +at North Bend. + +The Cincinnati statue of General Harrison is the work of L.T. Rebisso, +who made the statue of General McPherson which stands in one of the +circular parks in Washington, and the equestrian statue of General +Grant for the city of Chicago. Its cost, which, exclusive of the +pedestal, is twenty-seven thousand dollars, is paid by the city. +Mr. Rebisso has given a portrayal of Harrison unlike any of the more +familiar pictures. These usually present a decrepit old man, from +whose eye have vanished that fire of youth and flash of soul which +made Harrison a leader of men. The Rebisso statue, as will be seen by +the reproduction of it given herewith, presents a soldier in the full +flower of vigorous manhood. And this conception is no mere ideal of +fancy, but is taken from a portrait painted in 1812, which now hangs +in the house of a grandchild of General Harrison near the old North +Bend homestead. + + + + +[Illustration: THE SILENT WITNESS.] + + + + +THE SILENT WITNESS + +BY HERBERT D. WARD + + +There are many hamlets in New Hampshire, five, ten miles or even more +from the railroad station. To the chance summer visitor the seclusion +and the rest seem entrancing. The glamour of mountain scenery and +trout effectually obliterates the brave signs of poverty and struggle +from before the irresponsive eyes of the man of city leisure. He +carelessly gives the urchin, mutely pleading in front of the unpainted +farm-house, a few cents for his corrugated cake of maple-sugar, and +asks the name of a distant peak. If he should notice, how would he +know the meaning of the scant crops of hay and potatoes, or of the +empty stall? Sealed to him is the pathos in the history of the owners +of the stone farm. His thoughts scarcely glance at the piteous wife +plaiting straw hats; the only son, whose rare happiness consists in +a barn dance in the village three miles below, and whose large eyes +contract with increasing age, and lose all expression except that of +anxiety. + +There was a time perhaps when the backbone of the New World used to +be straightened by men of a mountain birth. The question whether the +hills of Vermont and New Hampshire produce giants of trade or law +to-day as they did fifty years ago, is an open one. So the grand +old stock is run out of the soil? And is it replaced by the sons and +grandsons of those sturdy farmers themselves, who buy back the rickety +homesteads, and remodel them into summer cottages? + +Michael Angelo said that "men are worth more than money," and if what +was an axiom then is true in these fallen days of purse worship, +Mrs. Abraham Masters was the richest woman under the range of Mount +Kearsarge. For her son Isaac was the tallest, the strongest, the +tenderest, and truest boy in the county; but her farm of a hundred +acres, the only inheritance from a dead husband, was about the +poorest, most unprofitable, and most inaccessible collection of +boulders in the mountains. + +It was situated upon the cold shoulder of a hill, sixteen miles from +the nearest station. The three-mile trail which led from the village +would have been easier to travel could it have boasted a corduroy +road. What a site for a hotel! Yet the hotel did not materialize, and +the "view" neither fed nor warmed nor clothed the patient proprietors +of the desolate spot. + +"Never mind, I reckon we'll pull through," Isaac used to comfort his +mother. + +"You're a good boy, Ikey. If the Lord is willin', I guess I am," she +answered with quaint devoutness. + +But the Lord did not seem to be willing, and one spring He caused a +late frost in June to kill most of the seed, and a drouth in July and +August to wither what was left, and starvation stared in the faces of +the widow and her son. At this time, Isaac began to "keep company," +and to talk of getting married in the next decade. He was twenty-two, +and had a faithful, saving disposition, when there was anything to +save. And whether he became engaged because there was nothing but love +to harvest, or whether, woman-like, Abbie Faxon loved him better than +she did her other suitors because of his poverty and misery, and was +willing to tell him so, I cannot pretend to decide. At any rate, Isaac +brought Abbie one afternoon from the village, three miles below, and +the two women kissed and wept, and Isaac went out and stood alone +facing the view; the apple in his throat rose and fell, and great +tears blinded his sight. + +We can make no hero of Isaac, for he was none. His heart was as simple +and as clean as a pebble in a brook. Country vices had not smirched +him. He had a mind only for his mother, and the farm, and earning a +living--and a heart for Abbie. Great thoughts did not invade his head. +But this afternoon, as he stood there on the gray rock, his heart +bursting with his happiness, which was made perfect by his mother's +blessing, an apprehension for the future--bitter, breathless, began +to arouse him. The promise of the horizon suddenly became revealed to +him. The distant line of green, now bold, now sinuous, now uncertain, +had never asked him questions before, had never exasperated him with a +meaning. + +But now he saw the tips of spires flecking the verdure of the far-off +valleys. He saw the hurrying smoke of a locomotive. He saw with +awakening vision, starting from that dead farm of his, the region of +trade and life. A film had fallen from his eyes. The energetic arrow +of love had touched his ambition, and his round, rosy face became +indented with lines of resolve. He turned and walked with a new tread +into the house. + +"Mother! Abbie!" he blurted out, "I'm going away. I'm going to +Boston." He stopped and stammered as he saw the horror-stricken faces +before him. + +"Lord a-mercy!" + +"Ikey! Air you teched?" + +"No," he resumed stoutly, "I be'ant. There's Dan Prentiss--he +went--see what he done; and Uncle Bill, he--" + +"We hain't heard nothing from your Uncle Bill since he sot out. That +was twelve years ago, the spring your father built them three feet on +the shed." Mrs. Masters spoke firmly. + +"Never mind, mother, I'm going to Boston, and I will come back. I'm +going to earn my livin'. I'm strong and willin', and as able as Dan +Prentiss. Ye needn't be scared, I ain't going yet. I'll finish up the +fall work fust. I'm going for the winter anyway, and Abbie'll come an' +live with you, mother--won't you, Abbie, dear? She's the only mother +you've got now. Your folks can spare you." + +Here Abbie announced bravely, "I will, Ikey, if you must go." + +She blushed deeply as she said it, and the sight of her pretty color +so moved the young man that, having the bashfulness of his native +crops, he rushed out into the glory of the sunset, and sat upon the +granite boulder watching until the gray, the purple, and then the +black had washed out the white steeples from the distant valley. + +Isaac Masters was of the boulder type. How many decades was the +smooth, worn rock in front of his house riding on the crest of a +glacier until it reached its halt? But now it would need a double +charge of dynamite to shake it from its base. It generally took the +mountain lad days, perhaps weeks, to make up his mind, even upon such +a simple problem as the quantity of grain his horse should have at a +feed when the spring planting began; but when once his intention was +fixed it withstood all opposition. But this time he was astonished at +his own temerity of mind, as his mother and sweetheart were; and the +more profoundly he pondered over the gravest decision of his life, +the more did it seem to him an inspiration, perhaps from the Deity +himself. + +But Isaac was formed in too simple and honest a mould to delude the +two women or himself with iridescent dreams of success. He had worked +on the ragged farm bitterly, incessantly. He had fought the rocks, and +the weeds, and the soil, the frost and the drouth, as one fights for +his life, and never had a thought of food or of comfort visited him +unaccompanied by the necessity for labor. + +"I can work fourteen hours a day, mother, and live upon pork and +beans, as well as the next man." He stood to his full height, +displaying to the pale woman the outlines of massive muscular +development. His hands were huge and callous, their grip the terror of +his mates after a husking bee. He had measured his great strength but +once; that was in the dead of winter, with the snow drifted five feet +deep between the barn and the house. A heifer, well grown, had been +taken sick, and needed warmth for recovery. Isaac swung the sick beast +over his shoulders, holding its legs two in each hand before his head, +and strode through the storm, subduing the battling snow with as much +ease as he did the bellowing calf. His mother met him at the woodshed +door. Behind the gladiator rose the forbidding background of a stark +mountain range; but to her astonished and unfocussed sight, her son +seemed greater than the mountain, and more compelling than its peaks. +From that hour his whisper was her law; and from that day--for how +could the adoring mother help telling her quarterly caller all about +the heifer?--Isaac had no more wrestling matches in the valley. + +August burned into September, and September, triumphant in her +procession of royal colors, marched into October, the month of months. +Mrs. Masters had already completed her pathetic preparations for her +son's departure. There, in the family carpet-bag, which his father had +carried with him on his annual trip to Portland, were stowed a half +dozen pairs of well-darned woollen stockings, the few decent shirts +that Isaac had left, his winter flannels, which had already served +six years, his comb and brush, a hand mirror that had been one of his +mother's wedding presents, likewise a couple of towels that had formed +a part of her self-made trousseau; and we must not forget the neckties +that Abbie had sewed from remnants of her dresses, and which Isaac +naïvely considered masterpieces of the haberdasher's art. + +At the mouth of the deep bag Mrs. Masters tucked a Bible which fifty +years ago had been presented to her husband by his Sunday-school +teacher as a prize for regular attendance. This inscription was +written in a wavering hand upon the blank page: + + "_In the eighth year of the reign of Josiah, while he was yet + young, he began to seek after the God of David his father_.-- + 2 Chron. xxxiv. 3." + +"For," said Mrs. Masters softly to Abbie, after she had read the +inscription aloud, and had patted the book affectionately, "this is +the first prize my Josiah ever had, an' the Lord knows he thought more +on it than he did of Lucy, his mare. An' if there should happen any +accident to Isaac, they'd find by opening of his bag that ef he +was alone in a far country he was a Christian, nor ashamed of it, +neither." + +Isaac had only money enough saved up to take him as far as Boston, and +to board him in the cheapest way for several days. + +"If I can't work," he said proudly, straightening to his full height, +"no one can!" + +It is just such country lads as this--strong, self-reliant, +religious--who, when poverty has projected them out of her granite +mountains upon granite pavements, each as hard and bleak as the other, +by massive determination have conquered a predestined success. + +Too soon, for those who were to be left behind, the day of separation +came. Mrs. Masters's haggard face and Abbie's red eyes told of +unuttered misery. + +But Isaac did not notice these signs of distress. He was absorbed in +his future. The last bustle was over, the last breakfast gulped down +amid forced smiles and ready tears, the last button sewed on at the +last moment; and now Mrs. Masters's lunch of mince pie, apples, and +doughnuts was tenderly tucked into the jaws of the carpet-bag; thereby +disturbing a love letter that Abbie had hidden there. A young neighbor +had volunteered to drive Isaac down the mountain to the station. + +[Illustration: "MOVE ON, WILL YER!"] + +"All aboard! Hurry up, Ike!" cried this young person, consulting his +silver watch, and casting a look of mingled commiseration and envy +upon the giant, locked in the arms of the two women, who hardly +reached to the second button of his coat. Isaac caught the glance, +and started to tear himself away. But his mother laid her gnarled hand +gently upon his arm, and led him into the unused parlor. + +"Just a minute, Abbie dear, I want to be alone with my boy," she waved +the girl back. "Then you can have him last. It's my right an' your'n!" + +She closed the door, and led him under the crayon portrait of his +father, framed in immortelles. She raised her arms, and he stooped +that they might clasp about his neck. + +"Isaac," she said hoarsely, "I ain't no longer young nor very strong. +Remember 'fore you go away from the farm that you're the son of an +honest man, an' a pious woman, and"--dropping with great solemnity +into scriptural language--"I beseech you, my son, not to disgrace your +godly name." + +With partings like this the primitive Christians must have sent their +sons into the whirlwind of the world. + +Then Isaac broke down for the first time, and with the tears +streaming, he lifted his mother bodily in his arms, and promised her, +and kissed her. "Mother trusts you, Ikey," was all she could say. But +his time had come. There was a crunching of wheels. + +"Now go to Abbie. Leave me here! Good-by; you have always been a good +boy, dear." Mrs. Masters's voice sank into a whisper; the strong man, +moved as he was, could not comprehend her exhaustion. + +Abbie was waiting for him at the door, and he went to her. The +impatient wagon had gone down the road. They were to cut through the +pasture, and meet it at the brook. There they were to part. + +They clasped hands. Isaac turned. A gaunt, gray face, broken, +helpless, hopeless, peered out beneath the green paper shade of the +parlor window. If he had known--a doubt crossed his brain, but the +girl twitched his hand, and the cloud scattered. Down the hill they +ran, down, until the brook was reached. There they stood, panting, +breathless, listening. There were only a few minutes left, and they +hid behind an oak tree and clasped. + + * * * * * + +It was long after dark when the train came to its halt in its vaulted +terminus. It was due at seven, but an excursion on the road delayed it +until after nine. However, this did not disconcert Isaac Masters. +He hurried out to the front of the station, where the row of herdics +greeted him savagely. Carrying his father's old carpet-bag, he looked +from his faded hat to his broad toes the ideal country bumpkin; yet +his head was not turned by the rumbling of the pavements, the whiz +of the electrics, the blaze of the arc lights, nor by the hectic +inhalations that seem to comprehend all the human restlessness of a +city just before it retires to sleep. His breath came faster, and +his great chest rose and fell; these were the only indications of +acclimation. Isaac had started from home absolutely without any "pull" +or introduction but his own willingness to work. Utterly ignorant of +the city, and knowing no one in it, on the way down in the train he +had marked out a line of conduct from which he determined not to be +swerved. + +To the mountain mind the policeman becomes the embodiment of a +righteously executed law. At home, their only constable was one of the +most respected men in the community. Isaac argued from experience--and +how else should he? This was his syllogism: + +A policeman is the most respectable of men in my town. + +This man before me is a policeman. + +Therefore he must be the most upright man in the city. I will go to +him for advice. + +The city casuist might have smiled at the major premise--and laughed +at the ingenuous conclusion. Yet if brass buttons, a cork hat and a +"billy" are the emblems of guardianship and probity, the country boy +has the right argument on his side, and the casuist none at all. + +It never occurred to Isaac that the policeman could either make a +mistake of judgment, or meditate one. Therefore he approached the +guardian of the peace confidently. + +This gentleman, who had noticed the traveller as soon as he had +emerged from the depot, awaited his approach with becoming dignity. +The patronage and disdain that the metropolis feels for the hamlet +were in his air. + +"Excuse me, sir--I want to ask you--" began Isaac, after a proper +obeisance. + +"Move on, will yer!" + +"But I wanted to ask you--" + +"Phwat are ye blockin' up the road fur, young man?" + +"I want you to help me!" + +"The ---- you do!" He looked about ferociously. "Look here, sonny, if +ye don't move along, an' have plenty of shtyle about it, I'll help ye +to the lock-up--so help me--!" + +Isaac looked down upon the man, whom he could have crushed with +one swoop of his hands. The consternation of his first broken ideal +possessed his heart. With a deadly pallor upon his face, he hurried up +the clanging street, and the coarse laughter of brutes tingled in his +ears. He swallowed this rough inhospitality, which is the hemlock that +poisons country faith. Take from the pavement enough dust to cover +the point of a penknife, and insert it in the arm of a child, and in a +week it will be dead with tetanus. After this first encounter with the +protectors of the people, Isaac felt as if his soul had been bedaubed +with mud. He experienced a contracting tetanus of the heart. Had he +not planned all the lonesome day to cast himself upon the kindness +of the first policeman whom he saw? What other guide or protector +was there left for him in the strange city? The rebuff which he had +received half annihilated his intelligence. + +[Illustration: "AM--I--IMPRISONED BECAUSE I AM FRIENDLESS AND POOR? IS +THIS YOUR LAW?"] + +Isaac could no more put up at the great hotel he saw on his right than +the majority of us can take a trip to Japan. Isaac hurried on. Why +did he leave home? The fear of a great city is more teasing than the +terror of a wilderness or of a desert. There the trees or the rocks or +the sand befriends you. But in the city the penniless stranger has no +part in people or home or doorsteps. Every one's heart is against him. +It is the anguish of hunger amid plenty, the rattling of thirst amid +rivers of wine, the serration of loneliness amid humanity thicker than +barnacles upon a wharf pile. Such a terror--not of cowardice, but of +friendlessness--seized Isaac Masters, and a foreboding that he might +possibly fail after all made his spine tingle. Still he drove on. +He had passed through the main street--or across it--he did not +know--until the electric lights cast dim shadows, until stately banks +had given way to unkempt brick fronts, until the glittering bar-rooms +had been exchanged for vulgar saloons--until-- + +Masters came to a sudden halt, and dropping his bag, uttered a loud +cry. The curtained door of a grog-shop opened upon him. A hatless man +dashed out, swearing horribly, and all but fell into Isaac's arms. +With a cry of terror the runner dodged the pedestrian, and bolted down +the street. Not twenty feet behind him bounded his pursuer. + +By this time the country boy had slipped into the shadow of the +building, where he could see without being seen. In that moment Isaac +caught sight of a dazed group of men within, and the profile of the +pursuer against the hot light of the saloon. He saw a brute holding +a pistol in his out-stretched hand. Before Isaac understood the +situation, the weapon shot out two flames and two staccato reports. +These were followed by the intense silence which is like the darkness +upon the heels of lightning. + +Isaac's eyes were now strained upon the creature who was shot. He saw +the man stagger, throw up his hands, and fall. He heard a groan. At +that time the murderer with the smoking revolver was not more than ten +paces away. As he fired, he had stopped. When he saw his victim fall, +he gave a hoarse laugh. + +By this time the lights in the saloon were put out, and its occupants +had fled. The rustle of human buzzards flocking to the tragedy had +begun. A motion that the murderer made to escape aroused the New +Hampshire boy to a fierce sense of justice. A few bounds brought him +by the side of the ruffian, who looked upon him with astonishment, and +then with inflamed fear. Isaac furiously struck the pointed pistol to +the pavement, and grasped the fellow's waist. Then he knew that he had +almost met his match. Isaac held his opponent's left arm by the wrist, +and tightened the vise. The murderer held the boy around his neck with +a contracting grip such as only a prize-fighter understands. Neither +spoke a word. It was power--power against skill. + +There was a crash and a cry and a fall. But not until Isaac knew that +the man under him was helpless did he utter a sound. Then he called: +"Police! Police!" + +The answer was a blinding blow upon the crown of his head. Then, +before his head swam away into unconsciousness, he felt a strange +thing happen to his wrists. + + * * * * * + +The first lieutenant, the captain, and the superintendent are +different beings from the officer of the street, who has no gilt +stripes upon his sleeves. The one, having passed through all grades, +is supposed to have been chosen not only because of his fidelity +and bravery, but because of his discriminating gentleness or +gentlemanliness. The other, a private of the force, often a foreigner, +with foreign instincts, and eager for promotion (that is, he means +to make as many arrests as possible), confuses the difference between +rudeness and authority, brutality and law. By the time he is a +sergeant sense has been schooled into him, and he ought to know +better. + +The superintendent looked at Isaac steadily and not unkindly, while he +listened to the officer's story. + +"Off with those bracelets!" he said, sternly. + +Isaac Masters regarded the superintendent gratefully. For the first +time since he had been rebuffed by the station policeman, his natural +expression of trust returned to his face. + +"I'll forgive him," said the boy of a simple, Christian education. "It +was dark--and he made a mistake." Isaac wiped the clotted blood from +his cheeks. "Can I go now?" + +Even a less experienced man than the white-haired superintendent would +have known that the young man before him could no more have committed +a crime or told an untruth than an oak. The policeman who had clubbed +him, perhaps with the best intentions in the world, hung his head. + +"Let me hear your story first." The superior officer spoke in his most +fatherly tones. He really pitied the country lad. + +"What is your name? Where do you come from? How did you get there? +Tell me all about it. Here, sergeant, get him a glass of water, +first." + +"Perhaps a little whiskey would do him good," suggested a night-hawk +who had just opened the door of the reporters' room. Blood acts +terribly upon even the most stolid imagination. Beneath that +red-streaked mask it needed all the experience of the superintendent +to recognize the innocence of a juvenile heart. As Isaac in indignant +refusal turned his disfigured head upon the youthful representative of +an aged paper, he seemed to the thoughtless reporter the incarnation +of a wounded beast. The young fellow opened the door, and beckoned his +mates in to see the new show that was enacting before them. It is only +fair to say that it is due to the modern insanity of the press for +prying into private affairs that the worst phase of the tragedy I am +relating came to pass. + +Isaac Masters told his story eagerly and simply. + +"I have done nothing to be arrested for," he ended, looking at the +superintendent with his round, honest eyes. "I only did my duty as +anybody else would. Now let me go. Tell me, Mr. Officer, where I can +get a decent night's lodging, for I am going home to-morrow. I've had +enough of this city. I want to go home!" + +Something like a sob sounded in the throat of the huge boy as he came +to this pathetic end. Every man in the station, from the most hardened +observer of crime to the youngest reporter of misery, was moved. Isaac +himself, still dizzy from the effects of the blow, nauseated by the +prison smell, the indescribable odor of crime which no disinfectants +can overcome, confounded by the surroundings into which he had been +cast, and trembling with the nameless apprehension that all honest +people feel when drawn into the arms of the law, swayed and swooned +again. + +The sergeant and the reporters (for they were not without kind hearts) +busied themselves with bringing him to. From an opposite bench the +murderer lowered, between scowls of pain, upon the man who had crushed +him. There had been revealed to him a simplicity of soul residing in +a body of iron. He saw that the country lad had fainted, not from +physical weakness, but because of mental anguish. Such an apparent +disparity between mind and body had not been brought to the +saloon-keeper's experience before. + +"He is the only witness, you say, officer?" inquired the chief. "Are +you sure?" + +"Yes, sorr!" + +"We'll have to hold him, then. It's a great pity. I don't suppose he +could get a ten-dollar bail." The superintendent shook his gray head +thoughtfully. His subordinates did the same, with an exaggerated air +of distress. + +"Where am I? Oh!" What horror in that exhalation, as Isaac realized +the place he was in! He staggered to his feet. + +"Give me my bag, quick!" he exclaimed. "I will go." + +"I'm afraid you can't go yet." The superintendent spoke as if he hated +to do his duty. + +"Not go? Why not? You have no right to hold an innocent man!" + +"In cases of assault and murder, the witnesses must be held until they +can furnish bail. That is the law." The white-haired man hurried his +explanation, as if he were ashamed of it. + +"I will come back." + +The officer shook his head. + +"I give you my word I will." Isaac clasped the rail pleadingly. + +"I'll have to lock you up to-night; the judge will settle the amount +of your bail to-morrow." + +"Lock me up? I tell you I have no friends here! How can I get bail? +Where will you put me?" + +"Show him his cell," replied the chief to his sergeant. + +"Come along," said the policeman kindly. "All witnesses are treated +that way. We'll give you the most comfortable quarters we've got." + +He took Isaac by the arm after the professional manner. The young +man flung off the touch. For an instant his eyes swept the station +menacingly. What if he should exert his strength! There were +two--three--four officers in the room. He might even overpower these, +and dash for liberty. He saw the livid reflection of electric lights +through the windows. Unconsciously he contracted his sinews, and +tightened his muscles until they were rigid. Then the hopelessness of +his position burst upon him like a red strontian fire. He felt blasted +by his disgrace. + +"What are you doing to me?" he cried out. "Put me in prison? My God! +This will kill my mother!" + +The next morning at ten o'clock Tom Muldoon was released on ten +thousand dollars bail. The surety was promptly furnished by the +alderman of the--th Ward. Muldoon was to present himself before the +grand jury, which met the first Monday in each month. As this was the +beginning of the month, his appearance could not be required for three +weeks at least, and by mutual agreement of the district attorney and +the counsel for the defendant, action might be put off for one or even +for two months more, pending the recovery or eventual death of the +assaulted. This would give the saloon-keeper plenty of time for the +two ribs that Isaac Masters had crushed, to mend! + +There are sensitive men and women who would go insane after spending +an innocent night in a cell. In the dryest, the largest, the best of +them there is everything to debase the manhood and nauseate the soul. +The tin cup on the grated window-sill, half-filled with soup which the +last occupant left; the cot to the right of the hopeless door, made +of two boards and one straw mattress; and that necessity which is the +nameless horror of such a narrow incarceration--that which suffocates +and poisons; then the flickering jet up the concrete corridor, casting +such fitful shadows by the prisoner's side that he starts from his cot +in terror to touch the phantoms lest they be real; the alternate waves +of choking heat and harrowing cold; the hammering of the steam-pipes; +the curses, the groans, and the eruptive breathing of the sleeping +and the drunken; the thoughts of home, and friends, and irreparable +disgrace; the feeble hope that, after all, the family will not hear +of this so far away; and the despair because they will--mad visions +of suicide; blasphemy, repentant tears and prayers, each chasing the +other amid the persistent thought that all things are impotent but +freedom. Oh, what a night! What a night! + +There are souls that have existed five, ten years under the courtine +of Catharine in the Petropavlovskaya Fortress--drugged, tortured, at +last killed like rats in a hole. All the while the maledict banner +of the Romanoffs writhes above them. What has been the power to keep +alive thousands of prisoners in those bastions, beyond the natural +endurance of the flesh? The glory of principle. + +No wonder that a ghastly face and haggard eyes and wavering steps +followed the keeper to the American court-room the next morning; +for nothing could be tortured into a principle to stimulate Isaac's +courage. It is easy to die for right, but not for wrong. + +There were three short flights of iron that led past tiers of cells, +through the tombs, into the prisoner's dock. Isaac dully remembered +the huge coils of steam-pipe that curled up the side of the wall. He +thought of pythons. As he passed by, the prisoners awaiting sentence +held the rods of their doors in their hands, like monkeys, and swore, +and laughed, and shot questions at the keeper as he passed along. + +"Have you no friends in the city?" proceeded the judge, after he had +examined the witness. + +Isaac shook his head disconsolately. "I have about five dollars; that +is all, and my bag--and, sir, my character." + +"Then I am afraid I shall have to hold you over in default of bail +until the trial." The judge nodded to the sheriff to bring on the next +case. + +"Where are you taking me?" + +"To the City Jail," answered the sheriff curtly. "Come along!" With a +mighty effort Isaac wrenched himself loose, and strode to the bar. + +"Judge!" he cried. "Judge, you wouldn't do that! Let me go! I will +come back on the trial. Look at me, Judge! What have I done? Why +should I be sent to prison? I am an honest man!" + +But the judge was used to such scenes, and he turned his head wearily +away. + +"The law requires the government to hold the witness in default of +bail, in cases of capital crime." The judge was a kind man, and he +tried to do a kind act by explaining the subtle process of the law +again to the lad. When he had done this, he nodded. And now the men +approached Isaac to remove him, by force if necessary. But the New +Hampshire boy stood before the bar of justice stolidly. His eyes +wandered aimlessly, and his lips muttered. Paralysis swept near him at +that instant. + +"Am--I--imprisoned because I am friendless and poor? Is this your +law?" + +The judge shrugged his shoulders, but many in the court-room felt +uncomfortable. + +"Then," spoke Isaac Masters, rising to his greatest height, and +uplifting his hand as if to call God to witness, "if this is law--damn +your law!" It was his first and last oath. Every man in the room +started to his feet at the utterance of that supreme legal blasphemy. +But the judge was silent. What sentence might he not inflict for such +contempt of court? What sentence could he? The witness had no money, +wherewith to be fined, and he was going to prison at any rate. The +judge was great enough to put himself in Isaac's place. He stroked his +beard meditatively. + +"Remove the witness," he said. This was sentence enough. Although +two officers advanced cautiously, as if prepared for a tussle, a babe +might have led the giant unto the confines of Hades by the pressure of +its little finger. For Isaac wept. + +[Illustration: "OH, MY GOD!" HE SOBBED. "MY GOD! MY GOD!"] + + * * * * * + +There were two other witnesses in the white-washed cell to which Isaac +was assigned. It was on the south side, and large, and sunny, and +often the door was left unlocked; but the cell looked out into a +crumbling grave-yard. One of these witnesses was a boy of about +eighteen, pale to the suggestion of a mortal disease. It did not +take Isaac long to find out that this complexion did not indicate +consumption, but was only prison pallor. The other prisoner was less +pathetic as to color, but he was listless and discouraged. The only +amusement of these men consisted in chewing tobacco in enormous +quantities, playing surreptitious games of high-low-jack, in reading +the daily paper, a single magazine, and waiting for the sun to enter +the barred window, and watching it in the afternoon as it slipped +away. These two men tried to cheer the new comer in a rude, hearty +way; but when the country lad learned that they had been in detention +for six months already, held by the government as main witnesses +against the first mate of their brig, their words were as dust. They +only choked him. + +"What did you do," Isaac asked, "to get you in such a scrape?" + +"We saw the mate shoot the cook; that's all." + +"If I'd known," said the pale boy, with, a look out of the window, +"how Uncle Sam keeps us so long--I wished I hadn't said nothing. But +we get a dollar a day; that's something." And with a sigh that he +meant to engulf with his philosophy, the boy turned his face away, so +that Isaac should not suspect the tears that salted the flavor of the +coarse tobacco. + +The dark outlook, the blind future, the hopeless cell, the disordered +table, the lazy life that deadened all activity but that of the +imagination, the lack of vigorous air, the lounging companionship, +but, above all things, the thought of his mother and Abbie, and the +brooding over what he dared to call an outrage perpetrated, in the +name of the law, upon himself--these things made a turmoil of Isaac's +brain. There was a daily conflict between the Christian and the +criminal way of looking at his irreparable misfortune which he was +surprised to find that even the possession of his father's Bible could +not control. + +There were times when it needed all his intelligence to keep him from +springing on the keeper, and running amuck in the ward-room, simply +for the sake of uttering a violent, brutal protest. Then there were +hours when he was too exhausted to leave his cot. At such a time he +wrote a letter, his first letter to his mother, and he made the keeper +promise to have it mailed so that no one could possibly suspect that +it started from a prison. + + "DEAR MOTHER"--it ran--"I have not written to you for three + weeks since I have been here, because I have been sick. I am + now in a very safe place, and am doing pretty well. I clear my + food and board and seventy-five cents a day. I have not been + paid yet. I think you had better not write to me until I can + give you a permanent address. I read my Bible every day and + love you more dearly than ever. I have tried to do my duty as + you would have me. Give my love to Abbie. I will write soon + again. + + "Ever your affectionate son, + + "ISAAC." + +The simpleton! Could he not suspect that country papers copy from city +columns all that is of special local interest, and more? And did he +not know that it is one of the disgraces of modern journalism that no +department is so copiously edited, annotated, and illustrated as that +of criminal intelligence? + +Could he not surmise that on the Saturday following his incarceration +the very mountains rang with the news? That it should be mangled +and turned topsy-turvy, and that in the eyes of his simple-minded +neighbors he should be thought of as the murderer, by reason of +his great strength? For how could it come into the intelligence of +law-abiding citizens and law-respecting people, that a man should be +shut up in prison, no matter what the newspapers said, unless he had +_done_ something to deserve it? What did the mountaineers know about +the laws of bail, and habeas corpus? And could such news, gossiped by +one neighbor, repeated by another, confirmed by a third, fail to reach +the desolate farm-house in which a woman, feeble, old and faint of +heart, lay trembling between life and death? + +The grand jury meets on the first Monday of each month to indict those +for trial against whom reasonable proofs of guilt are obtained. The +saloon loafer had been shot in the groin, and pending his injuries +indictment was waived. In proportion as the wound proved serious and +the recovery prolonged, trial was postponed. + +Isaac Masters had now been locked up six weeks. He had not yet heard +from home, and had only written once. About noon, one day, the keeper +came to tell him that a woman wished to see him. Isaac thought that +it was his mother, and the shame of meeting her in the guard-room +surrounded by tiers upon tiers of murderers and thieves and petty +criminals overcame him. The man of strength sat down on his cot, and +putting his hands over his white face, trembled violently. The guard, +who knew that Isaac was an innocent man, spoke to him kindly. + +"Go! go!" said the prisoner in a voice of agony, "and tell my mother +that I will be right there." + +"Mother!" ejaculated the guard. "She's the youngest mother for a man +of your size I ever see." He winked at the sailor, and went. + +Then Isaac knew that it was Abbie, who had come alone, and he +tightened his teeth and lips together, and went down. + +Isaac slowly came down the perforated iron stairs that were attached +to his prison wing like an inside fire-escape. On the bench in the +middle of the guard-room sat Abbie--a little, helpless thing she +seemed to him--facing the entrance, as if she feared to remove her +eyes from the door that led to freedom. + +Abbie was greatly changed. She was dressed in black. If Isaac had been +a free man, this fact would have startled him. As it was, he was so +spent with suffering that his dulled mind could not understand it. +At first Abbie did not recognize her hearty lover. His huge frame was +gaunt and wasted. His ruddy face was white, and his cheeks hung +in folds like moulded putty. His country clothes dropped about him +aimlessly. From crown to foot he had been devastated by unmerited +disgrace. Grief may glorify; but the other ravages. + +This meeting between the lovers was singularly undramatic. Each shrank +a little from the other. They shook hands quietly. His was burning; +her's like a swamp in October dew. He sat down beside her on the bench +awkwardly, while the deputy looked at them with careless curiosity. He +was used to nothing but tragedy and crime, and to his experienced mind +the two had become long ago confused. + +"Mother?" asked Isaac, nervously moving his feet. "Didn't she get my +letter?" + +The girl nodded gravely, tried to meet his eyes, and then looked away. +Tears fell unresisted down her cheeks. She made no attempt to wipe +them off. It was as if she were too well acquainted with them to check +their flow. + +Then the truth began to filter through Isaac's bewebbed intellect. He +spread his knees apart, rested his arms upon them, and bent his head +to his hands. His great figure shook. + +"Oh, my God!" he sobbed. "My God! My God!" + +"Oh, don't, Isaac, don't!" Abbie put her hand upon his head as if he +had been her boy. "Your mother was as happy as could be. She was happy +to die. We buried her yesterday!" + +How could she tell him that his mother had died of grief--too sorely +smitten to bear it--for his sake? + +But Isaac's head rose and fell--rose and fell rhythmically between his +hands. His breath came in low groans, like that of an animal smitten +dead by a criminally heavy load. + +"She sent her love before she passed away. She wanted you to come back +to the farm as soon as you could. She believed in you, Ikey, even if +you were in prison. She said Paul was in prison, and that it was a +terrible mistake. She knew your father's son would not depart from his +God!" + +As Abbie uttered this simple confession of country faith, the +pitiful man lifted up his eyes from the tiled floor and looked at her +gratefully. His dry lips moved, and he tried to speak. + +"Yes," was all he said, with fierce humility. Then the lack of breath +choked him. + +"She made me promise not to give you up, and to come and see you. Of +course you are innocent, Ikey?" Abbie did not look at him. + +"Yes," he answered mechanically. + +"I know," she said softly. + +Of what use were more words? They would only beat like waves against +the granite of his broken heart. The two sat silent for a time. Then +Abbie said, "I must go." She edged a little towards him, and touched +his coat. + +"When will you come out? I will explain it all to the minister and the +neighbors. We will be married as soon as you come home. She wanted us +to! Oh, Ikey! Oh, Ikey! My poor--poor boy!" + +Isaac arose unsteadily. It was time for her to go, for the turnkey had +nodded to him. + +A fierce, mad indignation at his fate and what it had wrought upon his +mother and upon his honorable name blinded him. He did not even say +good-by, but left the girl standing in the middle of the guard-room +alone. At any cost he must get back to his cell. Supposing his mind +should give way before he got there? He staggered to the stairway. He +threw his hands up, and groped on the railing. A blindness struck him +before he had mounted two steps. He did not hear a woman's shriek, nor +the rushing of feet, nor the sound of his own fall. + +When he awaked, he was alone in the witness cell; and when he put his +white hands to his hair, he felt that his head was shaven. The chipper +prison doctor told him that he was getting nicely over a brain fever. + + * * * * * + +It was three months after this before the case of Tom Muldoon came +upon the docket. The man whom the saloon-keeper had shot had but just +been declared out of clanger and on the road to recovery. + +When the case was called, the district attorney arose from his +desk under the bench, and represented to the court that as for some +unforeseen reason the said Frank Stevens, who had been maliciously and +wilfully assaulted and shot by the said Tom Muldoon, had refused to +prosecute, the prosecution rested upon the government, which would +rely upon the direct evidence of one witness to sustain the case. + +The district attorney, who was an unbought man, and whose future +election depended upon the number of convictions he secured for the +State, now opened his case with such decision, vigor, and masterful +certainty that the policemen and other friends of the defendant began +to quake for the boss of the--th Ward. + +"And now, your honor, I will call to the witness-stand a young man of +stainless life, whom the government has held as a witness since the +brutal assault was committed. He is in the custody of the sheriff of +the county, Isaac Masters!" + +All eyes turned to the door at the left of the bench. There was a +bustle of expectancy, and a pallor upon the face of Tom Muldoon. + +"Isaac Masters!" repeated the attorney impatiently. "Will the court +officer produce the witness?" + +The judge rapped his pencil on the desk in a nervous tattoo. Above all +things he detested delay. + +"I hope Your Honor will grant me a few moments," said the attorney, +annoyed. "The witness must surely be here directly." + +"It can go over--" began the judge indulgently, when he was +interrupted by the entrance of the sheriff of the county himself. This +man beckoned to the district attorney, and the two whispered together +with the appearance of great excitement. + +"Well?" said the judge, yawning. "Produce your witness." + +But the attorney for the government came back to his place slowly, +with head bent. He was very pale, and evidently much shaken. The +saloon-keeper's face expanded with hope, as he leaned aside and +whispered to a friendly wardman. + +What was the evidence? Where was the witness? Silent? Why? The +question flashed from face to face in the court-room. Had he escaped? +Or been spirited away? Such things had been known to happen. Or had he +become insane during his incarceration? Such things had been known to +happen, too. Gentlemen of the law! Gentlemen of the jury! Sheriff +of the county! Judge of the Superior Court! Where is the witness? We +demand him on penalty of contempt. Contempt of your Honorable Court? +Contempt of court! + +What? Is he not here? After all this cost to the State, and to the +man? Why has he not met his enforced appointment? If not here, why +was the innocent witness suffocated behind bars and walls, while the +murderer was free to dispense rum? + +"Your Honor," began the attorney, with white lips, "a most unfortunate +occurrence has happened, one that the government truly deplores. The +witness has been suddenly called away. In fact, Your Honor--hem!--in +short, I have been informed by the sheriff that the witness cannot +answer to the summons of the court. He is disqualified from subpoena. +In fact, Your Honor, the witness died this morning." + +The lawyer took out his handkerchief ostentatiously. He then bent to +his papers with shaking hands. He looked them over carefully while the +court held its breath. + +"As the government is not in possession of any evidence against +Muldoon, I move to nolle prosequi the case." + +"It is granted," said the judge, with a keen glance at the bloated +prisoner, whom wardmen and officers of the law were already +congratulating profusely. + +"Order!" continued the judge. "Prisoner, stand up! You are allowed +to go upon your own recognizance in the sum of two hundred and fifty +dollars." + +The next case was called, a new crowd entered the vitiated room, +and the court proceeded with its routine as if nothing unusual had +happened. + +And the silent witness has passed out of every memory but mine, and +that of one poor girl mourning in the New Hampshire hills. + + + + +[Illustration: THE SUN'S LIGHT] + + + + +THE SUN'S LIGHT + +BY SIR ROBERT BALL, + +LOWNDEAN PROFESSOR OF ASTRONOMY AND GEOMETRY AT CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND; +FORMERLY ROYAL ASTRONOMER OF IRELAND. + + +The light of the great orb of day emanates solely from a closely +fitting robe of surpassing brightness. The great bulk of the sun which +lies within that brilliant mantle is comparatively obscure, and might +at first seem to play but an unimportant part so far as the dispensing +of light and heat is concerned. It may indeed be likened to the +coal-cellar from whence are drawn the supplies that produce the warmth +and brightness of the domestic hearth; while the brilliant robe where +the sun develops its heat corresponds to the grate in which the coal +is consumed. With regard to the thickness of the robe, we might liken +this brilliant exterior to the rind of an orange, while the gloomy +interior regions would correspond to the edible portion of the fruit. +Generally speaking, the rind of the orange is rather too coarse for +the purpose of this illustration. It might be nearer the truth to +affirm that the luminous part of the sun may be compared to the +delicate filmy skin of the peach. There can be no doubt that if this +glorious veil were unhappily stripped from the sun, the great luminary +would forthwith lose its powers of shedding forth light and heat. The +spots which we see so frequently to fleck the dazzling surface, are +merely rents in the brilliant mantle through which we are permitted to +obtain glimpses of the comparatively non-luminous interior. + +As the ability of the sun to warm and light this earth arises from the +peculiar properties of the thin glowing shell which surrounds it, a +problem of the greatest interest is presented in an inquiry as to the +material composition of this particular layer of solar substance. +We want, in fact, to ascertain what that special stuff can be which +enables the sun to be so useful to us dwellers on the earth. This +great problem has been solved, and the result is extremely interesting +and instructive; it has been discovered that the material which +confers on the sun its beneficent power is also a material which +is found in the greatest abundance on the earth, where it fulfils +purposes of the very highest importance. Let us see, in the first +place, what is the most patent fact with regard to the structure +of this solar mantle possessed of a glory so indescribable. It is +perfectly plain that it is not composed of any continuous solid +material. It has a granular character which is sometimes perceptible +when viewed through a powerful telescope, but which can be seen more +frequently and studied more satisfactorily on a photographic plate. +These granules have an obvious resemblance to clouds; and clouds, +indeed, we may call them. There is, however, a very wide difference +between the solar clouds and those clouds which float in our own +atmosphere. The clouds which we know so well are, of course, merely +vast collections of globules of water suspended in the air. No doubt +the mighty solar clouds do also consist of incalculable myriads +of globules of some particular substance floating in the solar +atmosphere. The material of which these solar clouds are composed +is, however, I need hardly say, not water, nor is it anything in +the remotest degree resembling water. Some years ago any attempt to +ascertain the particular substance out of which the solar clouds were +formed would at once have been regarded as futile; inasmuch as such a +problem would then have been thought to lie outside the possibilities +of human knowledge. The advance of discovery has, however, shed a +flood of light on the subject, and has revealed the nature of that +material to whose presence we are indebted for the solar beneficence. +The detection of the particular element to which all living creatures +are so much indebted is due to that distinguished physicist, Dr. G. +Johnstone Stoney. + +In the whole range of science, one of the most remarkable discoveries +ever made is that which has taught us that the elementary bodies of +which the sun and the stars are constructed are essentially the same +as those of which the earth has been built. This discovery was indeed +as unexpected as it is interesting. Could we ever have anticipated +that a body ninety-three millions of miles away, as the sun is, or a +hundred million of millions of miles distant, as a star may be, should +actually prove to have been formed from the same materials as those +which compose this earth of ours and all which it contains, whether +animate or inanimate? Yet such is indeed the fact. We are thus, in +a measure, prepared to find that the material which forms the great +solar clouds may turn out to be a substance not quite unknown to the +terrestrial chemist. Nay, further, its very abundance in the sun might +seem to suggest that this particular material might perhaps prove to +be one which was very abundant on the earth. + +[Illustration: THE SUN'S CORONA. + +From a photograph taken by Professor Schaeberle, at Mina Bronces, +Chili, in April, 1893, and kindly loaned by Professor E.S. Holden, +director of the Lick Observatory.] + +I had occasion to make use of the word carbon in a lecture which +I gave a short time ago, and I thought when I did so that I was of +course merely using a term with whose meaning all my audience must be +well acquainted. But I found out afterwards that in this matter I had +been mistaken. I was told that my introduction of the word carbon had +quite puzzled some of those who were listening to me. I learned that a +few of those who were unfamiliar with this word went to a gentleman +of their acquaintance who they thought would be likely to know, and +begged from him an explanation of this mysterious term; whereupon he +told them that he was not quite sure himself, but believed that carbon +was something which was made out of nitro-glycerine! Even at the risk +of telling what every schoolboy ought to know, I will say that +carbon is one of the commonest as well as one of the most remarkable +substances in nature. A lump of coke only differs from a piece +of carbon by the ash which the coke leaves behind when burned. As +charcoal is almost entirely carbon, so wood is largely composed of +this same element. Carbon is indeed present everywhere. In various +forms carbon is in the earth beneath our feet, and in the air which we +breath. This substance courses with the blood through our veins; it is +by carbon that the heat of the body is sustained; and the same element +is intimately associated with life in every phase. Nor is the presence +of carbon merely confined to this earth. We know it abounds on other +bodies in space. It has been shown to be eminently characteristic of +the composition of comets. Carbon is not only intimately associated +with articles of daily utility, and of plenteous abundance, but with +the most exquisite gems of "purest ray serene." More precious than +gold, more precious than rubies, the diamond itself is no more than +the same element in crystalline form. But the greatest of all the +functions of carbon in the universe has yet to be mentioned. This same +wonderful element has been shown to be in all probability the material +which constitutes those glowing solar clouds to whose kindly radiation +our very life owes its origin. + +[Illustration: At 10.34 A.M. The height of the eruption at this stage +was 135,200 miles.] + +[Illustration: At 10.40 A.M. Height, 161,500 miles.] + +[Illustration: At 10.58 A.M. Height, 280,800 miles. + +THREE VIEWS OF AN ERUPTIVE PROMINENCE OF THE SUN. + +From photographs taken at Kenwood Observatory, Chicago, March 25, +1895, and kindly loaned by Professor George E. Hale, of the Chicago +University.] + +In the ordinary incandescent electric lamp, the brilliant light is +produced by a glowing filament of carbon. The powerful current of +electricity experiences so much resistance as it flows through this +badly conducting substance, that it raises the temperature of the +carbon wire so as to make it dazzlingly white-hot. Indeed the carbon +is thus elevated to a temperature far in excess of that which could +be obtained in any other way. The reason why carbon is employed in +the electric lamp, in preference to any other substance, may be easily +understood. Suppose we tried to employ an iron wire as the glowing +filament within the well-known glass globe. Then when the current was +turned on that iron would of course become red-hot and white-hot; +but ere a sufficient temperature had been attained to produce the +requisite illumination, the iron wire would have been fused into drops +of liquid, the current would have been broken, and the lamp would have +been destroyed. Nor would the attempt to make an incandescent lamp +have proved much more successful had the filament been made of +any other metal. The least fusible of metals is the costly element +platinum, but even a wire of platinum, though it would stand much +more heat than a wire of iron or of steel, would not have retained the +solid form by the time it had been raised to the temperature necessary +for an incandescent lamp. + +There is no known metal, and perhaps no substance whatever, which +demands so high a temperature to fuse it as does the element carbon. +A filament of carbon, and a filament of carbon alone, will remain +unfused and unbroken when heated by the electric current to the +dazzling brilliance necessary for effective illumination. This is +the reason why this particular element is so indispensable for our +incandescent electric lamps. Modern research has now taught us that, +just as the electrician has to employ carbon as the immediate agent in +producing the brightest of artificial lights down here, so the sun in +heaven uses precisely the same element as the immediate agent in +the production of its transcendent light and heat. Owing to the +extraordinary fervor which prevails in the interior parts of the sun, +all substances there present, no matter how difficult we may find +their fusion, would have to submit to be melted, nay, even to be +driven off into vapor. If submitted to the heat of this appalling +solar furnace, an iron poker, for instance, would vanish into +invisible vapor. In the presence of the intense heat of the inner +parts of the sun, even carbon itself is unable to remain solid. +It would seem that it must assume a gaseous form under such +circumstances, just as the copper and the iron and all the other +substances do which yield more readily than it to the fierce heat of +their surroundings. + +The buoyancy of carbon vapor is one of its most remarkable +characteristics. Accordingly immense volumes of the carbon steam +in the sun soar at a higher level than do the vapors of the other +elements. Thus carbon becomes a very large and important constituent +of the more elevated regions of the solar atmosphere. We can +understand what happens to these carbon vapors by the analogous case +of the familiar clouds in our own skies. It is true, no doubt, that +our terrestrial clouds are composed of a material totally different +from that which constitutes the solar clouds. The sun evaporates the +water from the great oceans which cover so large a proportion of our +earth. The vapor thus produced ascends in the form of invisible gas +through our atmosphere, until it reaches an altitude thousands of +feet above the surface of the earth. The chill that the watery vapor +experiences up there is so great that the vapor collects into little +liquid beads, and it is, of course, these liquid beads, associated in +countless myriads, which form the clouds we know so well. + +We can now understand what happens as the buoyant carbon vapors +soar upwards through the sun's atmosphere. They attain at last to an +elevation where the fearful intensity of the solar heat has so +far abated that, though nearly all other elements may still remain +entirely gaseous, yet the exceptionally refractory carbon begins to +return to the liquid state. At the first stage in this return, the +carbon vapor conducts itself just as does the ascending watery vapor +from the earth when about to be transformed into a visible cloud. +Under the influence of a chill the carbon vapor collects into a myriad +host of little beads of liquid. Each of these drops of liquid carbon +in the glorious solar clouds has a temperature and a corresponding +radiance vastly exceeding that with which the filament glows in the +incandescent electric lamp. When we remember further that the entire +surface of our luminary is coated with these clouds, every particle +of which is thus intensely luminous, we need no longer wonder at that +dazzling brilliance which, even across the awful gulf of ninety-three +millions of miles, produces for us the indescribable glory of +daylight. + +_Sir Robert Ball will contribute a series of articles on "The Marvels +of the Universe." Six or eight of these articles may be expected +during the coming year_. + + + + +[Illustration: THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY BUILDINGS, ANDOVER, +MASSACHUSETTS.] + + + + +CHAPTERS FROM A LIFE. + +BY ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS, + +AUTHOR OF "THE GATES AJAR," "THE MADONNA OF THE TUBS," ETC. + +LIFE IN ANDOVER BEFORE THE WAR. + +Andover is--or Andover was--like the lady to whom Steele gave +immortality in the finest and most famous epigram ever offered to +woman. + +To have loved Andover; to have been born in Andover--I am brought up +short, in these notes, by the sudden recollection that I was _not_ +born in Andover. It has always been so difficult to believe it, that I +am liable any day to forget it; but the facts compel me to infer that +I was born within a mile of the State House. I must have become a +citizen of Andover at the age of three, when my father resigned his +Boston pulpit for the professorship of Rhetoric in Andover Seminary. +I remember distinctly our arrival at the white mansion with the +large, handsome grounds, the distant and mysterious grove, the rotund +horse-chestnut trees, venerable and solemn, nearly a century old--to +this day a horse-chestnut always seems to me like a theological +trustee--and the sweep of playground so vast, so soft, so green, +so fragrant, so clean, that the baby cockney ran imperiously to her +father and demanded that he go build her a brick sidewalk to play +upon. + +What, I wonder, may be the earliest act of memory on record? Mine is +not at all unusual--dating only to two and a half years; at which time +I clearly remember being knocked down by my dog, in my father's area +in Boston, and being crowed over by a rooster of abnormal proportions +who towered between me and the sky, a dragon in size and capabilities. + +My father always maintained that he distinctly remembered hearing the +death of Napoleon announced in his presence when he was one year and a +half old. + +Is the humiliating difference between the instinctive selection of +Napoleon and that of the rooster, one of temperament or sex? In either +case, it is significant enough to lead one to drop the subject. + +Next to having been born in a university town, comes the advantage--if +it be an advantage--of having spent one's youth there. Mr. Howells +says that he must be a dull fellow who does not, at some time or +other, hate his native village; and I must confess that I have not, at +all stages of my life, held my present opinion of Andover. There have +been times when her gentle indifference to the preoccupations of the +world has stung me, as all serenity stings restlessness. There have +been times when the inevitable limitations of her horizon have seemed +as familiar as the coffin-lid to the dead. + +[Illustration: PROFESSOR AUSTIN PHELPS'S STUDY. + +Drawn from a photograph taken after Professor Phelps's death, when the +study had been somewhat dismantled.] + +There was an epoch when her theology--But, nevertheless, I certainly +look back upon Andover Hill with a very gentle pleasure and heartfelt +sense of debt. + +It has been particularly asked of me to give some form to my +recollections of a phase of local life which is now so obviously +passing away that it has a certain historical interest. + +That Andover remains upon the map of Massachusetts yet, one does not +dispute; but the Andover of New England theology--the Andover of a +peculiar people, the Andover that held herself apart from the world +and all that was therein--will soon become an interesting wraith. + +The life of a professor's daughter in a university town is always a +little different from the lives of other girls; but the difference +seems to me--unless she be by nature entirely alien to it--in favor of +the girl. Were I to sum in one word my impressions of the influences +of Andover life upon a robust young mind and heart, I should call them +_gentle_. + +As soon as we began to think, we saw a community engaged in studying +thought. As soon as we began to feel, we were aware of a neighborhood +that did not feel superficially; at least, in certain higher +directions. When we began to ask the "questions of life," which all +intelligent young people ask sooner or later, we found ourselves in a +village of three institutions and their dependencies committed to the +pursuit of an ideal of education for which no amount of later, or +what we call broader, training ever gives us any better word than +Christian. + +Such things tell. Andover girls did not waltz, or suffer summer +engagements at Bar Harbor, a new one every year; neither did they read +Ibsen, or yellow novels; nor did they handle the French stories that +are hidden from parents; though they were excellent French scholars in +their day. + +I do not even know that one can call them more "serious" than their +city sisters--for we were a merry lot; at least, _my_ lot were. But +they were, I believe, especially open-hearted, gentle-minded girls. + +If they were "out of the world" to a certain extent, they were, to +another, out of the evil of it. As I look back upon the little +drama between twelve and twenty--I might rather say, between two and +twenty--Andover young people seem to me to have been as truly and +naturally innocent as one may meet anywhere in the world. Some of +these private records of girl-history were so white, so clear, so +sweet, that to read them would be like watching a morning-glory open. +The world is full, thank Heaven, of lovely girls; but though other +forms or phases of gentle society claim their full quota, I never saw +a lovelier than those I knew on Andover Hill. + +One terrible tragedy, indeed, befell our little "set;" for we had our +sets in Andover, as well as they of Newport or New York. + +A high-bred girl of exceptional beauty was furtively kissed one +evening by a daring boy (not a native of Andover, I hasten to +explain), and the furore which followed this unprecedented enormity +it would be impossible to describe to a member of more complicated +circles of society. Fancy the reception given such a commonplace at +any of our fashionable summer resorts to-day! + +On Andover Hill the event was a moral cataclysm. Andover girls were +country girls, but not of rustic (any more than of metropolitan) +social training. Which of them would have suffered an Academy boy, +walking home with her from a lecture or a prayer-meeting, any little +privilege which he might not have taken in her father's house, and +with her mother's knowledge? I never knew one. The case of which I +speak was historic, and as far as I ever knew, unique, and was that of +a victim, not an offender. + +The little beauty to whom this atrocity happened cried all night and +all the next day; she was reported not to have stopped crying for +twenty-six hours. Her pretty face grew wan and haggard. She was too +ill to go to her lessons. + +The teachers--to whom she had promptly related the +circumstance--condoled with her; the entire school vowed to avenge +her; we were a score of as disturbed and indignant girls as ever wept +over woman's wrongs, or scorned a man's depravity. + +Yet, for aught I know to the contrary, this abandoned young man may +have grown up to become a virtuous member of society; possibly even +an exemplary husband and father. I have never been able to trace his +history; probably the moral repulsion was too great. + +Yet they were no prigs, for their innocence! Andover girls, in the +best and brightest sense of the word, led a gay life. + +The preponderance of young men on the Hill gave more than ample +opportunity for well-mannered good times; and we made the most of +them. + +[Illustration: VIEW LOOKING FROM THE FRONT OF ELIZABETH STUART +PHELPS'S HOME IN ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS.] + +Legends of the feminine triumphs of past generations were handed +breathlessly down to us, and cherished with awe. A lady of the +village, said to have been once very handsome, was credibly reported +to have refused nineteen offers of marriage. Another, still plainly +beautiful, was known to have received and declined the suits of nine +theologues in one winter. Neither of these ladies married. We watched +their whitening hairs and serene faces with a certain pride of sex, +not easily to be understood by a man. When we began to think how +many times they _might_ have married, the subject assumed sensational +proportions. In fact, the maiden ladies of Andover always, I fancied, +regarded each other with a peculiar sense of peace. Each knew--and +knew that the rest knew--that it was (to use the Andover phraseology) +not of predestination or foreordination, but of free will absolute, +that an Andover girl passed through life alone. This little social +fact, which is undoubtedly true of most, if not all, university towns, +had mingled effects upon impressionable girls. For the proportion of +masculine society was almost Western in its munificence. + +Perhaps it is my duty to say just here that, if honestly put to +the question, I should admit that this proportion was almost too +munificent for the methods of education then--and still to an extent +now--in vogue. + +A large Academy for boys, and a flourishing Seminary for young men, +set across the village streets from two lively girls' schools, gave +to one observer of this little scholastic world her first argument for +co-education. + +I am confident that if the boys who serenaded (right manfully) under +the windows of Abbott Academy or of "The Nunnery," or who tied +their lady's colors to the bouquets that they tossed on balconies of +professors' houses, had been put, class to class, in competition with +us, they would have wasted less time upon us; and I could not deny +that if the girls who cut little holes in their fans through which one +could look, undetected and unreproved, at one's favorite Academy boy, +on some public occasion, had been preparing to meet or pass that boy +at Euclid or Xenophon recitation next morning, he would have occupied +less of their fancy. Intellectual competition is simpler, severer, and +more wholesome than the unmitigated social plane; and a mingling of +the two may be found calculated to produce the happiest results. + +"Poor souls!" said a Boston lady once to me, upon my alluding to a +certain literary club which was at that time occupying the enthusiasm +of the Hill. "Poor souls! I suppose they are so starved for society!" +We can fancy the amusement with which this comment would have been +received if it had been repeated--but it never was repeated till this +moment--in Andover. + +For Andover had her social life, and knew no better, for the most +part, than to enjoy it. It is true that many of her diversions took on +that religious or academic character natural to the place. Of village +parish life we knew nothing, for our chapel was, like others of its +kind, rather an exclusive little place of worship. We were ignorant +of pastoral visits, deacons, parochial gossip, church fairs, and what +Professor Park used to call "the doughnut business;" and, though we +cultivated a weekly prayer-meeting in the lecture-room, I think its +chief influence was as a training-school for theological students +whose early efforts at public exhortation (poor fellows!) quaveringly +besought their Professors to grow in grace, and admonished the +families of the Faculty circle to repent. + +But we had our lectures and our concerts--quite distinct, as orthodox +circles will understand, from those missionary festivals which went, I +never discovered why, by the name of Monthly Concerts--and our +Porter Rhets. I believe this cipher stood for Porter Rhetorical; and +research, if pushed far enough, would develop the fact that Porter +indicated a dead professor who once founded a chair and a debating +society for young men. Then we had our anniversaries and our +exhibitions, when we got ourselves into our organdie muslins or best +coats, and listened to the boys spouting Greek and Latin orations in +the old, red brick Academy, and heard the theological students--but +here this reporter is forced to pause. I suppose I ought to be ashamed +of it, but the fact is, that I never attended an anniversary exercise +of the Seminary in my life. It would be difficult to say why. I think +my reluctance consisted in an abnormal objection to Trustees. So far +as I know, they were an innocent set of men, of good reputations and +quite harmless. But I certainly acquired, at a very early age, +an antipathy to this class of Americans from which I have never +recovered. + +Our anniversaries occurred, according to the barbaric custom of the +times, in the hottest heat of August; and if there be a hotter place +in Massachusetts than Andover was, I have yet to simmer in it. Our +houses were, of course, thrown open, and crowded to the shingles. + +I remember once sharing my tiny room with a little guest who would not +have the window open, though the thermometer had stood above ninety, +day and night, for a week; and because she was a trustee's daughter, +I must not complain. Perhaps this experience emphasized a natural lack +of sympathy with her father. + +At all events, I cherished a hidden antagonism to these excellent and +useful men, of which I make this late and public confession. It seemed +to me that everybody in Andover was afraid of them. I "took it out" in +the cordial defiance of a born rebel. + +Then we had our tea-parties--theological, of course--when the students +came to tea in alphabetical order; and the Professor told his best +stories; and the ladies of the family were expected to keep more or +less quiet while the gentlemen talked. But this, I should say, was of +the earlier time. + +And, of course, we had the occasional supply; and as for the clerical +guest, in some shape he was always with us. + +I remember the shocked expression on the face of a not very eminent +minister, because I joined in the conversation when, in the absence +of my father's wife, the new mother, it fell to me to take the head of +the table. It was truly a stimulating conversation, intellectual, and, +like all clerical conversations, vivaciously amusing; and it swept +me in, unconsciously. I think this occurred after I had written "The +Gates Ajar." + +This good man has since become an earnest anti-suffragist and opposer +of the movement for the higher education of women. I can only hope he +does not owe his dismal convictions to the moral jar received on that +occasion; and I regret to learn that his daughter has been forbidden +to go to college. + +[Illustration: DR. EDWARDS A. PARK, FORMERLY PROFESSOR OF CHRISTIAN +THEOLOGY IN ANDOVER SEMINARY. + +From a photograph taken in 1862 by J.W. Black, Boston.] + +We had, too, our levees--that was the word; by it one meant what is +now called a reception. I have been told that my mother, who was a +woman of marked social tastes and gifts, oppressed by the lack of +variety in Andover life, originated this innocent form of dissipation. + +These festivities, like others in academic towns, were democratic to +a degree amusing or inspiring, according to the temperament of the +spectator. + +The professors' brilliantly-lighted drawing-rooms were thrown open to +the students and families of the Hill. Distinguished men jostled the +Academy boy who built the furnace fire to pay for his education, and +who might be found on the faculty some day, in his turn, or might +himself acquire an enviable and well-earned celebrity. + +Eminent guests from out of town stood elbow to elbow with poor +theologues destined to the missionary field, and pathetically +observing the Andover levee as one of the last occasions of civilized +gayety in which it might be theirs to share. Ladies from Beacon Street +or from New York might be seen chatting with some gentle figure in +black, one of those widowed and brave women whose struggles to sustain +life and educate their children by boarding students form so large a +part of the pathos of academic towns. + +One such I knew who met on one of these occasions a member of the +club for which she provided. The lady was charming, well-dressed, +well-mannered. + +The young man, innocent of linen, had appeared at the levee in a gray +flannel shirt. Introductions passed. The lady bowed. + +"I am happy," stammered the poor fellow, "I am happy to meet the woman +who cooks our victuals." + +If it be asked, Why educate a man like that for the Christian +ministry?--but it was _not_ asked. Like all monstrosities, he grew +without permission. + +Let us hasten to call him the exception that he was to what, on the +whole, was (in those days) a fair, wholesome rule of theological +selection. The Professor's eyes flashed when he heard the story. + +"I have never approved," I think he said, "of the Special Course." + +For the Professor believed in no short-cut to the pulpit; but pleaded +for all the education, all the opportunity, all the culture, all +the gifts, all the graces, possible to a man's privilege or energy, +whereby to fit him to preach the Christian religion. But, like other +professors, he could not always have his way. + +It ought to be said, perhaps, that, beside the self-made or +self-making man, there always sat upon the old benches in the +lecture-room a certain proportion of gentlemen born and bred to ease +and affluence, who had chosen their life's work from motives which +were, at least, as much to be respected as the struggles of the +converted newsboy or the penitent expressman. + +Take her at her dullest, I think we were very fond of Andover; and +though we dutifully improved our opportunities to present ourselves in +other circles of society, yet, like fisher-folk or mountain-folk, we +were always uneasy away from home. I remember on my first visit to +New York or Boston--and this although my father was with me--quietly +crying my eyes out behind the tall, embroidered screen which the +hostess moved before the grate, because the fire-light made me so +homesick. Who forgets his first attack of nostalgia? Alas! so far as +this recorder is concerned, the first was too far from the last. For +I am cursed (or blessed) with a love of home so inevitable and +so passionate as to be nothing less than ridiculous to my day and +generation--a day of rovers, a generation of shawl-straps and valises. + +"Do you never want to _stay_?" I once asked a distinguished author +whose domestic uprootings were so frequent as to cause remark even in +America. + +"I am the most homesick man who ever lived," he responded sadly. "If I +only pass a night in a sleeping-car, I hate to leave my berth." + +"You must have cultivated society in Andover," an eminent Cambridge +writer once said to me, with more sincerity of tone than was to be +expected of the Cambridge accent as addressed to the Andover fact. I +was young then, and I remember to have answered, honestly enough, +but with what must have struck this superior man as unpardonable +flippancy: + +"Oh, but one gets tired of seeing only cultivated people!" + +I have thought of it sometimes since, when, in other surroundings, the +memory of that peaceful, scholarly life has returned poignantly to me. + +When one can "run in" any day to homes like those on that quiet +and conscientious Hill, one may not do it; but when one cannot, one +appreciates their high and gentle influence. + +One of the historic figures of my day in Andover was Professor Park. +Equally eminent both as a preacher and as a theologian, his fame was +great in Zion; and "the world" itself had knowledge of him, and did +him honor. + +He was a striking figure in the days which were the best of Andover. +He was unquestionably a genius; the fact that it was a kind of genius +for which the temper of our times is soon likely to find declining +uses gives some especial interest to his name. + +The appearances are that he will be the last of his type, once so +powerful and still so venerable in New England history. He wears (for +he is yet living) the dignity of a closing cycle; there is something +sad and grand about his individualism, as there is about the last +great chief of a tribe, or the last king of a dynasty. + +In his youth he was the progressive of Evangelical theology. In his +age he stands the proud and reticent conservative, the now silent +representative of a departed glory, a departed severity--and, we must +admit, of a departed strength--from which the theology of our times +has melted away. Like other men in such positions, he has had battles +to fight, and he has fought them; enemies to make, and he has made +them. How can he keep them? He is growing old so gently and so kindly! +Ardent friends and worshipping admirers he has always had, and kept, +and deserved. + +A lady well known among the writers of our day, herself a professor's +daughter from a New England college town, happened once to be talking +with me in a lonely hour and in a mood of confidence. + +"Oh," she cried, "it seems some of these desolate nights as if I +_must_ go home and sit watching for my father to come back from +faculty meeting!" + +But the tears smote her face, and she turned away. I knew that she had +been her dead father's idol, and he hers. + +To her listener what a panorama in those two words: "Faculty meeting!" + +Every professor's daughter, every woman from a university family, can +see it all. The whole scholastic and domestic, studious and tender +life comes back. Faculty meeting! We wait for the tired professor who +had the latest difference to settle with his colleagues, or the newest +breach to soothe, or the favorite move to push; how late he is! He +comes in softly, haggard and spent, closing the door so quietly that +no one shall be wakened by this midnight dissipation. The woman who +loves him most anxiously--be it wife or be it daughter--is waiting for +him. Perhaps there is a little whispered sympathy for the trouble +in the faculty which he does not tell. Perhaps there is a little +expedition to the pantry for a midnight lunch. + +My first recollections of Professor Park give me his tall, gaunt, +but well-proportioned figure striding up and down the gravel walks +in front of the house, two hours before time for faculty meeting, in +solemn conclave with my father. The two were friends--barring those +interludes common to all faculties, when professional differences are +in the foreground--and the pacing of their united feet might have worn +Andover Hill through to the central fires. For years I cultivated an +objection to Professor Park as being the chief visible reason why we +had to wait for supper. + +I remember his celebrated sermons quite well. The chapel was always +thronged, and--as there were no particular fire-laws in those days on +Andover Hill--the aisles brimmed over when it was known that Professor +Park or Professor Phelps was to preach. I think I usually began with +a little jealous counting of the audience, lest it should prove bigger +than my father's; but even a child could not long listen to Professor +Park and not forget her small affairs, and all affairs except the +eloquence of the man. + +Great, I believe it was. Certain distinguished sermons had their +popular names, as "The Judas Sermon," or "The Peter Sermon," and drew +their admirers accordingly. He was a man of marked emotional nature, +which he often found it hard to control. A skeptical critic might have +wondered whether the tears welled, or the face broke, or the voice +trembled, always just at the right moment, from pure spontaneity. But +those who knew the preacher personally never doubted the genuineness +of the feeling that swept and carried orator and hearers down. We do +not hear such sermons now. + +Professor Park has always been a man of social ease and wit. The last +time I saw him, at the age of eighty-five, in his house in Andover, +I thought, one need not say, "has been;" and to recall his brilliant +talk that day gives me hesitation over the past tense of this +reminiscence. On the whole, with the exception of Doctor Holmes, I +think I should call Professor Park the best converser--at least among +eminent _men_--whom I have ever met. + +He has always been a man very sensitive to the intellectual values +of life, and fully inclined perhaps to approach the spiritual through +those. It is easy to misunderstand a religious teacher of this +temperament, and his admiring students may have sometimes done so. + +One in particular I remember to have heard of who neglected the +lecture-room to cultivate upon his own responsibility the misson work +of what was known as Abbott Village. To the Christian socialism of our +day, the misery of factory life might seem as important for the +future clergyman as the system of theology regnant in his particular +seminary--but that was not the fashion of the time; at all events, the +man was a student under the Professor's orders, and the orders were: +keep to the curriculum; and I can but think that the Professor was +right when he caustically said: + +"That ---- is wasting his seminary course in what _he calls doing +good_!" + +Sometimes, too, the students used to beg off to go on book-agencies, +or to prosecute other forms of money-making; and of one such Professor +Park was heard to say that he "sacrificed his education to get the +means of paying for it." + +I am indebted to Professor Park for this: "Professor Stuart and myself +were reluctant to release them from their studies. Professor Stuart +remarked of one student that he got excused _every_ Saturday for the +purpose of going home for a _week_, and always stayed a _fortnight_." + +The last time that I saw Professor Park he told me a good story. +It concerned the days of his prime, when he had been preaching +somewhere--in Boston or New York, I think--and after the audience was +dismissed a man lingered and approached him. + +"Sir," said the stranger, "I am under great obligations to you. Your +discourse has moved me greatly. I can truly say that I believe I shall +owe the salvation of my soul to you. I wish to offer, sir, to +the seminary with which you are connected, a slight tribute of my +admiration for and indebtedness to you." The gentleman drew out his +purse. + +"I waited, breathless," said Professor Park, with his own tremendous +solemnity of manner; "I awaited the tribute of that grateful man. At +what price did he value his soul? I anticipated a contribution for the +seminary which it would be a privilege to offer. At what rate did +my converted hearer price his soul?--Hundreds? Thousands? Tens +of thousands? With indescribable dignity the man handed to me--a +five-dollar bill!" + + + + +THE WAGER OF THE MARQUIS DE MÉROSAILLES. + +BY ANTHONY HOPE, + +AUTHOR OF "THE PRISONER OF ZENDA," "THE DOLLY DIALOGUES," ETC. + + +In the year 1634, as spring came, there arrived at Strelsau a French +nobleman, of high rank and great possessions, and endowed with many +accomplishments. He came to visit Prince Rudolf, whose acquaintance he +had made while the prince was at Paris in the course of his travels. +King Henry received Monsieur de Mérosailles--for such was his +name--most graciously, and sent a guard of honor to conduct him to the +Castle of Zenda, where the prince was then staying in company with his +sister Osra. There the marquis on his arrival was greeted with much +joy by Prince Rudolf, who found his sojourn in the country somewhat +irksome, and was glad of the society of a friend with whom he could +talk and sport and play at cards. All these things he did with +Monsieur de Mérosailles, and a great friendship arose between the +young men, so that they spoke very freely to one another at all times, +and most of all when they had drunk their wine and sat together in the +evening in Prince Rudolf's chamber that looked across the moat toward +the gardens; for the new chateau that now stands on the site of these +gardens was not then built. And one night Monsieur de Mérosailles made +bold to ask the prince how it fell out that his sister the princess, +a lady of such great beauty, seemed sad, and showed no pleasure in +the society of any gentleman, but treated all alike with coldness and +disdain. Prince Rudolf, laughing, answered that girls were strange +creatures, and that he had ceased to trouble his head about them--of +his heart he said nothing--and he finished by exclaiming, "On my +honor, I doubt if she so much as knows you are here, for she has not +looked at you once since your arrival!" And he smiled maliciously, for +he knew that the marquis was not accustomed to be neglected by ladies, +and would take it ill that even a princess should be unconscious +of his presence. In this he calculated rightly, for Monsieur de +Mérosailles was greatly vexed, and, twisting his glass in his fingers, +he said: + +"If she were not a princess, and your sister, sir, I would engage to +make her look at me." + +"I am not hurt by her looking at you," rejoined the prince; for that +evening he was very merry. "A look is no great thing." + +And the marquis being also very merry, and knowing that Rudolf had +less regard for his dignity than a prince should have, threw out +carelessly: + +"A kiss is more, sir." + +"It is a great deal more," laughed the prince, tugging his mustache. + +"Are you ready for a wager, sir?" asked Monsieur de Mérosailles, +leaning across the table toward him. + +"I'll lay you a thousand crowns to a hundred that you do not gain a +kiss, using what means you will, save force." + +"I'll take the wager, sir," cried the marquis; "but it shall be three, +not one." + +"Have a care," said the prince. "Don't go too near the flame, my lord. +There are some wings in Strelsau singed at that candle." + +"Indeed, the light is very bright," assented the marquis, courteously. +"That risk I must run, though, if I am to win my wager. It is to be +three, then, and by what means I will, save force?" + +"Even so," said Rudolf, and he laughed again. For he thought the wager +harmless, since by no means could Monsieur de Mérosailles win so much +as one kiss from the Princess Osra, and the wager stood at three. But +he did not think how he wronged his sister by using her name lightly, +being in all such matters a man of careless mind. + +But the marquis, having made his wager, set himself steadily to win +it; for he brought forth the choicest clothes from his wardrobe, and +ornaments and perfumes; and he laid fine presents at the princess's +feet; and he waylaid her wherever she went, and was profuse of +glances, sighs, and hints; and he wrote sonnets, as fine gentlemen +used in those days, and lyrics and pastorals, wherein she figured +under charming names. These he bribed the princess's waiting-women to +leave in their mistress's chamber. Moreover, he looked now sorrowful, +now passionate, and he ate nothing at dinner, but drank his wine in +wild gulps as though he sought to banish sadness. So that, in a word, +there was no device in Cupid's armory that the Marquis de Mérosailles +did not practise in the endeavor to win a look from the Princess Osra. +But no look came, and he got nothing from her but cold civility. Yet +she had looked at him when he looked not--for princesses are much like +other maidens--and thought him a very pretty gentleman, and was highly +amused by his extravagance. Yet she did not believe it to witness any +true devotion to her, but thought it mere gallantry. + +[Illustration: THE PHYSICIAN RECEIVING THE PRINCESS IN THE MARQUIS'S +SICKROOM.] + +Then one day Monsieur de Mérosailles, having tried all else that he +could think of, took to his bed. He sent for a physician, and paid him +a high fee to find the seeds of a rapid and fatal disease in him; and +he made his body-servant whiten his face and darken the room; and he +groaned very pitifully, saying that he was sick, and that he was glad +of it, for death would be better far than the continued disdain of the +Princess Osra. And all this, being told by the marquis's servants to +the princess's waiting-women, reached Osra's ears, and caused her much +perturbation. For she now perceived that the passion, of the marquis +was real and deep, and she became very sorry for him; and the longer +the face of the rascally physician grew, the more sad the princess +became; and she walked up and down, bewailing the terrible effects +of her beauty, wishing that she were not so fair, and mourning very +tenderly for the sad plight of the unhappy marquis. Through all Prince +Rudolf looked on, but was bound by his wager not to undeceive her; +moreover, he found much entertainment in the matter, and swore that it +was worth three times a thousand crowns. + +At last the marquis sent, by the mouth of the physician, a very humble +and pitiful message to the princess, in which he spoke of himself as +near to death, hinted at the cruel cause of his condition, and prayed +her of her compassion to visit him in his chamber and speak a word of +comfort, or at least let him look on her face; for the brightness of +her eyes, he said, might cure even what it had caused. + +Deceived by this appeal, Princess Osra agreed to go. Moved by some +strange impulse, she put on her loveliest gown, dressed her hair most +splendidly, and came into his chamber looking like a goddess. There +lay the marquis, white as a ghost and languid, on his pillows; and +they were left, as they thought, alone. Then Osra sat down, and began +to talk very gently and kindly to him, glancing only at the madness +which brought him to his sad state, and imploring him to summon his +resolution and conquer his sickness for his friends' sake at home in +France, and for the sake of her brother, who loved him. + +"There is nobody who loves me," said the marquis, petulantly; and when +Osra cried out at this, he went on: "For the love of those whom I do +not love is nothing to me, and the only soul alive I love--" There he +stopped, but his eyes, fixed on Osra's face, ended the sentence for +him. And she blushed, and looked away. Then, thinking the moment +had come, he burst suddenly into a flood of protestations and +self-reproach, cursing himself for a fool and a presumptuous madman, +pitifully craving her pardon, and declaring that he did not deserve +her kindness, and yet that he could not live without it, and that +anyhow he would be dead soon and thus cease to trouble her. But she, +being thus passionately assailed, showed such sweet tenderness and +compassion and pity that Monsieur de Mérosailles came very near to +forgetting that he was playing a comedy, and threw himself into his +part with eagerness, redoubling his vehemence, and feeling now full +half of what he said. For the princess was to his eyes far more +beautiful in her softer mood. Yet he remembered his wager, and at +last, when she was nearly in tears, and ready, as it seemed, to do +anything to give him comfort, he cried desperately: + +"Ah, leave me, leave me! Leave me to die alone! Yet for pity's sake, +before you go, and before I die, give me your forgiveness, and let +your lips touch my forehead in token of it! And then I shall die in +peace." + +At that the princess blushed still more, and her eyes were dim and +shone; for she was very deeply touched at his misery and at the sad +prospect of the death of so gallant a gentleman for love. Thus she +could scarcely speak for emotion; and the marquis, seeing her emotion, +was himself much affected; and she rose from her chair and bent over +him, and whispered comfort to him. Then she leant down, and very +lightly touched his forehead with her lips; and he felt her eyelashes, +that were wet with her tears, brush the skin of his forehead; and then +she sobbed, and covered her face with her hands. Indeed, his state +seemed to her most pitiful. + +Thus Monsieur de Mérosailles had won one of his three kisses; yet, +strange to tell, there was no triumph in him, but he now perceived +the baseness of his device; and the sweet kindness of the princess, +working together with the great beauty of her softened manner, so +affected him that he thought no more of his wager, and could not +endure to carry on his deception. And nothing would serve his turn but +to confess to the princess what he had done, and humble himself in +the dust before her, and entreat her to pardon him and let him find +forgiveness. Therefore, impelled by these feelings, after he had lain +still a few moments listening to the princess's weeping, he leapt +suddenly out of the bed, showing himself fully clothed under the +bedgown which he now eagerly tore off, and he rubbed all the white +he could from his cheeks; and then he fell on his knees before the +princess, crying to her that he had played the meanest trick on her, +and that he was a scoundrel and no gentleman, and yet that, unless she +forgave him, he should in very truth die. Nay, he would not consent to +live, unless he could win from her pardon for his deceit. And in all +this he was now most absolutely in earnest, wondering only how he had +not been as passionately enamoured of her from the first as he had +feigned himself to be. For a man in love can never conceive himself +out of it; nor he that is out of it, in it: for, if he can, he is +halfway to the one or the other, however little he may know it. + +At first the princess sat as though she were turned to stone. But when +he had finished his confession, and she understood the trick that had +been played upon her, and how not only her kiss but also her tears had +been won from her by fraud; and when she thought, as she did, that the +marquis was playing another trick upon her, and that there was no more +truth nor honesty in his present protestations than in those which +went before--she fell into great shame and into a great rage; and her +eyes flashed like the eyes of her father himself, as she rose to her +feet and looked down on Monsieur de Mérosailles as he knelt imploring +her. Now her face turned pale from red, and she set her lips, and she +drew her gown close round her lest his touch should defile it (so the +unhappy gentleman understood the gesture), and she daintily picked her +steps round him lest by chance she should happen to come in contact +with so foul a thing. Thus she walked toward the door, and, having +reached it, she turned and said to him: + +"Your death may blot out the insult--nothing less;" and with her head +held high, and her whole air full of scorn, she swept out of the room, +leaving the marquis on his knees. Then he started up to follow her, +but dared not; and he flung himself on the bed in a paroxysm of shame +and vexation, and now of love, and he cried out loud: + +"Then my death shall blot it out, since nothing else will serve!" + +For he was in a very desperate mood. For a long while he lay there, +and then, having risen, dressed himself in a sombre suit of black, +and buckled his sword by his side, and put on his riding-boots, and, +summoning his servant, bade him saddle his horse. "For," said he to +himself, "I will ride into the forest, and there kill myself; and +perhaps when I am dead, the princess will forgive, and will believe in +my love, and grieve a little for me." + +Now, as he went from his chamber to cross the moat by the drawbridge, +he encountered Prince Rudolf returning from hawking. They met full +in the centre of the bridge, and the prince, seeing Monsieur de +Mérosailles dressed all in black from the feather in his cap to his +boots, called out mockingly, "Who is to be buried to-day, my lord, and +whither do you ride to the funeral? It cannot be yourself, for I see +that you are marvellously recovered of your sickness." + +"But it is myself," answered the marquis, coming near and speaking low +that the servants and the falconers might not overhear. "And I ride, +sir, to my own funeral." + +"The jest is still afoot, then?" asked the prince. "Yet I do not see +my sister at the window to watch you go, and I warrant you have made +no way with your wager yet." + +"A thousand curses on my wager!" cried the marquis. "Yes, I have made +way with the accursed thing, and that is why I now go to my death." + +"What, has she kissed you?" cried the prince, with a merry, astonished +laugh. + +"Yes, sir, she has kissed me once, and therefore I go to die." + +"I have heard many a better reason, then," answered the prince. + +By now the prince had dismounted, and he stood by Monsieur de +Mérosailles in the middle of the bridge, and heard from him how the +trick had prospered. At this he was much tickled; and, alas! he was +even more diverted when the penitence of the marquis was revealed to +him, and was most of all moved to merriment when it appeared that +the marquis, having gone too near the candle, had been caught by its +flame, and was so terribly singed and scorched that he could not bear +to live. And while they talked on the bridge, the princess looked out +on them from a lofty narrow window, but neither of them saw her. +Now, when the prince had done laughing, he put his arm through his +friend's, and bade him not be a fool, but come in and toast the +princess's kiss in a draught of wine. "For," he said, "though you will +never get the other two, yet it is a brave exploit to have got one." + +But the marquis shook his head, and his air was so resolute and so +full of sorrow that not only was Rudolf alarmed for his reason, but +Princess Osra also, at the window, wondered what ailed him and why he +wore such a long face; and she now noticed, that he was dressed all in +black, and that his horse waited for him across the bridge. + +"Not," said she, "that I care what becomes of the impudent rogue!" Yet +she did not leave the window, but watched very intently to see what +Monsieur de Mérosailles would do. + +For a long while he talked with Rudolf on the bridge, Rudolf seeming +more serious than he was wont to be; and at last the marquis bent to +kiss the prince's hand, and the prince raised him and kissed him on +either cheek; and then the marquis went and mounted his horse and rode +off, slowly and unattended, into the glades of the forest of Zenda. +But the prince, with a shrug of his shoulders and a frown on his brow, +entered under the portcullis, and disappeared from his sister's view. + +Upon this the princess, assuming an air of great carelessness, walked +down from the room where she was, and found her brother, sitting still +in his boots, and drinking wine; and she said: + +"Monsieur de Mérosailles has taken his leave, then?" + +"Even so, madam," rejoined Rudolf. + +Then she broke into a fierce attack on the marquis, and on her brother +also; for a man, said she, is known by his friends, and what a man +must Rudolf be to have a friend like the Marquis de Mérosailles! + +"Most brothers," she said, in fiery temper, "would make him answer for +what he has done with his life. But you laugh--nay, I dare say you had +a hand in it." + +As to this last charge the prince had the discretion to say nothing; +he chose rather to answer the first part of what she said, and, +shrugging his shoulders again, rejoined, "The fool saves me the +trouble, for he has gone off to kill himself." + +"To kill himself?" she said, half-incredulous, but also +half-believing, because of the marquis's gloomy looks and black +clothes. + +"To kill himself," repeated Rudolf. "For, in the first place, you are +angry, so he cannot live; and in the second, he has behaved like a +rogue, so he cannot live; and in the third place, you are so lovely, +sister, that he cannot live; and in the first, second, and third +places, he is a fool, so he cannot live." And the prince finished his +flagon of wine with every sign of ill-humor in his manner. + +"He is well dead," she cried. + +"Oh, as you please!" said he. "He is not the first brave man who has +died on your account;" and he rose and strode out of the room very +surlily, for he had a great friendship for Monsieur de Mérosailles, +and had no patience with men who let love make dead bones of them. + +The Princess Osra, being thus left alone, sat for a little while in +deep thought. There rose before her mind the picture of Monsieur de +Mérosailles riding mournfully through the gloom of the forest to his +death; and although his conduct had been all, and more than all, +that she had called it, yet it seemed hard that he should die for +it. Moreover, if he now in truth felt what he had before feigned, the +present truth was an atonement for the past treachery; and she said +to herself that she could not sleep quietly that night if the marquis +killed himself in the forest. Presently she wandered slowly up to her +chamber, and looked in the mirror, and murmured low, "Poor fellow!" +And then with sudden speed she attired herself for riding, and +commanded her horse to be saddled, and darted down the stairs and +across the bridge, and mounted, and, forbidding any one to accompany +her, rode away into the forest, following the tracks of the hoofs of +Monsieur de Mérosailles's horse. It was then late afternoon, and the +slanting rays of the sun, striking through the tree-trunks, reddened +her face as she rode along, spurring her horse and following hard on +the track of the forlorn gentleman. But what she intended to do if she +came up with him, she did not think. + +When she had ridden an hour or more, she saw his horse tethered to a +trunk; and there was a ring of trees and bushes near, encircling an +open grassy spot. Herself dismounting and fastening her horse by the +marquis's horse, she stole up, and saw Monsieur de Mérosailles sitting +on the ground, his drawn sword lying beside him; and his back was +towards her. She held her breath, and waited for a few moments. Then +he took up the sword, and felt the point and also the edge of it, +and sighed deeply; and the princess thought that this sorrowful mood +became him better than any she had seen him in before. Then he rose to +his feet, and took his sword by the blade beneath the hilt, and turned +the point of it towards his heart. And Osra, fearing that the deed +would be done immediately, called out eagerly, "My lord, my lord!" and +Monsieur de Mérosailles turned round with a great start. When he saw +her, he stood in astonishment, his hand still holding the blade of the +sword. And, standing just on the other side of the trees, she said: + +"Is your offence against me to be cured by adding an offence against +Heaven and the Church?" And she looked on him with great severity; yet +her cheek was flushed, and after a while she did not meet his glance. + +"How came you here, madam?" he asked in wonder. + +"I heard," she said, "that you meditated this great sin, and I rode +after you to forbid it." + +"Can you forbid what you cause?" he asked. + +"I am not the cause of it," she said, "but your own trickery." + +"It is true. I am not worthy to live," cried the marquis, smiting the +hilt of his sword to the ground. "I pray you, madam, leave me alone +to die, for I cannot tear myself from the world so long as I see your +face." And as he spoke he knelt on one knee, as though he were doing +homage to her. + +The princess caught at a bough of the tree under which she stood, and +pulled the bough down so that its leaves half hid her face, and the +marquis saw little more than her eyes from among the foliage. And, +thus being better able to speak to him, she said, softly: + +"And dare you die, unforgiven?" + +"I had prayed for forgiveness before you found me, madam," said he. + +"Of Heaven, my lord?" + +"Of Heaven, madam. For of Heaven I dare to ask it." + +[Illustration: SHE STOLE UP AND SAW MONSIEUR DE MÉROSAILLES SITTING ON +THE GROUND.] + +The bough swayed up and down; and now Osra's gleaming hair, and now +her cheek, and always her eyes, were seen through the leaves. And +presently the marquis heard a voice asking: + +"Does Heaven forgive unasked?" + +"Indeed, no," said he, wondering. + +"And," said she, "are we poor mortals kinder than Heaven?" + +The marquis rose, and took a step or two towards where the bough +swayed up and down, and then knelt again. + +"A great sinner," said he, "cannot believe himself forgiven." + +"Then he wrongs the power of whom he seeks forgiveness; for +forgiveness is divine." + +"Then I will ask it, and, if I obtain it, I shall die happy." + +Again the bough swayed, and Osra said: + +"Nay, if you will die, you may die unforgiven." + +Monsieur de Mérosailles, hearing these words, sprang to his feet, and +came towards the bough until he was so close that he touched the green +leaves; and through them the eyes of Osra gleamed; and the sun's rays +struck on her eyes, and they danced in the sun, and her cheeks were +reddened by the same or some other cause. And the evening was very +still, and there seemed no sounds in the forest. + +"I cannot believe that you forgive. The crime is so great," said he. + +"It was great; yet I forgive." + +"I cannot believe it," said he again, and he looked at the point of +his sword, and then he looked through the leaves at the princess. + +"I can do no more than say that if you will live, I will forgive. And +we will forget." + +"By Heaven, no!" he whispered. "If I must forget to be forgiven, then +I will remember and be unforgiven." + +The faintest laugh reached him from among the foliage. + +"Then I will forget, and you shall be forgiven," said she. + +The marquis put up his hand and held a leaf aside, and he said again: + +"I cannot believe myself forgiven. Is there no other token of +forgiveness?" + +"Pray, my lord, do not put the leaves aside." + +"I still must die, unless I have sure warrant of forgiveness." + +"Ah, you try to make me think that!" + +"By Heavens, it is true!" and again he pointed his sword at his heart, +and he swore on his honor that unless she gave him a token he would +still kill himself. + +"Oh," said the princess, with great petulance, "I wish I had not +come!" + +"Then I should have been dead by now--dead, unforgiven!" + +"But you will still die!" + +"Yes, I must still die, unless--" + +"Sheath your sword, my lord. The sun strikes it, and it dazzles my +eyes." + +"That cannot be; for your eyes are brighter than sun and sword +together." + +"Then I must shade them with the leaves." + +"Yes, shade them with the leaves," he whispered. "Madam, is there no +token of forgiveness?" + +An absolute silence followed for a little while. Then Osra said: + +"Why did you swear on your honor?" + +"Because it is an oath that I cannot break." + +"Indeed, I wish that I had not come," sighed Princess Osra. + +Again came silence. The bough was pressed down for an instant; then it +swayed swiftly up again; and its leaves brushed the cheek of Monsieur +de Mérosailles. And he laughed loud and joyfully. + +"Something touched my cheek," said he. + +"It must have been a leaf," said Princess Osra. + +"Ah, a leaf!" + +"I think so," said Princess Osra. + +"Then it was a leaf of the Tree of Life," said Monsieur de +Mérosailles. + +"I wish some one would set me on my horse," said Osra. + +"That you may ride back to the castle--alone?" + +"Yes, unless you would relieve my brother's anxiety." + +"It would be courteous to do that much," said the Marquis. + +So they mounted, and rode back through the forest. In an hour the +Princess had come, and in the space of something over two hours they +returned; yet during all this time they spoke hardly a word; and +although the sun was now set, yet the glow remained on the face and +in the eyes of Princess Osra; while Monsieur de Mérosailles, being +forgiven, rode with a smile on his lips. + +But when they came to the castle, Prince Rudolf ran out to meet them, +and he cried almost before he reached them. + +"Hasten, hasten! There is not a moment, to lose, if the marquis +values life or liberty!" And when he came to them, he told them that +a waiting-woman had been false to Monsieur de Mérosailles, and, after +taking his money, had hid herself in his chamber, and seen the first +kiss that the princess gave him, and having made some pretext to gain +a holiday, had gone to the king, who was hunting near, and betrayed +the whole matter to him. + +"And one of my gentlemen," he continued, "has ridden here to tell me. +In an hour the guards will be here, and if the king catches you, my +lord, you will hang, as sure as I live." + +The princess turned very pale, but Monsieur de Mérosailles said, +haughtily, "I ask your pardon, sir, but the king dares not hang me, +for I am a gentleman and a subject of the king of France." + +"Man, man!" cried Rudolf. "The Lion will hang you first and think of +all that afterward! Come, now, it is dusk. You shall dress yourself as +my groom, and I will ride to the frontier, and you shall ride behind +me, and thus you may get safe away. I cannot have you hanged over such +a trifle." + +"I would have given my life willingly for what you call a trifle, +sir," said the marquis, with a bow to Osra. + +"Then have the trifle and life, too," said Rudolf, decisively. "Come +in with me, and I will give you your livery." + +When the prince and Monsieur de Mérosailles came out again on the +drawbridge, the evening had fallen, and it was dark; and their horses +stood at the end of the bridge, and by the horses stood the princess. + +"Quick!" said she. "For a peasant who came in, bringing a load of +wood, saw a troop of men coming over the crown of the hill, and he +says they are the king's guard." + +"Mount, man!" cried the prince to Monsieur de Mérosailles, who was now +dressed as a groom. "Perhaps we can get clear, or perhaps they will +not dare to stop me." + +But the marquis hesitated a little, for he did not like to run away; +and the princess ran a little way forward, and, shading her eyes with +her hand, cried, "See there; I see the gleam of steel in the dark. +They have reached the top of the hill, and are riding down." + +Then Prince Rudolf sprang on his horse, calling again to Monsieur de +Mérosailles: "Quick! quick! Your life hangs on it!" + +Then at last the marquis, though he was most reluctant to depart, was +about to spring on his horse, when the princess turned and glided back +swiftly to them. And--let it be remembered that evening had fallen +thick and black--she came to her brother, and put out her hand, and +grasped his hand, and said: + +"My lord, I forgive your wrong, and I thank you for your courtesy, and +I wish you farewell." + +Prince Rudolf, astonished, gazed at her without speaking. But she, +moving very quickly in spite of the darkness, ran to where Monsieur +de Mérosailles was about to spring on his horse, and she flung one arm +lightly about his neck, and she said: + +"Farewell, dear brother--God preserve you! See that no harm comes to +my good friend Monsieur de Mérosailles." And she kissed him lightly +on the cheek. Then she suddenly gave a loud cry of dismay, exclaiming, +"Alas, what have I done? Ah, what have I done?" And she hid her face +in her two hands. + +Prince Rudolf burst into a loud, short laugh, yet he said nothing to +his sister, but again urged the marquis to mount his horse. And the +marquis, who was in a sad tumult of triumph and of woe, leaped up, and +they rode out, and, turning their faces towards the forest, set spurs +to their horses, and vanished at breakneck speed into the glades. +And no sooner were they gone than the troopers of the king's guard +clattered at a canter up to the end of the bridge, where the Princess +Osra stood. But when their captain saw the princess, he drew rein. + +"What is your errand, sir?" she asked, most coldly and haughtily. + +"Madam," said the captain, "we are ordered to bring the Marquis +de Mérosailles alive or dead into the king's presence, and we have +information that he is in the castle, unless indeed he were one of the +horsemen who rode away just now." + +"The horsemen you saw were my brother the prince and his groom," said +Osra. "But if you think that Monsieur de Mérosailles is in the castle, +pray search the castle from keep to cellar; and if you find him, carry +him to my father, according to your orders." + +Then the troopers dismounted in great haste, and ransacked the castle +from keep to cellar; and they found the clothes of the marquis and the +white powder with which he had whitened his face, but the marquis they +did not find. And the captain came again to the princess, who still +stood at the end of the bridge, and said: + +"Madam, he is not in the castle." + +"Is he not?" said she, and she turned away and, walking to the middle +of the bridge, looked down into the water of the moat. + +"Was it in truth the prince's groom who rode with him, madam?" asked +the captain, following her. + +"In truth, sir, it was so dark," answered the princess, "that I could +not myself clearly distinguish the man's face." + +"One was the prince, for I saw you embrace him, madam." + +"You do well to conclude that that was my brother," said Osra, smiling +a little. + +"And to the other, madam, you gave your hand." + +"And now I give it to you," said she, with haughty insolence. "And if +to my father's servant, why not to my brother's?" + +And she held out her hand that he might kiss it, and turned away from +him, and looked down into the water again. + +"But we found Monsieur de Mérosailles's clothes in the castle!" +persisted the captain. + +"He may well have left something of his in the castle," said the +princess. + +"I will ride after them!" cried the captain. + +"I doubt if you will catch them," smiled the princess; for by now the +pair had been gone half an hour, and the frontier was but ten miles +from the castle, and they could not be overtaken. Yet the captain +rode off with his men, and pursued till he met Prince Rudolf returning +alone, having seen Monsieur de Mérosailles safe on his way. And Rudolf +had paid the sum of a thousand crowns to the marquis, so that the +fugitive was well provided for his journey, and, travelling with +many relays of horses, made good his escape from the clutches of King +Henry. + +But the Princess Osra stayed a long time looking down at the water in +the moat. And sometimes she sighed, and then again she frowned, and, +although nobody was there, and it was very dark into the bargain, more +than once she blushed. And at last she turned to go in to the castle. +And, as she went, she murmured softly to herself: + +"Why I kissed him the first time I know--it was in pity; and why I +kissed him the second time I know--it was in forgiveness. But why +I kissed him the third time, or what that kiss meant," said Osra, +"Heaven knows." + +And she went in with a smile on her lips. + + + + +MISS TARBELL'S LIFE OF LINCOLN. + + +The response to our New Life of Lincoln is so extraordinary as to +demand something more than mere acknowledgment from us. + +Within ten days of the publication of the magazine no less than +forty thousand new buyers were added to our list, and at this writing +(November 25th) the increase has reached one hundred thousand, making +a clear increase of one hundred thousand in three months, and bringing +the total edition for the present number up to a quarter of a million. + +But even more gratifying have been the strong expressions of approval +from many whose intimate knowledge of Lincoln's life enables them to +distinguish what is _new_ in this life. + +As Mr. Medill says in an editorial in the Chicago "Tribune," "It is +not only full of new things, but is so distinct and clear in local +color that an interest attaches to it which is not found in other +biographies." + +And Mr. R.W. Diller, of Springfield, Illinois, who knew Mr. Lincoln +intimately for nearly twenty years before his election to the +Presidency, writes to us about Miss Tarbell's article: "As far as read +she goes to rock-bottom evidence and will beat her Napoleon out of +sight." + +There are certainly few men more familiar with all that has been +written about Lincoln than William H. Lambert, Esq., of Philadelphia, +whose collection includes practically every book, pamphlet, or printed +document about Lincoln, and who has one of the finest collections of +Lincolniana in the world. He writes: + +"I have read your first article with intense interest, and I am +confident that you will make a most important addition to our +knowledge of Lincoln." + +But perhaps it is better to print some of the letters we have received +commenting on the first article and on the early portrait and other +portraits and illustrations. + +John T. Morse, Jr., author of the lives of Abraham Lincoln, John +Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin, +published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. in their "American Statesmen +Series," and editor of this series, writes as follows about the early +portrait: + + 6 FAIRCHILD STREET, BOSTON, + + _November 2, 1895._ + + S.S. MCCLURE, ESQ.--_Dear Sir_: I thank you very much for the + artist's proof of the engraving of the earliest picture of + Abraham Lincoln. + + I have studied this portrait with very great interest. All + the portraits with which we are familiar show us the man _as + made_; this shows us the man _in the_ _making_; and I think + every one will admit that the making of Abraham Lincoln + presents a more singular, puzzling, interesting study than the + making of any other man known in human history. + + I have shown it to several persons, without telling them who + it was. Some say, a poet; others, a philosopher, a thinker, + like Emerson. These comments also are interesting, for Lincoln + had the raw material of both these characters very largely in + his composition, though political and practical problems + so over-laid them that they show only faintly in his later + portraits. This picture, therefore, is valuable evidence as to + his natural traits. + + Was it not taken at an earlier date than you indicate as + probable in your letter? I should think that it must have + been. + + I am very sincerely yours, + + JOHN T. MORSE, JR. + +Dr. Hale also draws attention to the resemblance of the early portrait +to Emerson: + + ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS, + + _October 28, 1895._ + + _My dear Mr. McClure_:--I think you will be interested to know + that in showing the early portrait of Lincoln to two young + people of intelligence, each of them asked if it were not a + portrait of Waldo Emerson. If you will compare the likeness + with that of Emerson in Appleton's "Cyclopedia of Biography," + I think you will like to print copies of the two likenesses + side by side. + + Yours truly, + + EDWARD E. HALE. + +Mr. T.H. Bartlett, the eminent sculptor, who has for many years +collected portraits of Lincoln, and has made a scientific study of +Lincoln's physiognomy, contributes this: + + The first interest of the early portrait to me is that it + shows Lincoln, even at that age, as a _new man_. It may to + many suggest certain other heads, but a short study of it + establishes its distinctive originality in every respect. + It's priceless, every way, and copies of it ought to be in the + gladsome possession of every lover of Lincoln. Handsome is + not enough--it's great--not only of a great man, but the first + picture representing the only new physiognomy of which we + have any correct knowledge contributed by the New World to the + ethnographic consideration of mankind. + + Very sincerely, + + T.H. BARTLETT. + +An eminent member of the Illinois bar, one who has been closely +identified with the legal history of Illinois for nearly sixty years, +and who is perhaps the best living authority on the history of the +State, writes: + + That portion of the biography of Mr. Lincoln that appears in + the November number of McCLURE'S MAGAZINE I have read with + very great interest. It contains much that has not been + printed in any other life of Lincoln. Especially interesting + is the account given of pioneer life of that people among whom + Mr. Lincoln had his birth and his early education. It was a + strange and singular people, and their history abounds in + much that is akin to romance and peculiar to a life in the + wilderness. It was a life that had a wonderful attractiveness + for all that loved an adventurous life. The story of their + lives in the wilderness has a charm that nothing else in + Western history possesses. It is to be regretted that there + are writers that represent the early pioneers of the West to + have been an ignorant and rude people. Nothing can be further + from the truth. Undoubtedly there were some dull persons among + them. There are in all communities. But a vast majority of the + early pioneers of the West were of average intelligence + with the people they left back in the States from which + they emigrated. And why should they not have been? They were + educated among them, and had all the advantages of those by + whom they were surrounded. But in some respects they were much + above the average of those among whom they dwelt in the older + communities east of the Alleghany Mountains. The country + into which they were about to go was known to be crowded + with dangers. It was a wilderness, full of savage beasts and + inhabited by still more savage men--the Indians. It is evident + that but few other than the brave and most daring, would + venture upon a life in such a wilderness. The timid and less + resolute remained in the security of an older civilization. + + The lives of these early pioneers abounded in brave deeds, + and were often full of startling adventures. The women of that + period were as brave and heroic as were the men--if not more + so. It is doubtless true Mr. Lincoln's mother was one of that + splendid type of heroic pioneer women. He was brave and good + because his mother was brave and good. She has since become + distinguished among American women because her child, born in + a lowly cabin in the midst of a wild Western forest, has since + been recognized as the greatest man of the century--if not of + all centuries. It was fortunate for our common country that + Mr. Lincoln was born among that pioneer people and had his + early education among them. It was a simple school, and the + course of studies limited; but the lessons he learned in that + school in the forest were grand and good. Everything around + and about him was just as it came from the hands of the + Creator. It was good, and it was beautiful. It developed + both the head and the heart. It produced the best type of + manhood--both physical and mental. It was in that school he + learned lessons of heroism, courage, and of daring for the + right. It was there he learned lessons of patriotism in its + highest and best sense; and it was there he learned to love + his fellow-man. It was in the practice of those lessons his + life became such a benediction to the American nation. + + The story of that people among whom Mr. Lincoln spent his + early life will always have a fascination for the American + people; and it is a matter of congratulation so much of it has + been gathered up and put into form to be preserved. + + The portraits the work contains give a very good idea of that + pioneer race of men and women. The one given of Mr. Lincoln's + step-mother is a splendid type of a pioneer woman. A touching + contribution are the brief lines of which a facsimile is + printed: + + "Abraham Lincoln + his hand and pen + he will be good but + God knows When." + + These words--simple as they are--will touch the heart of the + American people through all the years of our national history. + It was "his hand and pen" that wrote many beautiful thoughts. + It was his "hand and pen" that wrote those kindest of all + words, "With malice towards none, with charity for all." It + was his "hand and pen" that traced the lines of that wonderful + Gettysburg speech; and it was his "hand and pen" that wrote + the famous proclamation that gave liberty to a race of slaves. + It was then God knew he was "good." + + If the remainder of the work shall be of the same character as + that now printed, it will be both an instructive and valuable + contribution to American biography. + +There is so much in Mr. Medill's editorial in the Chicago "Tribune," +and he is entitled to speak with such authority, that we print it +complete herewith. + +Mr. Medill says: + + THE NEW LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. + + It is apparent at the very outset that the new "Life of + Abraham Lincoln," edited by Miss Ida M. Tarbell, the first + installment of which appears in McCLURE'S MAGAZINE for + the current month, will be one of the most important and + interesting contributions yet made to Lincoln literature, as + it will contain much matter hitherto unpublished, and will be + enriched with a large number of new illustrations. It will be + a study of Abraham Lincoln as a man, and thus will naturally + commend itself to the people. + + The first installment covers about the first twenty-one years + of Lincoln's life, which were spent in Kentucky and Indiana. + The story is told very briefly, in simple, easy style, and + abounds with reminiscences secured from his contemporaries. + It is not only full of new things, but it is so distinct and + clear in local color that an interest attaches to it which is + not found in other biographies. A large part of this credit + must be awarded not alone to the text and to its careful + editing, but also to the numerous pictures which upon every + page illustrate the context and give the scenes of the + story. It is particularly rich in portraits. Among these are + portraits from an ambrotype taken at Macomb, Illinois, in + 1858, during his debate with Douglas, the dress being the + same as that in which Lincoln made his famous canvass for + the Senate; a second from a photograph taken at Hannibal, + Missouri, in 1858; a third from an ambrotype taken at Urbana, + Illinois, in 1857; and a fourth from an ambrotype taken in a + linen coat at Beardstown, Illinois. + + The picture, however, which will attract the greatest interest + is the frontispiece, from a daguerreotype which his son, + Robert Lincoln, thinks was taken when his father was + about forty years old. In this picture, which bears little + resemblance to any other known portraits, he is dressed with + scrupulous care. His hair is combed and brushed down with + something like youthful vanity, and he has a smooth, bright, + rather handsome face, and without sunken cheeks, strikingly + resembling in contour and the shape of the head some of the + early portraits of Ralph Waldo Emerson. It looks, however, as + if it had been taken at an earlier age than forty. As the only + portrait of Lincoln with a comparatively young face it will + be treasured by all his admirers, and his son has conferred + a distinct benefit by his courtesy in allowing it to be + reproduced. + + There are numerous other portraits, among them those of the + Rev. Jesse Head, who married Lincoln's father and mother; of + Austin Gollaher, who was a boy friend of Lincoln in Kentucky, + and the only one now living; of his step-mother, Sarah Bush + Lincoln; of Josiah Crawford, whom Lincoln served in Indiana + as "hired boy;" of the well-known Dennis Hanks, cousin of + Lincoln's mother; of John Hanks, also a cousin; of Judge John + Pitcher, who assisted Lincoln in his earliest studies; and of + Joseph Gentry, the only boy associate of Lincoln in Indiana + now living. These portraits, in addition to the numerous views + of scenes connected with Lincoln's boyhood, add greatly to + the interest of the text. Mr. McClure, the proprietor of the + magazine, is certainly to be congratulated upon the successful + manner in which he has launched the opening chapters of the + new "Life of Lincoln." The remaining ones, running a whole + year, will be awaited with keen interest. It is said that + Miss Tarbell has found and obtained a shorthand report of his + unpublished but famous speech delivered at Bloomington, May + 29, 1856, before the first Republican State convention ever + held in Illinois. This is a great find and a very important + addition to his published speeches. Many of those who heard + it have always claimed that it was the most eloquent speech he + ever made. + +In an editorial in the "Standard-Union" of Brooklyn, Mr. Murat +Halstead expresses the general feeling of all who knew Lincoln: + + The magazine gives an admirable engraving of this portrait + as the frontispiece, as "The earliest portrait of Abraham + Lincoln, from a daguerreotype taken when Lincoln was about + forty; owned by his son, the Hon. Robert T. Lincoln, through + whose courtesy it is here reproduced for the first time." + This is a very modest statement, considering the priceless + discovery it announces. The portrait does not show a man + "about forty" years old in appearance. "About" thirty would be + the general verdict, if it were not that the daguerreotype + was unknown when Lincoln was of that age. It does not seem, + however, that he could have been more than thirty-five, and + for that age the youthfulness of the portrait is wonderful. + This is a new Lincoln, and far more attractive, in a sense, + than anything the public has possessed. This is the portrait + of a remarkably handsome man.... The head is magnificent, + the eyes deep and generous, the mouth sensitive, the whole + expression something delicate, tender, pathetic, poetic. This + was the young man with whom the phantoms of romance dallied, + the young man who recited poems and was fanciful and + speculative, and in love and despair, but upon whose brow + there already gleamed the illumination of intellect, the + inspiration of patriotism. There were vast possibilities in + this young man's face. He could have gone anywhere and done + anything. He might have been a military chieftain, a novelist, + a poet, a philosopher, ah! a hero, a martyr--and, yes, this + young man might have been--he even was Abraham Lincoln! This + was he with the world before him. It is good fortune to have + the magical revelation of the youth of the man the world + venerates. This look into his eyes, into his soul--not before + he knew sorrow, but long before the world knew him--and to + feel that it is worthy to be what it is, and that we are + better acquainted with him and love him the more, is something + beyond price. + +[Illustration: LINCOLN IN 1863. + +From a photograph by Brady, taken in Washington.] + +[Illustration: LINCOLN IN 1854--HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED. + +From a photograph owned by Mr. George Schneider of Chicago, +Illinois, former editor of the "Staats Zeitung," the most influential +anti-slavery German newspaper of the West. Mr. Schneider first met Mr. +Lincoln in 1853, in Springfield. "He was already a man necessary to +know," says Mr. Schneider. In 1854 Mr. Lincoln was in Chicago, and +Mr. Isaac N. Arnold, a prominent lawyer and politician of Illinois, +invited Mr. Schneider to dine with Mr. Lincoln. After dinner, as +the gentlemen were going down town, they stopped at an itinerant +photograph gallery, and Mr. Lincoln had the above picture taken for +Mr. Schneider. The newspaper he holds in his hands is the "Press and +Tribune." The picture has never before been reproduced.] + +[Illustration: LINCOLN IN FEBRUARY, 1860, AT THE TIME OF THE COOPER +INSTITUTE SPEECH. + +From a photograph by Brady. The debate with Douglas in 1858 had given +Lincoln a national reputation, and the following year he received many +invitations to lecture. One came from a young men's Republican club in +New York,--for one in a series of lectures designed for an audience of +men and women of the class apt to neglect ordinary political meetings. +Lincoln consented, and in February, 1860 (about three months before +his nomination for the Presidency), delivered what is known from the +hall in which it was delivered, as the "Cooper Institute speech"--a +speech which more than confirmed his reputation. While in New York he +was taken by the committee of entertainment to Brady's gallery, and +sat for the portrait reproduced above. It was a frequent remark with +Lincoln that this portrait and the Cooper Institute speech made him +President.] + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of McClure's Magazine, January, 1896, +Vol. VI. No. 2, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13637 *** |