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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/19828.txt b/19828.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fbcf3ee --- /dev/null +++ b/19828.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10396 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public +Affairs, Vol. 1, by George Boutwell + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public Affairs, Vol. 1 + +Author: George Boutwell + +Release Date: November 16, 2006 [EBook #19828] +[Last updated on May 30, 2007] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REMINISCENCES OF SIXTY YEARS *** + + + + +Produced by An Anonymous volunteer + + + + + +[Transcriber's notes: +Footnotes are at the end of the chapter. +The author's spelling of names has been retained. +A few commas have been deleted or moved for clarity.] + +REMINISCENCES +OF +SIXTY YEARS IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS +VOLUME I + +[Frontispiece: v1.jpg] +From a photograph by Purdy, of Boston. Copyright, 1896. +[signature] Geo: S. Boutwell + +Reminiscences of +Sixty Years +in Public Affairs +by George S. Boutwell +Governor of Massachusetts, 1851-1852 +Representative in Congress, 1863-1869 +Secretary of the Treasury, 1869-1873 +Senator from Massachusetts, 1873-1877 +etc., etc. + +Volume One + +New York +McClure, Phillips & Co. +Mcmii + +_Copyright, 1902, by_ +McClure, Phillips & Co. + +_Published May, 1902. N._ + +CONTENTS + +INTRODUCTION +PRELIMINARY NOTE +BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH + + I Incidents of my Early Life + II Life as a Store-boy and Clerk + III Changes and Progress + IV Schools and School-keeping + V Groton in 1835 + VI Groton in 1835--Continued + VII Beginnings in Business + VIII First Experience in Politics + IX The Election of 1840 + X Massachusetts Men in the Forties + XI The Election of 1842, and the Dorr Rebellion + XII The Legislature of 1847 + XIII Legislative Session of 1848--Funeral of John Quincy Adams + XIV The Legislature of 1849 + XV Massachusetts Politics and Massachusetts Politicians, 1850-51 + and 1852 + XVI Acton Monument + XVII Sudbury Monument +XVIII Louis Kossuth + XIX The Coalition and the State Constitutional Convention of 1853 + XX The Year 1854 + XXI Organization of the Republican Party in Massachusetts in 1855, + and the Events Preceding the War + XXII As Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education +XXIII Phi Beta Kappa Address at Cambridge + XXIV The Peace Convention of 1861 + XXV The Opening of the War + XXVI The Military Commission of 1862 and General Fremont +XXVII Organization of the Internal Revenue System in the United States + + +INTRODUCTION + +At the request of my daughter and my son and by the advice of my +friends, the Honorable J. C. Bancroft Davis and the Honorable William +A. Richardson, I am venturing upon the task of giving a sketch of my +experiences in life during three fourths of a century. The wisdom of +such an undertaking is not outside the realm of debate. A large part +of my manhood has been spent in the politics of my native state, and +in the politics of the country. For many years I have had the fortune +to be associated with those in whose hands the chief powers were +lodged. I have been a witness of, and in some cases an actor in, +events that have changed the character of the institutions and affected +the fortunes of the country. Those events and their consequences must +in time disturb, if they do not change, the institutions of other +countries. + +In the course of this long period I have had opportunities to know +some of the principal actors in those important events. In a few +cases I am in possession of knowledge not now in the possession of any +other person living. These considerations may in some degree justify +my undertaking. + +On the other hand I have not kept a record of events, and I have had +occasion often, especially in the practice of my profession, to notice +the imperfections of the human memory. Much that I shall write must +depend upon the fidelity of that faculty, although in some cases my +recollections may be verified or corrected by the public records. + +The recollections of actors, when those recollections are reported in +good faith, constitute quite as safe a basis for an historical +judgment as do the diaries in which are noted present impressions. +Usually the writer of a diary has only an imperfect knowledge of the +subject to which the entries relate. If he is himself an actor in +passing events he makes and leaves a record colored and perhaps tainted +by the personal and political passions of the times. The teachings of +experience and that more moderate view of events, which we sometimes +call philosophy and sometimes the wisdom of age, may warrant the +student and the historian in giving credence to mere recollections. + +The writer of a diary takes little note of the importance of the events +to which the entries relate. Persons and events become important or +cease to be important by the progress of time, but the life of an +individual is an adequate period usually for the formation of a +judgment. I cannot assume that it will be my fortune to make a wise +selection in all cases. Important events may be omitted, insignificant +circumstances may be recorded. + +I assume that my family and friends will take an interest in matters +that are purely personal: therefore I shall record many incidents and +events that do not concern the public. + + +BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH + +_PRELIMINARY NOTE + +In the presence of some misgivings as to the propriety of my course, I +have decided to print the article on my Life as a Lawyer, as it appears +in the "Memoirs of the Judiciary and the Bar of New England" (for +January, 1901), published by the Century Memorial Publishing Company, +Boston, Mass. + +Many of the facts were furnished by me. The article was written by W. +Stanley Child, Esq., but it was not seen by me, nor was its existence +known to me until it appeared in the published work. The paper in +manuscript and in proof was read and passed by the editors, Messrs. +Conrad Keno and Leonard A. Jones, Esquires. The words of commendation +are not mine, and it is manifest that any change made by me would place +the responsibility upon me for what might remain. Hence I reprint the +paper with only two or three changes where I have observed errors in +statements of facts._ + +BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH [*] + +George Sewall Boutwell, LL. D., Boston and Groton, the first +commissioner of internal revenue, secretary of the treasury under +President Grant, and for many years one of the leading international +lawyers, is the son of Sewall and Rebecca (Marshall) Boutwell, and was +born in Brookline, Mass., in what is now the old part of the Country +Club house, January 28, 1818. He comes from old and respected +Massachusetts stock, being a lineal descendant of James Boutwell, who +was admitted a freeman in Lynn in 1638, and of John Marshall, who +came to Boston in the shop _Hopewell_ in 1634. The family has always +represented the sterling qualities of typical New Englanders. +Tradition asserts that one of his paternal ancestors received a grant +of land for services in King Philip's War. His maternal grandfather, +Jacob Marshall, was the inventor of the cotton press, an invention +originally made, however, for pressing hops. His father, Sewall +Boutwell, removed with his family in 1820 from Brookline to Lunenburg, +Mass., where he held several town offices; he was a member of the +Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1843 and 1844 and of the +Constitutional Convention of 1853. + +Mr. Boutwell attended in his early years a public school in Lunenburg, +where he became a clerk in a general store at the age of thirteen, thus +gaining a practical as well as a theoretical knowledge of affairs. +Later he supplemented this experience by teaching school at Shirley. +He also studied the classics, and in various ways improved every +opportunity for advancement which limited circumstances afforded. In +1835 he went to Groton, Mass., as clerk in a store. But to be a +lawyer was his dream before he had ever seen a lawyer. Endowed with +unusual intellectual ability, which has been one of his chief +characteristics from boyhood, he felt himself instinctively drawn to +the legal profession, and as early as possible entered his name as +a student at law. + +In 1839 he was chosen a member of the Groton School Committee, and +in 1840 he was an active Democrat, advocating the re-election of +Martin Van Buren to the Presidency. In the meantime he delivered a +number of important lectures and political speeches, his first lecture +being given before the Groton Lyceum when he was nineteen, and he was +now rapidly gaining a reputation in public affairs, in which he early +took a deep interest. In January, 1842, he became a member of the +lower House of the Massachusetts Legislature from Groton, and for ten +years thereafter his law studies were neglected. He served during the +sessions of 1842, 1843, 1844, 1847, 1848, 1849 and 1850, and was also +at different times a railroad commissioner, a bank commissioner, and a +member of various other commissions of the commonwealth. + +As a member of the House he made many important arguments that were +legal in name if not in fact. One related to the Act of the +Legislature of 1843, by which the salaries of the judges were reduced, +and another upon a bill for the amendment of the charter of Harvard +College. On the latter question, which was in controversy for three +years, his opponents were Judge Benjamin R. Curtis and Hon. Samuel +Hoar. + +Mr. Boutwell originated the movement for a change in the college +government, which was effected by a compromise in 1851. Chief Justice +Lemuel Shaw, a member of the corporation, wrote an answer to his +argument. This led to Mr. Boutwell's appointment in 1851 as a member +of the Harvard College Board of Overseers, which position he filled +until 1860. In January, 1851, he became Governor of Massachusetts by +a fusion of the Democratic and Free-soil members of the Legislature, +and in 1852 was re-elected by the same body. He served in that +capacity until January, 1853, a period of two years, and discharged +the duties of the office with ability, dignity, and honor. As a +member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1853, Mr. +Boutwell had further and better opportunities to make the acquaintance +and to observe the ways of the leading lawyers of the State. + +At the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1853, Governor +Boutwell entered the law office of Joel Giles, who was engaged in +practice under the patent laws, and who as a mechanic and lawyer was +a well-equipped practitioner in Boston. As a counselor in patent cases +Mr. Giles had few equals. It was then Mr. Boutwell's purpose to pursue +the study and engage in the practice of the patent laws as a specialty, +but in October, 1855, without any solicitation and indeed without the +slightest knowledge on his part, he was chosen secretary of the +Massachusetts Board of Education, of which he had been a member from +1853. With much uncertainty as to the wisdom of his action in +accepting the place, he entered upon his duties and faithfully and +efficiently discharged them until January 1, 1861, although he had +tendered his resignation in 1859. His annual reports have always been +regarded as models of preparation, and that of 1861--the twenty-fourth +--contains a notable commentary on the school laws of the commonwealth. +He continued as a member of the board until 1863. + +After several years Mr. Boutwell severed his relations with Mr. Giles, +and upon his admission to the Suffolk bar in January, 1862, on motion +of the late Judge Josiah Gardner Abbott, he began active practice in +Boston. His first jury case was before the late Judge Charles Allen, +of Worcester, yet at that time he had never seen a jury trial from the +opening to the close. Mr. Boutwell had scarcely entered upon his +professional career when he was called to assume a most important place +in national affairs, and one that was destined to keep him in close +relations with the Federal Government at Washington for many years +afterward. + +Among the historical events, originating in the Civil War, was the +passage of the act "to provide internal revenue to support the +government and to pay interest on the public debt," approved July 1, +1862. Mr. Boutwell organized the Office of Internal Revenue and was +the first internal revenue commissioner, receiving his appointment +while at Cairo in the service of the War Department. He arrived in +Washington July 16, and entered upon his duties the following day. +Within a few days the Secretary of the Treasury assigned him a single +clerk, then a second, and afterward a third, and the clerical force was +increased from time to time until at his resignation of the office of +commissioner on March 3, 1863, it numbered 140 persons. To him is due +its organization upon a basis which has more than fulfilled the most +cherished hopes and expectations of those who conceived the idea and +which has furnished from the first a valuable source of revenue for +the government with little hardship or unnecessary friction among the +people at large. The stamp tax took effect nominally on the 1st of +October, 1862, less than two and one-half months after Mr. Boutwell +entered upon his duties as commissioner, yet before he resigned, five +months later, he had the office so well established, and its work so +thoroughly organized throughout the United States, that its usefulness +was assured and it has continued to the present time practically the +same lines that he laid down. In July, 1863, three months after he +retired from the office, he published a volume of 500 pages, entitled +"A Manual of the Direct and Excise Tax System of the United States," +which included the act itself, the forms and regulations established +by him, his decisions and rulings, extracts from the correspondence of +the office, and much other valuable information bearing on the subject. +This work has ever been accepted as authority, and still forms the +basis of the government of the internal revenue system. + +Before Mr. Boutwell was admitted to the bar he was retained by the +county commissioners of Middlesex County to appear before a +legislative committee of the years 1854 and 1855 against the division +of that county and the erection of a new county to be called the county +of Webster with Fitchburg for the shire. Emory Washburn appeared for +Worcester County and Rufus Choate for Fitchburg and the new county. +The application failed in 1855 and again in 1856. Mr. Boutwell's +arguments on this petition, made March 25, 1855, and April 23, 1856, +were remarkable for power and eloquence, and largely influenced the +final result. + +From 1862 to 1869 he was retained in many causes, the most important +of which was the controversy over the contract between the commonwealth +and Gen. Herman Haupt for the construction of the Hoosac Tunnel. The +hearing before a legislative committee occupied about twenty days and +ended in the annulment of the contract. For several years Mr. Boutwell +was associated in Boston with J. Q. A. Griffin. Afterward he was in +partnership with Henry F. French until 1869, when he became Secretary +of the Treasury in the Cabinet of President Grant. He filled this +position with great ability for four years, originating and +promulgating, among other measures, the plan of refunding the public +debt. During that period he made but one argument, when he appeared +in the Supreme Court on the appeal by his client of a patent case, of +which he had had charge from the beginning. From 1863 to 1869 he had +been a member of the 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st Congresses, serving on +the committees on the judiciary and on reconstruction, and being +chairman for a time of the latter body. While representing his +district in Congress Mr. Boutwell gained considerable experience in +the proceedings against President Andrew Johnson, who was impeached for +high crimes and misdemeanors, and he was selected as one of the +managers on the part of the House. In a remarkably brilliant speech +before the House on December 5 and 6, 1867, he maintained the doctrine +that the president and all other civil officers could be impeached for +acts that were not indictable, although the contrary was held by many +eminent lawyers, including President Dwight, of Columbia College, who +wrote a treatise in support of his theory. But the House preferred +articles that did not allege an indictable offence and the Senate +sustained them by a vote of thirty-five to eighteen, one less than the +number necessary for conviction. On April 22 and 23, 1868, Mr. +Boutwell, on behalf of the managers, addressed the Senate, delivering +one of the strongest and ablest arguments on record, and thus +completing, as a lawyer, the most exhaustive labor he ever attempted. +He was a member of the Committee of Fifteen which reported the +Fourteenth Amendment, and while serving on the committee on the +judiciary he reported and carried through the House the Fifteenth +Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. + +In 1873 Mr. Boutwell was chosen United States Senator from +Massachusetts to fill the unexpired term of Hon. Henry Wilson, who had +been elected Vice-President. He continued in the Senate until 1877, +when he was appointed by President Hayes, through Gen. Charles Devens, +then Attorney-General, commissioner to revise the statutes of the +United States. That great work was completed and the volume was +published in the autumn of 1878. Some idea of the labor involved in +this undertaking may be gained from the index, which contains over +25,000 references. In 1878 Mr. Boutwell returned to Boston and resumed +the practice of law. In 1880 William M. Evarts, then Secretary of +State, and President Hayes, asked him to accept the position of counsel +and agent for the United States before a Board of International +Arbitrators created by a treaty ratified in June, 1880, between the +United States and France, for the settlement of claims against each +government by citizens of the other government. The claims of French +citizens, 726 in number, arose from the operations of the Union armies +in the South, principally in and around New Orleans, during the Civil +War, and the consideration of them occupied four years. The counsel +and the commissioners were called to the discussion of treaties, of +international law, of citizenship, of the Legislation of France, of the +rights of war, and of the conduct of military officers and military +tribunals. The claims amounted to $35,000,000, including interest; the +recoveries amount to about $625,000; the defence cost the Government +about $500,000; the record is contained in ninety printed volumes of +about one thousand pages each and the pleas and arguments of counsel +for the two governments fill eight large volumes. Mr. Boutwell's own +arguments cover more than 1,100 pages. Many of these cases rank as +_causes celebre,_ notably those of Archbishop Joseph Napoleon Perche, +No. 3; Henri Dubos, No. 26; Joseph Bauillotte, No. 130; Bleze Motte, +No. 131; Theodore Valade, No. 214; Pierre S. Wiltz, No. 313; Remy +Jardel, No. 333; Etienne Derbee, No. 339; Arthur Vallon, No. 394; +David Kuhnagel, No. 438; Dr. Denis Meng, No. 567; Azoline Gautherin, +No. 590; Oscar Chopin, No. 592; S. Aruns Sorrel, No. 594, in which he +probably made the best argument of his career; Jules Le More, No. 595; +Athenais C. Le More, No. 598; Mary Ann Texier, No. 569; and Charles +Heidsieck, No. 691. That of Theodore Valade, No. 214, was a full +account of the battle of Donaldsonville, and those of Archbishop +Perche, David Kuhnagel, and many other involved intricate and +interesting questions of citizenship as well as damages for the +destruction of property. On May 10, 1884, Mr. Boutwell made an +exhaustive and final report on all these claims to the Secretary of +State, Hon. Frederick T. Frelinghuysen. + +Mr. Boutwell was one of the counsel for the government of Hayti in the +celebrated case of Antonio Pelletier against that republic in 1885, and +made a most interesting oral argument. This case was a romance of the +sea as well as of international importance, involving a claim of +$2,500,000 and questions of piracy and slave trading. In 1893-94 Mr. +Boutwell was retained as counsel on the part of Chili to defend their +government before an international commission created under a treaty +with the United States signed August 7, 1892. About forty cases were +presented, involving $26,300,000, and the final report was submitted +April 30, 1894. Among the more important were those of Gilbert B. +Borden, No. 9, and Frederick H. Lovett et al., No. 43, against the +Republic of Chili. These as well as nearly all the others were argued +by him with a brilliancy and eloquence that has marked his entire +career at the bar. Of the five courts martial that were held in +Washington between 1880 and 1892 for the trial of officers of the army +and navy Mr. Boutwell was retained for the defence in four cases, in +three of which the accused were convicted and in the other honorably +acquitted. In 1886 he was retained by the Mormon Church to appear +before the judiciary committee of the House of Representatives against +the Edmunds bill, which was modified in particulars pointed out in the +discussion. The same year he appeared before the House committee on +foreign affairs for the government of Hawaii in opposition to the +project for abrogating the treaty of 1875. + +Mr. Boutwell's pleas and arguments have with few exceptions been +published in book or pamphlet form, or both, and form of themselves a +most valuable and interesting addition to legal literature. They bear +evidence of a profound knowledge of the law, of vast research and of +great literary ability. Among others may be mentioned those upon a +petition to the Massachusetts Legislature for the removal of Joseph M. +Day as judge of probate and insolvency for Barnstable County in March, +1881; in the matter of the Pacific National Bank of Boston before the +banking and currency committee of the United State House of +Representatives, March 22, 1884; and for the claimant in the case of +the Berdan Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company of New York vs. the United +States. He is the author of "Educational Topics and Institutions," +1859; "Speeches Relating to the Rebellion and the Overthrow of +Slavery," collected and published in 1867; "Why I am a Republican," a +history of the Republican Party to 1884, republished in 1888; "The +Lawyer, Statesman and Soldier," 1887; and the "Constitution of the +United States," embracing the substance of the leading decisions of the +Supreme Court in which the several articles, sections and clauses have +been examined, explained and interpreted, 1896. In 1888 he wrote a +pamphlet on "Protection as a Public Policy," for the American +Protective Tariff League; on April 2, 1889, he read a paper on "The +Progress of American Independence," before the New York Historical +Society; and in February, 1896, he published a pamphlet on "The +Venezuelan Question and the Monroe Doctrine." + +Mr. Boutwell has probably argued more cases involving international law +than any other living man, and in this department ranks among the +ablest and strongest that this country has ever produced. For more +than forty years he was a prominent figure before the bar of the United +States Courts at Washington, where he achieved eminence as an advocate +of the highest ability. He was uniformly successful, and won a +reputation which was not confined to this country. He is an authority +on international and constitutional law. His published writings stamp +him as a profound student of public questions and a man of rare +literary culture and genius. He was a strong Abolitionist, and as +lawyer, statesman and citizen he has faithfully and efficiently +performed his duties and won the confidence of both friends and +opponents. In politics he has been a leader of the Republican Party +since its organization. He was a delegate to the Chicago Conventions +of 1860 and 1880, and was chosen a delegate to the Baltimore +Convention of 1864, but declined. He was elected a member of the +American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1857 and of the Phi Beta Kappa +Society of Harvard College in June, 1861, at which time he delivered +the Phi Beta Kappa oration. In 1851 Harvard conferred upon him the +honorary degree of LL. D., and in 1861 he was a member of the Peace +Congress at Washington. + +Mr. Boutwell was married July 8, 1841, to Sarah Adelia, daughter of +Nathan Thayer of Hollis, N. H.. Their children are Georgianna A., born +May 18, 1843, and Francis M., born February 26, 1847. Mr. Boutwell +resides in Groton, Mass. + +_The eighth day of July, 1891, Mr. Boutwell's family and friends +celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his marriage with Sarah Adelia +Thayer, daughter of Nathan and Hannah Jewett Thayer, of Hollis, N. H.; +and on the eighth day of July, 1901, the family observed the sixtieth +anniversary, but without ceremony, as Mrs. Boutwell was much impaired +in health._ + +[* Copyright, 1900, by the Mason Publishing and Printing Co.] + + +REMINISCENCES +OF +SIXTY YEARS IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS +VOLUME I + + +I +INCIDENTS OF MY EARLY LIFE + +My birthplace was at Brookline, Mass., near Boston, upon a farm in my +father's charge, and then owned by a Dr. Spooner of Boston. The place +has had many owners and it has been used for various purposes. In 1851 +and 1852 it was owned by a Dr. Trowbridge, who had a fancy for fine +horses. Upon my election to the office of Governor, and when he had +learned that I was born upon his place, he insisted that I should use a +large black stallion in the review of the troops at the annual parade. +The animal was of fine figure but not so subdued as to be manageable. +In one of those years General Wool came to Boston, upon an invitation +to review the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company on Boston Common. +I assigned the Trowbridge horse to General Wool. The General rode him +for a minute or two, when he left the saddle and the reviewing officers +went through the ceremony on foot. Since those days the Spooner place +has been converted into a trotting course known as Clyde Park, and the +house is now used as a clubhouse by an association known as the Country +Club. + +When I was about twenty-five years of age I was present at a temperance +meeting at Lowell, held in an unfinished factory building called the +Prescott Mills. After some speaking, in which I had taken a part, the +Rev. Dr. Pierce, then a white-headed gentleman of seventy years, whom +I had seen as an overseer of Harvard College, came to me, introduced +himself, and after a little conversation he asked me where I was born. +When I answered Brookline, on the Dr. Spooner place, he said: "Oh, +yes, I remember when your father lived there, and I recall a +circumstance to which I think I owe my good health. Dr. Spooner," said +he, "resided in Boston in the winter and at Brookline in the summer. +When he was at Brookline he had a child to be christened, and he +preferred to have the city minister perform the ceremony. After the +service we were invited to dine at Dr. Spooner's, and that minister ate +so unmercifully of everything upon the table, that I then and there +resolved that I would eat but one kind of meat at a meal, and I think +my good health is due in a measure to that resolution." I made no +resolution, but the circumstance produced an impression upon me, and in +the main I have observed his rule. In seventy-seven years, within my +recollection, I have lain in bed but seven days. + +In April, 1820, when I was hardly more than two years of age, my father +moved to Lunenburg, Worcester County, and settled upon a farm, a mile +south-west of the village, which he had bought of Phinehas Carter, then +an old man, who had been opulent as a farmer for the time and place, +but whose estates had been wasted by a moderate sort of intemperance, +by idleness, and family expenses. The house was large, well built for +the times, finished with clear, unpainted white pine, with dado work in +the front rooms below and in the chambers above. It was situated on +the southern brow of a hill, and commanded a view of the Wachusett +mountain, and the hills to the west, south and east over an expanse of +twenty miles in every direction, except the northern half of the +circle. At a distance of eighty or one hundred rods from the house lay +the Whalom pond, a body of clear, deep spring water, of more than a +hundred acres. The farm contained one hundred and thirteen acres of +land, somewhat rocky, but in quality better than the average New +England farms. At the time of the purchase one-half of the acres were +woodland with heavy timber. + +My father relied upon that timber to meet the debt of one thousand +dollars which rested upon the place. In those days wood and timber +were abundant and money was scarce. If the building of railroads could +have been foreseen and the timber saved for twenty-five years it would +have risen to twice the value of the farm at the time of the purchase. +My father's anxiety to be relieved of the debt was so great that he +made sales of wood and timber as he had the opportunity, but the +proceeds, after much hard labor had been added, were very +insignificant. As a result, the most valuable part of the timber was +sold for ship-building, or to the coopers, or converted into boards +and shingles, and a remnant of the debt remained for twenty years. + +The farm yielded ample supplies of meat, milk, butter, cheese, grain, +fruit, and vegetables, but groceries and clothing were difficult to +procure after such supplies were had as could be obtained by barter. +Once or twice, or possibly three times a year, my father drove an ox- +team or a team of one pair of oxen and one horse to Boston with cider, +apples, a hog or two, and poultry. The returns enabled him to pay his +taxes, the interest on the debt, and perhaps something over. + +Until the introduction of the cotton and woolen manufactures, and +indeed, until the building of railways, the farmers of Massachusetts +had only limited means of comfort. Their houses were destitute of +furniture, except of the plainest sort. Of upholstered furniture they +had none. Except a few school books for the children and the family +Bible there was no reading matter, unless in favored neighborhoods, a +weekly paper carried the news to two or three families that were joint +subscribers. The mails were infrequent, and the postage on letters, +based on the pieces of paper instead of weight, varied from six and one +fourth cents for all distances within thirty miles to twenty-five cents +for distances of four hundred miles or more. Intermediate rates were +ten, twelve and a half, and eighteen and three fourths cents. These +rates existed when mechanics could command only one dollar a day, and +when ordinary laborers could earn only fifty cents or seventy-five +cents--except in the haying season, when good mowers could command one +dollar. Servant girls and nurses received from one dollar to one +dollar and fifty cents per week. At the same time every variety of +clothing was much more expensive than it now is, unless shoes and hats +are exceptions. + +My father was the best farmer in the neighborhood. He had been +employed in the nursery and vegetable gardening at Newton, and for five +years he had had charge of the farm of Madam Coffin at Newton Corner, +widow of the Hon. Peleg Coffin, who had been a member of Congress from +Nantucket. In a few years we had a supply of cherries, peaches, and +choice apples. As my father understood budding and grafting tress, his +improved fruits were distributed to others. I acquired the art of +budding when I could not have been more than ten years of age, and +before I left home at the age of thirteen, I had practised the art in +the village and on the trees of the neighbors. + +Previous to 1830 the era of invention had not opened, and the articles +by whose aid domestic comfort has been promoted were unknown. The only +means of cooking were the open fire and the brick oven. Meat for +roasting was suspended by a cord from a hook in the ceiling in front of +the open fire and over a dripping pan. The children found amusement +and became useful in twisting the cord and then allowing the weight of +the meat to untwist it. Even fire in the summer was obtained and kept +with difficulty. There were no friction matches and not infrequently +a child was sent on a flying visit to a neighbor's house to borrow +fire. Indeed, the habit of borrowing and lending extended to nearly +every movable thing that any one possessed. Tools, food, especially +fresh meat, the labor of men, oxen and horses were borrowed and lent. +Farming tools were few in number and rude in construction. Many of +them were made upon the farms, either by the farmers themselves, or by +the help of poorly instructed mechanics. The modern plough was +unknown. Hay and manure forks, scythes, hoes, were so rough, uncouth +and heavy that they would now be rejected by the commonest laborer. As +early as 1830 by father bought a cast-iron plough; it was the wonder of +the neighborhood and the occasion of many prophecies that were to be +falsified by events. + +My father was a practical man and a gentleman by nature. With him +civility was innate. He was a close observer and something of a +philosopher. I recall his statement made in my childhood that matter +was indestructible. He was of even temper, and of an imperturbable +spirit. His paternal ancestor on this side of the Atlantic was made a +freeman at Lynn in 1638. Of his arrival in the country there is no +record. From that date there had been no marriage except into English +families. My father was purely English. My mother, whose family name +was Marshall, and who was a descendant of John Marshall who came in the +_Hopewell_, Captain Babb, in 1635, was English also through all her +ancestors from John Marshall. + +My father enjoyed the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens and +he held many of the offices of the town and for many years. In 1843 +and 1844 he was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives +and in 1853 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention. I was +also a member of the same bodies, and the association with my father +under such peculiar circumstances is one of the pleasant recollections +of my life.* My mother belonged to a family of unusual intellectual +endowment, and of great rigidity of opinion. Her father, Jacob +Marshall, was a student by tendency and habit, a stone mason and farmer +by occupation, and the inventor of the press used for pressing hops and +cotton in square bales. He lived to be more than eighty years of age, +was twice married, and had a large family of children whom he educated +and trained as well as children could be trained and educated at the +close of the last century in a country town in northern Massachusetts. + +For the last fifty years of his life he devoted himself to the study of +the bible and such works of history as he could command. His knowledge +of the bible was so great that he was an oracle in the town, although +he departed from the popular faith and became a Universalist. He lived +comfortably and without hard work, and in the later years of his life +he became the owner of two farms in the northerly part of Lunenburg. +As I recollect him and his farms he could not have been a good farmer. +His crop was hops, and that crop always commanded money, at a time when +it was unusual to realize money for farm produce. + +As my father's house was a mile from the District School, and as there +was a school within twenty or thirty rods of my grandfather's house, I +was sent to my grandfather's for my first winter's schooling. I think +it must have been the winter of 1823-4. The teacher was Ithamar +Butters, called Dr. Butters from the circumstance that he had studied +medicine for a time with Dr. Aaron Bard, a physician in the village. +Of Dr. Butters as a teacher I remember little. He became a disbeliever +in the Bible--an agnostic of those days. I recollect a remark of his +made many years after: That he would prefer the worst hell to +annihilation, which he believed would be his fate. + +I learned to read by standing in front of my mother as she read the +Bible. Of course all the letters were inverted, and the faculty of +reading an inverted page, has remained. + +I went to the District School summer and winter, until I was ten years +of age, and to the winter school until I passed my seventeenth +birthday, when my school life ended. My father and mother were +scrupulous about my attendance, and I cannot recall that I was ever +allowed to be absent during the school term either for work or pleasure. + +When I reached the age of ten years I was kept on the farm during the +summer months, until I left home in December, 1830. In those days +farmers' boys did not enjoy the luxury of shoes in the summer, nor +indeed in the autumn season. More than once I picked chestnuts bare- +footed and often I have tended the oxen in the mowing field frosty +mornings and warmed my feet by standing on a stone. + +Once only during my home life did I go to Boston with my father. He +carried poultry in a one-horse wagon. I accompanied him. The year may +have been 1828, or '9 or '30. On our way he stopped at one of the +Waltham cotton factories to see a niece of my father who was there at +work. We lodged that night at the house of Madam Coffin. She was then +already old in my sight. She seemed pleased with my father's visit, +and the impression left upon my mind is that we were entertained with +marked consideration. My father had managed her farm for about five +years from 1809 to 1814, when he volunteered for service in the army, +and for ninety days he was on the island then known as Fort Warren. + +The next morning we reached Boston and stationed our wagon at the +northwest corner of Quincy Market, where we sold our poultry. During +the day my father had occasion to go to the store of Joseph Mead, at +the corner of Lyman Place, and I was left in charge of the wagon. I +had the fortune to sell some of the poultry. My father thought that +the proceeds in money did not equal the decrease in stock, and so it +proved--for the next Sunday morning when I dressed for meeting I found +a two dollar bill in my trousers' pocket. + +That night we spent with Captain Hyde, at Newton Corner. During the +first year of my father's married life he had carried on a farm on the +opposite side of the highway, and it was from Captain Hyde that he +obtained his knowledge of budding and grafting, and some knowledge of +the art of gardening. They always continued friends; Captain Hyde came +to my father's, in after years, and supplied our farm with the best +varieties of cherry, peach and apple trees. + +The day following we went to Brighton where my father purchased the +remnant of a drove of cattle that had been driven from the State of +Maine--twenty-four in number. Of these nine were oxen and the rest +were young animals between two and four years of age, and all were +bought for the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars. My father was +then the overseer of the almshouse, and the purchase was primarily for +that establishment, but some of the animals were sold to the neighbors. +The result of the purchase was to me a short experience as a drover. + +As I recollect the experiences of my life on my father's farm, there +were many amusements and relaxations mingled with the hardships. In +the winter the house was cold, with only open fires for warming rooms. +We had, however, an abundance of wood, and in the evenings a supply of +cider, apples and nuts for ourselves and for the neighbors. There were +always one or two poor families in the neighborhood who enjoyed the +moderate comforts of our house. I recall one man, who after a visit +would stop at the pile of wood, near the house, and carry a backload to +his home. My father often saw the stealing, but the culprit never knew +from any word or act that he had been discovered or suspected. + +The ponds and brooks in the vicinity gave us a chance for fishing, and +there was some shooting, especially of pigeons in the autumn. The oak +forests had not then fallen, and the pigeons were abundant in September +and until there were heavy night frosts, when they would leave for +milder regions. For several years my father baited pigeons, and caught +them in a net. To do this we were in the bough-house by daylight. A +wicked advantage was taken by soaking the grain in anise-seed cordial, +which made the birds noisy and active, thus attracting other pigeons +to the stand. The device of taking pigeons in a net and wringing their +necks is a brutal business, as is all slaughtering of animals. + +From 1820 to 1830 religious controversies were violent and universal. +No one of the towns in Massachusetts was free from them. Under the +colonial system each town was a religious corporation as well as a +political one. There was one church and one meetinghouse in each town, +and the parochial expenses were paid from the municipal revenues. In +1780 when the constitution was adopted, some progress had been made, +but by the Third Article of the Bill of Rights, every citizen was +required to be a member of some religious society. As a result, new +societies were formed, and in many instances there were so organized +and managed as to avoid expenses. About the same time attacks were +made upon the Third Article of the Bill of Rights, and after an excited +controversy covering many years, the constitution was changed in that +respect, by an amendment in the nature of a substitute, which was +adopted by the people at an election held in the month of November, +1833. By that amendment each citizen was authorized to file a +certificate of non-membership with the clerk of the society of which he +was a member and thereafter he was free from any contract or obligation +of such society thereafter made. + +The little town of Lunenburg participated actively in the contest. My +father advocated the amendment. At the ancient meetinghouse the +ancient doctrines of future punishment were preached and the literal +inspiration of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation was not questioned. +Those who denied the one or doubted the other were denounced as +infidels. Religious topics were the leading subjects of conversation, +and the fruitful source of personal and neighborhood controversies. My +father rejected the doctrine of physical punishment in another state of +existence, and he came to regard the Bible as a record of events, and +the expression of human thought and feeling, rather than as a message +of the Divine will. + +Perhaps as early as 1820 the Methodists had organized a church and +secured a place of meeting in the north part of the town on a by-road. +The building was not as good in quality or style as is a modern barn. +My father separated himself from the old society and joined the +Methodist society. In that organization each one paid what he chose. +I recollect attending meetings in the old barn, but the distance was +great and the inconveniences were numerous. The converts could endure +the inconveniences, but as my father was not a convert nor a believer +his interest was slight. Afterwards, however, the Methodists built a +meetinghouse in the village, and for several years we had seats and +attended the services. Once in two or three years the denomination +held camp meetings in the autumn and the work of conversions would go +on rapidly. The scenes were such as are now reported of the negro +race in the states of the South. Young girls would shout, crying out +that they had found Jesus, fall down, and lie senseless, or at least +speechless, for many minutes. After brief periods of excitement many +of the converts returned to their old ways of life, neither better nor +worse. + +During these years the Universalists held meetings at Shirley Village, +quite eight miles away. My father attended occasionally, and not +infrequently I went with him. I had therefore the opportunity to hear +the great preachers of the denomination--Russell Streeter, Sebastian +Streeter, brothers; Thomas Whittemore, the editor of the _Trumpet_, the +organ of the sect, Hosea Ballou, Walter Balfour, and others whose names +I do not recall. Balfour was a Scotchman, preaching with an accent, +and rolling his scalp, from his eyes to the nape of his neck. The +sermons had two peculiarities. First the text was examined carefully +and so construed as to show that the author, whether Jesus, Peter, or +Paul, taught the doctrine of universal salvation. Then came a process +of reasoning designed to show that God could not punish his creatures +in a lake of fire and brimstone. First, he was all-powerful; next, he +was all-wise; then he was infinitely just, and finally his mercy was +without limit. Could a being endowed with these attributes consign his +children to unending misery? From the first I saw the defect in the +process of reasoning. The premises were not faulty, but given a being +with infinite faculties, could another being, with finite faculties +only, forecast the result of the exercise or operation of the infinite? + +The little town was made notorious by the career of the physician, Dr. +Aaron Bard. He was born in Jaffrey, N. H., about the year 1770. He +obtained his medical education in part at least, at Troy, N. Y., from +which place he fled to avoid arrest upon the charge of robbing graves. +His parents were rigid believers in the old faith, and in that faith +they had trained the son. Against that faith the son rebelled, dropped +the second "a" in his baptismal name, and rejected the Scriptures as +not containing divine truth. As the mass of the people believed +implicitly in the divine origin and plenary inspiration of the Bible, a +disbeliever was denounced as an infidel and punished by social outlawry. + +Bard was not a quiet doubter. He attacked the Bible, ridiculed much of +the Old Testament, accepted controversies with the clergy, although he +attended their families without charge. His reputation as a physician +was considerable, and although his enemies, who were many, made +repeated efforts to secure a competitor, the wary declined their +invitations, and the credulous were soon driven away by poverty, or the +fear of it. Bard was a bachelor, lived economically, never presented a +bill, and when he died, about the year 1850, his books were free of +charges. Before the repeal of the Third Article in the Bill of Rights, +Bard organized a society which by some art of logic was so far +recognized as a religious body as to exempt its members from taxation +in the old parish. It flourished until the Third Article was annulled, +when it disappeared. Bard purchased a Hebrew bible, lexicon and +grammar, and proceed to translate parts of the Old Testament, +especially the early chapters in Genesis, and in such manner as to +throw doubt upon the received version. His Sundays were devoted to +talks in his office, where were gathered a few hearers, some because +they agreed with him, and others because they were interested in +hearing what he had to offer. + +He was of small size, hardy, ingenious, and free from meanness. He +was economical and his ways of business forbade any extravagance. When +he needed hay or grain for his horses or wood for his fire he called +upon some of the farmers whose physician he was, and obtained a supply. +Beyond this he made no demand for payment, though when it was offered +he accepted it. Until he was about sixty years of age, he rode on +horseback, and always without an overcoat. From my thirteenth to my +seventeenth year I was boy and clerk in a store at a distance of less +than five rods from Bard's office. I saw him constantly. His +denunciations of Christianity were so violent and unreasonable that +many persons would revolt at the thought of accepting his theories. He +had followers, however, and the trial of Abner Kneeland for blasphemy +promoted the spread of infidel opinions. I do not now recollect that +I heard Bard express any opinion as to a future state of existence. In +that particular he was probably an agnostic. When in later years I saw +a plaster cast of the head of Voltaire at the Cambridge Museum of +Comparative Anatomy, I was impressed with the resemblance between +Bard's head and that cast. + +His success as a physician was due probably to his ingenuity and keen +powers of observation rather than to his learning. All his faculties +were active, and he appreciated the importance of the laws of progress. +When homeopathy had taken some hold upon public opinion, he said: +"There is nothing in it, but then it has done a great deal of good. It +has taught us not to give so much medicine. We killed a great many +people with medicine, but it is several years now since I killed a +man." This remark was made in 1842 or 1843. + +In my boyhood the Rev. David Damon was the minister. He was a graduate +of Harvard College, a man of learning, of good standing in the +profession, and a satisfactory preacher. His temper was mild, and it +was not easy for Bard to engage in bitter contests with him. Mr. Damon +left Lunenburg about 1827, and settled in West Cambridge, where he died +suddenly in the pulpit. Among the constant attendants upon Mr. Damon's +Sunday services at Lunenburg was a blacksmith named Kimball, who was +afflicted with deafness. From his trade perhaps he had come to be +called Puffer Kimball. From a front seat in the meetinghouse he had +ventured upon the pulpit stairs, and finally he had reached the +position of standing on an upper stair, resting his arms upon the desk, +and with his hand to his ear listening to the services from beginning +to end. In the east part of the town was a farmer named James +Gilchrist, a Scotch Irishman, weighing not less than two hundred and +fifty pounds, and the father of four grown sons who where his equals +in weight, and all of them of great strength. Gilchrist abandoned the +Sunday meetings and when Mr. Damon asked him for his reason he said he +wouldn't have his religion strained through old Puffer Kimball. + +This same Gilchrist had had a controversy ending in a slander suit with +Mr. Damon's predecessor, the Rev. Timothy Flint. Mr. Flint was a man +of recognized ability, a good preacher, but erratic in his ways. For +some purpose not well understood, he built a furnace in the cellar of +his house. His friends maintained that he was engaged in scientific +experiments, and such was his purpose, no doubt, but his enemies and +the more ignorant of the community assumed that his plan was to coin +money. One day, in a store kept by Mr. Cunningham (the grandfather or +great-grandfather of Gen. James Cunningham,) Gilchrist exhibited a coin +and said: "Here is a dollar that Tim Flint made." Flint returned the +challenge with a suit, which I think was adjusted without a trial, but +the controversy contributed to the dissolution of the settlement. +Flint left the town to which he returned once in my boyhood and +preached a sermon in the new meetinghouse, that had been substituted +for the old one used in the days of Zabdiel Adams, of Timothy Flint, +and David Damon. + +After leaving Lunenburg Flint went with his family to the valley of the +Mississippi, and led the life of a wanderer, floating down the river +with his family and making his way back as best he might. In these +expeditions children were born and children died. He wrote two +romances founded on Western primitive life, and a history of the +Mississippi Valley. Time may give to his works a value that they did +not appear to possess when they were published. Flint was recognized +in the town as a man of ability, but he failed to secure the +affections or even the confidence of the people. He was a man of +ready faculty, being able to write his sermons Saturday evening, with +his children around him. + +Parson Adams, a cousin of John Adams and the predecessor of Flint, had +lived among his people as a chieftain. He was not only the spiritual +teacher, he was supreme in most other matters. Unlike the Adams family +generally, he had a rough wit and a sententious practical wisdom about +common things not unlike the kindred conspicuous qualities in Dr. +Franklin. If the traditions that existed in my boyhood were +trustworthy, he said and did things that would have ruined an ordinary +minister. Adams gave an earnest support to the Revolution, and one +of his sermons delivered at the opening of the war contained a view of +the coming greatness of the country that was truly prophetic. + +Samuel Dexter studied law at Lunenburg. He was there married by the +Rev. Zabdiel Adams to a Miss Gordon, a daughter of an English lady. + +The successor of Mr. Damon was the Rev. Joseph Hubbard, and during his +ministry the old society that represented the town of former days came +to an end. The first error was the scheme for erecting a new meeting- +house. The larger part of the village is on the southern side of a +hill, and the first meetinghouse was midway on the slope and facing +south. The site was a triangular piece of land, of more than one +hundred rods in extent, on which were shade trees planted in other +days. If the whole town had been at command not another equally good +site could have been selected. A spirit, called the spirit of +progress, had seized the leaders and it was resolved to build a new +meetinghouse on the top of the hill. The house was built, but in the +meantime the society lost members. Following the dedication of the new +house, there came complaints against Hubbard as a preacher. He made +enemies, and his enemies promoted disturbances. Efforts were made to +dissolve the connection. Hubbard having been settled for life, these +efforts were ineffectual. Finally his salary was withheld and the +house was closed against him. Sunday after Sunday, morning and +afternoon, Hubbard would walk from the parsonage to the meetinghouse, +try the doors and then return home. As long as the doors were open, I +attended the services--the congregation diminishing until the pews were +given up to the boys and those who attended from curiosity. One +morning the seats of the singers were vacant, and Hubbard read the hymn +commencing: "Let those refuse to sing, who never knew their God." +That was the last, or near the last of his Sunday services. + +As the controversy went on, the members of the parish withdrew, until +the only one remaining who possessed any property was an uncle of mine, +Timothy Marshall. He lived in the easterly part of the town, and he +was a Universalist in opinion. He owned a small farm and a sawmill on +the Mulpus Brook. His chief delights were reading, discussing +political and religious questions, and gathering information in the +department of the natural sciences. He associated a good deal with Dr. +Bard, but he never accepted Bard's views of the Bible. He had +continued with the old society from indisposition to disturb himself +rather than from sympathy with its teachings, or regard for its +interests. At the conclusion of the active controversy between Hubbard +and the society, the unpaid salary amounted to several hundred dollars. +Hubbard threatened suit, and he may have commenced one. In that +juncture my uncle went over the town and gathered the signatures of +those nominal members who had no property, who had not paid taxes, and +whose eyes had not seen the inside of a meetinghouse. A parish meeting +was called, composed by my uncle and his new adherents. At the end +authority was given for the conveyance to Mr. Hubbard of the site of +the old meetinghouse in full satisfaction of his claim. This spot was +in the center of the village and in the view of the houses of the +principal residents. Not their curiosity merely, but their fears were +excited when they learned that their bitter enemy was to become the +owner of the common in the center of the village. To be sure the +bounds were indefinite, but there was a spot belonging to the parish, +and it included all that was not highway. + +My uncle had an understanding with Hubbard that the land was to be +conveyed to Hubbard and the society released from all its liabilities +under the contract. Then the land was to be conveyed to my uncle for +the sum of six hundred dollars. This was done, and my uncle became the +owner of the common. He was not a friend of the citizens of the +village, and various uncomfortable surmises were set afloat. But my +uncle had but little malice in his nature, and moreover he was too +inert to indulge in the luxury of avenging any wrong either real or +imaginary. The common was left to the use of stray cattle, the +children of the neighborhood and of the school. After a time the +school district decided to rebuild the school-house. The old site was +small, indeed, only sufficient for the building. The citizens +divided, but the advocates of the old site prevailed, and a brick +building was erected. Still the contest went on, and after a year or +two the majority of the district voted to erect a new house, and the +upper part of the common was selected for the site where a second +house, of wood, was built. Whether any title to the land was obtained +from my uncle, I know not. The new house was used for a time, when it +was sold, moved, and converted into a dwelling. + +When my uncle died at the age of about eighty-five years, the common +was unoccupied, and it had the appearance that property takes on when +the owner is intemperate or absent, or when the heirs cannot agree to +a division. The settlement of my uncle's estate was put into the hands +of Mr. Ephraim Graham, whose brother had married my uncle's eldest +daughter. My uncle's children were scattered, and apparently they +inherited their father's indifference to property. Graham was unable +to finish any business, and after ten or more years he died, leaving +the estate unsettled. Finally, the ladies of the village took +possession of the common, removed the rubbish, leveled the ground, and +made the spot an agreeable feature of the town. + +Of the teachers of the village school there are several that I remember +with gratitude, and I cannot but think that some of them were very good +teachers. My first teacher was Martha Putnam, afterwards Mrs. +Nathaniel F. Cunningham. Of her as a teacher I can recall nothing. +Her father, Major Daniel Putnam, was the principal trader in the +village. For the time and place his accumulations were very large. +Nancy Stearns, afterwards Mrs. Benjamin Snow, was the teacher of the +summer school for many years. But beyond comparison Cyrus Kilburn was +the best teacher of the town, and a person who would have ranked high +among teachers at any period in the history of the State. He was not a +learned man in a large sense, but his habit was to investigate the +subjects within his scope, with great thoroughness. Grammar was his +favorite study, and he devised a system of analysis in parsing quite in +advance of the time. He had the faculty of putting questions and of +changing them to meet the capacities of the pupils. He compelled +thinking. I attended the winter school about ten terms, and of these +not less than six terms were taught by Mr. Kilburn. + +In later years we had Colburn's Sequel as the arithmetic. From this I +passed to algebra and geometry, and during the last two terms I +studied Latin Grammar. My school-going days ended in February, 1835, +a month after my seventeenth birthday. + +[* During the session of the Legislature of 1843 or 1844, I walked with +my father on the ice from Boston to Fort Warren, a distance of about +three miles. The authorities were then engaged in cutting a channel +for the departure of a Cunard steamer.] + + +II +LIFE AS A STORE-BOY AND CLERK + +In the month of December, 1830, when I was about one month less than +thirteen years of age, Mr. Simeon Heywood, the postmaster at Lunenburg +and the owner of a small store, proposed to my father that I should go +into his service to remain four years. An arrangement was made by +which I was to receive my board and clothes, and the privilege of +attending school during the winter months. I commenced my service the +26th of December, 1830, and I remained until December 1, 1834. + +My life with Mr. Heywood was a peculiar one. The business of the store +was largely in the sale of goods for hats made of palm leaf. The +business was comparatively new at the time. For many previous years +the women had been employed in braiding straw and making hats and +bonnets for market. Gradually, work in palm leaf had taken the place +of work in straw. The neighbor of Heywood, Major Daniel Putnam, was +doing a large business in hats. The preparation of the palm leaves was +not an easy business. The leaves were stripped on the folds by the +hand, then bleached with sulphur in large boxes. The leaves were then +split so as to produce straws from one twentieth to one eighth of an +inch in width. The first process of stripping the leaves on the folds +was paid for at the rate of ten cents per one hundred leaves. I +devoted my leisure to the work, and thus earned a small sum of money. +Heywood was a shoemaker by trade, and an end of the store was used as +a shop. There one man and sometimes two men were employed. From much +seeing I was able to make a pair of shoes for myself--rather for the +amusement of the thing than from any advantage. While at Heywood's +store, probably about 1834, I had a disagreeable experience, the +recollection of which has often returned. A blacksmith, named Choate, +died, and with another boy, whose name I do not recall, I was +summoned to watch the body during a night. We occupied an adjoining +room, and once an hour we were required to bathe the face of the corpse +in spirits of camphor. To this day I have never been able to +understand why two half-grown boys were put to such service. + +Heywood was more of an inventor than a trader, and becoming interested +in the manufacture of nail kegs he made an invention in connection with +Dr. Bard for sawing staves concave on one side and convex on the other. +In the year 1834 they obtained a patent for the invention. As a +consequence the business of the store was neglected. The invention did +not yield a large return in money, as it was soon superseded by other +devices. The saw, a hoop-saw, was set up in a mill two miles away, and +from time to time I tended the saw, and thus I began a training in +mechanics which has been useful to me in my profession as a patent +lawyer. Heywood also invented a wheel for bringing staves to a bevel +and taper, for the construction of barrels systematically. Mr. Heywood +remained in town eight or ten years, when he moved to Claremont, N. H., +where he died at the age of eighty years or more. He was thoroughly +upright, but he had too many schemes for a successful business man. +During my term with Mr. Heywood, I had charge of the post-office, +keeping the accounts, which were then cumbrous, and I made the returns +once in three months. + +During a part of the time a stagecoach ran from Lowell, through +Tyngsboro, Pepperell, Townsend Harbor, Lunenburg and Fitchburg, and +thence westward through Petersham and Belchertown to Springfield. The +distance was about one hundred miles, and I was compelled to be ready +to open the mail three mornings each week, at about two o'clock. The +driver would sound his horn when he was eighty or one hundred rods +away, and it was my duty to be ready to take the mail when the coach +arrived at the door. + +It was when so summoned that it was my fortune to see the shower of +falling stars in November, 1833. From the time I arose until after +daylight there was no part of the heavens that was not illuminated--not +with one meteor merely--but with many hundreds. Many of them left a +long train, extending through twenty, thirty, or even forty degrees. I +called at Bard's window and told him that the stars were falling, but +he refused to get up, thinking it a joke. The butcher of the town, +Abijah Whitney, came out to commence preparations for his morning +rounds, but conceiving that the day of judgment had come, he returned +into the house and gave up business for the day. In the year 1901, I +know of one other person only, Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, who witnessed +that exhibition, and it has not been repeated. + +During my term with Mr. Heywood, and for many previous years, and for a +short period afterwards, the business of printing standard books, +Bibles, spelling-books and dictionaries had been carried on at +Lunenburg by Col. Edmund Cushing. The books were bound, and then sent +by teams to Boston. The printing was on hand-presses, and upon +stereotype plates. Deacon William Harrington carried on a small +business as a bookbinder, and Messrs. William Greenough & Sons erected +a building on the farm now owned by Mr. Brown on the Lancaster road, +and introduced the business of stereotyping--business then new, I +think. These various industries gave employment of a large number of +workmen, mostly young men. The establishment of Colonel Cushing was +near the store of Heywood, and it was at the bindery that I first saw +Alvah Crocker, afterwards known in the politics of the State, and as +the projector of the Fitchburg railroad. He was a maker of paper at +Fitchburg, and he came with a one-horse wagon to Cushing's place and +carried away the paper shavings produced in the bindery. Crocker was +a lean and awkward man, remarkable for his voice, which could be heard +over the larger part of the village. When in after years we were +associated in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and boarded +at the same hotel, the Hanover House, I was compelled to hear the same +voice in constant advocacy of the Fitchburg railroad project. + +Colonel Cushing was one of the foremost men in town, but his +aristocratic ways made him unpopular, and therefore he failed to secure +official recognition. He was the father of Luther S. Cushing, for many +years clerk of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, then +reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court, afterwards a judge upon +the bench of the Court of Common Pleas, and then the author of +Cushing's Manual. Another of his sons, Edmund Cushing, Jr., was a +member of the Supreme Court of the State of New Hampshire. Of his two +other sons, one was a clergyman, and one a civil engineer. The sons +were all my seniors, and my acquaintance with them was limited, but +when I became a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, +in January, 1842, Luther S. Cushing, then the clerk, came to me, and +after some words of congratulation, gave me this advice: "Never +champion any private scheme, unless the parties are your constituents." +Good advice, which I followed in all my legislative experience. + +During the four winters of my term with Mr. Heywood, I attended the +school, studying the usual branches with something of algebra, +geometry, and Latin grammar. It was during these years that the +teacher, Mr. Kilburn, created such an interest in his plans that he +obtained a contribution of twenty-four dollars with which he +purchased a twelve-inch celestial and a twelve-inch terrestrial globe. +Several pleasant evenings were devoted to a study of the heavens with +the aid of the celestial globe. I attended usually, and thus I gained +a partial knowledge of the constellations, and an acquaintance with +some of the stars by name and location. The post-office gave me +access to several publications of the day, and in one or two instances +I obtained a few subscribers to journals, and thus secured a free copy +for myself. _The Penny Magazine_ I obtained in that way for two years. +In the cholera seasons of 1832-3 and 1834, the people were so alarmed +that they hesitated to take letters and papers from the post-office. +For a time gum-camphor was thought to be a preventive against the +contagion. + +Between 1830 and 1834 the ambition of the town was stimulated by the +building of a new road from Fitchburg to Shirley. It was claimed that +a shorter and more nearly level route to Boston from Fitchburg and the +country above was thus secured. For a time the travel was +considerable, but the teamsters preferred the old roads, the old +taverns, and the old acquaintances. The construction of the Fitchburg +railroad in 1844 ended the business from the country to Boston over the +old highways. + +In the month of November, 1834, I had a call from Mr. Joseph Hazen, of +Shirley, who asked me to accept the post of teacher in the school at +Pound Hill, half-way between Shirley Village and Shirley Centre. The +pay was sixteen dollars per month in addition to board. After making +an arrangement with Mr. Heywood, by which I was to pay him eight +dollars for the twenty-six days in December, I accepted the invitation, +and after an examination conducted by the Rev. Seth Chandler and the +Rev. Hope Brown, I entered the school the first Monday of the month of +December. + +In the preceding June I had received my freedom suit of clothes--blue +coat, bright buttons, black trousers, and buff vest. They were made by +Daniel Cross, of Fitchburg, and, when in 1884, I visited that town, and +found him still engaged in the business, I ordered a dress suit from +his hand. + + +III +CHANGES AND PROGRESS + +As I pass in this record from my childhood and early youth to the +responsibilities of life, I am led to some reflections upon the changes +in opinions and the changes in the condition of the people in the more +than half-century from 1835 to 1899. At the first period there was not +a clergyman of any of the Protestant denominations who questioned the +plenary and verbal inspiration of the Scriptures, including the Old and +New Testaments. The suggestion could not have safely been made in any +New England pulpit that there were errors of translation, and yet the +Christian world, outside the Catholic Church, now accepts a revision +that changes the meaning of some passages and excludes others as +interpolations. The account given in the first chapter of Genesis of +the creation of the world and of man was accepted according to the +meaning of the language used. At the present moment there is not a +well-educated clergyman of any denomination who would not either treat +the account as a legend, or else explain the days as periods of +indefinite duration. + +The claim of the verbal and plenary inspiration of the Old Testament is +denied by many and doubted by others, and the volume is seen and +treated by them as a compilation of works or books in which are +recorded the thoughts and doings of men and tribes and nations that +existed at different periods and flourished or suffered as is the +fortune of mankind. + +The early chapters of Genesis were then a faithful history; they are +now a legend. The Book of Job was then an inspiration; it is now a +poem. The reported interviews between Abraham and Jehovah were then +thought to have been real; now they are treated as the visions of an +excited brain. The ten commandments were then believed to have been +delivered to Moses by the Supreme Being; now they are regarded as the +work of a wise law-giver. Kings and Chronicles are now authentic +histories written by honest men; then those records of events were +attributed to the Supreme Ruler of the world. + +The domain of prayer has been limited. Prayers for rain, for health, +for mild winters and fruitful summers, were then made in all the +churches. Now, with many exceptions no doubt, health is sought in +obedience to the laws of our being, and the seasons find their quality +in the operation of laws whose sources are in material organizations +that cannot yield to human impulses. + +The sources of knowledge have been multiplied almost indefinitely. In +1835 the daily newspaper was not often seen in country towns, and the +circulation of the weekly paper was limited to a very small portion of +the families. The postage was an important item. Relatively, the cost +of papers was enormous. The mails were infrequent, and the people +generally had not the means of paying the combined expenses. Many, +perhaps most, of the papers, were sent upon credit, and it was not +unusual to find subscribers several years in arrears. Many of the +papers contained this notice: "No paper discontinued until all +arrearages are paid," as though sending a paper to a subscriber in +debt, would compel him to make payment. New books were rare. The +farmers and laborers had no slight difficulty in meeting the demands +for schoolbooks, and these and the Bible were the total stock in a +majority of houses. + +The means of domestic comfort were limited to a degree not now easily +comprehended. The brick oven and the open fire were the only means of +cooking, and the open fire was the only means of warming the houses. +Soon after 1835, and even before that year possibly, cylinder stoves +were introduced into shops and stores. Stoves of other varieties soon +followed. Upholstered furniture and carpets were not found in the +houses of well-to-do farmers even. + +The construction of railways and the invention of the telegraphic +system of communication have revolutionized business and changed the +habits of the people, but only the beginnings of their power are yet +seen. They have made it possible for great free governments to exist +permanently. Except for differences of languages all Europe might +become one state, if indeed, first, the individual states could over- +throw all dynastic institutions in families, and all forms of hierarchy +in the churches. These changes to be followed by the abolition of all +forms of mortmain, by the free sale of land, by the distribution of the +estates of deceased persons by operation of law, by compulsory +education with moral training, and the exclusion of all dogmatic +teaching touching the origin or destiny of man. This freedom and the +aggregation of small states in vast governments, by the consent of all +parties, would be security for the peace of the world. With general +peace would come the abolition of great armies, freedom from public +debts, and numerous freeholders. These are the conditions of domestic +and social comfort, the chief and worthiest objects of the State +organization. + +In 1830 the movement against the use of intoxicating liquors began--or +rather it was about that year that the movement was strong enough to +lead a small number of country merchants to abandon the trade. When I +went into Mr. Heywood's store, he had one hogshead of New England rum. +That was sold, and there the business ended. As a general rule, the +farmers used rum daily during the summer season, and drank freely of +cider during the winter. On my father's farm, rum toddy was drunk +three times a day during the haying season, which lasted from the 4th +of July to the 1st of August, or a little later. There was no general +use of liquors at any other season. + +At old election*--the last Wednesday in May--at Thanksgiving, the 4th +of July, and when my grandfather visited us--which seems now not to +have been more than three or four times a year--a pitcher of West +India rum toddy was made, seasoned with nutmeg and toasted crackers. + +The poverty of farmers with respect of tools, made it almost impossible +for farmers to prosper, except by cattle-raising and the cultivation of +small grains. Farming is now an art, and the slavery of farm labor has +in a degree disappeared. Formerly the business of farming was limited +by the home product of manure, but the manufacture of phosphates has +enabled the farmer to enlarge his operations in every direction that +promises a return. + +The railway system had driven the eastern farmer from the cultivation +of wheat and corn, as it is not possible for him to compete with the +new and fertile lands of the West. In these sixty years the wheat +fields have moved from the East to the West. From 1820 to 1840 the +valleys of the Mohawk and the Genesee furnished the finer flour for the +cities of New York and New England. Pennsylvania, Maryland and +Virginia supplied Baltimore and Philadelphia. Then Ohio became the +chief source of supply. More recently the wheat region is the upper +valley of the Mississippi, and the State of California. The time is +not far distant when a return movement will begin. Domestic markets in +the vicinity of the great wheat fields will create a demand for other +products. With the exhaustion of the soil will come the necessity for +the use of artificial manures. Thus will be established a permanent +condition of comparative equality between the East and the West. + +Already the process has commenced in the culture of Indian corn. For a +time the farmers of New England were unable to raise corn, even for +farm use, in competition with the West. The fodder of the corn has now +become valuable to farmers who produce milk for market, and already +they are finding it profitable to raise corn, even when the price at +the door does not exceed fifty cents per bushel. Coincident with these +changes the States of the East have increased in population, and the +proportion who live in cities is increasing at a greater ratio even. +The railway system and the system of protection to American industry +have been the chief instruments in the augmentation of population +generally, and of the gains to cities. These changes have inured to +the benefit of the Eastern farmers. + +[* Old election in Massachusetts was the last Wednesday in May, when, +under the Constitution of 1780, the governor was inaugurated.] + + +IV +SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL-KEEPING + +Of my pupils at Pound Hill an unusually large proportion were advanced +in years.* Several of the boys were my seniors, and in size they had +quite an advantage over me, although my weight was then about 165 +pounds. That class gave me very little trouble. The unruly boys were +those between ten and fifteen years of age. With a few exceptions the +leading people of the town were well-to-do farmers, and nearly every +week brought an invitation to a party at the house of some one of them. +An attendance of more than fifty persons was not an uncommon occurrence. +The term of the school was limited by the money, and either from the +extra cost of firewood, or some other unusual expense, the school was +brought to a close two or three days sooner than was expected. My +father was to come for me on a day named, but when my school was over, +and I was free, I concluded to walk home, a distance of about six +miles, and return for my clothes when convenient. + +Just at that time there had been a heavy, warm rain, and a melting of +snow, which had raised the streams. When I reached the bridge at the +brook on the west side of Flat Hill, the water was over the road to the +depth of twelve inches or more. I concluded to wade across, which I +did. My mother was frightened, but I escaped without any serious ill +effect. My school-keeping days were over. My old teacher, Mr. Cyrus +Kilburn, had charge of the village school and I took my seat among the +pupils. I remained in the school about two weeks, and then my school- +days were over. Altogether I had the training of six or seven summer +terms in schools kept by women, supplemented two or three times by a +private school of a few weeks by the same teacher, and ten or eleven +winter terms. In reading, spelling and grammar I had had a good +training. To those branches Mr. Kilburn devoted himself, and I recall +his teaching of grammar with great satisfaction. He had no knowledge +of object-teaching as applied to grammar, but he was skillful in +analysis, and his training was methodical and exact. In fine, he was +so much devoted to the work of teaching, that the discipline of the +school was neglected. Of this there had been complaints for years. At +that time I had a good command of arithmetic, I knew something of +algebra, and geometry seemed easy from the start. In composition, so- +called, I had had no experience. Once only during my school life was +an attempt made by a teacher to introduce the exercise of writing, and +that attempt I avoided. In Latin I had not gone beyond the study of +the grammar, and the training that I had received was from persons +poorly qualified to give instruction. + +Once or twice the teacher had been a college undergraduate, and +Kilburn's knowledge of the language was measured by his acquisitions +at the Groton Academy. Of knowledge wholly useless to me I had learned +to read the Hebrew alphabet from Dr. Bard's elementary Hebrew book. +The reading-books, especially Scott's Lessons, contained extracts from +good writers and speakers, with selections from the best of English +poets, and these extracts and selections, I had read and had heard read +so often that I could repeat many of them at full length. Worcester's +Geography, and Whelpley's Compend of History were among the books used +in the schools. + +[* The Pound Hill schoolhouse has been sold to the owner of the Captain +Parker place and converted into a shop and tool-house. A photograph +has been taken of the venerable relic.] + + +V +GROTON IN 1835 + +In the month of February, 1835, I read an advertisement in the Lowell +_Journal_, asking for a clerk in a store, application to be made at +the office. I at once wrote to Joseph S. Hubbard,* a former +schoolmate, asking him to call at the office and get the name of the +advertiser. This he did, and gave me the name of Benj. P. Dix of +Groton. I wrote to Mr. Dix, and upon the receipt of an answer, I went +with my father to see him. The result was an agreement to work for him +for three years. Terms, board and one hundred dollars for the first +year, one hundred and twelve dollars for the second year, one hundred +and twenty-five dollars for the third year. I commenced my clerkship +with Mr. Dix the fifth day of March, and in the month of September my +contract was ended by his failure. His business was small, his manners +were abrupt, his capital had been limited, and his family expenses, not +extravagant, had exceeded his income, and bankruptcy in the end was +inevitable. His sales were chiefly of boots, shoes, leather, and +medicines, of which he kept the only stock in the village. + +Mr. Dix was a man of exact ways of life. The sales made were entered +each day at the close of business, the cash was carefully counted, and +the cash-book was balanced. But these careful and businesslike ways +did not save him, and in September he made an assignment of his +property to his father Benj. Dix, and to Caleb Butler, for the benefit +of his creditors according to the preferences specified in the +assignment. Mr. Butler was not a creditor, but Mr. Dix, senior, was +much the largest creditor. In fact he had furnished his son with the +chief part of the means of doing business. He was a tanner by trade, +and he had gradually enlarged his business by employing workmen to make +boots and shoes. A portion of his product of leather and all his +product of boots and shoes had been turned into the son's store. + +The deficiency of means on the part of the son was represented at each +settlement by an addition to the debt due to the father. The debts +amounted to about five thousand dollars. Following the assignment Mr. +Dix left home, and he did not return until the spring or summer of +1836. Imprisonment for debt in a modified form then existed. He and +his family were proud, and he may have wished to avoid seeing his +neighbors and acquaintances while his misfortune was fresh upon him. +His wife was a granddaughter of General Ward, who had been the rival of +General Washington for the command of the army at the opening of the +War of the Revolution. Mrs. Dix was proud, very properly, of her +paternity, and of her grandfather's association with General +Washington, and neither from her, nor from either of two brothers whom +I subsequently met, did I ever hear a word of criticism upon the wisdom +of the selection of General Washington. Mrs. Dix had inherited many +letters written by General Washington to her grandfather, and they were +all written in a tone of sincere friendship. + +Mrs. Dix's eldest brother, Mr. Nahum Ward, was one of the early +settlers, if not one of the founders of Marietta, Ohio. Mr. Dix went +to Marietta, where he was given some employment by Mr. Ward. Neither +Mr. Butler nor Mr. Dix senior, had any knowledge of business, and I was +employed by them at a small advance in my pay, to sell the stock of +goods, and close the business of the store. After such sales as could +be made, the remainder of the stock was sold at auction the 23d day of +November. During the preceding night there was a fall of snow, and the +company came to the village in sleighs. The winter was severe, and +the snow continued to cover the ground until the 18th of April, when +the stage coaches for the north went on runners for the last time. The +summer of 1836 was so cold, that the corn crop was a failure. During +the year following corn brought from New Jersey sold for $2.50 per +bushel. + +In 1835 the town of Groton was a place of much importance relatively. +It was the residence of several men of more than local fame. Timothy +Fuller, the father of Margaret, was living there. He was a lawyer of +considerable distinction, and he had held important public positions. +He had been a representative and senator in the Massachusetts +Legislature, speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, +and a member of Congress from the Cambridge district from 1817 to 1825. +He died in October, 1835. + +Mr. Fuller was a man of careful and regular habits, indeed he belonged +to a family noted for their devotion to the profession of law, and for +their odd manners and styles of dress. + +Mr. Fuller's eldest son, Eugene, was afterwards a student in the law +office of George F. Farley. He was a good debater as a young man, but +as a student rather irregular. He went to New Orleans to reside, +became an editor of, or writer on, the _Picayune_, and on a return +voyage from Boston he was lost overboard. + +Margaret Fuller continued to reside in Groton with her mother and the +other members of the family for several years--until about 1841, I +think. In the meantime I met her frequently, although she was several +years my senior. She was a teacher in the Sunday school, and at the +Sunday-evening teachers' meetings she was accustomed to set forth her +opinions with great frankness, and in a style which assumed that they +were not open to debate. While she lived at Groton she contributed to +the _Dial_. + +In personal appearance Margaret Fuller was less attractive than one +might imagine from the portraits and engravings now seen. Her ability +was recognized, but the celebrity she attained finally was not +anticipated, probably, by any of her town acquaintances. Her writings +may justify the opinion that as a writer and thinker she is in the +front rank of American women. + +Samuel Dana, who had been a judge for many years, president of the +Massachusetts Senate for three terms, and a member of Congress for one +term, was also a resident of Groton. He had been an active politician +on the Democratic or Jeffersonian side in politics, and for many years +in early life he had been the competitor of Timothy Bigelow, who had +been a resident of Groton and a leader in the Federal Party of the +State. The town supported Bigelow and returned him to the House, where +he became speaker for many sessions. Dana as a candidate for the +Massachusetts Senate was elected by the county of Middlesex then +Democratic, and for three terms he was president of the Senate. Judge +Dana was interested in a small social library that was kept in a +chamber over the store. It contained Josephus, Plutarch's Lives, +Rollins' Ancient History, and some other standard works whose titles I +do not now recall. + +Judge Dana was also interested in the organization of a reading room +club in a building connected with the store. As clerk in charge of +the store I was custodian of the reading room and library. I found +time to read Plutarch and Josephus, and I was skeptic enough to +question in my own mind the passage in Josephus in regard to Jesus. +Judge Dana died in the month of November, 1835, at the age of sixty. +His hair was white and long, and his appearance was so venerable that +it is now difficult for me to realize that he was not seventy-five +years of age at least. His abilities were considerable, and his +descendants, in more than one instance, have shown distinguished +qualities. + +Two other well-known lawyers, one of them a lawyer of eminence in the +profession, were also residents of the town; Benj. M. Farley and George +F. Farley, brothers. They were natives of the small town of Brookline, +N. H. The elder, Benj. M., had practised in Hollis, N. H., where by +economy and good care of his earnings he had acquired a competency. At +Groton he made no effort to obtain business, and acted for the most +part as an associate or aid to his brother, who was in the enjoyment of +a large practice and income, for those days and parts. + +With George F. Farley, whose age ran with the century, I was well +acquainted from 1835 until his death in 1855. He was one of the small +number of men that I have known who underestimated their powers. In +one respect, perhaps, this was not true of Farley. He never appeared +wanting in courage for any legal struggle with the leaders of the bar +in New England. In the twenty years that I knew him he had for his +antagonists Webster, Choate, Davis, Curtis, Franklin, Dexter, and +others of eminence, and he never failed to sustain himself upon terms +of equality. This was remarkable in presence of the fact that he was +likely to be retained on the hard side of most cases. This was due, +perhaps, to his reputation for shrewdness, and for a quality in +practice which has been called the inventive faculty. When parties +were not allowed to testify, there was a wide field for the +imagination, and for the exercise of the inventive faculties on the +part of an advocate. He had defended, successfully, the Ursuline +Convent rioters, and he had been employed in many desperate cases on +the civil side and on the criminal side of the courts. + +In his later years he read very little either in law, history, or +general literature. His law library was meager, although he had +usually one or two students in his office. He preferred to discuss his +cases with the loungers about the post-office and stores, getting +thereby the benefit of the opinions of common men. + +His manner in speaking was inartistic, and although he was a graduate +of Harvard, he indulged himself in the use of country phrases and +rustic pronunciation. His logic was unanswerable, and his faculty of +cross-examination of witnesses was worthy of emulation. + +He enjoyed a few books, the classics in the originals, but he seldom +indulged in a quotation. Byron as a poet, and Locke as a logician he +commended to me--the latter, Locke on the Human Understanding, with +great earnestness. Under his advice I read it carefully, and for +mental training he did not overvalue it. Farley commenced the practice +of his profession at New Ipswich, N. H., and that town elected him once +or twice to the Legislature of the State. Wishing for a wider field, +he came to Groton. It was a day of small fees, and a good deal of the +litigation grew out of the intemperate habits of the farmers. + +In New Hampshire fees were even more moderate than in Massachusetts. +If Farley had estimated his talents at their full value and had taken +an office in Boston or New York, he could have gratified his love for +money without disturbing his relations to his neighbors. In minor ways +he was acquisitive and consequently there came to be a public sentiment +which excluded him from public employments. His political course was +not more erratic than that of many others, but his change of position +was ascribed to policy and not to principle. In 1840 he was a Whig, in +1850 he was a Free-soiler, and in 1855 he was a Republican. In the +autumn of the year 1855 he was elected a member of the State Convention +of the Republican Party. + +A day or two before the meeting of the convention I was passing by his +premises where he was engaged apparently in examining a buggy which his +man had been putting in order. The conversation turned upon politics, +and I soon discovered that he wished for a nomination to the +Legislature, and without admitting the fact, his remarks showed that he +comprehended the nature of the obstacles in his way. At last he said: +"When I began I thought the main thing was to get money; and I have got +it; and it is very convenient to have it, but it isn't just what I +thought it was when I began." + +He went to the convention, took a cold which developed into a fever, +and in a week he died. + +[* When I became Secretary of the Treasury, in 1869, I appointed Hubbard +to a minor office in the revenue service in the State of Kentucky, +where he then lived.] + + +VI +GROTON IN 1835--(Continued) + +There were two other lawyers in town, Caleb Butler, the postmaster, and +Bradford Russell. Mr. Butler never appeared in court. He gave advice +in small matters, wrote deeds and wills, surveyed lands, and served his +neighbors in fiduciary ways. For many years he was a member, and a +useful member, of the Board of Commissioners for the County of +Middlesex. That body laid out highways, superintended the public +buildings, and in a word did what no other authority in the county or +State had a right to do. Mr. Butler was a Whig, and after a time his +politics lost him the office of postmaster and the office of +commissioner. + +With Bradford Russell I commenced the study of law, or rather I entered +my name with him and gave some night work to the study of books bearing +upon the profession. His office was over the store in which I became a +clerk in December, 1835. Russell was a graduate of Harvard, of the +class of 1818. For many years two other members of that class resided +at Groton--Dr. Joshua Green, and the Rev. Charles Robinson, pastor of +the old society, then ranked as Unitarian. Mr. Russell had studied his +profession with Judge James Prescott, who was impeached and removed +from the office of Judge of Probate for the county of Middlesex in the +year 1821. Judge Prescott, whom I never saw, was a good lawyer in his +time, especially in the department of special pleading. That branch of +the profession was then passing away, but there were lawyers who lived +by their skill in preparing answers, rejoinders, sur-rejoinders, +rebutters, and sur-rebutters. Russell had acquired a large amount of +special learning in the law, but he had no capacity to comprehend +principles, nor could he see the application of old decisions to new +cases. In argument he was weak and inconclusive, but he was confident +in his own powers, and favored as he was at times by the accidents and +hazards of the profession, he gained some victories. In the final +trials at the county court he usually secured the services of senior +counsel who could meet Farley, his usual antagonist, upon an equality +of standing. Most frequently he secured the services of Sam Mann of +Lowell, as he was then called. The name of the town was affixed +generally, as though the advocate had been so christened. + +Mann was able, confident, and bold. He died young, after a brilliant +career. In many cases Mann and Farley were associated. When this +combination appeared, the opposing counsel were hard-pressed, usually. +In those days a story was set afloat which, though false, gave voice to +the popular notion. When the court was held at Cambridge, Farley and +Mann boarded together at the Mansion House, Charlestown Square. It was +said that when they were associated in a case, they were in the habit +of examining and cross-examining the witnesses. On one of these +occasions, as the story went, Mann conducted the examination, and +Farley followed with the cross. Under his hand the witnesses went to +pieces. After the witnesses left, Farley said, "We can never succeed +if those are your witnesses." Mann replied: "Oh, those are the +witnesses for the other side. To-morrow evening I will show you my +witnesses." When the evening came, the same witnesses came also. +They were again subject to examination and cross-examination, and +proved impregnable under Farley's hand. An invention, no doubt, and +yet the story had a run. + +Although Russell was not a competitor in any sense with such +antagonists as Farley and Mann, he was in the enjoyment of a practice +that was sufficient for a living, and a prudent man would have made it +the beginning of a moderate fortune. He had neither skill in money +matters nor ordinary economy. Hence he was always in debt. At one +term of the court he entered fifty-eight writs, and there were terms +when he had from seventy to one hundred cases on the docket. Each of +these cases gave him thirty-three and one third cents costs for every +day of the term. + +Russell held the office of Master in Chancery. In 1838 the Insolvent +Law was enacted, and its administration was confided to Masters in +Chancery. Russell soon gained a reputation for leniency in the matter +of granting discharges to the insolvent debtors, and his business +increased rapidly. His jurisdiction was the whole county, and although +there were several masters in the county, his fame was such that +petitions came from Lowell, Waltham and other places where masters had +offices. I was appointed clerk in insolvency, at five dollars a day +when a court was held. In this way I gained some needed income, +acquired a knowledge of the Insolvent Law, and more than all, I gained +the acquaintances of the leading lawyers of the county. As debtors and +witnesses were examined, I may have gained something in practice. The +Insolvent Law, amended, to be sure, has remained on the statute books +of Massachusetts to this day, and the United States Bankrupt Law was +modeled upon it. Indeed, there can never by any wide departure from +the provisions of that statute, and from its principles no departure +whatever can be made. + +A leading man, and a character in the town, was Thomas A. Staples. He +was a native of the neighboring town of Shirley. He was a man of large +size, handsome figure, resolute in his purposes, and vindictive in his +enmities. His chief business was that of stage proprietor, and mail +contractor. He was always in debt, and tardy, of course, in his +payments. He was involved in lawsuits, and many of his debts were paid +upon executions. His mail contracts were so large that he sublet many +of the routes, and he was always in debt to sub-contractors. He had a +stage office in Boston for a time at the Hanover House, and after that +at No. 9 Court Street. His office was the headquarters of country +traders and others who patronized his lines of stages. In the year +1838 or later, I was in his office when Alvin Adams, the founder of the +Adams Express Company, made his first trip to New York as an express +messenger. Staples afterward stated in conversation that Adams had but +one parcel, and that he loaned him five dollars to meet his expenses. +At that time Harnden's express was in operation with an office at No. 8 +Court Street. Harnden's company disappeared in a few years, and the +Adams Express Company became an institution that has the appearance of +perpetuity. At a time perhaps as late as 1850, I met Adams on +Washington Street, when he expressed the opinion that his business was +as profitable as any business in the country. + +Staples was engaged also in paper making with mills upon the upper +falls of the Squannacook River. This branch of his business was +especially unfortunate, and in 1836 he assigned his property to Henry +Woods, Daniel Shattuck, and Joshua B. Fowle. Mr. Woods was a trader in +whose employment I then was, having let myself to him when I left the +Dix store December 1, 1835, for my board and $150 a year. Agreement +for one year. The assignees were all friends of Staples. The last +named was Calvin Childs, a blacksmith, to whom Staples owed about two +thousand dollars. The assignees proceeded to execute their trust, and +as collections were made, payments were made until all the debts were +paid except the debt to Childs. Mr. Woods died in 1841. Shattuck died +in 1850, and the trust was not then executed. Fowle paid Childs six +hundred dollars, but he made no settlement of the trust. In 1853 +Childs applied to Russell for counsel and assistance. Russell filed a +bill on the equity side of the court. A lawyer, named Fiske, of +Boston, was retained by Fowle. Fiske answered. Russell employed the +Hon. Charles R. Train to assist in the trial, but there was no hearing. +In 1858 Train was elected to Congress. About 1860 Russell came to me +for assistance and put into my hands a large bundle of papers relating +to the case. At that time Russell was so impaired in health that he +could not aid in the investigation. Upon an examination I found that +the testimony of Staples was important. He then lived at Machias, +Maine. By writing and interviews when I found him in Boston, I became +satisfied that for a hidden reason he was resolved to have nothing to +do with the case. As a last resort, I took out a commission and +submitted interrogatories. The answers were evasive or valueless from +loss of memory. Thus the case was delayed. In 1862 I was elected to +Congress. Childs was an easy going man who made inquiries +occasionally, but never complained. Upon my return from a session, +about 1865, I resolved to bring the case to a close. I examined the +papers carefully, and I found full material for a statement, although +it cost labor to analyze the accounts. At that time Russell was dead +and Fiske was dead. Mr. John Loring, a former partner of Fiske, took +the case. Loring agreed to a hearing at Chambers. Chief Justice +Chapman named a day. At the day named the clients and counsel +appeared. I presented my statement in writing. Loring and Fowle said +they knew nothing about the matter. My statement showed a balance of +between $400 and $500 in Fowle's hands. I asked for interest. Fowle +said he had been ready always to pay. I contended it was his duty long +before to have rendered an account, and made payment. Judge Chapman, +with less reason than courts have usually for their decisions, held +that as he was always ready to pay, he was not justly chargeable with +interest. I drew a decree, the judge signed it, Fowle paid, and Childs +returned home that night. For ten years the case had been on the +docket, when, if some one had made an examination of the papers it +could have been disposed of in a day. + +The controversy in New England between Trinitarians and Unitarians had +culminated in Groton about the year 1825 in a division of the old town +society and the organization of an orthodox church under the Rev. John +Todd. His successor, a Mr. Kittredge, had charge of the Society in +1835, and for a short time afterwards. He was succeeded by Dudley +Phelps, who was a man of ability and liberal in his religious opinions. +From 1838 to 1841 the post-office was in my charge, although I held the +office of postmaster only from February to April, 1841. Mr. Phelps +was in the habit of sitting in the office and reading every sort of +newspaper from the _Trumpet_ to the _Investigator_. Although he was +much my senior, and of differing opinions in politics and religion our +relations were quite intimate. For several years we were joint +subscribers for the four leading English reviews:--_Edinburgh, North +British, Quarterly_ and _Westminster_. My recollection is that he +made the dedicatory prayer at the new cemetery, and that he was the +first person buried in it. He was a man of talent and the father of +two sons, who attained distinction at the bar in New York. + +The Rev. Charles Robinson was the pastor of the old society then +Unitarian, but without question as to the plenary inspiration of the +Scriptures. He was a graduate of Harvard, a man of learning, and a +writer of good sermons. In the delivery he was faulty to the last +stage of awkwardness. His perceptive faculties were dull to a degree +without parallel in my experience. + +In 1835 and for some time afterwards, there were four taverns and +three stores at which intoxicating liquors were sold and the use of +such liquors by farmers was greatly in excess of their use at the +present time. In the early winter the country farmers from New +Hampshire and Vermont going to Boston, with butter, cheese, pork and +poultry, patronized the taverns, and gave the town an appearance of +business which contrasts with the aspect of dullness that it now +wears. The prices for entertainment at the taverns were moderate, +and none of the proprietors accumulated property. + + +VII +BEGINNINGS IN BUSINESS + +In the autumn of 1837 as my second year with Mr. Woods was approaching +a close, I informed him that I proposed to go to Exeter, N. H., attend +the Academy, and then either enter college or proceed with the study of +the law. At about the same time I corresponded with Mr. Abbott, the +principal of the Academy, in regard to terms, board, etc.. Upon this +notice Mr. Woods made me a proposition to continue with him and share +the business. He offered to furnish the capital, to give me my board, +and one fourth of the net profits. My means were very small, the +business was quite sure to yield a profit, and the prospect of +gaining a small amount of capital at the age of twenty-three, when the +partnership was to end, controlled me and I accepted the proposition. +The partnership began March 1, 1838, when I was two months over twenty +years of age. I had then been in Groton three years, and I had formed +the acquaintance of many young men in the Lyceum, in business and in +social ways. In connection with the Lyceum I prepared papers which I +read as lectures. One of these papers upon banking, signed B., +appeared in the Bay State _Democrat_, edited by Lewis Josselyn, the +publisher. Another upon Conservatism and Religion, was also printed in +the Bay State _Democrat_. As I did not give my name to Mr. Josselyn, +and as the letters were mailed at Groton, he came there and after +inquiries, called upon me. I admitted the authorship. This +acquaintance continued for many years, and for many years I was a +contributor to his paper. He was elected secretary of the Senate in +1843 by the Democratic Party. A little later I wrote an article +called "Gibbet Hill" in which I attempted to present the tradition +concerning the hill in Groton which bears that name. That article was +printed in the _Yeoman's Gazette_ or the Concord _Freeman_. For +several years beginning about the year 1836, I wrote one paper each +year called a lecture. Several of these papers were printed in Hunt's +_Merchants' Magazine_. + +From 1835 to 1841 I occupied the store night and day and it was my +custom to read and write until twelve, one or two o'clock in the +morning. These were my years of hard study. Not infrequently, when +a tendency to sleep was too heavy for study, I bathed my face and head +in cold water and thus revived my faculties--a practice, however, that +I cannot commend. Early in my residence in Groton, I formed the +acquaintance and friendship of Dr. Amos B. Bancroft, a friendship which +continued until his death in Italy in the year 1879. It was with Dr. +Bancroft that I continued my studies in Latin. In 1835, he had +finished his professional studies with Dr. Shattuck, of Boston, then +an eminent physician. Dr. Shattuck had studied his profession with Dr. +Amos Bancroft, the father of Amos B. Dr. Amos, as he was called, was +a graduate of Harvard College in the class of Wendell Phillips, and at +the close of his professional studies he was spoken of as the best +educated physician who had entered the profession in Boston. At the +time our acquaintance began, he was entering upon the practice of +medicine, at Groton, in place of his father, who was then about sixty- +five years of age, deaf, and not healthy in other respects, although he +lived to the age of eighty years, and then died from an accident in +State Street, Boston. Dr. Bancroft, Sr., lived in a house which stood +about one hundred feet north of my present residence, and the office of +Dr. Amos was on the spot now occupied by the front of my house. At the +close of business for the day, nine o'clock in the evening, I was in +the habit of going to the office and reciting my Latin lesson, after +which we discussed other matters. Upon my return to the store, I +prepared myself for the next evening's recitation. In this way I read +Caesar and Virgil. In a closet in Bancroft's office there was a +skeleton. That skeleton had a history, and possibly there may be a +sequel to it. It was understood to have been the skeleton of a man +named Jack Frost, who was tried, convicted and executed at Worcester +for the crime of murder committed at or near Princeton. Dr. Bancroft, +Sr., had been the owner of the skeleton. Oftentimes I rode Sundays +with Dr. Amos. On the occasion of one of these drives, and after the +death of Dr. Bancroft, Sr., we passed the house of a waggish old man +named Asa Tarbell. After a little conversation Tarbell said, "I shall +be over soon for Frost's skeleton." Dr. Amos, amazed, looked over and +through his glasses, and said, at length: "Why, what do you mean?" +Said Tarbell: "Some years ago, your father and I were playing, and I +proposed to put my uncle Ben against your Frost. Your father agreed to +the game, and I won. I told him I had no use for Frost at that time, +and that he might keep him." Tarbell's Uncle Ben was a man of inferior +size, hardly more than a dwarf, who had been a drummer boy in the +Revolution. + +I bought the Bancroft estate in 1873, and my foreman, Mr. William A. +Chase informed me that he had found a skeleton, in a barrel in a shed, +and that he had buried it on the place. If again found it may lead to +the suspicion that it is the skeleton of a murdered man, and not that +of a murderer. + +From 1835 to 1841, I read Locke, Say's Political Economy, Smith's +Wealth of Nations, Plutarch, Josephus, Herodotus, Lingard, Hume and +Smollett, Cicero, Demosthenes, Homer, Pope, Byron, Shakespeare, +Boswell's Johnson, Junius, The Tattler, The Rambler, the English +Reviews, French from text-books without a teacher and Rhetoric (Blair's +full edition). Much of Blair's Rhetoric I studied carefully and with +great benefit. Some of my papers of those days were written and re- +written four times. On the law side I read a few text-books: +Blackstone, Story on the Constitution, The Federalist, De Lohme on the +British Constitution, and some other works, probably, which I do not at +once recall. If I gained some knowledge of the law as practised in the +country, that knowledge was gained from an acquaintance with the +lawyers and from my opportunities as Clerk of the Insolvency Court. + +In the year 1836, July 4, an Act was passed by Congress, granting to +a class of widows of soldiers of the War of the Revolution, a pension +for a term of five years. The towns of Groton, Pepperell and Shirley +had supplied a large number of soldiers, and there were many widows who +were entitled to the benefits of the Act. My acquaintance as clerk was +already large, and my studies with Russell had given me the faculty of +preparing ordinary papers, and I at once commenced canvassing for the +business. I obtained in all about fifty cases under the Act of 1836. +Subsequently I obtained other cases under the Act of 1838. I sent the +applications forward to Washington, and in a few cases certificates +were received in return. In a majority of cases there was a delay. +The women became anxious and their visits and importunities were +annoying. In the month of January, 1839, I joined Gen. Staples and +made a visit to Washington. Staples' object was to make mail +contracts, or to arrange existing difficulties. My purpose was to +obtain action on pension applications. Our journey was a slow one, if +not tedious. From Groton to Boston by stage, and from Boston to +Stonington, Conn., by rail; from Stonington to New York by steamboat; +from New York to Perth Amboy by steamboat; from Perth Amboy by rail, I +think, but possibly by stage to a town on the Delaware River, Franklin +perhaps. From that point to Philadelphia, by steamboat. Our journey +from Philadelphia to Washington was by rail in part and in part by +stage. We passed the creeks between the Susquehanna and Baltimore upon +a railroad. + +We stopped overnight in New York, and went to the Park Theater. +Another night we spent in Philadelphia, and went to the Chestnut Street +Theater. Staples had a fondness for theaters, and on these occasions +I followed his example. I had been in a theater but one, when I saw +Forrest in Boston, in King Lear. At Philadelphia I bought a copy of +Byron for three dollars. That volume I have yet. + +The Hon. William Parmenter, a Democrat, then represented the district +in Congress, and I carried one or more letters to him--one from my +employer Mr. Henry Woods, who was an active Democrat. Mr. Parmenter +was then about fifty years of age, of heavy frame, swarthy in +complexion, and a man of good natural abilities. He took me to Mr. +Van Buren. We found him alone, well dressed, polite and rather +gracious than otherwise. Quite early in my visit, Mr. Parmenter took +me to the Pension Office, then presided over by Mr. Edwards. Mr. +Parmenter stated his business, and immediately attention was given to +my applications. In the course of a few days some of the cases were +disposed of, and in a few weeks my docket was clear. + +Caleb Butler was then postmaster at Groton. He had had the place, +probably from the days of John Quincy Adams, for as he was a violent +Whig, he could not have received his appointment from General Jackson. +My employer, Mr. Woods, was an applicant for the post-office, he being +the only Democrat in the street who had accommodations for the office. +I carried papers in support of the application. Those I gave probably +to Mr. Parmenter, as I have no recollection of any interview with any +post-office official. Amos Kendall was then Postmaster-General. He +was a native of Dunstable, and he had been a student at the Groton +Academy when Mr. Butler was the preceptor. Naturally and properly he +sustained his old teacher. The change however was made, and upon the +express instructions of Mr. Van Buren it was said. Mr. Woods retained +the office until his death in January, 1841, when I was appointed +without any agency of my own, but by the agency as I supposed of Gen. +Staples. Upon the election of General Harrison I was removed in the +month of April, and Mr. Butler was reappointed, an act of which I +never complained, nor had I any reason to complain. + +At Washington we stopped at Gadsby's Hotel, now the National. There I +met and had some acquaintance with Matthew L. Davis, "the Spy in +Washington" as he called himself. He was a newspaper correspondent and +the biographer of Aaron Burr. He was a great admirer of Burr. Davis +wore very thin clothing, scouted overcoats, and boasted that he slept +always in a room with open windows, and under very light bed clothing. +He was old and conceited, and as a permanent companion, he could not +have been otherwise than disagreeable. + +At the Supreme Court I heard arguments by Webster and Crittenden, on +opposite sides. In the Senate I heard Webster, Clay, Calhoun, and +others in running debate, but not in prepared speeches. The Senate +then contained many other men of note. Silas Wright, of New York; +Preston, of South Carolina; Benton, of Missouri; Linn, of Missouri, +more remarkable for personal beauty than talents. In the House Mr. +Adams was then a chief figure. His contest over the right of petition +had commended him to one portion of the country, and made him the +object of hostility to another portion. I recall one Monday, when he +had the right to present petitions, and although they were laid on the +table without debate he was able to consume time by presenting them +singly. As the supply in his hands and on the table seemed +inexhaustible, a compromise was made finally, and the petitions went in +in a mass. Of other speakers that I heard I recall Henry A. Wise, and +Sergeant S. Prentiss. Of their style and quality I can say nothing. +The reported speeches of Prentiss do not justify the reputation that he +enjoyed as an orator when living. + +The incident which produced the most lasting impression upon me, when +in Washington, was an interview with a slave, a woman fifty years or +more of age. I had then no love for the system of slavery. I had read +Clarkson's and Wilberforce's writings, and I knew the history of the +struggle in England for the abolition of the slave trade, and slavery +in the British West Indies. I had also attended some anti-slavery +meetings in Massachusetts, at which the leaders, Phillips, Garrison, +Foster, Parker, and Pillsbury had denounced the institution. Groton +was a center of anti-slavery operations in that part of the State. +Several copies of the _Liberator_ were taken in the town, and anti- +slavery meetings were held not infrequently. The first speech that +George Thompson made in America was made in Groton. + +One Sunday morning I walked out towards what is now called the Island. +The road was marked by a rail fence, but of buildings there were none. +I went so far that I was near the slave pen, a building now standing +and which I have visited within a few years. It was of brick, enclosed +within a brick wall, and all of a dingy straw color. At a short +distance from the building, I met a black woman walking slowly away +from it. I said to her: "What building is that?" At once she was in +tears, and she said: "That is the pen where the poor black people are +kept who are going down to Louisiana." She had then been to visit her +daughter, a girl of about eighteen years of age, according to the +mother's statement, who was to leave the next morning. She was the +last of a family of nine as the woman said, who had been sold and taken +away from her. As I was leaving I said: "Who is your master?" She +answered: "Mr. Blair, of the _Globe_." In the fourteen years of my +manhood, that I acted with the Democratic party, I never said anything +in favor of the system of slavery. If otherwise I might have done so, +the interview with that old woman would have restrained me. + + +VIII +FIRST EXPERIENCE IN POLITICS + +At the spring election of Groton in 1839, I was chosen a member of the +school committee. The other members had been in the service in +previous years. They were the Rev. Charles Robinson, the Rev. Mr. +Kittredge, Dr. Joshua Green, and Dr. George Stearns. In the early +Colonial period the "minister" was often the schoolmaster also. +Naturally he took an interest in the education of the children, and +previous to the time when school committees were required by statute, +he was the self-constituted guide of the teachers and schools. Indeed, +the schools were parochial. Whenever the minister visited a school he +made a prayer, and the morning exercise in reading was in the New +Testament Scriptures--two verses by each pupil. In 1840 the entire +board was rejected, and a board composed of school teachers and non- +professional men was chosen. + +In 1838 the Massachusetts Legislature passed what was known as the +Fifteen-Gallon Law. The statute prohibited the sale of distilled +spirits in "less quantity than fifteen gallons." It did not take +effect immediately and the election of that year was not seriously +disturbed, but before the autumn of 1839 the State was thoroughly +aroused. A cry was raised that it was a law to oppress the poor who +could not command means to purchase the quantity named, while the rich +would enjoy the use of liquor notwithstanding the statute. The town of +Groton was entitled to two members in the house of representatives. +Both parties nominated candidates who favored the repeal of the +Fifteen-Gallon Law. The temperance voters put a ticket in the field, +the Rev. Amasa Sanderson, the minister of the Baptist Society, then a +new organization, and feeble in numbers and wealth, and myself. At +that time my associations were largely with Whigs, but I was opposed to +a national bank, and in favor of free trade. With those views it was +not possible for me to act with the Whig Party on national questions +or in national contests. Mr. Sanderson and I received about seventy- +six votes, and as none of the candidates had a majority, the town was +unrepresented. + +Edward Everett was Governor when the law was passed, and he was a +candidate for re-election in 1839. I supported Mr. Everett on the +temperance issue against Judge Marcus Morton, who was the candidate of +the Democratic Party. Judge Morton had been on the bench of the +Supreme Judicial Court where he had the reputation of an able judge by +the side of Shaw, Wilde and Putnam. At that time I had not seen +Morton or Everett. In the year 1836 or 1837 I went to Boston to hear +Alex. H. Everett deliver a Democratic Fourth of July oration. The +effort was a disappointment to me. A. H. Everett had a reputation as +an orator, but he was far inferior to his brother Edward. In later +years I heard Edward Everett often. His genius in preparation and in +the delivery of his orations and speeches was quite equal to anything +we can imagine at Athens and by Athenian orators, excepting only the +force of his argument. + +In 1851 or 1852 I was present at an agricultural fair at Northampton +and in company with Mr. Everett. After dinner speeches were made. +When we rode to the fair grounds in the morning a dense river fog +covered the valley but at ten o'clock it lifted, and the day became +clear. At the dinner Mr. Everett in his speech described the morning, +the dense fog, the lifting, the sun illuminating first the hills and +then the valleys, revealing the spires of the churches, etc. For the +moment I was deceived. But when he had concluded I saw him hand his +manuscript to a reporter and the speech appeared the next morning, +verbatim as he had delivered it. He knew the river towns, and he knew +that every fair day in autumn was preceded by a dense fog, and the +speech was written upon that theory. What alternative he had prepared +in case of a rain, I know not. + +As a judge, and at the same time the candidate of the Democratic Party +for Governor for many years, the rank and file of the party came to +regard Judge Morton as a man of fine abilities and sterling integrity. +His abilities were sturdy rather than attractive. In this respect he +was the opposite of Governor Everett. In the canvass of 1839 Morton +was elected by one vote in a contest of unusual warmth. This election +removed him from the bench, much to his regret, it was said, as under +the circumstances he could hardly hope for a re-election. The House +and Senate were controlled by the Whigs, and the Governor was +surrounded by a council composed of Whigs. The Fifteen-Gallon Law was +repealed and in other respects the government was not different from +what it would have been had Mr. Everett been re-elected. + +Governor Morton continued to be the Democratic candidate, and though +defeated in 1840 and 1841 by John Davis, he was again elected in 1843 +by the Legislature, there having been no choice by the people, a +majority being required. The Senate was Democratic by a considerable +majority. The House was equally divided at the opening of the session, +and there were four abolitionists who held the balance of power. After +several trials the Whigs succeeded in electing Daniel P. King of +Danvers, by the help of one or more of the abolitionists. There were +several contested seats, and when the house had been purged, as the +process was called, the Democrats were in a majority. The session was +a short one. A few political measures were passed, salaries were +reduced, and much below a reasonable compensation for those days even. +Governor Morton had a Democratic Council, but they were not agreed in +policy and the administration lost strength even with Democrats. Its +defeat in the autumn was inevitable, and Gov. Morton ceased to be a +candidate for an office that he had sought in twenty elections and +gained in two. With others I lost confidence in his ability, but that +confidence I afterwards regained. + +He was a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1853, +and in that body his ability was conspicuous. His style was clear and +logical, and his processes of reasoning were legal and judicial in +character. In his speeches he avoided authorities and spurned notes. +He prepared himself by reading and reflection, and the arrangement was +dictated by the logic of the case. His speeches were the speeches of a +strong man, and he was a dangerous antagonist in debate. His reasoning +was faultless and he kept his argument free from all surplus matter. + +In a conversation that I once had with him at his home in Taunton, he +said that the best legal argument to which he had ever listened was +made by Samuel Dexter. As Governor Morton had heard Pinckney, Wirt, +Webster, Mason, Choate, Curtis and many others, the praise of Dexter +was not faint praise. + + +IX +THE ELECTION OF 1840 + +In the early summer of 1840 the great contest began, which ended in the +defeat of Mr. Van Buren and the election of Gen. Harrison to the +Presidency. The real issues were not much discussed--certainly not by +the Whigs. In reality the results were due to the general prostration +of business and the utter discredit that had fallen upon General +Jackson's pet bank system. The Independent Treasury System, as it was +termed by Democrats, or the Sub-Treasury System, as it was called by +the Whigs, had not been tested. + +The country was tired of experiments and all the evils, which were +many, that then afflicted the people, were attributed to the +experiments of General Jackson in vetoing the bills for the recharter +of the United States Bank and for the institution of the pet bank +system. In truth the country was wedded to the idea that the funds of +the government should be so placed that they could be used to +facilitate business. That idea and the practice arising from it were +full of peril. In the infancy of a country, when the resources are +inadequate, a national bank, assuming that it is managed honestly and +wisely, may be an important aid, but time being given, it will +inevitably become a political machine in a country, like the United +States, where the political aspirations of the people are active and +the temptations to seek the aid of the money power are always great. +Even in modern time, with a surplus of millions in the banks of the +city of New York, for which no proper use could be found, there are +indications of a purpose to return to the pet bank system under +another name. + +Gen. Harrison, the nominee of the Whig Party, was then sixty-seven +years of age by the record, but the public opinion credited him with +several more years. His mental powers were not of superior quality, +and his life had not been of a sort to develop his faculties. He had +done good service in the Indian wars of the frontier and as commander +in the battle of Tippecanoe he had won a reputation as a soldier. +During the war of 1812, he commanded the army of the Northwest, and +with honor. He had had a seat in each House of Congress, he had +represented the government at the capital of a South American Republic, +and all with credit, and all without distinction. His career had been +sufficiently conspicuous to justify his friends in eulogies in the +party papers and speeches; and neither as good policy nor just +treatment should his opponents have been betrayed into criticisms of +his military and civil life. The Democrats were unwise enough to raise +an issue upon his military career, and the result was greatly to their +loss. His frontier life in a log cabin was also the subject of +ridicule at the opening of the campaign. The Whigs accepted the issue, +built log cabins on wheels and drew them over the country from one mass +meeting to another. The unfortunate remark was made by a writer or +speaker that if Harrison had a log cabin and plenty of hard cider he +would be content. A barrel became the emblem of the Whig Party. The +log cabin was furnished with a cider barrel at the door, and the +emblematic barrel was seen on cane heads and breast pins. + +Mr. Webster struck a fatal blow at the error of the Democratic Party: +--"Let him be the log cabin candidate. What you say in scorn we will +shout with all our lungs. * * * It did not happen to me to be born in a +log cabin; but my elder brother and sisters were born in a log cabin +raised amid the snow drifts of New Hampshire, at a period so early that +when the smoke first rose from its rude chimney and curled over the +frozen hills there was no similar evidence of a white man's habitation +between it and the settlements on the rivers of Canada. * * * If ever I +am ashamed of it, or if I ever fail in affectionate remembrance of him +who reared it, and defended it against savage violence and destruction, +cherished all the domestic virtues beneath its roof, and through the +fire and blood of a seven years' Revolutionary war, shrunk from no +danger, no toil, no sacrifice to save his country and to raise his +children to a condition better than his own, may my name and the name +of my posterity be blotted forever from the memory of mankind." + +John Tyler of Virginia, was placed on the Whig ticket as the candidate +for Vice-President. Tyler had been a Democrat and the opinions of the +States Rights wing of the Democratic Party were his opinions, +notwithstanding his associations with the Whig Party. His nomination +was due to the disposition to balance the ticket by selecting one of +the candidates from each wing of the party--and there are always two +wings to a party. + +Of poetry the Whig writers furnished much more than was enjoyed by +Democrats. An effort was made to stay the tide in favor of Harrison +by poetry as well as by argument. The effort was fruitless. The +contest of 1840 had its origin in the most distressing financial +difficulties that ever rested upon the country, and it was conducted +on the part of the Whigs by large expenditure of money, for those days, +and with a degree of hilarity and good nature that it is difficult now +to realize. This may have been due to general confidence, and to a +consequent belief that a change of administration would be followed by +general prosperity. + +The Whigs were not under the necessity of submitting arguments to their +followers, and the arguments of Democrats were of no avail. The Whig +papers in all parts of the country contained lists of names of +Democrats who were supporting General Harrison. Occasionally the +Democratic papers could furnish a short list of Whigs who declared for +Van Buren in preference to Harrison. The most absurd stories were told +of the administration, and apparently they were accepted as truth. +Charles J. Ogle, of Pennsylvania, delivered a speech in the House of +Representatives in which he marshaled all the absurd stories that were +afloat. He charged among other things that Van Buren had sets of gold +spoons. The foundation for the statement was the fact that there were +spoons in the Executive Mansion that were plated or washed with gold on +the inside of the bowls. The spoons were there in General Grant's +time, but so much like brass or copper in appearance that one would +hesitate about using them. Another idle story believed by the masses +was that the Navy bought wood in New Orleans at a cost of twenty-four +dollars a cord and carried it to Florida for the use of the troops +during the Seminole war of 1837-8. Isaac C. Morse, of Louisiana, was +one of the Congressional bearers or mourners at the funeral of John +Quincy Adams, in 1848. He was a Whig member and his district in 1840 +was on the Texas frontier. At one of the evening sessions of mourning, +while the Committee was in Boston, he gave an account of his campaign, +and he recited a speech made by a young orator who went out with him as +an aid. The speech opened thus: "Fellow Citizens; who is Daniel +Webster? Daniel Webster is a man up in Massachusetts making a +dictionary. Who is General Harrison? Everybody knows who General +Harrison is. He is Tippecanoe and Tyler too. But who is Martin Van +Bulen? Martin Van Bulen! He is the man who bought the wood in the +Orleans, paid twenty-four dollars a cord for it, carried it round to +Florida and had to cut down the trees to land it." A fellow in the +crowd cried out, "Carrying coals to Newcastle." "Yes," said the +speaker, "them coals he carried to Newcastle. I don't know so much +about the coals, but about the wood I've got the documents." + +The general public was not only disposed to accept every wild +statement, but the average intelligence was much below the present +standard, and the means of communication were poor. If, however, +there had been no canvass, the overthrow of Van Buren would have +occurred. The defeat of the United States Bank, and the failure of +the pet bank system, had been attended by disorders in the finances, +the ruin of manufactures, a reduction in wages, with all the incident +evils. As these evils were coincident in time with the measures, the +measures were treated as the guilty cause. Beyond question, Mr. Clay's +tariff bill contributed to the troubles. + +George Bancroft, the historian, was then collector of the port of +Boston. He took an active part in the canvass in Massachusetts. +On the evening of Saturday previous to the election in Massachusetts, +he spoke at Groton in a building afterwards known as Liberty Hall.* + +Mr. Bancroft had a full House, but not an enthusiastic one. Many of +his hearers were Whigs, who came from the country, but not to cheer the +speaker. Moreover, the news of the New York election, then held the +first three days of the week, was not encouraging to Democrats. After +the meeting Mr. Bancroft was taken to the tavern, where a supper was +served to him and to a small number of Democrats. Mr. Bancroft was +excited, and walking the room he said:--"I do believe if General +Harrison is elected, Divine Providence will interfere and prevent his +ever becoming President of the United States." These words of +disappointment seemed prophecy, when the death of Harrison occurred +within thirty days after his inauguration. + +In his address Mr. Bancroft spoke with great confidence of the vote of +New York. There were some conscientious Democrats in his audience, who +remembered the remarks, and it was with great reluctance that they gave +him their votes when he was a candidate for Governor in 1844. + +The more considerate members of the Democratic Party apprehended defeat +from the opening of the canvass. As early as June 17, the Whigs had +enormous mass meetings at Boston and Bunker Hill. The Democrats were +not inert. The Governor of the State was a Democrat and there were +those who had hopes of his re-election. In set-off of the great +meeting of the 17th of June at Charlestown, the Democrats prepared for +a similar meeting on Lexington Green, July 4. The concourse of people +was large. Governor Morton was present and spoke. I there met William +D. Kelley, who spoke to a portion of the crowd from a wagon. He was +then employed in a jeweler's establishment in Boston. + +Groton sent a company of volunteers for the day numbering about +seventy-five men, under command of Captain William Shattuck, then a +sturdy Democrat and afterwards an equally sturdy Republican. Shattuck +was the grandson of Captain Job Shattuck, of Shays' Rebellion. Job +Shattuck had been a captain in the War of the Revolution, and he was +always an earnest patriot. He was also a man of wealth, having large +possessions in land, and being wholly exempt from the pecuniary +distresses that harassed the majority of men, from the close of the +war to the close of the century. Job Shattuck's action was due to his +sympathy for the sufferers and to his sense of justice. In every town +there were traders and small capitalists who had supplied the families +of soldiers who were absent in the service. + +Either by mortgage or by executions, the creditors had secured liens +upon the homesteads of the soldiers and from 1783 to 1789 the liens +were enforced. Petitions went up to the General Court for a stay act. +James Bowdoin was Governor. The General Court did not listen to the +appeal. Daniel Shays and others organized forces for the suppression +of the Courts. Shattuck was the leader in the county of Middlesex, +and at the head of his force he broke up the Court at Concord. Finally +he was arrested. Major Woods, who had been an officer in the war, was +in command of the Government forces. Shattuck was secreted at the +house of one Gregg, who lived near where the house of John Gilson now +stands. The season was winter. It was believed that Gregg betrayed +Shattuck. When Shattuck discovered his peril, he fled and made his +way toward the Nashua River, which was then frozen. His pursuers +followed, but at unequal pace. When he had crossed the river, he saw +that the three men in sight were widely separated from each other. +Shattuck turned, and for a time he became the pursuer. The first man +ran, then the second, but finally Shattuck fell on the ice, with +sword in hand. His pursuers seized him. Upon his refusal to surrender +his sword, they cut the cords of his hand, and wounded him in the leg. +He was tried, sentenced to be hanged, and confined in the jail at +Concord. + +The election of 1786 turned upon the questions at issue, and especially +upon the execution of the persons under sentence. Bowdoin was the +candidate of the "Law-and-Order Party," and John Hancock was nominated +by the friends of the convicts. Hancock was elected by a vote of about +nineteen thousand against less than six thousand for Bowdoin. The +convicts were pardoned, and a stay law was passed. The demand of the +Shays men was reasonable, and the Government was guilty of a criminal +error in resisting it. + +The Shays Rebellion was beneficial to Massachusetts, and it contributed +to the argument in favor of the Constitution of the United States. + +The town of Groton continued in the control of Shattuck and his friends +for many years after the suppression of the Rebellion. During that +period he was drawn as a juror. When his name was called the judge +repeated it, and said, "Job Shattuck! He can't sit on the jury in this +Court." As Shattuck came out of the seat limping he said: "I have +broken up one Court here, and things won't be right, until I break up +another." + +Something of the spirit of Job Shattuck has been exhibited in the +larger portion of his numerous descendants. They have been devoted to +liberty and just in their dealings. These two qualities were +conspicuous in his grandson, Captain William Shattuck. + +I took part in the canvass of 1840 and made speeches in Groton and in +several of the towns in the vicinity. I was also the candidate of the +Democratic Party for a seat in the House of Representatives. There was +no opposition for the nomination, although there were many Democrats +who thought my defection the preceding year had prevented the election +of the Democratic candidates. My temperance opinions were offensive to +many, if not to a majority of the party. On the other hand there were +a number of young members of the Whig Party whose votes I could +command. As a final fact, the political feeling was then so strong +that all considerations yielded to the chances and hopes of success. + +My opponent, and the successful candidate, was Mr. John Boynton, +afterward, and for a single year, a member of the senate. He was a +native of the town, a blacksmith by trade, and the son of a blacksmith. +He was a man of quiet ways, upright, and known to every voter. He had +been in the office of town clerk for many years, he had been kind to +everyone, and he had no enemies. Boynton was elected, but by a +moderate majority. But for the excitement of the Presidential +election, the contest would have been very close. + +The death of General Harrison and the elevation of John Tyler to the +Presidency wrought a great change in the fortunes of the Whig Party. +Soon after the assembling of Congress at the extra session, called by +President Harrison, a bill for a Fiscal Bank was passed by the two +Houses, and vetoed by President Tyler. The veto message was so framed +as to encourage the Whig leaders to pass a second bill in a form +designed to avoid the objections of the President. + +In the discussion upon the veto of the first bill, Mr. Clay assailed +the President in such terms that a reconciliation was impossible. From +that moment it was the purpose of the President to co-operate with the +Democratic Party. A second bill was passed. That was also vetoed by +the President. Early in September all the members of the Cabinet +resigned except Mr. Webster. The outgoing members gave reasons to the +public, and Mr. Webster gave reasons for not going. Caleb Cushing, +Henry A. Wise, and a few other Whigs, called the Omnibus Party chose +their part with Webster and Tyler. The Whig Party was divided, +hopelessly. + +Previous to the division, a bill had passed, which had been approved by +the President, for the repeal of the Independent Treasury System. The +ardor of its enemies was such that no substitute was provided. The +expectation was that a Fiscal Bank, or Fiscal Agent, would be created. +The failure of the bank bills left the Government without any lawful +system of finance. The pet bank system was restored, in fact. The +rupture in the Whig Party contributed to its defeat in Massachusetts +at the election in 1842, but the party was so compact in 1841 that its +triumph was assured. Mr. Webster defended his course, and with few +exceptions his conduct was either approved or tolerated in +Massachusetts. + +[* It was then an unfinished building and stood where the Willow Dale +road connects with Hollis Street. The building had been erected by a +body of people who advocated the union of all the churches. They +called themselves Unionists. Their leader was the Rev. Silas Hawley. +He was a vigorous thinker, a close reasoner, and he displayed great +knowledge of the Bible. His following became considerable. The +excitement extended to the neighboring towns and for a time serious +inroads were made upon the churches of the village. + +The no-creed doctrine was accepted by some who never believed in any +creed, and by others who had believed in creeds that they then thought +were false. In the year 1838, Hawley convened a "World's Convention" +at Liberty Hall, called by the wicked "Polliwog Chapel," to consider +the subject of uniting all the churches in one church without a creed. + +One afternoon early in the week of the session, I saw three men walking +on the street towards Liberty Hall, with knapsacks buckled on their +backs. One of these was Theodore Parker, one George Ripley, and the +third, I think, was Charles A. Dana. In this I may be in error. +Parker told me in after years when he had a wide-spread reputation, +that his first public speech was made in that convention.] + + +X +MASSACHUSETTS MEN IN THE FORTIES + +In 1841 I was again a candidate for the House, and I was elected by the +meager majority of one vote. As a member for the year 1842 I made the +acquaintance of many persons, some of whom became distinguished in +state and national politics. The leading members on the Democratic +side were Samuel C. Allen of Northfield; Nathaniel Hinckley of +Barnstable; Seth Whitmarsh, of Seekonk; Seth J. Thomas, Richard +Frothingham of Charlestown; and James Russell, of West Cambridge. +Allen was a son of the Samuel C. Allen who had been a member of +Congress, a member of the old Republican Party of Jefferson, and the +author of the saying: "Associated wealth is the dynasty of modern +states." Another son was Elisha Allen, who was then a member of +Congress from Maine, elected in 1840. He was afterwards our +Commissioner to the Sandwich Islands, and subsequently he was Minister +from the Islands to the United States. + +Samuel C. Allen, Jr., was a vigorous, incisive debater. His speeches +were brief, direct, and disagreeable to his opponents. He followed Mr. +Webster's advice to the citizens of Boston--he "made no long orations" +and in those days, he "drank no strong potations." + +Thomas was an energetic, capable man, a ready debater, although of +limited resources in learning. Whitmarsh was an unlearned country +leader, whose speeches were better adapted to a neighborhood gathering +of political supporters, than to the deliberations of an assembly +charged with a share in the government of a state. Hinckley was an +original thinker, with a hobby. His purpose was to secure the +abolition of the rule which excluded from the witness-stand those who +did not believe in a personal God. This he accomplished, and by the +aid of the arguments that are formulated in Stuart Mill's Treatise on +Liberty, but they are not there more clearly presented by Mill than +they had been presented by Hinckley in the debates of 1842 and 1843 in +the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Hinckley was a bore, but +the object was accomplished through his agency. Since that time such +parties have been permitted to testify, and the day should come +speedily when the laws should be so changed as to allow the husband +and wife to testify in all cases where they happen to be jointly +interested or opposed to each other. + +In judicial investigations, all who know anything should be permitted +to speak, and of their credibility the court and the jury should judge. +No one should be kept from the witness-stand upon the ground of +interest or feeling. Interest in a party or a cause may be a +temptation to perjury. In a majority of contests, however, the truth +will be told voluntarily even by interested or infamous persons, and in +cases where the witness indulges in falsehood the skill of attorneys +and the judgment of the court will enable the jury to reach a correct +conclusion. + +Frothingham was a student, a fair speaker, but destitute of the +qualities of an orator and too timid for leadership. A parliamentary +leader may, or may not, be a leader of opinion. Mr. Clay was both. +Mr. Webster was a leader in opinion, and whatever leadership was +accorded to him in the Senate of the United States was due to the +recognized fact that he represented a constituency of opinion larger +than his constituency as a senator. In the case of Mr. Sumner that was +more conspicuously true. As a mere parliamentary leader, his standing +was low. He was not fertile in resources; he was not ready in debate; +his arguments rested upon authorities; and these he could not always +command in season for the emergency. But it was admitted that he +either represented a great body of American citizens in opinion, or +that a great body of American citizens would accept his opinions +whenever he made them known. + +In competition with the leaders of the Democratic Party of the +Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1842 it was not a hard task +to acquire a fair standing, but in truth I never thought much of the +results of my labors as they might affect my standing. + +The Whig side of the House was at once more able and more numerous. +The city of Boston was a Whig city by a large majority. Its members, +about forty, were chosen on one ticket. The list was prepared by the +city committee, and each year some young lawyers, merchants, and +tradesmen, or mechanics, were brought forward. The vacancies that +occurred enabled the committee to compliment a retired merchant, or +successful mechanic, with a seat in the House. The attendance of +members was not enforced, and it was quite irregular. A full House +consisted of about three hundred and fifty members, but sixty was a +quorum. It was common for merchants and lawyers to call at the House, +look at the orders of the day, and then go to business. In an exigency +they were sent for and brought in to vote. + +The House was not a place for luxurious ease. The members sat on long +seats without cushions, having only a narrow shelf on the back of the +seat next in front on which with care a book might be laid or a +memorandum written. A drawer under the seat for the documents +constituted a member's outfit. There were four wood fires--one in each +corner of the great hall. Members sat in their overcoats and hats, and +in one of the rules it was declared that when "a member rises to speak, +he shall take off his hat and address the speaker." + +Boston sent John C. Gray, John C. Park, Charles Francis Adams, George +T. Bigelow (afterwards Chief Justice of the State), Edmund Dwight, +Charles P. Curtis, George T. Curtis, John G. Palfrey and others who +were men of mark. + +From other parts of the State there were Alvah Crocker, of Fitchburg; +Henry Wilson, of Natick; Thomas Kinnicutt and Benjamin F. Thomas, of +Worcester; John P. Robinson and Daniel S. Richardson, of Lowell; +Samuel H. Walley, Jr., of Roxbury, and others. + +Mr. Gray was the son of William Gray, the leading merchant of Boston at +the close of the last century. Mr. Gray was kept in the House for many +years. He was familiar with the rules and usages, and his influence +within certain limits was considerable. His integrity was undisputed. +Nobody suspected him of personal interests in anything. As chairman of +the Committee on Finance, he guided the expenditures of the State with +economy and rigid justice. As a speaker his powers were limited to a +statement of the facts bearing upon the case. To argument in any high +sense he did not aspire. + +John C. Park was a good talker. His resources were at his command. +His style was agreeable, his argument clear, his positions reasonable, +and yet his influence was extremely limited. His experience as a +lawyer was the same, substantially. He was not capable of carrying the +mind of the hearer to conclusions from which there was no escape. + +Of the Whig members, Charles Francis Adams was the one person of most +note--due to his family and name. He was then thirty-five years of +age. He was born into a family of culture, and from the first he +enjoyed every advantage that could be derived from books and from the +conversation of persons of superior intelligence. + +If we include the earliest period of life, the majority of mankind +acquire a larger share of knowledge from conversation than from +reading or observation. Mr. Adams had had the best opportunities for +development and improvement from each and all of the three great +sources of knowledge. With all these advantages he could not have +been included in the first ten on the Whig side of the House. His +style of speaking was at once nervous and oracular. His voice and +manner were not agreeable, and he had a peculiar violent jerk of the +head, as though he would separate it from his body, whenever he became +excited or bestowed special emphasis upon a remark. John Quincy Adams +had the same peculiarity which I had observed in 1839 in his +controversy for the right of petition. In political information Mr. +Adams was the best instructed man in the House. + +In those days the slavery question in some form was the topic of debate +and of resolves by the two Houses. Among these the right of petition +and the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia were the most +conspicuous. In these debates and proceedings Mr. Adams was the +leader. When he became a member of the Thirty-sixth Congress and was +appointed upon the committee of thirty-three, he accepted a surrender +to the slave power, which would have given to slavery a perpetual lease +of existence, if institutions and constitutions could have preserved +it. The surrender to slavery, had it been accepted, would have +burdened a race with perpetual servitude and consigned the Republic to +lasting disgrace. It is to be said, however, that Mr. Adams but +yielded to a public sentiment that was controlling in the city of +Washington in the winter of 1860-61, and which was then formidable in +all parts of the country. The concession or surrender was accepted by +many Republicans, including Mr. Corwin of Ohio who was chairman of the +committee of thirty-three. + +From 1840 to 1850 I was a member of the Legislature for seven years. A +large body of the people led by Robert Rantoul, Jr., William Lloyd +Garrison and Wendell Phillips were in favor of the abolition of capital +punishment. Many of the clergy, especially of the orthodox clergy, +opposed the change, and for support quoted the laws of Moses. Sermons +were preached from the text: "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall +his blood be shed." If this text is treated as a philosophical +statement, based upon human nature, that those who resort to blood to +avenge their wrongs will get a like return, then the proposition has +wisdom in it; but it is the essence of a bloody code if it mean that +either the State or the individual sufferer should take a human life +either for revenge, punishment, or example. + +At a session in the Forties the House was made indignant one morning by +the introduction of a petition by Mr. Tolman, of Worcester, asking that +the clergy who approved of capital punishment should be appointed +hangman. A motion was made to reject the petition without reference. +I interposed and called attention to the similarity between the +position the House was thus taking and the position occupied by the +National House of Representatives in regard to petitions upon the +subject of slavery. The suggestion had no weight with the House. The +petition was rejected without a reference. + +The next morning the messenger said Mr. Garrison wished to see me in +the lobby. I found Mr. Garrison, Wendell Phillips and William Jackson +with bundles of petitions of the kind presented by Mr. Tolman. They +assumed that as I had advocated the reference of the Tolman petition I +would present others of a like character. I said, "Gentlemen, when +petitions are presented by a member upon his personal responsibility I +shall always favor a reference, but as to the presentation of +petitions, I occupy a different position. I must judge of the wisdom +of the prayer. In this case I must decline to take any responsibility." +The petitions were presented by Mr. Tolman and the House retreated from +the awkward position. + +George T. Bigelow was one of the ablest, if not the very ablest, of the +Whig leaders. His style of speech was plain, direct, and free from +partisan feeling. His statements were usually within the limits of the +facts and authorities. His temper was even and his judgment was free +from feeling. He possessed those qualities which made him an +acceptable judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and afterwards, when he +became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, gave him a conspicuous and +almost eminent position as jurist. + +George T. Curtis was fastidious, and sometimes he was supercilious, in +his speeches to the House. His influence was exceedingly limited, and +he carried on a constant but useless struggle in the hope of extending +it. + +Samuel H. Walley, Jr., of Roxbury, was for a time, chairman of the +Committee on Finance, and one whose integrity and competence were never +doubted by anyone. The revenues and expenditure of the State were +then insignificant, relatively, in amount, but the people were poor as +compared with their condition in 1880 and subsequently. Every +appropriation was canvassed in every shop and on every farm. Mr. +Walley maintained a strict economy and the expenses of the State were +kept at the lowest point consistent with the wise administration of +affairs. + +Nevertheless the Democratic Party, acting in error, attacked the +expenses, discussed the items in the canvass of 1842, and when they +came to power in 1843 they made serious reductions, especially in the +matter of salaries of public officers, and all, as I now think, +unwisely. + +In the sessions of 1842 and 1843 there came from the town of Woburn, +Nathaniel A. Richardson. When elected he was only twenty-one years of +age. His election was due to the local fame he had acquired as a +speaker in the Lyceum of the town. His career was brief. Whether he +had in him the elements of success cannot now be known, but it was +manifest that he did not get beyond words in his speeches. + +His speeches were lacking in information and his powers of argument +were weak and limited. His most noted speech was in support of a +resolution in favor of refunding to General Jackson the fine of one +thousand dollars that had been imposed upon him by a New Orleans judge. +Richardson's opening sentence was this: "I rise, Mr. Speaker, and throw +myself into the crackling embers of this debate,"--from which, in the +judgment of the House, he never emerged. + +The Lyceum, as it existed from 1840 to 1850, has disappeared, and to +the loss of young men who may be called to take part in public affairs. +In many cases, however, it led to the development of a style of +speaking that was not adapted to political discussion or to the +profession of the law. Speaking and writing should be pursued at the +same time, and study is an essential condition of success. In public +assemblies, even in those that are composed of selected persons, there +is always an opportunity for a well-trained man, who is also carefully +and fully informed upon the subject under debate, to exert an influence +and not infrequently he may succeed in securing the acceptance of his +opinions. + +But study alone will not make a good or even an acceptable speaker, +unless there is added also a period of careful practice. There are +many men of learning whose faculty for speaking is so limited that +their awkwardness is more conspicuous than their knowledge. The Lyceum +may be made a school of practice. The business should not be limited +to topics that do not excite feeling. The contests of the world rest +largely upon feeling, often degenerating into mere passion. Those +who are to take part in such contests should learn at an early period +of life to control their feelings and passions. Such benign results +can be reached only by experience. Let the debates of the Lyceum deal +with questions of living interest, and those who take part in such +contests will learn to control their feelings and thus prepare +themselves for the business of life. + +John P. Robinson, of Lowell, was the best equipped member of the House +of 1842. He was then in the prime of life in years, but already +somewhat impaired. He was a thoroughly educated man, a trained lawyer, +of considerable experience in country practice--a practice which +renders the members of the profession more acute than the practice of +cities. In the country the controversies are about small matters +relatively, but the clients are deeply interested, the neighborhood +is enlisted on one side or the other, and the attendance at court of +the friends of the parties is often large. The counsel is tried quite +as rigorously and critically as is the case. Such was the condition of +things previous to 1848. Robinson was not only a good English scholar, +but he was devoted to the classics, and especially to the Greek +classics and history. Afterwards he became a resident of Athens where +he lived for several years. He was a good speaker in a high sense of +the phrase. In the sessions of 1842 and 1843 the system of +corporations was in controversy. The Democrats were in opposition +generally. The Whig Party favored the system. In the session of 1842 +or 1843 citizens of Nantucket presented a petition for an Act of +Incorporation as a "Camel Company." The town had been the chief port +in the world for the whale-fishery business. Its insular position +rendered it necessary to obtain supplies from the mainland and to +transport the products of the fishery to the mainland. The fact that +there was a bar across the harbor, which made it impossible to bring in +vessels of the size of those engaged in the fishery was fast depriving +it of its supremacy. New London was already a rival. + +The scheme for relief was to build what was called "camels." They were +vessels capable of receiving a whale-ship and floating it over the bar. +They were to be made broad, of shallow draught, with air-tight +compartments. These machines were to be taken outside the bar; the +compartments were to be filled with water and the camels sunk. The +whale ship was then to be floated over the camel and the water was then +to be pumped out of the compartments when the camel would rise with the +ship on its back and carry the whaler into the harbor. + +The scheme seemed a wild one, but opinions were controlled by party +feeling. The bill passed, the camels were built, and the scheme failed +as a practical measure. Nantucket was doomed as a trading and +commercial town. As a watering place it had a future. In one of the +debates upon corporations Robinson took part, perhaps upon the +Nantucket "camel" question, and made the best speech to which I have +ever listened in defense of the system. + +The corporation system has yielded larger returns to Massachusetts +than she has received from any other feature of her domestic policy, +excepting only her system of public instruction. + +Robinson lived, probably, on the verge of insanity, to which end he +came finally. When a member of the House, he was restless, almost +constantly walking in the area or through the aisles, running his +hands through his long black hair, engaged apparently in meditation +upon topics outside of the business of the House. + +He is immortalized in Lowell's "Biglow Papers," + + "John P. Robinson, he + Says he won't vote for Governor B." + +The Governor B. was Governor George N. Briggs, with whom Robinson had +a quarrel about the year 1845. + +Henry Wilson, afterwards Senator and Vice-President of the United +States, was a member of the House in 1842 and 1843. He had risen to +notice in the campaign of 1840. He was engaged by the Whig Party as +one of its speakers and announced as the "Natick Cobbler." + +He had worked in the trade of a shoemaker, and as the shoe interest was +already a large interest in the State, it was a matter of no slight +importance to give distinction to a representative of the craft. +Wilson's family were destitute of culture, and although he had had the +advantage of training at an academy for a year, perhaps, his +attainments were very limited. I recollect papers in his handwriting +in which the rule requiring a sentence to commence with a capital +letter was disregarded uniformly. His style of speaking was heavy and +unattractive. This peculiarity remained to the end. In those days +Wilson was known as an Anti-Slavery Whig. In some respects Wilson's +political career was tortuous, but in all his windings he was true to +the cause of human liberty. + +Although I was acquainted with Wilson from 1842 to the time of his +death, I could never so analyze the man as to understand the elements +of the power which he possessed. It may have rested in the +circumstance that he appeared to be important, if not essential, to +every party with which he was identified. His acquaintance was +extensive and it included classes of men with whom many persons in +public life do not associate. He made the acquaintance of all the +reporters and editors and publishers of papers wherever he went. He +frequented saloons and restaurants to ascertain public sentiment. In +political campaigns he was the prophet, foretelling results with +unusual accuracy. + +Benjamin F. Thomas of Worcester was a leading man in the Whig Party, a +good speaker, saving only that he appeared to vociferate. He was +afterwards a judge of the Supreme Court of the State and for a single +term he was a member of Congress. + +As a lawyer his rank was good, almost eminent, in the State, but his +career in Congress was a failure. He was a member of the Thirty- +seventh Congress, and he failed to realize the issues and to comprehend +the duties of a public man in an hour of peril. In 1862 he abandoned +the Republican Party, and joined himself to a temporary organization in +the State, called the People's Party. + +The party disappeared upon its defeat in November, 1862, and Judge +Thomas disappeared from politics. + +Mr. Kinnicutt, the Speaker, in 1842, was a gentleman of agreeable +manners, fair presence, and respectable, moderate abilities. He +administered the office with entire fairness. His elevation to the +post of Speaker, then thought to be one of great importance, may have +been due to his residence at Worcester. In those days, as in these, +Worcester was a center of political power and its leading men were able +always to command consideration. When, in 1840, it was an urgency in +party politics to defeat Governor Morton, John Davis, of Worcester, +called "Honest John," was selected as the candidate, although he was +then a member of the United States Senate. + +In the sessions of 1843 and 1844, I originated three measures and +introduced bills designed to give legal form to the measures. + +1. A bill requiring cashiers of banks and treasurers of all other +corporations to return to the assessors of each city and town the names +of stockholders residing in each such city or town, the shares held by +each and the par value of the shares. The bill was passed. The +holders of stock who had theretofore escaped taxation were enraged, and +a meeting to denounce the measure was held in Boston. + +2. A bill to require the mortgagee to pay the tax on mortgaged real +estate. The bill was then defeated, but recently the measure has +become a law. + +3. The reduction of the poll tax. + +On each of the last two measures I made a speech which was reported in +the Boston _Post_. Upon the revival of the question concerning the +taxation of mortgaged real estate, my opinions were not as firmly in +its favor as they had been in 1843, when I originated and advocated the +measure. + +The assessment of a poll-tax as a prerequisite to the exercise of the +right to vote is a relic of the property qualification and it ought not +any longer to find a place in the policy of free States. As persons +without accumulated property enjoy the benefits of free schools, the +use of roads and bridges, and the protection of the laws, there is a +justification for the assessment of a capitation tax, but the right to +vote should not be dependent upon its payment. + + +XI +THE ELECTION OF 1842, AND THE DORR REBELLION + +The election of 1842 was contested by the Democratic Party and +successfully, upon the charge that the Whig Administration had unwisely +and illegally aided the "law and order party" in Rhode Island in the +controversy with Thomas W. Dorr, the leader of the party engaged in an +attempt to change the form of government in that State. At that time +the people of Rhode Island were living under the charter granted by +Charles II. Its provisions were illiberal in the opinion of the +majority of the people of Rhode Island, but the majority of the voters +under the Charter thought otherwise. Mr. Dorr represented the popular +opinion, and Governor King represented the dominant class. Governor +King was a Whig and, naturally the Whig Party of Massachusetts +sympathized with him. Gen. H. A. S. Dearborn, who had been an officer +in the War of 1812, was then Adjutant-General of Massachusetts. In his +haste to aid Governor King, he loaned to him quite a quantity of +muskets from the State Arsenal. This act caused great criticism and +contributed to the overthrow of the Whig Party in 1842, if it did not +in fact cause it. Dorr had organized a government, under a +constitution which had been ratified by such of the people of Rhode +Island as chose to vote upon it. The Dorr legislature assembled, a +military force was organized, and the State seemed to be on the eve of +a bloody contest. + +Governor King appealed for aid to President Tyler. The President +recognized Governor King as the head of the lawful government of the +State, and although the aid was not granted, the Dorr Rebellion came +to an end. The courts followed the political department of the +government, and the attempt of Dorr and his associates was a failure in +fact and in law. The failure was followed, however, by the adoption of +a constitution from which the most objectionable features of the +Charter were removed. + +In 1842 Massachusetts was living under the majority system. The +Abolitionists placed a candidate in nomination. As a consequence there +was no election of Governor by the people. The Democrats succeeded in +obtaining a majority of the Senators elected. The House was about +equally divided between the Whigs and the Democrats, and the balance of +power was in the hands of four Abolitionists, who were led by one Lewis +Williams of Easton. Williams was a sort of personage for ten or +twelve days, when he disappeared from public view. + +In the contest for Speaker the Democrats supported Seth J. Thomas, of +Charlestown, and the Whigs nominated Thomas Kinnicutt, of Worcester, +who had held the office of Speaker in 1842. The Abolitionists voted +for Williams. The struggle continued for two days without a result. +On the third day Mr. Kinnicutt withdrew his name, and his friends +presented the name of Daniel P. King, of Danvers. + +Mr. Thomas made a short speech in which he said that he was in the +hands of his friends. The Democrats attempted to change front, and +to secure the election of Williams. The attempt failed, and Mr. King +was elected. Mr. King was a man of moderate abilities, but he had made +himself acceptable to the voting element of the Anti-Slavery Party. +His election as Speaker, was followed by his election to the Twenty- +eighth Congress. The southern part of Essex County had been +represented by Leverett Saltonstall, of Salem. He was the candidate of +the Whig Party in 1842, but the votes of the Anti-Slavery men prevented +his election. Mr. Saltonstall was a man of superior abilities and a +perfect gentleman in bearing and conduct. He had been a Federalist +and my impressions were adverse to him. In 1844 he came to the +Massachusetts House of Representatives. He was appointed Chairman of +the Judiciary Committee of which I was a member. All my prejudices +were removed, and I came to admire his qualities as a man, and his +capacity as a legislator. + +Upon the organization of the House of Representatives, in 1843, the +two Houses in convention, proceeded to the election of a Governor, +Lieutenant Governor, Council, and heads of the several administrative +bureaus. Marcus Morton, of Taunton, was elected Governor, Dr. Childs +of Pittsfield (Henry H.) was chosen Lieutenant Governor, and of the +subordinate officers all were Democrats. + +The nomination of John A. Bolles, for the office of Secretary of the +Commonwealth, gave rise to a singular episode in politics. John P. +Bigelow, of Boston, had held that office for several years. He had +performed the duties acceptably, and there was a difference of opinion +in the Democratic Party as to the expediency of a change. The caucus +decided to make a change. Upon the announcement of the nomination of +Mr. Bolles, Nathaniel Wood, who had been elected a Senator in +convention, from the county of Worcester, left the caucus and the next +day he resigned his seat in the Senate. His peculiarities did not end +with this act. In 1850 he was elected to the House for the year 1851, +as a Coalition Democrat. He voted for Sumner, but he was greatly +annoyed by the charge of the Whigs that there had been an unholy +coalition between a portion of the Democratic Party and the Free- +soilers. In replying to the allegations, he made the counter charge +that there was a coalition between the Whigs and the "old hunker +Democrats" as they were called. They were, in fact, the Democrats +who would not vote for Sumner. A member called upon Wood for the +evidence. This question he had not anticipated, and after staggering +for a reply, he said--"I have seen them whispering together." As legal +evidence the answer was faulty, but in a moral point of view it was not +without force. + +Governor Morton was a man of solid qualities. He had been upon the +bench of the Supreme Judicial Court of the State for many years and in +the fellowship of such jurists as Chief Justice Shaw, Judges Wilde, +Putnam, Hubbard, and others, and he had borne himself with credit and +perhaps even with distinction. He was a favorite of the Democratic +Party and for many years he had been its candidate for Governor, and +always without opposition. His election in 1839 was due to the public +dissatisfaction with the Temperance Act passed in 1838 and known as the +Fifteen-Gallon Law. He became Governor in the year 1840, but as his +Council and the two Houses were controlled by the Whig Party neither +his friends nor his enemies had any means of testing his quality as a +political administrator. In 1843, however, the circumstances were +different. His political friends were in power in every branch of the +government. Party expectations were not realized, and Governor +Morton's administration was not popular with the party generally. +Early in the session, Benjamin F. Hallett, a member of the Executive +Council, became alienated, and the spirit of harmony was banished from +that branch of the government. + +As the election had been carried upon the Dorr Rebellion, it was +thought expedient to recognize the event by a dinner in Faneuil Hall. +Dorr was then an exile, and the guest of Henry Hubbard, Democratic +Governor of New Hampshire. Dorr was invited to the dinner, but he did +not attend. It was asserted that he was given to understand that +Governor Morton would by placed in an unpleasant position if Dorr were +to come to Massachusetts from New Hampshire, and at the same time, a +requisition should come from the Governor of Rhode Island for his +delivery to answer in that State to an indictment for treason. The +incident gave rise to a good deal of feeling, and finally, Governor +Morton did not attend the banquet. Thus it happened that neither of +the chiefs in whose honor the banquet was arranged, was in attendance +on the occasion. + +I was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Invitations. These were +sent to leading Democrats in all parts of the country and especially +were they sent to distinguished members of Congress. The answers +contained only the most delicate and remote allusions to the object +of the festival. The letters were turned over to the officers of the +meeting. For myself, I retained only the envelope of the letter of Mr. +Calhoun with his frank upon the right-hand corner. I had not +previously seen a letter envelope. + +Governor Morton's administration was a failure, and at the election in +1843 he was defeated by Governor Briggs. The State was a Whig State, +and a Democratic administration for two successive years was an +impossibility. My impressions of Governor Morton underwent several +changes. Previous to his election in 1843 I had regarded him as one +of the able men of the country. His lack of courage, and his apparent +desertion of his friends in 1843 produced an unfavorable impression +upon me both of his character and of his abilities. As to his +character, my impressions remain. Of his abilities I can have no doubt. + +With some exceptions the policy and measures of the Democratic Party +in 1843 were crude and unwise. They demanded changes under the name +of reforms. The chief measure was a bill to reduce the salaries of +public officers, including the salaries of the governor, the lieutenant +governor, and the judges of all the courts. The Whigs resisted the +passage of the bill, upon the ground of its injustice to the persons in +office, and of its unconstitutionality in respect to the salaries of +the judges of the Supreme Judicial Court. + +The bill became a law, and upon the return of the Whigs to power in +1844, the salaries of the judges of the Supreme Judicial Court were +restored, and they were reimbursed for the loss sustained by the act +of 1843. At the session of 1844 I made an argument upon the +constitutional question, but it was of no avail. As I have not read +my own argument since 1844 I am not prepared to say that it is +unsound. + +By the election of 1843 Governor Morton was defeated. George N. Briggs +who had been for many years a member of Congress from the Berkshire +District, was elected Governor, and with him a majority of his +political friends in the two Houses. Governor Briggs held the office +until January 1851. He was a man of fair, natural abilities, with a +taste for politics. He had risen from a low condition of life but he +was entirely free from the vices of the world. As a rigid temperance +man and opponent to slavery, the middle classes of the State became +his supporters without argument. He held the office for seven years, +but he was defeated by the coalition of 1850. + +Among the leading members of the House in 1844, was Joseph Bell, then +recently from Hanover, N. H. He was named second on the Judiciary +Committee, and to him was committed the conduct of the bill to restore +the judges' salaries. He was a man of massive frame and of great vigor +of body. His voice was loud, but it lacked those elements that come +from cultivation. He had accumulated considerable wealth in the +country and he had come to Boston for ease and comfort in age. His +career was brief as he lived only a few years thereafter. + +Of the affirmative measures of the Legislature of 1844 the most +important perhaps was the statute requiring the registration of births, +marriages, and deaths. Previous to that time there was no +authoritative records of births, marriages, or deaths. The books of +town clerks, the records of clergymen, and the entries in family Bibles +were the sources of information. The information was never complete, +and often that obtained was inaccurate. The promoters of the measure +were Dr. Edward Jarvis of Dorchester and Lemuel Shattuck of Concord. +They were both enthusiastic upon the subject and when they had created +in me an interest, they furnished me with books and documents including +reports of the English and French systems. The petition or memorial +was referred to the Judiciary Committee and it fell to me to prepare +the bill. This I did with the aid, and largely under the direction, of +Shattuck and Jarvis. Then for the first time I had practical use for +the small stock of knowledge that I had acquired of the French +language. Previous to my election to the Legislature I had purchased a +series of books on the French language, known as "French Without a +Teacher." My study of the language had been limited to fragments of +time that I could command while engaged in the business of the store. +Upon my election to the Legislature I made the acquaintance of Count +La Porte who had been a professor of the French language at Cambridge. +I took lessons from him during the sessions of 1842 and 1843. + +In the year 1844 I received from the Democratic Party the nomination +for a seat in Congress. It was a barren honor. The district was in +the hands of the Whig Party by a respectable majority. In the canvass +of 1842 the Whigs had nominated John P. Robinson. He was not an +acceptable candidate, and the candidate of the Abolitionists received +a large vote. The Democratic candidate was Joseph W. Mansur of +Lowell. In the first contest he was near an election by a majority. +At the second trial his friends had high hopes of success. At the +close of the contest it was found that he had lost votes. His +friends charged that his loss was due to the secret opposition of +Josiah G. Abbott, who was a rival to Mansur, in the city of Lowell. +In 1844 Mansur retired from the field and Abbott became a candidate. +Mansur's friends were opposed to the nomination of Abbott, and by their +action the nomination came to me. The district was then hopeless. In +1842 the Dorr question was uppermost in the public mind. That had lost +its power. In a Presidential contest Massachusetts was Whig by an +immense majority. National questions were all-controlling. I was +renominated for Congress in 1846 and 1848. I canvassed the district +and made speeches in the principal places but as to success I never +had any hope. + +The 17th day of June, 1843, Mr. Webster delivered the address upon the +completion of the Bunker Hill Monument. President Tyler and some +members of his Cabinet were present. The concourse of people was so +great that experts were justified in estimating the number at one +hundred thousand. This was the third opportunity that I had had to +hear Mr. Webster speak. The first was in the Senate in January, 1839. +A few days later I was present in the gallery of the Supreme Court +room, and heard the argument in the case of Smith _v._ Richards. + +Mr. Webster appeared for Smith and Mr. Crittenden for Richards. The +subject was the sale of a gold mine in which fraud was alleged by +Smith. The judgment was for Richards, three judges dissenting. For +the first time I heard the word "denizen," used by Mr. Crittenden. + +The election of 1844 was disastrous to the Democratic Party of +Massachusetts. George Bancroft was its candidate for Governor. He was +an enthusiastic leader, but not a popular candidate. I recall the +circumstance that I met him during the canvass at the head of Hanover +Street, Boston, when some news favorable to Polk had been received. He +had a small cane in his hand which he whirled in the air, and shouted: +"Glorious! Glorious!" until we were surrounded by a crowd of men and +boys. + +At the November election I was defeated by a majority of seventy-six, I +think, in a vote of about four hundred. I had some political sins of +my own that intensified the hostility of my Whig neighbors, and many +Democrats voted the Whig ticket. + +The act requiring the treasurers and cashiers of corporations to return +the names of stockholders to the assessors of the cities and towns +where the stockholders resided with the amount of stock held by each, +could not be overlooked by those who had suffered. The recollection of +my part in the business was still fresh in the minds of the victims. +Next the scheme for the annexation of Texas was treated as a Democratic +measure, and every Democrat suffered for the sin of the party. As to +myself, I had spoken in the House against the scheme. I was a member +of the Committee, of which Charles F. Adams was Chairman, that had made +reports adverse to the measure. The circumstances, however, availed +nothing. Mr. Clay's popularity was great, notwithstanding the +indifference or concealed hostility of Mr. Webster. Indeed, Mr. +Webster's popularity had suffered from his connection with John Tyler. + +Mr. Polk had no strength in Massachusetts. He was the nominee of the +Democratic Party, nothing more. Before the day of election came in +Massachusetts the election of Polk was known and conceded. New York +voted the Monday preceding the Monday of the election in Massachusetts, +and the voting was not over until Wednesday night. There was a mass +meeting at Pepperell, Thursday afternoon, at which Benjamin F. Hallett +and myself spoke. Mr. Hallett was very confident of Polk's election. +I was in doubt. + +That evening I spoke at Chelmsford, and upon my return to Groton, I +found several Whigs at Hoar's tavern, who were congratulating +themselves upon a Whig victory in New York. Their authority was the +Boston _Atlas,_ an authority not universally accepted at that time. As +I passed through the bar-room, after leaving my horse at the stable, I +was rallied, and the assertion was made with great confidence that Mr. +Clay was elected. I could only say in reply that they had better wait +until they had some other authority for the claim. I went to my house, +however, with many doubts as to the success of Polk. + +At that time there was no railway communication between Boston and +Groton. The first intelligence from abroad came from Lowell. My +friends there sent to me a copy of the _Vox Populi,_ printed during the +night, and which contained the truthful returns from New York. At that +time the _Vox Populi_ was not in very good repute, and I thought it +unwise to quote it to anyone. I thrust it into my desk without +mentioning its contents. + +Upon the arrival of the stage from Boston, I received a bundle of +papers from my old friend General Staples, which confirmed the news +furnished by the _Vox Populi_. These papers I also thrust into my +desk, and went to the post-office. The outer room was filled with +Whigs--not one Democrat present. The Whigs were still reposing upon +the news printed in the Boston _Atlas,_ but my statement that I had +information more recent and that Polk had carried New York disturbed +their composure. + +At length the postmaster, Caleb Butler, opened the slide door, and +passed out a copy of the Boston _Courier_. The receiver opened it. +There were no capitals, no signs of exultation, and without waiting +for the reading of the text, the assembly accepted the fact that Clay +was defeated. + +The Whigs of Massachusetts and indeed of the whole country were deeply +grieved by the defeat of Mr. Clay. In many instances his popularity +had ripened into personal friendship. His defeat came to many families +as a real loss. Among the disappointed Whigs who had met at the post- +office that morning was a neighbor and friend of mine, Mr. Aaron +Perkins. In his excitement he said with an oath, "Next Monday we will +give you a whipping." His declaration was verified. Many Democrats +whose names were never disclosed to me voted for the Whig candidate, +Deacon William Livermore, and he was elected by a majority of more than +seventy votes. The next year he was re-elected by a diminished +majority. + +In 1846 the Whig Party nominated a new candidate, Edwin Coburn, a young +lawyer then in the office of George F. Farley, with whom Coburn had +studied his profession. Coburn was a man of good parts intellectually, +a fair debater, and an intimate friend of mine. The town was canvassed +thoroughly. Two ballots were taken during the first day. I received +one hundred and ninety-six votes, and Coburn received one hundred and +ninety-six votes at each ballot, and there were four scattering votes. +The meeting was adjourned to the succeeding day. That night there was +a rally of the absentees. The Democrats sent to Lowell, Manchester, +N. H., and Boston, there being an absentee at each of those places. +Upon the first ballot the second day I received two hundred and eleven +votes and Coburn two hundred and seven. Of scattering votes there were +none. From that time forward the town was Democratic. In all the +previous contests I had contended against a Whig majority. My success +had been due to the friendship of a number of Whig families, to my +strength among the young men, and to a more perfect organization of the +Democratic Party. The annexation of Texas, and the Mexican War, had +alienated the support of some, and to this fact was due the closeness +of the contest of 1846. + + +XII +THE LEGISLATURE OF 1847 + +At the meeting of the Legislature of 1847, some new members appeared. +Caleb Cushing came from Newburyport, and Fletcher Webster, and J. +Lothrop Motley from Boston. The Democrats of Boston and vicinity were +then engaged in raising and equipping a regiment for Mexico. Cushing +was Colonel of the regiment and Edward Webster, a brother of Fletcher, +was the Captain of one of the companies. On the first day of the +session Cushing introduced an order to appropriate twenty thousand +dollars to aid in equipping the regiment for service. The order was +referred to a special committee of which Cushing was made chairman. +I was put upon the committee and the majority were friends of the +measure. + +Upon the report a discussion sprang up which was partisan with a few +exceptions. Conspicuous among the exceptions was Fletcher Webster. +Webster supported the appropriation in a speech of signal ability. His +drawback was the disposition to compare him with his father. Fletcher +was aware of this, and I recollect his remarks upon the subject at an +accidental meeting on Warren Bridge. Fletcher was rather undersize, +and he spoke of that fact as a hindrance to success in life, in +addition to the disposition to compare him with his father. In his +speech he made a remark not unlike the style of his father. Addressing +himself to his Whig friends, he said that they would be required to +explain their opposition to the measure, and added, "and explanations +are always disagreeable." My acquaintance with Fletcher Webster, was +the introduction to a limited acquaintance with his father, and it led +to an act on the part of Mr. Webster which was of signal importance to +me. + +Mr. Cushing remained in the House until the loss of the appropriation, +when he left for Washington. President Polk gave him a commission as a +Brigadier-General, and he left for Mexico. + +Motley was chairman of the Committee on Education, and as Chairman he +reported a bill to divide a portion of the proceeds of the Maine lands, +among the three colleges of the State. Theretofore they had been added +to the Common School Fund. As a member of the committee, I opposed the +measure, and the bill was lost. The subject is mentioned in Holmes' +Life of Motley, and a letter of mine is printed therein. I had no idea +at the time that Motley had any feeling on account of his defeat, but +Mr. Hooper informed me that it led him to abandon politics. If so I +may have been the unconscious cause of a success in literature which he +might not have attained in public, political life. + +At this session I inaugurated a movement for the reorganization of +Harvard College. The contest was continued in 1848, '49 and '50. In +1851 I was elected Governor and the Legislature, under the lead of +Caleb Cushing, passed a bill by which the overseers of the College were +made elective by the Legislature. It was a compromise measure, and its +immediate results were not favorable to the College. The lobby became +influential in the selection of overseers and unemployed clergymen of +various denominations were active in lobbying for themselves. After +a few years' experience the election of overseers was transferred to +the Alumni, with whom the power still remains. The bill which I +introduced, the reports and arguments which I submitted to the House, +aimed at the reorganization of the corporation and the election of the +corporators by the Legislature. + +In the years 1849 and 1850 the town of Concord was represented by the +Hon. Samuel Hoar, and he led in the defence of the College. He was no +ordinary antagonist. First and last I have been brought into +competition with many men of ability, and I have not often met a more +able reasoner. He spoke without notes, his only aid being his pocket +knife which he held in his right hand and dropped by regular processes +into his left hand, where he changed the ends of the knife and then +resumed the automatic process. + +My own argument I have not read for many years, but it is not unlikely +that it contains as much ingenuity as can be found in any argument that +I have ever made. The movement attracted a good deal of interest in +the State. The College was in control of the Unitarians exclusively, +and it was far from prosperous. The final change of the Board of +Overseers gave a popular character to the institution, and it was one +of the elements of its recent prosperity. For the moment the managers +of the College were very hostile to me, but in the course of ten years +all feeling had disappeared, and I enjoyed the friendship of Presidents +Sparks, Felton, and Walker. + +The College conferred upon me the degree of LL.D. in 1851. That honor +had no significance as it was given to every person who was elected +Governor and that without regard to his learning, attainments, or +services.* Subsequently, however, I was elected a member of the +American Academy of Arts and Sciences by the votes of those who were +controlling the College. In 1861 I was invited to deliver the Phi +Beta Kappa oration, and I was then made a member of the society. Since +the opening of the war I have been at Cambridge on two or three +occasions only, and my present acquaintance with the persons in power +is very limited. + +From 1844 to 1850 I received from Governor Briggs several appointments. +In 1845 or '46 the Legislature passed an Act authorizing the +appointment of railway commissioners. Governor Briggs sent me a +commission, which I declined. The Board was never organized, and the +act was soon repealed. I was also appointed a member of a commission +on Boston Harbor. At the time the public were anxious about the fate +of the harbor in consequence of the drainage into it by Charles River, +and numerous minor channels. It was not then understood that all +deposits by drainage could be removed by dredging. The members of the +Commission were Judges Williams, Hopkinson, Cummins, the Hon. Chas. +Hudson and myself. The three judges had then recently lost their +offices by the abolition of the court of common pleas. Mr. Hudson +had then recently left the United States House of Representatives, but +whether voluntarily or upon compulsion I cannot say. He was a +clergyman, a Universalist, but at an early age he had abandoned his +profession for politics. After serving in the Massachusetts House, +Senate and Council, he was elected to Congress from the Worcester +district, for which he sat during four Congresses. He was a man of +solid qualities without genius of any sort. He was distinguished in +Congress as a Protectionist, and his speeches on the tariff question +were widely circulated by the Whig Party. They were filled with +statistics, and like all arguments based on statistics, they were +subject to a good deal of criticism by the advocates of free trade. + +The three judges were respectable, clear-headed gentlemen. Of Cummins +the story is told that, when for the first time a plan of land was +introduced in a real-estate case, he refused to consider the document, +saying: "I will not allow a case to be won in my court by diagrams." +Williams had been chief justice of the common pleas court and he was +estimated as the superior among his associates upon the bench. Judge +Hopkinson was from Lowell, where he had been a favorite of the ruling +class in that city. He was a man of moderate ability. The work of the +commission continued through several months, and some of its +recommendations were adopted by the Legislature. + +As the charters of all the banks in the State were to expire in 1850 or +1851, in the latter year, I think, the Legislature authorized the +appointment of a board of commissioners for the examination of the +banks. The Governor and Council appointed Solomon Lincoln, of Hingham, +Joseph S. Cabot of Salem, and myself. + +Mr. Lincoln was a kind, capable man of considerable learning, +especially in Old Colony history and genealogy. His first question to +bank officers often related to them personally, and when he found a man +who traced his line to the Old Colony, he pressed him with questions +until his whole history was disclosed. Mr. Cabot sometimes anticipated +Mr. Lincoln, by saying at once, when we entered a bank, "Is there +anybody here from the Old Colony?" + +Mr. Cabot was a bachelor of fifty, and his ways were often odd, and +occasionally they were disagreeable. He had a custom of never locking +his sleeping-room door. Of this he often boasted. When we were at the +American House, Worcester, Mr. Cabot said upon his appearance in the +morning: "A very queer thing happened to me last night. When I got up +my clothes were missing. At last I opened the door, and there they +were in the hall. I supposed that I had been robbed. But I am all +right," taking his wallet from his pocket. I said: "Have you looked +in your wallet?" He opened it to find that the money had disappeared. +We ventured to suggest that for a bank commissioner, he had not shown +a great amount of shrewdness. + +In the years 1849 and 1850 the commission examined all the banks in the +State. Only one was found insolvent, a bank at Pawtucket on the +Rhode Island line. The cashier, named Tillinghast, had been persuaded +by a man named Marchant, of Rhode Island, to loan money without the +knowledge of the officers of the bank. The loan, at the time of the +discovery, amounted to sixty thousand dollars. + +Upon the examination it appeared that there was a slight surplus of +funds over the amount required by the statement. We insisted upon +another examination. The cashier then reduced the balance by the +statement that certain notes sent forward for collection had been +discounted. It was impossible, however, to make the two sides of the +account equal each other. At the end of the second day the cashier +confessed the crime, and transferred his private property to the bank. +Marchant did nothing. He came to the Rhode Island edge of the bridge, +where we had some consultations with him, but without any result +advantageous to the bank. + +In 1847 I was a member of a joint committee to investigate the subject +of insanity in the State, and to visit asylums in other States, the +object being the erection of a second hospital for the care and +treatment of the insane. At the time the only asylum under the control +of the State was that at Worcester. There was a second at Somerville +for the treatment of private patients. This was under the control of +the Massachusetts General Hospital. The hospital at Worcester was +under the management of Dr. Woodward, and each years for many years the +reports had set it forth as a well organized and well managed +institution. At the beginning of our labors we visited the Worcester +Hospital. I was then ignorant of the treatment of the insane, but I +was shocked by the sight of women in the cells in the basement, who had +no bedding but straw, and some of whom had no clothing whatever. + +The committee visited the McLean Asylum at Somerville; the Butler +Hospital, Rhode Island; the Utica and Bloomingdale Asylums, New York; +the Trenton Hospital, the Kirkbride Hospital, and the Philadelphia Alms +House, and in none of these institutions did we find any person naked +or confined in a cell. The furiously insane were dressed, the arms +were tied so as to limit the use of the hands, and the hands were +covered with padded mittens. The Worcester Hospital was the poorest +institution of all. Our chairman, the Rev. Orin S. Fowler, afterwards +a member of Congress, was very indignant, and his report to the +Legislature aroused the State from its delusion in regard to the +Worcester Hospital. We examined many sites for the contemplated new +hospitals, but the Legislature postponed action. + +During the year 1847 I was a member of a committee to examine and +report upon the securities held by the State. These securities were +chiefly the property of the Common School Fund, and they had been +derived from the sales of public lands in Maine owned jointly with +that State under the agreement made at the time of the separation. +Among these securities was a mortgage upon the property of Nathaniel +J. Wythe, at Fresh Pond. Mr. Wythe had been a trapper for John Jacob +Astor, and he had published a pamphlet upon the region of the Rocky +Mountains. Elisha H. Allen afterwards our Consul to Honolulu, and then +Chief Justice of Hawaii, and more recently Minister from that country +to the United States, was a member of the committee. Mr. Allen and +myself were at Fresh Pond together and under the lead of Wythe we went +to one of his large ice-houses. The month was August and the men were +engaged in removing ice from the house for loading upon the railway +cars. From the top of the house to the ground floor must have been +sixty feet or more. The cakes of ice were sent down in a run, and by +the side of the run there was a narrow foot track, over which the men +passed. Mr. Wythe with a lantern led in going up the track to the +height where the men were at work. Allen followed and I was behind +Allen. When we had ascended about one third of the way, the men above +sent down a cake of ice that seemed at first view to threaten the +passengers on the side track. Allen stepped back and fell outside the +track and disappeared in the darkness. The men were called and by the +aid of lights Allen was found in a pit about ten or twelve feet in +depth that had been made by removing ice. By the help of a ladder he +was taken out, much frightened, but not injured seriously. Mr. Allen +was the son of Sam. C. Allen of Northfield, formerly a member of +Congress. Mr. Elisha H. Allen was elected to Congress in 1840 from +the Bangor district, State of Maine. He went to Hawaii in 1849 and he +returned in 1851 or 1852. Upon his return I had several interviews +with him as he lived at the Adams House, Boston, for a time, where I +was then living. From him I received the impression that he was +authorized to say to the Secretary of State that the authorities of +Hawaii were prepared to enter upon negotiations for the cession of the +Island to the United States. I understood from Mr. Allen that Mr. +Webster did not look with favor upon the scheme. In later years I +renewed my acquaintance with Mr. Allen. He was a man of quick +perceptions, of much general information, and as a debater in the +Massachusetts House of Representatives his standing was always good. +As to his integrity it was never brought into question. + +[* I was elected a member of the American Academy on my birthday, 1857. +J. Lothrop Motley and Charles Francis Adams were elected at the same +time.] + + +XIII +LEGISLATIVE SESSION OF 1848--FUNERAL OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS + +The chief incident of the Legislative session of 1848 was the funeral +of John Quincy Adams. Mr. Adams died in February, 1848. There were +then twenty-four States in the Union and the House of Representatives +selected one member from each State to accompany the remains of Mr. +Adams to Massachusetts. Of these members I recall Talmadge of New +York; Newell* of New Jersey; Kaufmann of Texas; Morse of Louisiana; +Wentworth of Illinois; Bingham of Michigan; and Holmes of South +Carolina. The Massachusetts Legislature appointed a committee of the +same number to receive the Congressional Committee. Of that committee +I was a member and George T. Bigelow was the chairman. Our first +thought was of a hotel and the entertainment of the Committee. + +The feeling in regard to temperance was active and we foresaw that the +doings of the committee would be subject to criticism. Finally, +Bigelow suggested that we should go to the Tremont House and say to the +landlord that we wished him to provide suitable rooms and entertainment +for the Congressional Committee. This we did, and nothing was said +about wines. At the end we found that the bill was a large one, and +that the item of wines was a very important item. It was paid by the +Governor and Council, and as one member of the committee I was ignorant +of the amount. The reporters made vain attempts to ascertain the +facts. A portion of our committee met the Congressional Committee at +Springfield. Many additions had then been made to the twenty-four. At +Worcester, and perhaps at other places, speeches were made to the +Committee by the local authorities and speeches in answer were +delivered by members of the Committee. Mr. Holmes of South Carolina, +was one of the speakers. He was an enthusiastic man, and he was +endowed with a form of popular eloquence quite well adapted to the +occasion. + +I was assigned to the charge of Mr. Wentworth of Illinois. His height +was such that he was already known as "Long John." We sat together in +the train for Quincy on the day of the funeral. He was a good natured +man, whose greatness was not altogether in the size of his body. His +talents were far above mediocrity, indeed, nature had endowed him with +powers of a high order, as I had the opportunity to learn when we were +associated in Congress. + +Two banquets were given to the Committee, one by the State at the +Tremont House, and one by the City of Boston at the Revere House. The +notable event at the Revere House was the speech of Harrison Gray Otis. +Mr. Otis was then about eighty years of age. He was a well preserved +gentleman, and in his deportment, dress and speech he gave evidence of +culture and refinement. He had been a Federalist and of course he had +been a bitter opponent of Mr. Adams. He seized the occasion to make a +defence of Federalism, and of the Hartford Convention. While Mr. Adams +was President, he had written a pamphlet in vindication of a charge he +had made, in conversation with Mr. Jefferson, that, during the War of +1812 the Federalists of New England, had contemplated a dissolution of +the Union, and the establishment of a northern confederacy. This +charge Mr. Otis denied and he then proceeded at length to vindicate +the character of the old Federal Party. He was a gentleman of +refinement of manners, but as I sat near him at the Revere House +dinner, I overheard enough of his private conversation with Holmes of +South Carolina, to satisfy me that he had a relish for coarse remarks, +if they had in them a flavor of wit or humor. + +The old controversy between John Quincy Adams, and the Federalists of +Boston, once saved me, and helped me to escape from a position in +which I found myself by an indiscretion in debate. In 1843 the office +of Attorney-General was abolished, by the active efforts of the +Democrats aided by the passiveness of the Whigs. The Democrats thought +the office unnecessary, the Whigs were content to have it abolished, +that the party might get rid of the incumbent, James T. Austin. At a +subsequent session of the Judiciary Committee, of which George Lunt was +a member, he reported a bill for the establishment of the office. Mr. +Lunt was a poet, a lawyer, and a politician, and without excellence in +either walk. In public life he was destitute of the ability to adapt +himself to his surroundings. In those days the farmers constituted a +majority of the House. They were generally men of intelligence, and +they held about the same relation to the business of the House, that +juries hold to the business of the Courts. They listened to the +arguments, reasoned upon the case, and not infrequently the decision +was made by them. Occasionally they gave a verdict upon a party +question, adverse to the arguments of the leaders of the party in +power. In his opening argument, Mr. Lunt was unwise, to a degree +unusual even for him. + +The question he maintained was one which lawyers alone were competent +to understand, and he also maintained that the majority of the House +ought to accept their views. "The question" said he "is _sui generis."_ + +I was opposed to the bill. At that time Richard Fletcher, then +recently a member of Congress, had been engaged in a controversy with +the Boston _Atlas,_ a leading organ of the Whig Party. A question of +veracity was raised and to the disadvantage of Fletcher. Thereupon he +resigned his seat in the House and returned to Massachusetts. + +Mr. Frank B. Crowninshield was opposed to the bill, and anxious to +secure its defeat, but he was unwilling to take the responsibility of +contributing openly to that result. Privately he informed me that the +purpose was to make a place for Fletcher. In the course of my remarks, +in reply to Lunt I said that if the object of the managers was to +provide a place for a man who had fallen into discredit, in another +branch of the public service, then as far as I knew, the bill was _sui +generis._ + +Several members, among them General William Schouler, disclaimed all +knowledge of any arrangement such as I had referred to. These +assertions of ignorance were not troublesome, but Otis P. Lord, of +Salem, rose and after many personal compliments said "I call upon the +member from Groton to give his authority for the suggestion he makes in +regard to the purpose of this bill." At that moment my mind reverted +to the controversy between Adams and the Federalists. + +In 1825 or 1826 Mr. Jefferson wrote a letter that was printed in the +_National Intelligencer,_ in which he gave his version of statements +made by Mr. Adams. Among others he said that Mr. Adams had told him +that he had evidence of the purpose of the Federalists during the War +of 1812 to secure a dissolution of the Union, and the organization of +an eastern confederacy. + +Mr. Adams wrote a letter in which he explained some of Mr. Jefferson's +statements, but of this he took no notice. Its accuracy, therefore, +was admitted. Thereupon the Federalists of Boston, wrote to President +Adams, demanding his authority for the statement. That authority he +refused to give. Alluding to the many names appended to the letter of +the Federalists, he said: "No array of numbers or of talent shall +induce me to make the disclosure sooner than my sense of duty requires, +and when that time arrives, no array of numbers or talent shall deter +me from it." After some remarks intended to connect the Whig and +Federal parties I repeated the conclusion of Mr. Adams' pamphlet and +made my escape in the smoke. Crowninshield sat upon the dais in front +of the speaker during the debate. I made no allusion to him, for I +commanded my faculties sufficiently to enable me to realize that if he +denied my allegations the denial would be fatal to my standing, and +that he would be seriously injured if he accepted my statement. The +event taught me a lesson, and thenceforward I have avoided all +reference in debate to private conversations. + +[* Mr. Newell is the only member living, March, 1901.] + + +XIV +THE LEGISLATURE OF 1849 + +In the year 1849, two men were elected to the Massachusetts House of +Representatives who have had conspicuous careers in the State and +nation,--General Nathaniel P. Banks and Henry L. Dawes. General Banks +had genius for politics and the generalities of public affairs. As an +orator he was peculiar and attractive to an unusual degree. For a long +period his popularity was great in his town and district, and finally +in the State. A long life was the possession of General Banks, and I +have only to consider how its opportunities were treated, and its +duties performed. The beginnings of his life were humble enough, but +the beginnings of life, whether humble or otherwise, are of no +considerable consequence to strong characters. + +General Banks' public career began with his election to the +Massachusetts House of Representatives, when he was far along in his +thirty-third year. His eminence as a debater and his pre-eminence as +a parliamentarian, were established without much delay, and in 1851 he +was raised to the speaker's chair. In 1852, he was again elected +speaker of the house, and in 1853, and without debate, he was chosen to +preside over the Constitutional Convention. He was then elected to +Congress, and thenceforward he was a conspicuous personality in the +great events of the war; both on the civil and military side of +affairs. He achieved distinction in the Thirty-third Congress, and +after a long and bitter contest in the Thirty-fourth Congress, he was +elected speaker of the House of Representatives. His associates in +that House gave him rank next to Mr. Clay, and through tradition that +rank is still accorded to him. + +During his administration as Governor of the State, from 1858 to 1861, +he made military preparations for that contest of arms, which even +then was thought by some not to be improbable and by a few thought to +be inevitable. It was during that period that he delivered the +address at the dedication of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at +Cambridge. The address met most fully the expectations of the +authorities at Cambridge, and it gave General Banks standing as an +orator when Massachusetts had orators--Everett, Choate, Phillips, +Hillard,--and when Harrison Gray Otis and Webster had not been +forgotten. + +At the opening of the war Mr. Lincoln tendered to General Banks a +commission of the first rank, and a command of corresponding +importance. He had not received a military education, and he was +without experience in military life. His selection was due to a +general and well founded opinion that he possessed military qualities, +courage and decision, and that he was inspired by a deep devotion to +the Union. General Banks was a firm believer in the justice of our +cause, and he was animated by an unbounded confidence in our success,-- +a confidence which was not impaired in the darkest days of the Civil +War. After the passing of a third of a century, a review of the entire +field on the Civil side does not reveal a character more worthy than +General Banks of high military command. In all the vicissitudes of his +military career, and success did not always wait upon his undertakings, +he never lost the confidence of Mr. Lincoln, nor Mr. Stanton, who was +the most exacting of men, whenever an officer failed in his duties. + +General Banks' military career may be considered in three parts. As to +the campaigns of 1861 and 1862, on the Potomac, and in the valley of +the Shenandoah, it is to be said that his fortunes were in the main +the fortunes of McDowell, McClellan, and Pope, yet even in the presence +of general disaster, he gained distinction by his courage, resolution, +and equanimity of temper. The capture of Port Hudson, undertaken and +accomplished under his command, opened the Mississippi River below +Vicksburg to military operations and to business intercourse. The +event was second only in importance to the surrender of Vicksburg. + +The Red River campaign was an ill advised undertaking, for which +General Banks was in no degree responsible. Indeed, he advised against +the movement. This I say upon his specific statement made to me. The +undertaking was a great error. There never was a day after April, +1861, when it was not apparent that the south-western portion of the +union, beyond the Mississippi River, would yield whenever that river +was opened to the Gulf, and the army of Lee had capitulated. Hence the +unwisdom of the undertaking. It is sufficient to say that nothing +occurred in that campaign which was discreditable to General Banks. +The obstacles were too great to have been overcome, and nothing in the +nature of success could have been attained by Sherman or Grant. I turn +again to the aspect of General Banks' career on the civil side. + +In knowledge of parliamentary law and in ability to administer that law +it may be claimed justly that General Banks had no rival in his +generation. As a speaker he approached the rank of an orator, if he +did not attain to it. His presence was stately and attractive, his +voice was agreeable, far reaching and commanding, and his control of an +audience was absolute, for the time being. That his auditors may at +times have differed from his conclusions but only when the speech was +ended, and the spell was broken, is evidence of his power as a speaker. + +That he came into public life as the associate and rival of Sumner, +Wilson, and Burlingame, and that in his whole career as a public man he +kept his equal place to the end, and that in Congress he suffered +nothing when compared with the able men who occupied seats in the lower +House between the year 1850 and the year 1870, give him rank as one of +the foremost statesmen of his time. If it be said that his name is not +identified with any important measure of the government the same may be +said of Mr. Sumner, of Mr. Wilson, of Mr. Conkling, and others, whose +speeches and opinions have had large influence upon the policy of the +country. A great measure is the result of many causes and in its +promulgation it may bear the name of a person whose contribution has +been insignificant relatively. + +General Banks had aptitude for public affairs--an aptitude which +approached genius. His mind dwelt upon great projects, and never upon +petty schemes, nor upon intrigues as a means of success. His warfare +was a bold one, and in the open field. In politics he was deficient in +organizing qualities, but he had unbounded confidence in his own +ability and in the ability of his associates and friends to command and +to retain popular support. As to himself, that confidence rested upon +an adequate basis. In the last fifty years there has been no other man +in Massachusetts who was as generously supported, and by people of all +classes. For the masses, who saw him and who knew him, only as he +appeared on the platform, there was an inspiration in his presence and +in his speeches, and for his associates and friends there was a +generous companionship which none could resist--which none wished to +resist. In his private life there was no malice in his intercourse +with men; in the strife of war there was no vindictiveness in spirit +nor in the means of prosecuting war. + +A patriotic man, who trusted the people, and a man whom the people +trusted; a brave soldier, who retained the confidence of his troops, +and of his superiors in all the vicissitudes of war; a friend whose +friendship was not changed nor tempered by the changing events of life. +Such was General Banks to many and to myself, his companion, and often +co-worker, and always friend through a lengthened half century. + +Mr. Dawes was not a leader in the Massachusetts House of +Representatives and no one could then have predicted his success in +public life. Something of what the world calls fortune has attended +him. He possessed the quality or faculty of industry, but his studies +did not extend beyond the current demands of the situation. As a +lawyer he was not distinguished. He had none of the qualities of an +orator, indeed it was not always a pleasure to listen to his speeches. +His manners were not attractive, and of genial wit he was wholly +innocent. He had a power of sarcasm, and in his speeches he presented +himself in the phase of umpire often, although at times he appeared in +the aspect of a contestant. Indeed, this was in his nature. He was a +thorough partisan who seemed unwilling to own the fact. His friends +could not claim for him any of the qualities for which successful men +are commonly distinguished, and yet he has been one of the most +successful men that the State has produced. Such success must rest on +a substantial basis of merit. + +For a single term, between 1846 and 1850 Benjamin R. Curtis was a +member of the House. He had already acquired fame as a jurist. His +speeches in the house were the speeches that he made to courts and +juries. He was destitute of genius, and his speeches exhibited no +variety of talent. They were adapted to the argument of questions of +law before a court; hence he was not successful as a jury lawyer, and +his speeches in the house were usually convincing, although they were +never attractive. Judge Curtis' intellectual faculties matured early. +Mr. Wilde, for many years the clerk of the court of Suffolk, expressed +to me the opinion that Judge Curtis' first argument was as good as his +last argument. There can be no doubt, however, that his legal +arguments were unrivalled in recent times. He was equipped with all +the legal learning that could be required in any case. He had the +capacity to see the points on which a case must turn, and he had the +courage to pass over the immaterial facts, and points in which other +men often lay stress to the injury of their arguments, and to the +annoyance of the courts. In his arguments in the impeachment case of +President Johnson, he furnished the only ground on which the Senate +could stand in rendering a verdict of not guilty. + +During his service in the House he introduced an extraordinary bill +which received little or no support from the members. By that bill it +was made a misdemeanor to flow the land of another for any purpose +whatsoever, thus changing the ancient Mill Act of the State; provided, +however, that it should not apply to any citizen of Massachusetts. It +was said that Curtis had a client whose land had been flowed by a +Rhode Island man, and not being willing to pursue him in the courts of +the United States, he framed the bill in question. Of course the bill +failed. Again in 1851 he gave an opinion that Sumner, Wilson, myself +and perhaps some others, could be indicted for the coalition by which +the Whig Party was driven from power in Massachusetts. The opinion was +printed secretly and read in the Whig caucus, where it received so +little support that it was suppressed. When the parties had +disappeared, I read a copy that had been preserved in the office of the +Boston _Journal._ + +Judge Curtis was a jurist, and that only. He had no literary taste in +the true sense, although the statement has been made that he was a +constant reader of novels. However that may have been, his speeches +were seldom if ever adorned or burdened by illustrations or references +outside of the books of the profession. + +George T. Curtis, a brother of Benjamin R., was a member of the House +for several years, between 1840 and 1850. With the overthrow of the +Whig Party in 1851, he disappeared from the politics of the State, and +at about the same time he removed to New York. As a writer he is clear +and methodical, but from choice or fortune many of his subjects have +not been acceptable, and his treatment of his subjects has been counter +usually to the general opinion of the country. As the son-in-law of +Judge Story and the brother of Judge Curtis, there was a general +expectation that his career would be distinguished. That expectation +was not realized. His self-conceit was unbounded. That defect made +him unpopular with his professional brethren, and at last it alienated +his clients. Even Mr. Choate, the gentlest of men, could not endure +Mr. Curtis. Of him he said, "Some men we hate for cause, but George +T. Curtis we hate peremptorily." + +Charles P. Curtis was also a member of the House for many years. He +was a more genial man than either the Judge or George T. The three +constituted the fraternity known as _the Curtii._ Chief Justice Shaw, +who had married a Curtis, was also included in the brotherhood. + + +XV +MASSACHUSETTS POLITICS AND MASSACHUSETTS POLITICIANS +1850-51 AND 1852 + +The defeat of General Cass in 1848 changed the policy of the leaders of +the Democratic Party in Massachusetts. These leaders were David +Henshaw, Charles G. Greene, and as an assistant Benjamin F. Hallett. +The first two had controlled the patronage of the general government +very largely during the administrations of Jackson, Van Buren and Polk. +They looked to the election of General Cass as a continuation of that +policy. These leaders considered the control of Massachusetts as +hopeless, and not unlikely they considered the national patronage as +more valuable than the offices of the State. Hence they were ready to +endorse whatever the Washington authorities demanded. Consequently +our platforms tended to alienate voters rather than to attract them. +This policy was very disagreeable to the younger members of the party, +but they were unable to resist it. The Boston _Post,_ owned by Colonel +Greene, was the leading Democratic paper in the State. Many of the +country papers followed its lead. The Worcester _Palladium_ was an +exception, but its influence was limited. + +Greene and Hallett attributed the defeat of General Cass to the +defection of the South and for the time they were disposed to sanction +or to permit a policy of retaliation. Consequently the State +Convention of 1849 was disposed to utter the sentiments of the party +in regard to slavery. For many years Hallett had been the chairman of +the Committee on Resolutions. He was designated for that position in +1849. The Free-soil Party had already become a power in the State. +It was led by men who had been prominent in the Whig Party in its last +days. Hallett reported a resolution in which was this expression: +"We are opposed to slavery throughout all God's heritage." When the +Democratic Party regained power in 1853 this declaration threatened to +impede Hallett in his plans for office and influence. Pierce made +allowances for the circumstances and rewarded Hallett with the office +of district attorney. The resolutions, however, tended to conciliate +the anti-slavery element of the State and in many towns and in some of +the counties the Democrats and Free-soilers coalesced and elected a +formidable minority of the Legislature. The result of the coalition +demonstrated the possibility of a combination which could control the +State. The Convention gave me the nomination, and without any serious +opposition. Stephen C. Phillips of Salem, was the candidate of the +Free-soil Party. Together we had a majority of the popular vote, and +Governor Briggs was elected Governor by the Legislature. The plurality +rule had not then been adopted. + +In 1850 each of the three parties nominated the same candidates and the +coalition in the towns, cities and counties was much more complete. +The victory was decisive. When the Legislature assembled, Henry +Wilson, Free-soiler, was chosen president of the Senate and General +Banks, Democrat, was chosen speaker of the House. The candidates of +the Democratic Party were elected to the office of Governor and +Lieutenant Governor. The council was divided between the parties. The +selection of a candidate for the Senate was left for the Free-soil +Party. The choice fell upon Mr. Sumner, although there was a large +public sentiment, especially in the Democratic Party, in favor of Mr. +Phillips. Such was my own opinion at the time, but the result showed +the wisdom or good fortune of the selection that was made. Mr. +Phillips was a man of education, a merchant by profession, and a +gentleman who enjoyed the confidence of the public. He was an Anti- +Slavery man upon principle, but his intellectual movements were slow, +and his power as a forensic speaker was moderate only. + +In January, 1851, when these events were occurring, the prospects of +the National Democratic Party had improved. The Henshaw wing of the +party in Massachusetts were anticipating a success in 1852. Mr. +Webster had made his famous and fatal speech on the 7th of March, 1850. +President Taylor had died, and Mr. Fillmore was President. He had +reorganized the Cabinet and endorsed the Compromise Measures, and +finally the Whig Party was divided, hopelessly. In this condition of +affairs, Greene and Hallett entered upon a vigorous opposition to the +election of Sumner. The Boston _Post_ called upon the Democratic +members of the House to oppose his election. About twenty-eight +members known as "old hunkers" followed the lead of the _Post._ After +a long contest Mr. Sumner was elected by a single vote. As far as I +know, Mr. Sumner was not a party to any arrangement as to a division of +the offices, and I am sure that I was never consulted upon the subject. +As far as arrangements were made, they were made by members of the +Legislature. The members had been elected by a coalition among the +people and they executed the will of the people. The vacant places +were filled by representative men from each of the parties. While the +struggle over the election of Senator was going on, the Legislature +proceeded to elect a Senator for the term that was to expire the 4th +of March, 1851. It was the seat that Mr. Webster had vacated to take +the office of Secretary of State under Mr. Fillmore. Governor Briggs +had appointed Robert C. Winthrop to the vacancy. + +The Legislature elected Robert Rantoul, Jr., to the vacancy. Mr. +Rantoul was then in the West, and his address was not known to any one. +Mr. Ezra Lincoln, a friend to Mr. Winthrop, came to me and said that +Mr. Winthrop wished to have Mr. Rantoul's credentials sent to him, as +he should feel unpleasant if they were sent to any one else. +Accordingly they were so sent. In a few days Mr. Lincoln called and +said that Mr. Winthrop wished to know whether he should present the +credentials at once, or hold them until Mr. Rantoul appeared. I said +in reply that I was the agent of the Legislature for the transmission +of the certificate, and that I did not feel at liberty to give +instructions. Thereupon Mr. Winthrop presented the credentials of Mr. +Rantoul, and retired from the Senate. This act was followed by attacks +upon me, by Senators and by newspapers, the charge being that I had +driven Mr. Winthrop from the Senate and at a time when an important +question relating to the tariff was pending. Neither Mr. Winthrop nor +any of his friends made any explanation. Mr. Lincoln came to me and +expressed his regrets that the attacks had been made, and he +volunteered to use his influence with the _Daily Advertiser,_ and +induce it to suspend its attacks. This he did, I presume, as that +paper made no further allusion to the subject. As for myself, I +remained silent, following a rule that I had formed early in life, to +avoid public controversy concerning my own acts. This rule, however, +was not an inflexible one. + +Mr. Winthrop was then a candidate for the Senate against Mr. Sumner. +He was sensitive, no doubt, and he may have felt that it was his duty +to present Mr. Rantoul's credentials without delay. That was the +proper course, probably, and the question whether his term in the +Senate was continued a few days was of no public or personal +consequences whatsoever. Up to that point Mr. Winthrop's career had +been one of uninterrupted success. He was the favorite of Boston, and +he belonged to an old and venerated family. His talents were of a high +order, his education the best that the times afforded, his character +without a blemish, and there was no reason arising from personal +conditions why he should not have become the representative man of the +State. With the event mentioned, his public life ended. Mr. Sumner +was elected to the Senate. The next year the Whig Party nominated Mr. +Winthrop and I was brought into direct competition with him. Again he +failed. + +When, in 1855, the Republican Party was organized, a committee waited +upon Mr. Winthrop, and invited him to join the movement. His public +record was satisfactory upon the slavery question, that is, it was +better than that of many others who became Republicans. He declined to +take a position, and gave as a reason that he was unwilling to act with +the men who were leading the movement. He named Sumner, and Wilson. +If his decision had been otherwise, it is quite doubtful if his nerve +would have been equal to the contests through which the Republican +Party was destined to pass. Mr. Winthrop had in him nothing of the +revolutionary spirit. In England, in the times of Cromwell he would +have followed the fortunes of the Stuarts, and it is difficult to +imagine him as the associate of Samuel Adams, John Adams, and Thomas +Jefferson, in Revolutionary days. + +Mr. Rantoul appeared in the Senate after a few days, and his term +lasted about twenty days, giving him an opportunity to make one speech. +He was afterwards elected to the House of Representatives from the +Essex District, and died while a member at the age of forty-seven +years. His death was a serious loss to the anti-slavery Democrats of +Massachusetts and the country. He was one of the three distinguished +men that the county of Essex has produced in his century: Choate, +Cushing and Rantoul. In oratorical power he could not be compared to +Choate. In learning he was of the three the least well equipped. In +logic he was superior to Cushing, and he was more direct, and more +easily comprehended than either Cushing or Choate. He had not much +imagination, and his illustrations were simple and rather commonplace. +As a debater he has had but few equals in our State. He was a radical, +a reformer by nature. He was opposed to capital punishment, an +advocate of temperance, of prison reform, and a zealous free trader. +He made war upon the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 contending that the +Constitution imposed upon the States the duty of returning fugitives +from labor. This theory seemed to me at the time, as the result of a +violent construction of the Constitution, and so it seems to me now. +Nevertheless it satisfied many who wised to oppose the Fugitive Slave +Law, and sustain the Constitution at the same time. + +During the Senatorial contest I was urged by the supporters of Sumner +to aid his election, and by the "hunker" wing of the Democratic Party +--I was urged to bring the influence of the administration to bear +against Mr. Sumner. To all I made the same reply. I said: "I am not +pledged to elect Mr. Sumner, I am not pledged to defeat him. The +subject is in the control of the Legislature." I did, however, delay +making removals and appointments and upon the ground that the election +or defeat of Mr. Sumner would affect the appointments to office in the +State. + +Mr. Cushing had a violent prejudice against shoemakers. Under the +coalition, Wilson became president of the Senate, Amasa Walker, +Secretary of the Commonwealth, John B. Alley, a Senator, and member of +the Council, all shoemakers, or interested in the shoe and leather +trade. In addition to these there were many persons of prominence and +influence in the party who were in the same business. The "shoe towns" +generally supported the Free-soil Party. One morning I received a call +from Mr. Cushing, before I had taken my breakfast. Evidently he had +had a conference with the leading "hunkers" who had deputed him to +state their case to me. After considerable conversation, which perhaps +was not satisfactory to Mr. Cushing, he put this question to me, and +with great emphasis: "What I wish to know, Governor, is whether this +State is to be 'shoemakerized' or not?" With a laugh I said, "General, +I cannot tell, whether it is to be 'shoemakerized' or not." Upon this +the general left. When he had had interviews with Greene and Hallett, +he became anxious for Sumner's defeat; when he was with the +coalitionists he would become, in a measure, reconciled to his +election. The truth was, Cushing was destitute of convictions. By his +residence in the east he had lost faith in our religion, in our +civilization, and, in a degree, in our political system. However, he +had no stronger faith in any other system. His purposes were not bad, +and his disposition to aid others was a charming feature of his +character. He would oblige an associate whenever he could do so. As +a legislator he would perfect bills that he did not approve, and his +stores of knowledge were at the service of any one who chose to make +requests of him. Indeed he often volunteered information and +suggestions. His reading was so vast and his experience so great, +that his professional arguments were often over-loaded. As a jurist +his influence with courts was limited. He did not aid the judicial +mind. It was seldom necessary for the court to either accept or +answer his arguments. On one occasion, he commenced an argument to the +Supreme Court of Massachusetts with the obscure philosophical +observation: "An impossibility is the greatest possible fact." + +General Cushing was learned in many ways, but his faculties were not +practical, and he was too much inclined to adhere to the existing +powers, and consequently he was ready to change whenever a new party +or a new set of men attained authority. As an official, he would obey +instructions, and as an assistant in legal, historical, or diplomatic +researches, he had no rival. He attained to high positions, and yet he +was never fully trusted by any administration or party. His personal +habits were peculiar. In later years, his economy degenerated into +parsimony. This may have been due in part to his lack of financial +skill. First and last he was led into many unprofitable undertakings, +and as a results, his patrimony, which was something, and his +professional earnings which were considerable, were consumed. He was +in debt usually, and he limited his expenses that he might meet his +liabilities. He was eccentric. I have met him at evening +entertainments arrayed in a dress suit with a bright red ribbon for a +necktie. + +General Cushing had great qualities, but he was not a great man. He +had immense capacity that he could use in aid of others, but he lacked +ability to mark out a course for himself, or he lacked tenacity or +purpose in pursuing it. His ambition had no limits, and he would +swerve from his personal obligations in the pursuit of place. In my +administration he was made a judge of the Supreme Court of the State, +and upon an understanding that he would retain the place. During the +few months that he was upon the bench, he gave promise of success, but +upon the election of President Pierce, he could not resist the offer of +a seat in his Cabinet. As Attorney-General he did not add materially +to his reputation, but his opinions are distinguished for research and +for learning. The nomination of Pierce was promoted by the officers +who had served in Mexico. Previous to the Democratic Convention of +1852, Gideon J. Pillow came to Boston, and he and General Cushing +visited Pierce in New Hampshire. They also called upon me and laid +open a scheme in which they invited me to take a part. It was in fact +a project for an organization inside the Democratic Party, by which the +action of the party should be controlled. First, a central +organization composed of a few men self-constituted; next a small +number of assistants in each State who were to organize through +confidential agents in the counties, cities and large towns. All these +agencies through newspapers and by other expedient means would be able, +it was thought, to control the party nominations, and the party policy. +I had then declined a renomination to the office of Governor, and I was +able to say with truth, that I intended to retire from active +participation in politics. I declined to consider the subject further. +Whether or not the scheme was matured, I have no knowledge. + +That campaign and his transfer to Pierce's Cabinet led Cushing to adopt +the views of southern men upon the slavery question, and his unwise +speeches and letters interrupted his success, finally, and at a moment +when success was most important to him. In the autumn or early in +December, 1860, he made a succession of speeches at Newburyport which +were calculated to promote the views of the Secessionists. At about +the same time he wrote a letter which was read before the Republican +Senatorial Caucus, when his name was before the Senate for confirmation +as Chief Justice of the United States. That letter compelled President +Grant to withdraw the nomination. At a period during the war General +Cushing was disposed to enter the army, and there was a movement in +favor of his appointment as Brigadier-General. Andrew, Sumner, and +some others, appeared in opposition, and the appointment was not made. + +While I held the office of Secretary of the Treasury, General Cushing +gave to a friend of mine, and to myself, an invitation to drive out to +his farm, the Van Ness place, about six miles from Washington, on the +Virginia heights, and take tea with him. After business we drove to +his farm. I took a seat with Cushing in his buggy-wagon, and my +friend followed in another vehicle. As we were passing through +Georgetown, we stopped at a shop where Cushing obtained a loaf of +bread. Upon reaching his place we were taken over the land. Its +quality was inferior and it showed the neglect of former owners, and +there were indications that the present owner had done little or +nothing for its improvement. The foreman was a Virginian, with but +little knowledge of farming. The house-keeping was crude. The table +was a coarse one. There was neither tablecloth nor napkins. The +repast consisted of tea, the bread purchased on the way, soft butter, +cold corned beef, and blackberries. When we entered the room Mr. +Cushing went to a bureau, and took from a drawer a package which +contained steel knives and forks, such as I had been accustomed to sell +when a boy in a country store. From the appearance the cutlery had +never been used, but its antiquity was marked by spots of rust. + +This incident shows the democratic side of Mr. Cushing's character. He +had also an aristocratic side. During General Grant's administration, +a Mr. Kennedy, who had been a merchant at Troy, New York, came to +Washington and distinguished himself by his somewhat ostentatious +entertainments to diplomats and other notable persons. This proceeding +annoyed Mr. Cushing, and he gave voice to his feelings in this manner: +--"Mr. Kennedy, an ironmonger, comes here from Troy and sets himself +up as a personage. He is not a personage at all, sir: not at all, +sir." + +When I became Governor in January, 1851, there were a large number of +offices at the disposal of the Governor and Council. Of these there +were sheriffs, district attorneys, registers of probate, clerks of +courts, and registers of deeds. There were also individual places +that were subject to executive control. As a general fact, and I do +not recall an exception, all the officers were filled with Whigs. We +entered upon a policy of removing the incumbents and appointing +members of the Democratic and Free-soil parties. + +I made one notable exception. John H. Clifford was Attorney-General. +I retained him while I held the office of Governor, and he became my +successor. A part of his capital was in the circumstance that I had +shown confidence in him. He was a good officer and an upright man, but +he lacked the quality which enables a man to reach conclusions. This +peculiarity made him useful to me. He would investigate a subject, +give me the authorities, and precedents, and leave the conclusions to +me. Next, there was no one in the administration party whom I wished +to appoint. Mr. Hallett was the candidate most generally supported. +He was full of prejudices and he was not well instructed as a lawyer. +In these respects Clifford was his opposite. I chose, therefore, to +retain Clifford and submit to the criticisms of my party supporters. + +Among the persons removed was Mr. Fiske, register of probate for the +county of Middlesex. In 1854 the citizens of Fitchburg and the +adjoining town petitioned the Legislature for an act authorizing a new +county to be formed of towns from the counties of Middlesex and +Worcester. Mr. Choate appeared for the petitioners. Emory Washburn +appeared for the county of Worcester and I was retained for the county +of Middlesex. One point in our defence was to show that the Middlesex +towns were not subject to any inconvenience. In the list of witnesses +furnished by the county commissioners was the name of Mr. Fiske. When +I read his name I had a feeling that he might give me some trouble, as +I knew that he was very bitter in his feelings. When he came upon the +stand I approached him gently. After the customary questions, I said: +--"Mr. Fiske, have you held office in the county of Middlesex?" "Yes, +sir. I was register of probate from 1823 to 1851, when I was removed +by Governor Boutwell,--the meanest act but one, that I ever knew." +Being so far in, and subject to considerable laughter from the +audience, I thought it safe to go farther, and I said:--"Will you be +kind enough to mention the meaner act that you have in mind?" "That +I was not reappointed by Governor Clifford when he had the power." +Having thus unburdened his mind, the ex-register gave very satisfactory +testimony. + +One of the important events that occurred during my administration was +the ceremony in honor of the opening of railway communication with +Canada. Distinguished persons were present. President Fillmore; Mr. +Webster; Mr. Stuart and Mr. Conrad of his Cabinet; Lord Elgin, +Governor-General of Canada; Sir Francis Hincks, Attorney-General of +Canada, and afterwards Governor-General of Jamaica; Joseph Howe, +Provincial Secretary of Nova Scotia; the Governors of several New +England States, and others whose names I do not recall. The time was +September, 1851. Mr. Webster arrived in Boston a few days in advance +of the President and took rooms at the Revere House. I called to see +him. In the course of the interview he said that whenever the State +appeared he would be ready to take part if invited to do so, but as to +the city he should have nothing to do with it. This resolution was due +to the circumstance that the city government in the preceding year had +refused the use of Faneuil Hall that he might speak in explanation and +vindication of his speech of the 7th of March, 1850. John P. Bigelow +was Mayor of the city in 1850, and he was also Mayor in 1851. Mr. +Webster also said that when the State authorities made their formal +call upon the President, he should be glad to introduce the members of +the government. Upon the arrival of the President, the officers of +the State government, to the number of about twenty, called at the +Revere House, where we were received by J. Thomas Stevenson, a personal +and political friend of Mr. Webster. He informed Mr. Webster of our +presence, and Mr. Webster soon appeared. He was dressed in what was +known as his court dress. A blue coat with bright buttons, buff vest, +black trousers, and patent leather shoes. His white cravat was high +and thick, over which was turned a wide collar. After the gentlemen +had been presented, he took me by the arm and we proceeded to the +reception room of the President. At the moment of our arrival Mayor +Bigelow was presenting the members of the city government. At once +Mr. Webster became excited, and advancing to the President, he took +possession of the ground, treating the Mayor as though he were a dog +under his feet. He introduced us in a loud voice, and at the end he +seemed to regret that the State government was not a more numerous +body. + +The day following had been designated for the public reception of the +President and the members of his Cabinet in the Hall of the House of +Representatives. It followed that it was my official duty to deliver +an address of welcome. I prepared my address in which I made an +allusion to the members of the Cabinet from other States, but strange, +as it now appears, I made no allusion to Mr. Webster. I gave the +address to the newspapers and it was not until eleven o'clock that I +awoke to the fact of my neglect. I prepared a paragraph and sent it +to the papers in season for the afternoon edition. Mr. Webster sat +on my left. The President and the other members of the Cabinet were +on my right. The President arose when I did and remained standing. +When I alluded to Stuart and Conrad they gave no indication of their +presence, but when I referred to Mr. Webster he rose at once and the +Hall resounded with the cheers of the audience. Speeches in reply were +made by the President, by Mr. Webster, Mr. Stuart, and Mr. Conrad. + +At the time Mr. Winthrop was the Whig candidate for Governor. He was +present in the audience. In the course of Mr. Webster's speech, he +gave my administration an endorsement in these words:--"I wish in the +first place to say that from the bottom of my heart I wish entire +success to your administration of the affairs of this State. Into +whosoever hands these affairs may fall, if they are fairly and +impartially administered, those hands shall have my hand in their +support, and maintenance." These words were received by the audience +and the people of the State as a more full endorsement of my +administration then the printed text justified. They gave Mr. Winthrop +and his friends much uneasiness and it is quite likely that they +contributed to Mr. Winthrop's defeat and to my re-election. In the +course of his speech Mr. Webster used these words speaking of the +people of Massachusetts: "And yet all are full of happiness, and all +are, as we say in the country, well-to-do in the world and enjoying +neighbor's fare." This phrase puzzled me, but at length I reached +the conclusion, that the people were living so well that they could +invite a neighbor who called without notice to take a seat at table +without making any change. In other words, that the daily fare of the +people was good enough for the neighbors. + +In the autumn of 1851 a meeting was called in aid of Smith O'Brien and +his associates, who then were in banishment at Van Diemen's Land. Of +the project for the meeting I knew nothing until I received a call from +a committee of Irishmen asking me to preside. I saw no reason for +declining, and I therefore accepted the invitation, and without any +thought of its significance in politics. It was said afterwards that +the meeting had been promoted by the friends of Mr. Winthrop, with the +expectation that he would be invited to preside. Upon the vote in +committee, the invitation came to me, by a majority of one vote only. +The meeting was a great success, and probably it gave me some votes +among the Irish population. + + +XVI +ACTON MONUMENT + +While I held the office of Governor, two memorial events occurred, of +some importance. The first was the erection and dedication of a +monument in the town of Acton, to the memory of Captain Isaac Davis, +and two others, who were killed the 19th of April, 1775, at the Old +North Bridge in Concord. A feud had existed for many years between the +towns of Concord and Acton each claiming the honors of the battlefield +on that date. Of Concord it was alleged that not a drop of blood was +lost on the occasion. Recently, however, it is claimed that one man +was wounded. As to Acton there was no doubt that Captain Davis with +his company was assigned to the right of the line, and to the head of +the advancing column, although he was not by seniority entitled to +that place. Davis and two of his company were killed by the first fire +of the enemy. In 1836 Concord had erected a monument which Emerson +has immortalized in his dedication hymn. James T. Woodbury, a brother +of Judge Levi Woodbury, was an orthodox minister settled in Acton. He +was interested in politics, and in the year 1851 he was a member of the +House of Representatives, where he championed the cause of Acton. He +asked for an appropriation of one thousand dollars to enable the town +to erect a suitable monument. He adorned his speech and gave effect to +his oratory by the introduction of the shoe-buckles which Davis wore, +and the powder horn which another of the victims carried on the day of +the fight. The appropriation was granted. The preceding year the town +of Concord had celebrated the seventy-fifth anniversary of the battle. +Robert Rantoul, Jr., delivered the oration. The town of Acton was +represented, but the president of the day, the Hon. E. R. Hoar, chose, +as it was said, to avoid calling upon Parson Woodbury, as he was then +designated. A Mr. Hayward, a man of some note, but not gifted in +speech, was invited to respond to the toast to Acton. That he did in +this manner: "Concord Fight. Concord furnished the ground, and Acton +the men." This sally of history and sarcasm was attributed to Parson +Woodbury. + +The Governor was made a member of the committee to erect the monument. +Our first real difficulty was upon the inscription. It was claimed +that Davis had said as he took his place at the head of the line "I +haven't a man who is afraid to go." This indicated that cowardice had +been manifested in some quarter. Woodbury insisted that this +expression should be included in the inscription. I was opposed to its +use on account of the implication it contained, and also for the reason +that it was no easy matter to incorporate it in a sentence that would +be tolerable upon granite. Mr. Woodbury wrote two inscriptions. +General Cushing tried his hand. I prepared one or two. Finally +Woodbury triumphed, and the monument bears the words attributed to +Davis. I was invited to deliver the address at the dedication, October +29, 1851, and the Rev. John Pierpont was invited to deliver the poem. +The exercises were in a large tent capable of seating a thousand +persons at dinner. The day was dull but the attendance was large. The +soldiers were on duty at an early hour, and they were ready for dinner +when they entered the tent at about eleven o'clock. The tables were +spread and the soldiers and guests took their seats at the tables, but +under an injunction that the repast would not begin until the address +and poem had been delivered. Fortunately the address came first. The +delivery occupied an hour or more. Mr. Pierpont commenced reading his +poem, but before he had made any considerable progress, a slight +clicking of knives was heard from the extreme portion of the tent. Mr. +Pierpont was an excitable man. He had a reputation as a preacher, +lecturer and poet. It was apparent from his flushed face that his +pride was wounded. I expected that Mr. Woodbury, who was president of +the day, would rise and ask the guests to abstain from eating until +Mr. Pierpont had finished reading his poem. The parson gave no sign, +however. The disturbance increased, and finally, Mr. Pierpont, with +face flushed to purple, threw down his manuscript under the box from +which he was reading, and sat down. I then expected that the president +would demand order. On the contrary, he stuck his hands straight into +the air, and said: "Let us ask a blessing." This he did with singular +brevity, and sitting down he helped himself from a plate of chicken +that stood before him, and at the same time turning to Mr. Pierpont he +said: "The listened very well, 'till you got to Greece. They didn't +care anything about Greece." + +In the preparation of my address I found from the records that the town +of Acton had as early as the year 1774 declared, by resolution in town +meeting, in favor of an American Republic, adding: "This is the only +form of government we wish to see established." Upon my own +investigation and upon the opinion of Mr. Webster, whom I consulted, +I ventured to say that this was the earliest declaration in favor of a +republic that was officially made in the American colonies. + +My address ran as follows: + +ADDRESS ON THE ACTON MONUMENT + +The events of the American Revolution can never fail to interest +Americans. This assemblage, men of Middlesex, is an assurance that +you cherish the Revolutionary character of your county, and that you +will be true to the obligations and duties which it imposes. + +The event we commemorate is not of local interest only. It has, +however, little value on account of the number of men who fought or +fell; but it lives as the opening scene of a great revolution based +on principle, and destined to change the character of human +governments and the condition of the human race. The 19th of April, +1775, is not immortal because men fell in battle, but because they +fell choosing death rather than servitude. The mere soldier who fights +without a cause is unworthy our respect, but he who falls in defence +of sound principles or valued rights deserves a nation's gratitude. +Hence the battlefields of the Revolution shall gain new lustre, while +Austerlitz and Waterloo shall be dimmed by the lapse of ages. Each +nation cherishes and recurs to the leading events in its history. +Time increases the importance of some of them and diminishes the +magnitude of others. Many of them are eras in the history of countries +and the world. Such are the lives of great men--philosophers, poets, +orators, and statesmen. Such are battles and conquests, the foundation +of new empires and the fall of old ones, changes in governments, and +the administrations of renowned monarchs. Such were the conquest of +Greece, the division of the Macedonian empire, the rise and fall of +Rome, the discovery and settlement of this continent, the English +commonwealth, the accession of William and Mary to the British throne, +the American Revolution, and, finally the wars, empire, and overthrow +of Napoleon. A knowledge of these events is not only valuable in +itself, but it enables us to penetrate the darkness which usually +obscures the daily life and character of a people. A true view of the +life of Socrates gives us an accurate idea of Athens and the Athenian +people. The protectorate of Cromwell, the great event in all English +history, presents a view of the British nation while passing from an +absolute government to a limited monarchy, slowly but certainly tending +to republicanism. + +The American Revolution was a clear indication in itself of what the +colonies had been, and what the republic was destined to be. Had the +Revolution been delayed, no history, however minute, could have given +to the world as accurate knowledge of the colonists from 1770 to 1780 +as it now possesses. It was the full development of all their history; +it was the concise, vigorous, intelligible introduction to their +future. It was a great illustration of pre-existing American +character. Neither religious nor political fanaticism was an element +of the American Revolution. It was altogether defensive--defensive +in its assertion of principles--defensive in its warlike operations. + +It is true that the Revolution was an important step towards freedom +and equality, but the Revolutionists did not primarily contemplate the +destruction or abandonment of the principles of the British government, +but rather their preservation and perpetuity; and this in a great +degree they accomplished. The two governments are dissimilar in many +respects, but the principles which lie at the foundation of the one led +to the formation of the other. + +The Revolution was conservative. There was always a strong desire in +the American mind to preserve, perpetuate, and improve existing +institutions. Our fathers were not the enemies of government. They +were ready at all times to sustain a government founded upon and +recognizing the principles of equality and justice. Nor did they +imagine that society could exist without the agency of a government in +which force should be an element. In the early part of the struggle, +while they denounced the policy of the British Ministry, they gave to +the principles of the British system an unequivocal support. Many +looked only to a reproduction of the home government upon these shores, +but that was as impossible as the continuance of English authority. + +It is vain to search for the particular cause, or even occasion, of the +Revolution. It is not contained in any act of Parliament, or +declaration of rights, or assertion of authority. The truth is, the +colonies had reached that point of conscious strength when they must +become an integral part of the British Empire, or be separated entirely +from it. If there ever had been, there was no longer a feeling of +dependence: they were capable of self-support and protection. There +could be no allegiance except upon principles of equality--and this +England refused. The connection was unnatural and burdensome--the +separation was natural and beneficial. It is not a declaration of the +law alone which limits the control of the father over the son, but in +the order of nature there is a time when the son is capable of self- +judgment, and thereafter as regards rights they are on terms of +equality, and all civil and social arrangements proceed upon that +theory. + +But had Great Britain proposed union in 1775 to us, as in 1800 she did +to Ireland, the obstacles were so serious that a separation must +ultimately have taken place. One was the breadth of ocean between the +two parts of the empire--then, and for sixty years, a more serious +obstacle than at present. Another was the peerage--a part of the +British system which could not have been abolished without the +overthrow of the government, and yet incapable of introduction here. +The proposition would have shocked the moral sentiment and the +political principles of the whole people. And finally, our growing +commerce, uneasy under monopolizing restraints and rival domination, +demanded the freedom of the sea. Therefore it is evident that a union +could not have been formed with any hope of permanence and power. Nor +could the separation have taken place at a more fortunate time. The +whole world would have had cause to regret our participation in the +wars of Napoleon, and from them we were saved by independence. + +Although the existence of these natural sources of alienation and +disunion must be admitted, they furnish no justification for the +general policy of England--first negligent, then jealous, then +oppressive, and finally reckless and sanguinary. + +But we have come together from our various pursuits to contemplate the +virtue and power of the American Revolution in itself and in its +consequences, to show that the sentiment of gratitude is not dead +within us--and finally, and above all, to thank God for the choice +displays of His goodness to the American people. + +There are men who deny the virtue of the Revolution. They do it in +obedience to the doctrine that all wars are wrong. But those only can +consistently maintain this doctrine who also maintain that all +governments are wrong. The idea of government includes the idea that +there are governing and governed parties to it. In this country the +two are united. But all governments which have ever existed, including +our own, make war upon those who forcibly question their authority, +undermine their power, violate their laws, outrage the persons or +property of their citizens. These are acts of hostility against a +state, and are prevented or redressed by force--the element of war. +Therefore, in principle, the daily operations of a government in time +of peace are not to be distinguished from its movements in war; and in +war as well as in peace each government is responsible for the manner +in which it exercises its authority. + +If we may employ force in support of good government, we may also +employ force in the overthrow of a bad government. If we may forcibly +defend a natural right, we may employ force to regain natural rights +of which we have been disseized. It is admitted amongst us that of all +wars the Revolution is the most easily to be defended; but I desire to +see it occupy the high moral ground which the most paternal and +beneficial government occupies when it defends the natural and +inalienable rights of its citizens. + +The real question was this: Who may of right govern the North American +colonies? the colonists themselves, or the Parliament of Great Britain? +In the colonies there was no difference of opinion upon this point, +though there was some as to the mode of securing its exercise. If, +then, the right of self-government were in the colonists, did they use +all proper means of securing its exercise previous to a resort to +arms? They spent ten years in the work of petition, remonstrance and +expostulation--and those ten years of experience convinced the people +that the policy of the British Ministry and Parliament was fixed and +irreversible; that there was only resistance to the execution of this +policy on the one hand, and submission, which must end in abject +slavery, on the other. If the American Revolution be morally +indefensible, then not only are all wars indefensible, but all human +governments, the wisest and the best, equally so. + +The sentiment of the Revolution was altogether moral. There was an +entire absence of the spirit of revenge, or rapine, or blood. They +never for a moment placed as much reliance upon their numbers and +strength as upon the justice of their cause and the existence of a +Supreme Ruler, who controls the affairs of men. Such was the tone of +the press, the pulpit and the bar. Everywhere the morality of the +contest was examined and the ground carefully tested at each step. Not +by leading men only, but by all those who had a vote to give in a +town meeting or an arm to sustain the weapons of war. They were no +zealots, like the crusaders; but plain, careful men, of sound moral +principles and correct judgment. It is true that they were descendants +of those who rejoiced when Charles the First was beheaded and James the +Second was dethroned. This feeling, however, had no mixture of cruelty +in it, but it proceeded from a conviction that those monarchs were +unworthy of the throne. Their impulses were always in favor of +liberty. They sympathized with the members of the Republican Party in +England, encouraged them at home, and welcomed them to these shores. + +The Revolution was no sudden outbreak or the consummation of the wild +enthusiasm which sometimes characterizes popular movements. All +through our colonial and provincial history, questions had arisen and +been discussed which prepared the public mind for independence. The +strength of the revolutionary spirit in the different colonies bore a +distinct relation to the fervor of the preceding local controversies. + +It is impossible to say at what moment the public mind was steadily +directed to independence, either as a possible or desirable termination +of the controversies with the mother country. Both the war with France +and the peace with France precipitated the American Revolution. The +war, by developing the military courage and skill of our people, and +by increasing the burdens of Great Britain, thus affording a pretext +for additional taxation on America. The peace, by relieving the +colonies of the presence of a foe which they dreaded on its own +account, as well as for its active agency in stimulating the Indians to +deeds of hostility. Thus, in fact, England exchanged the thirteen +colonies to which she was allied by blood, language, and similarity of +institutions, for the provinces of France, whose people even now reject +her religion and system of government. Thus the success of the +combined British and American forces in the French war developed the +revolutionary spirit, created new issues, and led to the early +dismemberment of the British Empire. + +But omitting the settlement of the country and the causes which led to +it, there are incident all along our history which weakened the power +of the home government. The most important, perhaps, were the decree +in chancery of 1684, which annulled the colonial charter, and the grant +of a new charter in 1692 by William and Mary. The first was an act of +unmitigated despotism, the second of short-sighted selfishness. The +decree in chancery was accepted, because the colonists had no hope of +anything better. Thus the character of the government was changed +fundamentally without the consent of the governed. The arrow aimed at +colonial independence rankled in the public breast until the +independence of America was achieved. The effort to strengthen +British authority, in reality weakened it. Previous to 1684 religious +profession was the basis of political rights, and the clergy gave +direction to the policy of the state. John Cotton well states the +result of the colony charter, to wit: "Such a form of government, as +best serveth to establish their religion, should, by the consent of +all, be established in the civil state. . . . The effect of this +constitution was, first, that none but members of the church were +freemen of the state; secondly, as none could be church members whom +the minister did not approve, it followed that the ecclesiastical ruler +had an efficient negative on the admission of every freeman; and +thereby, as excommunication from the church created a civil, as well as +ecclesiastical disability, it also followed that both the attainment +and continuance of political rights were, to all practical purposes, in +the hands of ecclesiastical rulers." By the provincial charter all +this was abolished. The new government had exclusively for its end +"the things about which the civil power is usually conversant; goods, +lands, honors, the liberties and peace of the outward man." The +influence of the clergy, at all times very great in New England, was +thus separated from the English government, and they were at once +identified in sympathy, hopes, and prospects, with the people of the +colony. As I shall have occasion hereafter to say, this influence was +essential to the success of the Revolution. + +It is not likely that any form of government which Great Britain could +have established, especially if it excluded our people from its +control, could have maintained the union twenty-five years longer than +the relation actually existed. The future in some particulars was as +full of hope then to them as it is now to us. Many of their +anticipations were so sanguine that the reality has not been equal to +them. In 1763 an estimate was made that the population of New England +in 1835 would be 4,000,000. From this it is apparent that they had +already tasted prosperity and had come to understand the advantages of +our country, especially in the character of its population, over the +old countries of Europe. + +The British Ministry did not discover the means by which the colonies +were to be retained, if retained at all. Our ancestors had little +respect for hereditary privileges and the pretensions of birth. They +were for the most part believers in the equality of the human race; +and, moreover, in their municipal governments, they had learned the +safety and power of universal suffrage. A few men only in England had +an accurate idea of American principles, or the difficulty of holding +in unwilling embrace three million people. Among the representatives +of this small class were the elder Pitt, Burke, and Wilkes. + +Pitt declared that "three million people, so dead to all the feelings +of liberty as voluntarily to submit to be slaves, would have been fit +instruments to make slaves of ourselves." + +Said Wilkes, "Know, then, that a successful resistance is a revolution, +not a rebellion. Who can tell whether in a few years the independent +Americans may not celebrate the glorious era of the revolution of 1775 +as we do that of 1688?" Nor did his prophetic eye fail to penetrate +even the distant future. "Where your fleets and armies are stationed," +said he, "the possession will be secured, while they continue; but all +the rest will be lost. In the great scale of empire, you will decline, +I fear, from the decision of this day; and the Americans will rise to +independence, to power, to all the greatness of the most renowned +states; for _they build on the solid basis of general public liberty."_ +These were words of wisdom; but nations, like individual men, learn +anything sooner than their own faults, and confess anything sooner than +their own mistakes. + +It is difficult for the historian to understand the policy of +attempting to control America by force; for nothing is more certain +than that, if we had failed in establishing our independence, Great +Britain would also have failed in subjecting us to her schemes. +After the shedding of blood at Lexington, reconciliation was +impossible; nor is it certain that it could have been accomplished +after the massacre in King Street, in 1770. To be sure the proceedings +of the towns and the tone of all the memorials and petitions indicate +this; but there were unquestionably men who thought it better that the +connection should be dissolved at as early a period as possible. These +men were right, both as regards our condition and the prosperity of +England. Had we remained her subjects, like all colonies, we should +have been of no advantage pecuniarily, and most likely a source of +some expense. But with independence and the Constitution came +prosperity to us, in which, through trade and the increased demand for +her manufactures, England has largely participated. + +Had she consented, in 1775, to the peaceful dismemberment of her +empire, the independence of America, under such circumstances, would +have increased her glory, spared her treasury, and saved her laborers +form the pressure of taxes under which they have been weighed down. It +may be, however, that the war was necessary to us. In ante- +Revolutionary times there was not a strong tendency to union--in many +parts of the country the opposite feeling existed. Even the +Constitution was framed with difficulty, and received with hesitation +and doubt. The Constitution is not so much the result as the cause +of our national character. The colonies had had different foundations. +Some were English, some were Dutch, some were Roundheads, some +Cavaliers, some were Catholics, some Protestants, some Baptists, some +Quakers, some Congregationalists; and, finally, some of the colonies +were free and some held slaves. It is apparent that there was not +that tendency to union which was necessary to the formation of the +Constitution. But the mutual dependence which the mutual necessities +of the war produced convinced many of the propriety of a common +government--a government which should be adequate to a time of peace +and to a condition of war--a government which should guard each State +from civil commotion and protect its citizens and commerce in every +part of the world. It is evident that the free surrender of +jurisdiction would have left the colonies to many years of separate +existence, and controversies which might have passed into open +hostility. The period between peace and the adoption of the +Constitution was hardly more desirable than the previous condition of +war. The currency was disordered and without value, the revenue +systems of the different States were various and injurious to +legitimate commerce, while the want of uniform laws upon subjects +altogether national, was everywhere observed. A general government, +adequate to the necessities of the nation, was not established until +the inadequacy of the State governments had been felt in peace and +war; but war more than peace created bonds of sympathy, and inspired +confidence among the States. + +The Revolution opened in Massachusetts. This province having been +marked by the British Government, was not at all reluctant to take a +prominent position in the controversies from 1765 to 1775. Therefore +the attack was properly directed here, and here with equal propriety +the first forcible resistance was made to British aggression. + +The difficulties with Massachusetts were a century old. The colony +charter had been annulled--her territory on the Merrimack and the +Narragansett had been transferred to neighboring colonies, and the men +whom she had elected to preside in her House of Representatives had +been repeatedly rejected. + +There had been from the first an ardent desire in the colony to +establish a free Christian commonwealth, and on the part of England to +maintain, if not extend, the power of the British Parliament. In May, +1774, as the representative of the latter purpose, General Gage arrived +in Boston, and was soon followed by considerable bodies of troops. In +August of the same year measures were taken for a Provincial Congress, +to concert and execute an effectual plan for counteracting the system +of despotism which had been introduced. The Congress instructed the +general officers "effectually to oppose and resist" all attempts to +execute the obnoxious acts of the British Parliament; and by a singular +coincidence on the same day, February 9, 1775, the Parliament pledged +the lives and property of the Commons to the support of those laws. +On the side of the Americans, the courts were declared unconstitutional +and their officers traitors--and the practice of the military art was +earnestly recommended. + +By the 1st of September, 1774, the issue was fairly presented. The +claim on one side was the supremacy of the British Parliament, and on +the other the supremacy of the American people. Parliament claimed the +right to legislate for or over the colonies in all cases whatsoever; +this right the colonists denied. Parliament had asserted its supremacy +by the passage, in May, 1774, of "An act for the better regulating the +government of the province of Massachusetts Bay," and "An act for the +more impartial administration of justice in said province." Submission +to these acts was the test. They would not execute themselves. Their +precise character was of no great importance to the people. It was a +question of right, of authority, and not of detail. Had the acts been +less oppressive, or even more so, the principle at issue would not have +been changed. In August, 1774, one hundred and fifty of the best men +of Middlesex assembled in the adjacent town of Concord, and uttered +these memorable words: + +"We are obliged to say, however painful it may be to us, that the +question now is, whether by a submission to some of the late acts +of the Parliament of Great Britain, we are contented to be the most +abject slaves, and entail that slavery on posterity after us, or, by +a manly, joint and virtuous opposition, assert and support our freedom. +There is a mode of conduct which, in our very critical circumstances +we wish to adopt--a conduct, on the one hand, never tamely submissive +to tyranny and oppression; on the other, never degenerating into rage, +passion and confusion." Again, "We must now exert ourselves, or all +those efforts which for ten years past have brightened the annals of +this country, will be totally frustrated. Life and Death, or what is +more, Freedom and Slavery, are in a peculiar sense now before us; and +that choice and success, under God, depend greatly on ourselves. We +are therefore bound, as struggling not only for ourselves, but for +future generations, to express our sentiments in the following resolves +--sentiments which we think are founded in truth and justice, and +therefore sentiments we are determined to abide by." In conclusion +they say "no danger shall affright, no difficulties intimidate us; and +if, in support of our rights, we are called to encounter even death, +we are yet undaunted, sensible that he can never die too soon who lays +down his life in support of the laws and liberties of his country." + +If we for a moment forget the territorial and popular influence which +belongs to the action of sovereign States and large masses of men, we +shall see no material difference between this language and that of the +Declaration of Independence. It was a pledge of life to the support +of the laws and liberties of the land. It was at once a concise and +forcible review of the past; a just and eloquent defence of the +principles and conduct of the colony; a noble appeal in behalf of +that and future generations. Memorable words for men to utter who +led at Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill! + +James Prescott, of Groton, was chairman of the convention, and +Frances Faulkner, John Hayward and Ephraim Hapgood were members from +the town of Acton. This was the most important step taken prior to +the commencement of hostilities. The convention attracted universal +notice. Copies of its proceedings were sent to the Continental +Congress, then sitting at Philadelphia, and they received cordial +approbation. But even as late as September, 1774, the patriots say to +General Gage, "that their sole intention is to preserve pure and +inviolate those rights to which, as men, and English Americans, they +are justly entitled, and which have been guaranteed to them by his +majesty's royal predecessors." Thus anxious were they at every point +of the controversy to define the ground on which they stood. + +From August, 1774, to February, 1775, the British were engaged in +examinations of the country, in landing and drilling the troops, +and in vain attempts to check the progress or expression of the +public sentiment of almost universal hostility. + +The province was engaged in the organization and discipline of the +minute men, and the collection and safe-keeping of stores, arms, and +munitions of war; preparations for attack on the one side, and +preparations for defence on the other. Nevertheless, this was a +season for reflection. For six months after the issue was fairly +presented, there were no evidences of fear, and but few indications of +a disposition to conciliate. + +General Gage, however, appears not to have entertained the common +notion of English officers, that a small body of troops would put down +all opposition. He informed his government that the time for +"conciliation, moderation, reasoning was over," and that the first +campaign should be opened by the presence of twenty thousand men. This +was wise advice, because it was such advice as a wise man would have +given under the circumstances. It was, however, a fortunate blunder +in the English Government that they rejected it. They held Boston with +the army they sent, and with a larger army they could have done nothing +more. They might have made more frequent and more sanguinary forays +into the country, but the result of the campaign would have been the +same. It was neither possible nor politic for the Americans in the +Revolution to assemble large bodies of troops; therefore, the presence +of twenty, or even fifty, thousand men, would not have been a matter +of great importance to the colonies. + +England held us in 1775, as she holds many of her provinces now--by +their own consent, but not otherwise. That consent can be perpetual +only by the recognition of the principles of freedom and equality. The +cause of liberty raises up friends and advocates everywhere. None of +its martyrs ever die unwept, unhonored or unsung. The human heart has +never been truer to any principle than to that of liberty. It is not +in America alone that the cause of freedom excites sympathy and enlists +support. Its voice is as potential, its victories as grateful +elsewhere as with us. And when its banner is borne down and trampled +in the dust, it is not in America alone that true hearts sympathize +and bleed. There are noble men in England, France, Germany, Italy, and +Hungary, upon whom the blow falls, as upon the first victims of +slavery. But in the wisdom of God, the nation that is not just shall +stand finally + + "Childless and crownless in her voiceless woe, + An empty urn within her withered hands." + +And thus shall it be with Austria. With the judgment of the civilized +world against her, with her people disaffected and disloyal, her +treasury drained and her credit destroyed, she shall wither and fall. +The partition of Poland, and the dispersion of the Poles all over +Europe, have been active agencies in the revolutionary movements of +that continent. Thus do the results of tyranny aid in the overthrow +of tyrants. No government can now be considered strong, whether it +call itself republican or monarchial, unless its foundations are laid +deep in the affections of the people, and based upon the immutable +principles of justice and equality. + +In 1775, England had been engaged a century in the work of disunion. +In a hundred years great changes may be wrought. The affections of a +whole people may be diverted from former objects and attached to new +ones. This was the great change which took place in America. England +had ceased to be the _mother country._ The colonists had less regard +for her in 1774 and 1775 than we have now. All fear and, I trust, all +prejudice have disappeared, and we may look upon her as she is. +However England may regard us, we need only view her as a splendid +example of a nation great and powerful by the productiveness of her +soil and mines, the ability of her people, and the liberalizing spirit +of her commerce. In her present external condition, in her vast navy, +her extensive commerce, in all save her insulated and secure position, +we may read our own near destiny. Grasping, ambitious and powerful the +British race certainly is; illiberal, cowardly or mean it certainly is +not. Highly refined it never was, possibly never will be. Neither the +ocean nor the mountain produces the highest refinement of manners or +nicety of scientific investigation; but the shores of the ocean and the +mountain valleys are the birthplaces of great men. + + "Chains may subdue the feeble spirit, but thee, + Man of the iron heart, they could not tame; + For thou wert of the mountains, they proclaim + The everlasting creed of liberty." + +On the 19th of April, 1775, the first movement was made which really +put in danger the lives and property of the inhabitants of +Massachusetts. Its destination was Concord--its object the destruction +of the stores secreted there, and incidentally the seizure of +obnoxious patriots who were members of the Provincial Congress, which +had then but recently adjourned. It was a test movement in the +controversy. If the British could make incursions and seize the public +property of the province then the colonies would be disarmed and +without the means of resisting the offensive acts of May, 1774. Hence +the protection of the stores was the question of resistance or +submission to the claims of Parliament. + +You know the story of the stealthy, midnight march from Boston,--the +successful mission to Adams and Hancock,--the sudden fear which +seized Colonel Smith, the commander of the expedition,--his call for +reinforcements before he knew whether the yeomanry would fight or not, +--the massacre at Lexington,--the alarm of the country,--the gathering +of the minute men,--the arrival of the foe at Concord,--the division +of the invading party to secure the entrance to the town,--the +engagement at the Old North Bridge, where the resolutions of the county +of Middlesex of August, 1774, were embodied in action,--the confusion +consequent upon so serious a matter as resistance to the Parliament and +Ministry of England,--the retreat of the invading party,--the hot +pursuit,--the final flight,--and the electric shock which the +proceedings of April 19 gave to the colonies and to Great Britain. + +These events were long and well remembered, and the historian cannot +omit to give them importance in his view of the progress of liberty, +and especially of American liberty. But my respect for your +familiarity with the opening, thrilling scenes of the Revolution +counsels me to omit the details, even when we remember those whose +names have been made illustrious by the parts they bore. All shall +live upon the just page of our own historian. But the interest which +belongs to the events of that day is not more on account of the +important results of the war, than from the sense of duty under +which the contest was commenced. It was this conviction which made +American invincible. It produced that singular and highest quality +of martyrdom which endures more than the worst enemies can inflict. +It was this sense of duty which gave courage to our soldiers and +inspired all our families with that charity and patriotism on which +the army was so dependent for clothing and the necessities of life. +The sentiment was almost universal that the colonies were oppressed, +that the policy of the mother country was in violation of its own +principles of government, that the colonists were refused the rights +and privileges of British subjects, and lastly that Great Britain was +determined to introduce a commercial system purposely detrimental to +colonial interests; in fine, that commerce was to be paralyzed, +manufactures discouraged, and agriculture reduced to a state of +vassalage. + +The public attention had been for many years directed to the +possibility of a rupture,--none knew when or how terrible it would be. +There had, however, been a long season of preparation. The courage +necessary to meet the crisis was quite different from that which the +mere soldier requires. + +In 1775 our fathers were called upon to judge of the morality of the +course they were entering, not for themselves only, but for their +country and for posterity. + +They commenced as rebels; whether their career should be that of +patriots or traitors was in some degree uncertain. But a high sense of +duty overcame all obstacles and led them with a firm reliance on Divine +Providence to take the great step which must lead to freedom and honor +or slavery and disgrace. + +Acton had uniformly supported the policy of the colony, and early +pledged itself to the town of Boston in favor of non-importation and +non-consumption of foreign products. It declared in strong language +its hostility to all those who did not subscribe to the merchants' +agreement; even to denying them personal notice and social +conversation. In November, 1774, a company of minute men was raised +and placed under the command of Isaac Davis. It contained the hope of +the town,--young men from sixteen to thirty years of age. They were +frequently drilled at the public cost, and they acquired a good deal +of discipline. On the morning of the 19th of April the town of Acton +was alarmed by some unknown person who hurried rapidly on to more +interior points. Early in the day Captain Davis with his company, +enrolling about forty men, reached the northerly side of Concord River +and took his proper position on the left of the line under command of +Colonel Barrett. About a hundred British troops were near the bridge, +but they soon removed to the opposite side of the river. Another small +body had gone to Colonel Barrett's in search of stores secreted there. +Before any blood was shed the officers of the provincial troops held a +council at which it appears to have been understood that Captain Davis +should take the right of the line. Whether the change was made in +consequence of the superior equipment, or better discipline, or reputed +valor of the Acton men, there is no reason to doubt it was made, and +made with the consent, if not at the request, of the officers and +principal men upon the ground. But for whatever reason made, it was +none the less creditable to the command which at once assumed the post +of honor and the position of danger. + +The column was led by Major Buttrick, Colonel Robinson and Captain +Davis. Colonel Robinson was lieutenant-colonel of Prescott's regiment, +and on this occasion he volunteered for no purpose but the +encouragement of the men. At the first general fire from the British, +Captain Davis and Abner Hosmer, a private in Davis' company, were +killed. Almost instantly the fire was returned, and one British +soldier was killed and several were wounded. The engagement was at an +end. + +The two parties seem to have been equally confused by the fight. The +Provincials manifested no fear, but the contest so long anticipated +had actually taken place,--blood had been shed,--men had fallen on +both sides. The responsibility of the moment was very great. In +contemplation of law they had resisted the British Ministry, they had +attacked the British throne. + +The regulars retired to the village, and, the divisions of troops +having joined each other, they commenced a retreat which for several +miles was a precipitous flight. + +Hayward fell mortally wounded at Lexington in a personal recontre with +a British soldier. It was fatal to both, though Hayward survived +several hours. With a religious patriotism he assured his father that +the day's doings gave him no regret. + +Patriotism is one of the most exalted virtues. It is not, as some +would have us believe, a mere excitement, or even a passion. It is +high among the virtues which men in this state of existence may +exhibit. Patriotism is not merely a barren attachment to the country +in which we were born, nor is it that narrow yet holy feeling which +leads us to look with affection upon the spot of our nativity,--upon +the hills over which we have roamed in childhood and youth; but a large +and noble view of the entire nation,--a regard for its institutions, +social, moral, civil and religious, crowned by a manly spirit which +leads its possessor to peril all in their defence. The patriot is +devoted and self-sacrificing. + +Such were Davis, Hayward and Hosmer. Their names were comparatively +humble, yet they were men of duty, men of religion, men of a liberal +patriotism. Davis was about thirty years of age. He was both a +husband and a father. He left his family that morning with a firm +conviction that he should see them no more. If his lip quivered and +his eye moistened as he trod his own freehold for the last time, fear +had no part in those emotions. He had not accepted a command and +trained his men for months without having anticipated the actual +condition of war which was then immediately before him. + +Hayward and Hosmer were both sons of deacons in the church and were +sent forth that morning upon an errand of death with the paternal +blessing. Neither churches nor clergy were indifferent to the result. +The clergy had counseled resistance. The people had imbibed with their +religious opinions and sentiments a deep hatred of oppression. The +three who fell were young men and well educated for the age in which +they lived. They were of the yeomanry. They did not serve on that +day upon compulsion nor for mercenary motives. They were the servants +of the province; they were martyrs in the cause of freedom. + + "Their names mankind shall hold + In deep remembrance, and their memory shall be + A lasting monument, a sacred shrine + Of those who died for righteousness and truth." + +Colonel Robinson was a native of the county of Essex, but then a +citizen of Westford. In 1775 he was forty years of age, a veteran of +the French War, and at the time of his death in 1805 he had been +engaged in nineteen battles. Of his courage there was no doubt. +Thaxter says of him, "a braver and more upright man I never knew." At +Bunker Hill he served under Prescott, who pronounced him both honorable +and brave. + +His epitaph claims for him the honor of commanding at Concord Bridge, +but the weight of evidence is in favor of Major Buttrick as the active +commander. And Robinson's fame can well spare even so distinguished +an honor as the command at the North Bridge. The name of Major +Buttrick, with that of Captain Davis, was early consecrated by the +Legislature of the Commonwealth. + +From ten to twelve o'clock, of the morning of the 19th, there was a +cessation of hostilities. This respite was the natural result of the +policy and purposes of the two parties. The Americans' great idea was +resistance. Whatever may be said to the contrary, the officers in +command did not regard it within their line of duty to make an attack. +The instruction of the Provincial Congress were explicit to the +contrary. It was deemed a great point to show that the British fired +first. But even admitting the purpose of the Americans to make an +attack, the village of Concord was most unfavorable. The British +would have had the advantage of position, and at any moment might have +inflicted irreparable injury in the destruction of the town. To +whatever reason the alleged apathy of the Americans during those two +hours is attributable, it was most fortunate for the cause they +defended. + +The purpose of the invaders, it is quite certain, was a retreat to +Boston rather than a renewal of hostilities at Concord. The fierce +and continued attack of the Americans during the afternoon was +induced by a knowledge of what had happened at Lexington, by the +presence of large numbers of men, and possibly by the advice and +counsel of Adams and Hancock. + +Of Davis' company there were men among the survivors who deserve well +of posterity. Thomas Thorp was an apprentice in Acton, having been +taken from the alms-house of the town of Boston. He not only served +at Concord but during the war; and his love of country shone as bright +in the evening as in the morning of his days. + +In Massachusetts the revolution was carried on by towns. These +organizations were proof against all the attacks of the British +Government. For ten years previous to 1775, they had passed +resolutions and taken the initiatory steps of resistance. The +colonies were more cumbrous, and opinion when expressed was necessarily +representative. Representatives may go beyond, or fall short of, the +opinions of their principals, but the people themselves make no such +mistakes. A New England town meeting is the most perfect democracy +which the world has ever seen. Citizens are upon an equality. Votes +are not given on account of wealth, standing, or official position, +but as the primary, legitimate right of each citizen. Even at the +commencement of the Revolution we had had great experience in voting. +It was not a questionable right. At all times, even when valued rights +of British subjects were invaded, that of voting had never been +assailed. Towns not only chose their selectmen and representatives, +but with great freedom they expressed opinions upon public affairs and +the conduct of public men, even to the King upon his throne. They had +voted men and supplies in the French war, and in the Revolution they +did the same. In this province the people were reached through the +towns almost exclusively. They voluntarily assumed the burdens of the +war, and hence they had great influence in its prosecution. It is a +singular and most agreeable fact that the Revolution was eminently a +popular movement; and in proportion as we appreciate correctly the +burdens of the war does our respect increase for the men who +voluntarily assumed them. When the army was famishing, when the +soldiers were destitute of clothing, when men and money were needed, +the appeal was made to the towns, and in their meetings the subject +was considered and determined. I know not of a more gratifying fact +in the Revolution than this, and I may venture to say that it is one +whose importance has been sometimes overlooked. + +The spirit of patriotic Boston was the spirit of every municipality +in the province, and there is no instance of devotion superior to that +manifested by all when Boston was the special object of ministerial +wrath. Her injuries were felt by each town as though the blow were +aimed at its own independence and integrity. And so in fact it was. +But had Boston even fallen there were still strongholds of rebellion +throughout the province, and the principles of the revolution would +have survived. + +Nor did the towns cease their efforts when they had voted supplies for +the prosecution of the war. They took part early in favor of +independence. In every town men sprung up equal to the crisis which +existed. Our local histories will bear to posterity resolutions as +immortal in sentiment and principle as the Declaration of Independence +itself. The resolutions of the neighboring towns of Concord express +the views of Massachusetts towns. They say: "As men we have a right +to life, liberty and property; as Christians, we in this land (blessed +be God for it) have a right to worship God according to the dictates +of our own consciences; and as subjects we have a right to personal +security, personal liberty, and private property. These principal +rights we have as subjects of Great Britain; and no power on earth can +agreeably to our constitution take them from us, or any part of them +without our consent." Where such principles existed the Declaration of +Independence was a necessity; therefore when it came, most of our towns +were prepared not only to accept it but to sustain it. They readily +affirmed in their own names the principles which had been declared, and +assumed the responsibilities which had been taken by their +representatives in the Continental Congress. + +Nor did their active agency in the cause of liberty and government +cease here. They declared the principles on which the State government +ought to be based and the manner of framing it. The resolutions of +Acton and Concord are full and explicit on this point. They deny the +authority of the Legislature to frame a constitution because, says the +town of Acton, "a constitution properly framed has a system of +principles established to secure the subjects in the possession of +their rights and privileges, against any encroachments of the +Legislative part; and it is our opinion that the same body that forms +a constitution, have, of consequence, a power to alter it; and we +conceive, that a constitution, alterable by the supreme legislative +power, is no security to the subjects, against the encroachments of +that power on our right and privileges." And it was resolved, "that +the town thinks it expedient that a convention be chosen by the +inhabitants of the several towns and districts in this state, being +free to form and establish a constitution for this state." The +constitution proposed by the Legislature was rejected by a vote of +about three to one. + +Similar resolutions were passed by Concord, and the legislative +constitution was unanimously rejected. But the town of Acton, early +and alone, so far as I can ascertain, made a distinct declaration in +favor of an American Republic. On the 14th of June, 1776, twenty days +before the Declaration of Independence, the inhabitants declared "that +the many injuries and unheard of barbarities, which the colonies have +received from Great Britain, confirm us in the opinion, that the +present age will be deficient in their duty to God, their posterity +and themselves, if they do not establish an American republic. This +is the only form of government we wish to see established." + +It is true that the idea of a common government was somewhat general, +but not my any means universal even in Massachusetts, while Maryland +had not then declared herself in favor of independence. + +It was a liberal, enlarged, progressive idea which looked from beneath +the lowering clouds of war, tyranny and hardship to the existence of an +American republic which should include at least all the territory +within the jurisdiction of the thirteen colonies. For even at a much +later period there were men of exalted attainments who doubted the +applicability of the republican principle to large sections of +territory, and who would have sough in the division of the country, or +in the establishment of what was then deemed a stronger government +that security which they did not expect in an American republic. + +The revolution through the town governments had three principal points +of support. First, _popular intelligence;_ secondly, _the influence of +the clergy;_ thirdly, _the possession of land._ + +The age of the Revolution was an intelligent, thinking age. It cannot +be considered as one of refinement, but there was a great deal of +original, independent, manly, intellectual activity. It was an age +of great men, both in this country and England. It could boast of the +Pitts, Burke, Fox and Sheridan; of Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, the +Adamses, Patrick Henry and the Lees. It was an age of useful +intelligence, of eminent practical wisdom. The leading minds of a +country to some extent represent its general characteristics. A +popular sentiment which sustained with fidelity the measures of non- +intercourse, of resistance and of war; which gave a generous, +affectionate, intelligent support to the leaders of the Revolution, +must have been liberal, sagacious and honest. The common-school system +had been in operation more than a century and a quarter, and under its +influence the patriotism of the Revolution was highly intelligent. + +The clergy generally were warm supporters of the war. Most of them +were graduates of Harvard College, whose influence was always on the +patriot side. The influence of the clergy was very great in New +England; hence the two most powerful springs of human action, religious +and political enthusiasm, were blended in the breasts of our fathers. +Some of the clergy, like Emerson of Concord, gave their personal +services to the American cause; while others, like Adams and Clark, +made the points in controversy with the mother country themes of +religious discourse. The religion of Massachusetts was patriotic. + +The Rev. Zabdiel Adams, of Lunenburg, in a sermon preached during the +war, uttered these prophetic words: "To encourage us to persevere, let +us anticipate the rising glory of America. Behold her seas whitened +with commerce, her capitals filled with inhabitants, and resounding +with the din of industry. See her rising to independence and glory. +Contemplate the respectable figure she will one day make among the +nations of the earth; behold her venerable for wisdom, for counsel, +for might; flourishing in science, in agriculture and navigation, and +in the arts of peace. Figure to yourselves that this your native +country will ere long become the permanent seat of liberty, the retreat +of philosophers, the asylum of the oppressed, the umpire of contending +nations, and we would hope the glory of Christ." + +In the Revolution a large portion of the people were land-holders,--men +who answer to the old Saxon term yeoman. Of course it is not possible +for every man to own land, nor is it essential that every man should be +a land-holder, yet it is evident that a community loses nothing by an +increase of proprietors. + +When a man owns land, even though his acres be not broad, he feels a +new interest in the welfare and freedom of the state. The possession +of land creates a certain and desirable independence. Inducements +should therefore be held out to every branch of society, that the +ennobling idea of home may be realized in every bosom. Even to this +day our unoccupied lands are the storehouse of American freedom,--they +are father's mansions to which every son of the Republic, be he +prodigal or not, may turn his steps and find a welcome. + +And when our population shall have reached two hundred million, may +there still be beneath the flag of the Republic a home for the +oppressed and a refuge for the down-trodden. + +In 1775 the spirit of emigration had not developed itself in the +New England character; it was latent until Wayne's victory in 1794 +prepared for our fathers the fertile lands and inviting climate of +Ohio. The proportion of land-holders in Massachusetts was much +greater then than at present, though the absolute number is now quite +equal to that of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. + +In all other countries the possession of land has been the element of +aristocracy; but with us it has been made subservient to the principles +of republicanism. And as an aristocracy cannot exist unless the land +is aggregated in the hands of a few, so a republic cannot exist unless +the land is divided among the many. There can be no doubt that the +great proportion of land-holders was an element of strength in the +Revolution. Patriotism is defined as love of country,--and part of +that love proceeds from the fact that within and under the protection +of our country is our home. + +On the 19th of April, 1775, the men of Acton left their homes upon +these hills, and their families anxious and disconsolate, that they +and their descendants might have homes undisturbed by the hand of the +oppressor. + +On the 20th of April, 1775, these homes were deserted that all might +pay the last tribute of respect to Davis, Hayward and Hosmer. And +now after the lapse of seventy-six years the descendants of that +generation have met, not as then to mingle their tears at the grave +of departed friends and heroes, but to utter with all of filial respect +the names of worthy men, and to impress with new power upon their +hearts the sentiment of gratitude for all who served and suffered in +the cause of American freedom. And as we contemplate the glorious +death of those who fell, shall we not say, + + "Since all must life resign, + Those sweet reward which decorate the brave + 'Tis folly to decline, + And steal inglorious to the silent grave." + +As compared with the existence of the world only a short space of time +has intervened between the 19th of April, 1775, and this day, yet three +generations of men have trodden these fields and aided in the great +work of perfecting and preserving American institutions. With what +confidence, fellow citizens, did your ancestors look to independence +and the establishment of the form of government under which we have +lived and prospered as a people? Beyond this form neither the patriot +nor statesman can look with hope. + +Who will propose to the now united American people either a return to +the almost forgotten confederacy of 1778, or the establishment of +several governments? Nobody,--nobody. When we contrast our +institutions with those of any other country, how ought we to thank God +for the measure of personal happiness and political security we have +enjoyed. + +Not that our institutions are perfect,--nor that there is nothing which +the philanthropist may deplore or the statesman condemn. All the +anticipations of our ancestors have not been realized. The past is +not all perfect; the future will not always cheer us with sunshine and +smiles; but he is a misanthrope who allows his opinions to be +controlled by the exceptions to the general current of our national +career. + +Our years of independence have been years of almost uninterrupted +prosperity, but they have borne to the grave those who took part in +the later as well as earlier contests of the Revolution. Of Lexington +and Concord, one only remains; and from all the battlefields of the +war this occasion has brought together but two. + +But, fellow citizens, the few survivors are not only venerable, they +are sacred men. They are the last of a noble generation. They +periled their lives in behalf of liberty, when + + "'Twas treason to love her and death to defend." + +Fortunate all are you whose eyes rest to-day on these few surviving +soldiers of the Revolution. Fortunate are the youth and children +who on this occasion and in this presence can pledge themselves to +the cause of constitutional liberty. Of these men the next generation +shall know only from history. Fortune then that your lives began +before theirs ended. + +The patriot should do homage to these men, the statesman may sit at +their feet and learn lessons of fidelity to principle, and citizens +all may see how noble ends the life begun in the performance of duty. + +To-day the commonwealth of Massachusetts and the town of Acton dedicate +this monument to the memory of the early martyrs of the Revolution, and +consecrate it to the principles of liberty and of patriotism. Here its +base shall rest and its apex point to the heavens through the coming +centuries. Though it bears the names of humble men, and commemorates +services stern rather than brilliant, it shall be as immortal as +American history. The ground on which it stand shall be made classical +by the deeds which it commemorates. And may this monument exist only +with the existence of the republic; and when God in His wisdom shall +bring this government to nought, as all human governments must come to +nought, may no stone remain to point the inquirer to fields of valor or +to remind him of deeds of glory. And finally, may the republic +resemble the sun in his daily circuit, so that none shall know whether +its path were more glorious in the rising or in the setting. + + +XVII +SUDBURY MONUMENT + +At the session of 1851 the Legislature made an appropriation of five +hundred dollars to aid the town of Sudbury in building a memorial to +Captain Wadsworth and the men of his command who were cut off at +Sudbury in the year 1676 in the war known as King Philip's War. + +As Governor I was made a member of the committee for the erection of a +monument. The first subject was the style of the memorial. The +artists of Boston and vicinity sent designs and plans. Some of these +were very attractive. It happened, however, that a member of my +Council, the Hon. Isaac Davis, of Worcester, had returned recently from +a visit to Europe. He informed me that he had seen at Lucca in Italy, +a pyramidal structure which was considered the finest monument of its +sort to be found in Europe. I sent immediately for the proportions of +the pyramid and the Sudbury monument was modeled upon the same plan. I +am of the opinion that it fully justified the claim made in behalf of +the original. + +A serious difficulty occurred in regard to the inscription upon the +Sudbury monument. The original slab was erected in the year 1692 by +Benjamin Wadsworth, a son of Captain Wadsworth. The son was then +President Wadsworth of Harvard College. The inscription stated that +the fight took place April 18, 1676. In later times it was discovered +that two old almanacs, one kept by Minister Hobart of Hingham and one +by Judge Sewall, contained entries of the fight _on the 21st of April, +1676._ I examined the question and became satisfied that those entries +were made on the day when the intelligence was received by the writers. +Accordingly I followed President Wadsworth as to the date. The +_Genealogical Register,_ under the charge of a Mr. Drake, in two +articles criticized my inscription. I replied in the _Register_ and +ended my article with a sentence which Drake struck out. The sentence +was this: _"The testimony of President Wadsworth as to the time of his +father's death is of more value than all the theories of all the +genealogists who have existed since their vocation was so justly +condemned by St. Paul."_ + +A few months later I appeared in the court to try a case which involved +my client's reputation for truth, and a thousand dollars in money. To +my dismay I saw that Drake was foreman of the jury. I lost my case, +but I think justly upon the evidence. My principal witness failed to +make good upon the stand the statement that he had made to me in my +office. One of the perils in the practice of law is that clients and +clients' witnesses either make misstatements or fail to make full +statements of the facts. + +In the middle-third part of the nineteenth century, the date of +Sudbury Fight was a topic of serious controversy by genealogists and +historians. I was responsible for the date that appears upon the +monument that was erected in the year 1852. The conclusion that I had +reached was condemned by the _Genealogical Register_ and by a committee +of the Society. In the year 1866 I reviewed the evidence, on which my +opponents relied, and I marshaled the evidence in support of the +accuracy of the date that appeared upon the monument. In the year 1876 +the town of Sudbury observed the bi-centennial on the 18th day of +April, thus giving sanction to the date on the monument. + +At the dedication of the Sudbury monument I made the following address: + +ADDRESS + +Families, races and nations of men appear, act their respective parts, +and then pass away. Political organizations are dissolved by influence +of time. At some periods and in some portions of the world, barbarous +races appropriate to their use the former domain of civilization, while +at other points of time and space nations are rapidly advancing in +wealth and refinement. If savage communities have been exterminated by +superior races of men, so have the arts and civilities of the most +enlightened people been displaced by the rude passions and rugged +manners of barbarism. As in the natural world there is a slow +revolution of thousands of years, by which every part of this globe is +brought within the tropics and beneath the poles, so there appears to +be a great cycle of humanity, whose law is that every portion of the +race shall pass through each condition of social, intellectual and +moral existence. + +But whatever may be the fate of families, races and nations, their +influence is in some sense perpetual. The Past is not dead. By a +mysterious cord it is connected with the Present. Could we analyze +our life, we should perhaps find that but few of the emotions we +experience are to be traced to events and circumstance which have +occurred in our own time. + +We admire the heroes of Grecian history and even of Grecian fable. We +are inspired by ancient poetry and eloquence, as well as by the bards +and orators of modern times. Painting and sculpture are the equal +admiration of every refined age. The virtue of patriotism has been +illustrated by savage as well as civilized life. Thus every recorded +event of the past has somewhat of value for us. Hence men seek to +connect themselves by blood and language with Europe, or even with +Asia, and delight to trace their family and name into the dark +centuries of the Past. We search for the truth amid the myths and +fables of Grecian and Roman history, and have faith that the ruins of +Ninevah, Memphis and Palmyra shall yet declare the civilities, +learning, and religion of ancient days. + +Few nations have had a perfect history. Valuable history can be +derived only from the continued record of the transactions of a people. +Wherever governments have existed in fact before they have existed in +form, or wherever the proceedings of a government have not been matters +of record, there can be no trustworthy history. In these respects +Massachusetts has been fortunate. Her government is older than her +existence as colonies, and from the first a faithful record of her +proceedings has been made. The foundations of New Plymouth and +Massachusetts were laid more than two centuries ago; the circumstances +of this occasion lead us to consider the least defensible portions of +their history; yet the world cannot charge them with suppressing any +fact necessary to a true appreciation of their policy and character. +Whatever they did was in the fear of God and without the fear of man. +Conscious of their own integrity of purpose, they shrunk not from the +judgment of posterity. And though in this hour we may not always +approve their policy, so neither can we comprehend their principles or +appreciate their trials. The human family has ever been subject to one +great law. It is this: Inferior races disappear in the presence of +their superiors, or become dependent upon them. Now, while this law +shall not stand as a defence for our fathers, it is satisfactory to +feel that no policy could have civilized or even saved the Indian +tribes of Massachusetts. The remnants that linger in our midst are +not the representatives of the native nobility of the forest two +centuries ago. Nor did Williams or Eliot, by kindness or religion, +ever command the fierce spirits of Miantonomo, Canonchet and Philip. +Nevertheless, let history exalt these men. Let it speak truly of +their genius, their courage, their patriotism, their devotion to their +race, and, as for Massachusetts, she shall be known and read of all +from the dark day when the colony of Plymouth had not ten efficient +men, to this auspicious moment when within our borders a million of +free and happy people speak the language and glory in the descent of +the Pilgrim Fathers! + +The existence of Massachusetts is properly divided into three parts. + +First, as a colony from the settlement of Plymouth in 1620, to the loss +of the Massachusetts charter in 1684. Second, as a province from the +charter for the Province of William and Mary in 1691, to the +Declaration of Independence in 1776. Third, as a State from 1780 to +the present time. As a colony, the civil rights of our ancestors were +those of British subjects, but their political and religious privileges +were much greater. As a province their civil rights remained, +religious freedom was extended, while their political privileges were +materially limited. + +The occasion, these services, this monument and inscription, connect us +with the colony. We are not here so much reminded of the men who fell, +as of the sacrifices and sufferings of the colonies in 1675 and '76. +The period of King Philip's War was the most trying and perilous in our +history. The Revolution was a struggle for freedom; the contest with +Philip was for existence. Philip contemplated the extermination of the +English in America, while King George only desired their subjugation to +his authority. Nor was the latter ever so near the accomplishment of +his design as was the former in the autumn of 1675. + +Massachusetts has seen no other such winter as that which followed. + + "Morn came, and went--and came, and brought not day, + And men forgot their passions in the dread + Of this their desolation." + +As late as March, 1676, says Hubbard, "it was full sea with Philip's +affairs." And even on the 26th of April, the Plymouth colony writes +thus to Massachusetts: + +"The Lord undertake for us, for we are in a very low condition; and the +spirits of our people begin to run low, also being now averse to going +forth against the enemies. The Lord have us patient to wait God's +time, although our salvation seems still to be far from us." + +The war commenced on the 24th day of June, 1675, and ended on the 12th +of August, 1676, by the death of Philip. + +The colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven were +united, and Governor Josiah Winslow of Plymouth was appointed +commander-in-chief. + +Neither the population nor the available force of the colonies is now +known. Some writers have estimated the population of New England at a +hundred and twenty thousand. This is plainly an exaggeration. From a +few scattered fragments and facts we may conclude that Massachusetts +had a force of about 4,500 men, New Haven and Connecticut about 2,000, +and Plymouth about 1,300; in all about 8,000 men. Of these +Massachusetts had a cavalry force seven hundred strong. Upon this +basis the entire population could not have exceeded 60,000, and some +writers, on the other hand, have estimated it at only forty thousand +souls. But, whatever may have been the number of able-bodied men in +the colonies, the available force for active service must have been +small. A large number of towns were to be garrisoned, and many men +were necessarily employed in the customary duties of life. + +Still less is known of the strength of Philip's confederated tribes. +Pestilence and war had depopulated New England previous to the arrival +of the Pilgrims. In 1675 the Pokanokets and Narragansets were the most +powerful, and together mustered three or four thousand warriors. +Philip was sachem of the Pokanokets and Canonchet of the Narragansets. +These tribes constituted Philip's reliable strength, but he had +confederated with him and pledged to the common cause the smaller +chiefs of the Piscataqua and Merrimack, of central Massachusetts and +the valley of the Connecticut. The Narragansets occupied what is now +Rhode Island and the islands adjacent thereto, while Philip as the +chief of the Pokanokets or Wampanoags had his seat at Montaup or Mount +Hope. It was not, however, expedient or possible for him to consecrate +a large force upon any one point. With his forces divided into war +parties as necessity or circumstances dictated, he was able in the +space of thirteen months to attack and partially or entirely destroy a +great number of towns, among which were Brookfield, Lancaster, +Marlboro', Sudbury, Groton, Deerfield, Springfield, Hatfield, +Northfield, Northampton, Chelmsford, Andover, Medfield, Rehoboth, +Plymouth, Scituate, Weymouth, and Middleborough in Massachusetts, and +New Plymouth, Providence and Warwick in Rhode Island. Of these, twelve +or thirteen were entirely destroyed. + +Six hundred dwellings were burned, and sixteen hundred persons slain +or carried into captivity. There was not a house standing between +Stonington and Providence. It was as destructive as a war would now be +to Massachusetts which should send twenty thousand able-bodied men to +the grave, and render twenty thousand families houseless, and for the +most part destitute. Had all the events of the Revolution been crowded +into twelve months, the conflict would have been less terrible than was +the war with Philip. His operations menaced and endangered the +existence of the colony. There was a probability that the taunting +threat of John Monoco, the leader of the party which burned Groton, +that he would burn Chelmsford, Concord, Watertown, Cambridge, +Charlestown, Roxbury and Boston, might even be executed. Hardly +anything else remained of the Massachusetts colony on which the power +and vengeance of Philip could fall. Points of the interior, to be +sure, were garrisoned, but for the most part it was an unbroken forest, +or marked only by heaps of smouldering ruins. + +And here may we well pause and reflect, that however we or posterity +may judge the Indian policy of our ancestors, the scenes through +which they passed were not calculated to mitigate the horrors of war, +or in the hour of triumph to awaken emotions of pity for the fallen. + +As for the Indians, they were destroyed. Their great sachems had +fallen. Anawon, Canonchet, Philip, were no more. Nor had their +fighting men survived them. Their towns, of which they had many, were +burned. And why should the humble wigwam remain when the heroic spirit +of its occupant had departed? + +And, worse than all, the women and children had been massacred or sold +into slavery. + + ----"few remain + To strive, and those must strive in vain." + +Peace came; but--sad thought--there was no treaty of peace. It was a +war of extermination. Not often in the history of the world has it +happened thus. The colonists believed that they had been fighting the +battles of God's chosen people. Mather says, "the evident hand of +Heaven appearing on the side of the people, whose hope and help were +alone in the Almighty Lord of Hosts, extinguished those nations of +savages at such a rate, that there can hardly any of them now be found +under any distinction upon the face of the earth." + +At some points in New Hampshire and the district of Maine, the fires of +war flickered ere they went forever out. Omitting comparatively +unimportant incursions, the Indian wars of Massachusetts and New +Plymouth were ended. The existence of these hitherto feeble +settlements was rendered certain. Although political and religious +controversies occupied the attention of the settlers, they yet found +means to cultivate the arts of peace. The forest was broken up, +commerce was increased, agriculture flourished, new settlements were +made, confidence was created, men saw before them a future in which +they had hope. As our fathers passed from war to peace they forgot +not their religious duties, and the 29th of June in Massachusetts, and +the 17th of August in Plymouth, were set part as days of public +thanksgiving and praise. Days of sadness, too, they must have been; +days of woe as well as of triumph. The colonies were bereaved in the +loss of brave and valuable men,--families were bereaved in the loss of +homes,--and all were bereaved in the fall or captivity of kindred and +friends. And could our ancestors have seen that this was the first +great step in the red man's solemn march to the grave, a tear of +sympathy would have fallen in behalf of a noble and heroic race. + +The war was brief; its operations were rapid. In the space of less +than fourteen months the Indians were exterminated and the whites +reduced to the condition I have faintly portrayed. Yet, until the +19th of December, 1675, when the colonists made a most destructive +attack upon the Indians at what is now South Kingston, the war had +been confined chiefly to the valley of the Connecticut. But from that +moment Philip was like a hungry tiger goaded in confinement, suddenly +let loose upon his prey. The destruction of villages and the deadly +ambuscade of bodies of men followed each other in quick succession. In +the space of sixty days his forces attacked Lancaster, Medfield, +Weymouth, Groton, Warwick, Marlboro', Rehoboth, Providence, Chelmsford, +Andover and Sudbury. At least one half of the death and desolation of +this war was crowded into this short period of time. + +There was no security except in garrisons defended by armed men. The +Indian marches exceeded in celerity the movements of well-furnished +cavalry in civilized countries. Their women even aided in the march +and in the camp. Accustomed to hardship and famine, they subsisted in +a manner incredible to our time and race. And with one or two +exceptions, when the colonists came upon the Indians unexpectedly, the +latter were superior in the strategic arts of war, though in open +fight their fire was much less destructive. It must be confessed that +Captain Lathrop at Bloody Brook, and Captain Wadsworth at Sudbury, +were, in a degree, incautious. Hubbard closes his account of the +disaster with these words: + +"Thus, as in former attempts of like nature, too much courage and +eagerness in pursuit of the enemy hath added another fatal blow to +this poor country." + +For a long period a feeling of insecurity oppressed the settlers. Each +town was furnished with a garrison. The Indian trail was the signal +for alarm, and through long years the events of Philip's war were borne +by tradition and history to itching ears and timid hearts in the +garrison and family circle. + +Passing from the principal features of this bloody contest, we feel +that its details are less certain. + +In 1676, Sudbury was a frontier town, although settled as early as +1638. Marlboro' was attacked and nearly destroyed the 26th of March, +1676. Captain Sam'l Brocklebank, of Rowley, with a company of Essex +men, was stationed at Marlboro'; but his apprehensions of danger were +so slight that he asked to be relieved from the service. On the 27th +of March, Lieutenant Jacobs, of Captain Brocklebank's company, with +forty soldiers, one half of whom were Sudbury men, attacked a party +of 300 sleeping Indians, and disabled thirty of them without the loss +of a man. The news of the attack upon Marlboro' early furnished by +Captain Brocklebank induced the Council to order Captain Wadsworth of +Milton, with about fifty men, to its relief. At or near Marlboro' he +was informed that Sudbury was the besieged town. It is certain that he +left his young men in the garrison at Marlboro' under the command of +Lieutenant Jacobs, and he was probably joined by Captain Brocklebank +with a part or the whole of his command. It is said that Wadsworth +had marched from Boston that day, yet he moved immediately for the +relief of Sudbury. Presuming that the hill where this monument stands +is that to which Captain Wadsworth was forced by the Indians, their +decoy-outposts must have been a mile or a mile and a half on the way +to Marlboro'. + +Captain Wadsworth estimated the number of Indians first discovered at +one hundred. These he pursued about a mile, when he found himself +surrounded by a body of savages four or five hundred strong. Captain +Wadsworth was probably at the bloody fight of the 19th of December, he +was in the Narraganset country about the 1st of January, and he had +marched at the head of forty men to the relief of Lancaster, yet he +appears from the little truth within our reach, to have neglected those +precautions essential to safety in Indian warfare. But is should be +remembered that Captain Wadsworth and Captain Brocklebank were born +about the time of the Pequot War, and could have had no experience in +similar service previous to hostilities with Philip. + +The loss of men is not certainly known, nor do writers agree that the +fight took place on the 18th of April. + +The inscription upon the monument follows the authority of President +Wadsworth of Harvard College, son of Captain Wadsworth, and for a +portion of his life minister of the first church in Boston. He had +superior facilities for ascertaining the truth and strong motives for +stating it. He puts the loss at twenty-nine officers and men, and +fixes upon the 18th of April as the day of the fight. + +His statement is sustained by the evidence I have gathered. Some +writers have put the loss at fifty, and others as high as seventy men, +but these numbers exceed the truth. Wadsworth had fifty men; +Brocklebank may have had as many more. We can account for about +ninety-six. On the 24th of April, Lieutenant Jacobs acknowledges the +receipt of his charge as Captain, in place of Captain Brocklebank, and +informs the Governor and his Council that his company consists of +about forty-six men, a portion of whom were left at Marlboro' by +Captain Wadsworth. + +Hubbard says, that of Wadsworth's company, not above twenty escaped, +and Daniel Warren and Joseph Pierce, who buried the dead, say that +fourteen or fifteen of Captain Wadsworth's men were concealed at Mr. +Noist's mill. Taking the statements of Hubbard and Jacobs, we +account for ninety-six officers and men, viz.: forty-seven left at +Marlboro', twenty-nine killed, and twenty escaped. + +Some writer has stated that the battle was fought on the 21st, instead +of the 18th of April. It may not be proved that the battle was fought +on the 18th, but it is determined that it was fought previous to the +21st. + +On the 21st of April, the Massachusetts Council communicated the fact +in writing to the Plymouth Colony. It is true that Lieutenant Jacobs +does not mention the loss of Wadsworth and Brocklebank in a letter to +the Governor and Council, dated at Marlboro' on the 22nd of April; but +in his letter of the 24th, he refers to the subject as he might have +done, had he received the intelligence when he received his authority +to take the command of the fort and men at Marlboro'. And this was +probably the case. That communication between the two towns was +suspended, is apparent from Jacobs' letter of the 22nd of April, to +which I have referred. The conclusion, I think, is that, under the +circumstances, there is a reasonable amount of evidence in support of +the statement of President Wadsworth. + +The loss of Wadsworth and Brocklebank was severely felt by the colony. +Hubbard says, "Wadsworth was a resolute, stout-hearted soldier, and +Brocklebank a choice, spirited man." Mather says, "but the worst part +of the story is, that Captain Wadsworth, one worthy to live in our +history under the name of a good man, coming up after a long, hard, +unwearied march with seventy men unto the relief of distressed Sudbury, +found himself in the woods on the sudden, surrounded with about five +hundred of the enemy, whereupon our men fought like men, and more than +so." + +Capt. Samuel Wadsworth was the youngest son of Christopher Wadsworth, +one of the early Plymouth Pilgrims, who settled at Duxbury with Capt. +Miles Standish. Samuel Wadsworth was born in Duxbury about 1630, and +was therefore forty-five or six years of age when he died. He first +appears at Milton, in 1656, where he took up three hundred acres of +land near the center of the town. He was interested in obtaining the +separation of the town from Dorchester and in its incorporation in +1662. In the new town he was the first captain of the militia, one of +the selectmen, a member of the House of Representatives, a trustee of +the church and active in church affairs. That he was highly esteemed +in the town is apparent from these facts as well as from a memorial of +Robert Babcock, one of the selectmen of Milton. He feelingly alludes +to the loss in these words: _"Captain Wadsworth being departed from +us, whose face we shall see here no more."_ + +Capt. Samuel Brocklebank, of Rowley, was born in England, and was also +about forty-six years of age at the time of his death. In November, +1675, he informed Governor Leverett that he had impressed twelve men +for the war. Of these, seven returned to Rowley. His correspondence +with the Council shows him to have been a man of respectable attainments. + +As then the colonies and the town shared a common grief in the loss of +these devoted men, so now it is appropriate that the State and town +should unite in the erection of this unpretending memorial of their +names and virtues. + +In April, 1676, Philip's power was at its height. But his successes +had weakened him. His warriors were slain or scattered all over the +country, his provisions and ammunition were exhausted, and Canonchet, +his most valuable ally, had planned his last ambuscade, and rallied +his Narragansets for the last time. The rapidity of Philip's +movements, and the fierceness of his attacks, had deprived his +warriors of the moral power to withstand reverses. His operations for +two months had been those of a desperate man; and when desperation is +followed by misfortune there is no hope of recovery. + +The winter campaign of 1675-6 was opened and conducted with great vigor +on the part of the colonies. + +The second of December was appointed and set apart as a day of solemn +humiliation for the imploring of God's special grace and favor to +appear for his poor people. Then the treasurer was clothed with +unlimited power to borrow money, and authorized to pledge the public +lands acquired and to be acquired for the payment of the war debt; one +thousand stands of arms and a corresponding quantity of ammunition +were ordered; men were impressed for active service in the field, for +the erection and defence of garrisons, and for the tillage of the soil; +the women and children of the frontier towns were sent towards the +coast; the Indian trading houses were abolished; and even the members +of Harvard College were required to pay their proportion of rates, and +to serve in the army either personally or by substitute. + +The Council were instructed to use their "utmost endeavors, with +promise of such rewards as they judge meet, to get the Mohegans and +Pequots" to cut off the Indians of Philip. Governor Winslow was +commander-in-chief, and was instructed by "care, courage, diligence, +policy and favor, to discover, pursue and encounter, and by the help +of God to vanquish and subdue the cruel, barbarous and treacherous +enemy, whether Philip Sachem and his Wampanoags, or the Narraganset +and his undoubted allies, or any other their friends and abettors." + +Canonchet, son of Miantonomo and grand nephew of Canonicus, was chief +of the Narragansets. When the colonists first became acquainted with +this tribe, Canonicus was their sachem, but his nephew Miantonomo was +associated with him in the government. This sachem was never a friend +to the English, and he early sent to Plymouth a bundle of arrows bound +in a rattle-snake's skin as a war challenge. Miantonomo was less +hostile, but Canonchet manifested the spirit of his grand uncle. +Immediately after hostilities commenced with Philip the English +demanded of Canonchet the surrender of certain Pokanokets alleged to be +within his dominions. This was his reply: "Deliver the Indians of +Philip! Never. Not a Wampanoag will I ever give up. No. Not the +paring of a Wampanoag's nail." + +He was of course charged with being in alliance with Philip. A force +of a thousand men with such Indian allies as could be mustered, was +marched immediately into his country. This was the force engaged on +the 19th of December in the famous Swamp Fight, the most sanguinary +battle of Philip's War. Six hundred warriors were slain, six hundred +wigwams were burned, and an unknown number of women, children and old +men perished in the flames. The English loss exceeded two hundred, +among whom were several brave officers. From this moment the fortunes +of Canonchet were identified with Philip's, and he is supposed to have +commanded in many of the attacks upon the frontier towns. About the +last of March, 1676, he visited the Connecticut River to urge, if not +to superintend the planting of corn. Finding his people destitute of +seed, he returned to obtain a supply, but was arrested at Seekonk and +executed at Stonington. His death was a sad blow to Philip, and the +occasion of a great joy in the colonies. When told that he must die, +he said: + +"It is well. I shall die before my heart is soft. I will speak +nothing which Canonchet should be ashamed to speak. It is well." + +Thus fell Canonchet, the last great chief of the Narragansets. A man +so noble and chivalric in his spirit that his life and death commanded +the admiration of his worst enemies. They vainly imagined that some +disembodied spirit of Greece or Rome had revisited the earth in the +vast physical and mental proportions of Canonchet. + +Forty years before, the friendship of his father, Miantonomo, and the +qualified hostility he assumed towards Sassacus and the Pequots had +saved the infant colonies from destruction. Sassacus, the Pequot +chief, had proposed to Canonicus an alliance against the English, but +in consequence of the advice of Roger Williams, Miantonomo visited +Governor Winthrop at Boston, was received and entertained with great +ceremony, and finally concluded with the colonies a treaty of peace +and alliance. Its main provisions were these: + +1st. Peace with Massachusetts and the other English plantations. + +2nd. Neither party to make peace with the Pequots without the consent +of the other. + +3rd. Neither party to harbor Pequots. + +4th. Murderers escaping from either party to be put to death or +delivered up to the other. + +5th. Fugitive servants to be returned. + +This treaty rendered the cause of the Pequots hopeless, and secured the +safety of the English. + +It was in the main observed by the Narragansets. They allowed the +colonial army to pass through their territories, and furnished five +hundred men for the war. + +Uncas, the chief of the Mohegans, had also been an ally of the English +against the Pequots. After the destruction of this tribe, the three +parties declared a peace, and the spoils of the war were divided +between the allies. But the Narragansets and Mohegans were naturally +enemies. The latter were of the Pequot race, and Uncas himself, having +married the daughter of Sassacus, was but a revolted subject of that +great chief. It is said that one of Uncas' dependent sachems attacked +Miantonomo, who referred the matter to the English and was told to take +his own course, and invaded the Mohegan country with a thousand +warriors. The fortunes of war were against him and he fell into the +hands of Uncas. The victor now referred the fate of his victim to the +English. They decided that the rules of war permitted, and the safety +of Uncas required, the death of Miantonomo. They were careful, +however, not to permit his execution within their jurisdiction. The +colonies were responsible for the death of this chief. Uncas was +nominally their ally, but really their subject. From first to last +he did their bidding with a spirit so craven and a manner so +treacherous that he was neither trusted nor respected by them. But +the English in their death-warrant voluntarily offered to protect +Uncas from the consequences of Miantonomo's death. This was in 1643, +and thus did the English observe the treaty of peace made seven years +before under circumstances of extraordinary solemnity. Miantonomo died +the victim of rivalry, jealousy and fear, yet with a spirit so heroic +that he scorned to ask the precious boon of life from those whom he had +served rather than wronged. His death was the seed of the war of 1675, +--for how, under these circumstances, could Canonchet, his son and +successor, be other than the enemy of the English, the ready and +efficient ally of Philip. + +But aside from particular incidents in the relations of the English to +the Indians there were three ever-operating causes of hostility. + +1st. The mutual disposition of the English and the Indians to traffic +with each other. The colonies passed the most stringent laws for the +suppression of this traffic, or to make it a monopoly in their own +hands, and the government at home issued two or more proclamations. +These laws and proclamations had no great practical value, and the +Indians were constantly supplied with spirits, clothing, munitions and +weapons of war, either by the English, French, or Dutch. Thus trade +furnished an occasion for hostility, and the means of gratifying the +spirit of war. + +2nd. There was a universal tendency in the people and governments of +the colonies to acquire land. + +There was, however, a settled purpose on the part of the company in +England and the governments here to make this spirit conform to the +principles of honor and justice. In the company's letter of +instruction of April 17, 1629, Endicott and his Council were told that +"If any of the savages pretend right of inheritance to all or any part +of the lands granted in our patent, we pray you to endeavor to purchase +their title, that we may avoid the least scruple of intrusion." And in +a second letter of the 28th of May following, the same injunction is +imposed upon the settlers. Attempts were made to pursue the course +pointed out by the company, and a penalty of five pounds per acre was +imposed upon any person who should receive an Indian title without the +consent of the government. Governor Winslow, in 1676, writes thus: "I +think I can clearly say, that before the present trouble broke out, the +English did not possess one foot of land in this colony but what was +fairly obtained by honest purchase of the Indian proprietors." + +It is no doubt true that for the most part the lands were purchased, +and, according to the idea of the English, honorably purchased, yet the +natives could not fail to foresee the result of these cessions of +territory. There were English settlements at Bridgewater, Middleboro', +Taunton, Rehoboth, Seekonk, and Swanzey, all within the ancient +jurisdiction of Massasoit. And as a perpetual monitor to Philip of +his limited domains, though in obedience to a different and highly +honorable motive, the people erected a fence quite across the neck of +land on the south of Swanzey, and thus confined the Pokanokets by metes +and bounds. + +That Philip was annoyed by applications for land is evident from his +letter, without date, addressed to Governor Prince of Plymouth: + +"Philip would intreat that favor of you, and any of the magistrates, +if any English or Indians speak about any land, he pray to give them no +answer at all. This last summer he made that promise with you, that +he would sell no land in seven years' time, for that he would have no +English trouble him before that time. He has not forgot that you +promise him." + +The apostle Eliot, in a letter to the Massachusetts government, dated +in 1684, asking that certain fraudulent purchases of the Indians might +be annulled, puts this suggestive inquiry: "Was not a principal cause +of the late war about encroachments on Philip's land at Mount Hope?" + +The third disturbing cause was the desire of our ancestors to convert +the Indian chiefs and tribes to Christianity. This was a primary and +chief object of the settlement of the country. Governor Craddock, in +a letter of February, 1629, to Endicott and his Council, says: "You +will demean yourselves justly and courteously toward the Indians, +thereby to draw them to affect our persons, and consequently our +religion." And the Governor of Massachusetts colony by his oath was +required to use his "best endeavor to draw on the natives of New +England to the knowledge of the true God." The company in England also +expressed the hope that the ministers who were sent out would, by +faithful preaching, godly conversation and exemplary lives, in God's +appointed time, reduce the Indians to the obedience of the Gospel of +Christ. And there is no fact in the history of the colonists +inconsistent with an earnest purpose to accomplish so desirable a +result. But the most formidable and warlike of the Indian tribes +resisted the introduction of Christianity, not on account of its +doctrines,--these they never comprehended; but its acceptance was +regarded by them as an acknowledgment of political inferiority. When +Philip protests against the jurisdiction of the English, he thinks to +establish his independence by asserting that he was never a praying +Indian. It naturally happened that those Indians who embraced +Christianity were more or less attached to the English, and soon +assumed the position of dependent inferiors. They were consequently +despised by such fierce spirits as swayed the Narraganset and Pokanoket +tribes. But the English were instant in season and out of season in +securing assent to their doctrines, though they must often have known +that there was neither conviction of the head nor conversion of the +heart. The colonists on some occasions even made a formal assent to +the Christian faith a condition of allegiance. + +Although Uncas never received the Christian religion, his friendly +relations with the English gave him an importance and power which were +offensive to the neighboring tribes; and there is reason to suppose +that a desire to humble him was an element of the war. + +The attack upon the Pequots, whether necessary or not, must have +produced an unfavorable impression upon the neighboring tribes; but +the death of Miantonomo was the cause of the undying hostility of the +Narragansets, and made Canonchet the ready coadjutor of King Philip,-- +and without Canonchet Philip could never have been formidable to the +English. + +But passing by all the occasions or causes of war to which I have +referred, we may presume from our knowledge of Philip's character, +that he considered his personal injuries a sufficient ground for +hostilities. Massasoit, his father, had been the firm friend but never +the subject of the English. He was rather their protector, and the +colonists ever maintained towards him the kindest feelings. + +His son Alexander succeeded him. A suspicion was early entertained by +the English that he was plotting with the Narragansets. He was +summoned to appear at Plymouth, but he avoided the summons upon some +pretence, which probably had no real foundation. The Governor of +Plymouth with about ten men proceeded to compel his attendance. +Alexander was then upon a hunting excursion with a small party of +warriors. He was found in Middleboro', refreshing himself in a tent +after the fatigues of the chase. His arms, having been left outside, +were seized by the English. Some accounts state that Alexander went +voluntarily towards Plymouth, others say that the Governor told him +that if he did not go he was a dead man. But all accounts agree that +he was soon violently sick, and that the efforts to relieve him were +unavailing. He was allowed to return home and was borne away upon the +shoulders of his faithful warriors. Hubbard says, "Such was the pride +and height of his spirit, that the very surprisal of him so raised his +choler and indignation, that it put him into a fever, which, +notwithstanding all possible means that could be used, seemed mortal." +And so it proved. + +Philip witnessed this unjust arrest of his brother, chief of a proud +and free race; he remembered his father's services and fidelity; he saw +his people dispossessed of their hunting grounds, and an unknown +religion zealously pressed upon them. To him there was in the present +only humiliation and disgrace, in the future only ignominy and death. +With this history and these gloomy anticipations of the future, Philip +became the sachem of the Pokanokets. He had never been a favorite +with the English, yet early in life they had named him Philip, and +his brother Wamsutta, Alexander; a singular yet just appreciation of +their high spirit and warlike character. The colonists justly regarded +these young men as dangerous to the public peace, and there was never +a moment of true friendship after the death of Massasoit. + +The particular occasion of the war was the murder by Philip's agents of +one Sassamon, an educated Indian, who had been his private secretary. +Having in this confidential station obtained a knowledge of Philip's +plans, he went to the English, by whom he had been educated, and +probably disclosed his master's secrets. Philip secured his death, and +of all who fell in fight or fray, or on the gallows swung, none +deserved death before Sassamon. The comprehensive mind of Philip saw +at once the terrible nature and probable consequences of the war thus +brought upon him. It is said that he wept, and that from that time +forth he never smiled. But he laid new sacrifices upon the altar of +his people's liberty, invoked the spirit of his ancestors, and +exhibited resources and courage worthy of a heroic age. + +He stood in a position of great and manifest peril. The English were +superior in numbers, comparatively well equipped, and above all united. +They had garrisoned towns to which they could fly. Philip's own tribe +was comparatively weak, but he easily associated the Narragansets with +him. But this combined force was inadequate to the emergency. He +united many of the tribes of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and +Connecticut, and as far as possible animated them with his own +unconquerable will. You may imagine him standing among the dark men of +the forest and with a rugged yet burning eloquence reciting the history +of their common wrongs, or with prophetic power lifting the veil from +the shadowy, though not to him uncertain, future. + +He was continually subject to great personal dangers. A price was set +upon his head, the Christian Indians were allies of the English and +continually employed against him, while above all Uncas and the +Mohegans were his deadly enemies. Hunted by English and Indians, +assailed by famine and treachery, weakened by death and desertion, his +fate was inevitable. When his warriors had fallen in battle, been sold +into slavery or corrupted by bribes, when his old men and women, and +children had perished, when the first of the enemy had laid in ashes +the wigwams and villages of the Pokanokets and their allies, when to +his race there was neither seed-time nor harvest, he came to the home +of his ancestors, and there his troubled spirit, contrasting sadly in +death as in life with the placid scenes of nature around, passed +forever away. He fell by the hand of his own race,-- + + "Darkly, sternly, and all alone + A spoil--the richest and the last." + +Philip's son, a boy nine years of age, was sold into slavery, and the +royal race of Massasoit was extinct. + +As all our information of Carthage and the Punic wars has been +transmitted by Roman authors, so our knowledge of Philip and the war of +1675-6, is derived from partial and in some instances prejudiced +sources. Yet it is just to say that our ancestors made no concealment +of the facts, although the comments of Mather and Hubbard are often +strangely barbarous in spirit. And further, we may be certain that our +Pilgrim Fathers were true to the light that was in them; and that their +memory will grow green with years and blossom through the flight of +ages. + +If to-day we have seen the bright side of Indian character, contrasted +with the few harsh features of the New England colonists, it is that +this occasion, while it calls forth feelings of gratitude and reverence +for the men and history of the Past may have somewhat of a practical +value in the Present and the Future. The men of the forest have not +disappeared entirely, though + + "They waste--they shrink away; + And fast we follow, as they go + Towards the setting day." + +And if in the Providence of God the race is soon to be extinct, let not +injustice, oppression, or war, increase their woes or hasten their decay. + + +XVIII +LOUIS KOSSUTH* + +When Louis Kossuth landed in New York, December 5, 1851, he was not an +unknown personage. He and his native land had been made known to the +people of the United States by the Revolution of 1848 and the contest +of 1849 for the independence of Hungary. Until those events occurred, +Hungary was only a marked spot on the map of Europe, and the name of +Kossuth, as a leader in industrial and social progress, had not been +written or spoken on this side of the Atlantic; but in the year 1851 +there was no other person of a foreign race and language of whose name +and career as much was known. + +There was no exaggeration in Mr. Emerson's words of address to Kossuth: +"You have got your story told in every palace, and log hut, and prairie +camp throughout this continent." + +From the first Kossuth recognized a special interest in the +commonwealth of Massachusetts. This interest was due in part to the +history of the State, from which he drew many lessons of instruction +and much confidence that personal liberty and the independence and +sovereignty of states would become universal possessions. Beyond these +considerations the invitation to him from Massachusetts was made +January 8, 1852,--among the first of the States of the Union. + +In my annual address to the Legislature, delivered the 15th of January, +I said: "Your action will be regarded as an expression of the sympathy +of Massachusetts for the distinguished exile, and for the cause of +European liberty, which he so truly represents. The common sentiment +of America is on the side of constitutional governments." + +The resolutions of the Legislature and the letter of the Governor were +presented to Kossuth at Pittsburg, Pa., January 26, by Hon. Erastus +Hopkins, then a member of the House of Representatives. + +Kossuth's first speech in New England was made at New Haven, Thursday, +April 22. From what he there said some inferences may be drawn as to +his religious opinions and the basis on which, to him, the principles +of freedom seemed to rest: + +"I know that there is one God in Heaven, the Father of all humanity, +and Heaven is therefore one. I know that there is one sun in the sky, +which gives light to all the world. As there is unity in God, and +unity in the light, so is there unity in the principles of freedom." + +Upon his arrival in Boston, April 27, 1852, I met with him on the +steps of the State House, greeting him with the following speech: + +"Governor Kossuth: As the voice of the Legislature and people of +Massachusetts, I welcome you to this capitol to-day. + +"Your presence brings before us our own past, bitter in its experience, +but glorious in its history. We once had apostles of liberty on +whose heads a price was set, who were hunted by tyranny from their +homes, and threatened with expulsion from civilized life. That day of +oppression and anxiety with us is ended. It introduced a contest for +human rights, whose results on this continent you have seen, in the +extent, character and power of the American republic. + +"The people of Massachusetts, inspired by their early history and +animated by the impulses of their hearts, greet you as one who has +nobly served and suffered in the cause of individual freedom and the +rights of states. Nor will their admiration be limited by any +consideration arising from the fate of your country, or the failure of +the patriotic hopes with which it was inspired. + +"Liberty can never die. The generations of men appear and pass away, +but the principles and aspirations of their nature are immortal. + +"Despotism is of time. It contains within itself the elements and the +necessity of decay and death. + +"Fifty years of your eventful life are past; but take courage, sir, in +the belief that, in the providence of God, the moment is near when the +light of freedom shall penetrate the darkness of European despotism. +Then shall your own Hungary welcome you to her fields and mountains, to +her homes and heart; and we will welcome Hungary to the family of +republican, constitutional, sovereign states. + +"In the name of the people, I tender to you the hospitalities of a +commonwealth founded by Exiles and Pilgrims." + +To this welcome to the capitol of Massachusetts, Kossuth replied as +follows: + +"I feel deeply sensible of the immense benefit which a happy and +prosperous people has conferred upon an unfortunate people. Moments +like the present can only be felt, not spoken. I feel a deep emotion, +sir. I am not ashamed of it. Allow me to say that, in taking that +hand, the hand of the people of Massachusetts, and having listened in +your voice to the sentiments and feelings of the people of +Massachusetts, I indeed cannot forbear to believe that humanity has +arrived at a great turning point in its destinies, because such a +sight was never yet seen on earth. + +"Conquerors, triumphant and proud of success, confer honors and glory +on a poor exile, having nothing to speak for him but his misfortunes. + +"Sir, the spirit of liberty is lasting; liberty cannot die, because it +has become the common sentiment of all humanity. The spirit of liberty +takes itself wings,--you are happy to be the first-born son of that +spirit; but we accept our condition just to be one of its martyrs; and +I look with hope, I look with confidence, into the future, because that +spirit which prepared for the poor exile the present day will be +recorded in the records of history, and will mark the destiny of coming +centuries. I cannot speak further. I am proud to have your hands in +mine. + +"And be sure, sir, and let your generous people be sure of it, that, +whatever be our future destiny, we shall never, in our struggles and +misfortunes and adversities, we shall never forget the generous +Governor of Massachusetts, and the generous people of Massachusetts, +and they shall never have reason to regret that we have been honored +in this immense nation. God Almighty bless you, sir, and bless you all! + +"I take these honors proudly, because I take them not for myself, but +in the name of my people, in whose name I express my most humble, my +eternal thanks." + +Kossuth's visit to New England was confined, I think, to the States of +Massachusetts and Connecticut. He spoke at Hartford, at Springfield, +Northampton, Worcester, Lynn, Salem, Lowell, Fall River, Plymouth, +Lexington and Concord, received everywhere by enormous crowds, and +rousing everywhere an unexampled enthusiasm. + +During his stay in Massachusetts he was introduced to audiences by +distinguished men, some of whom had achieved no inconsiderable +reputation as orators, and in most instances they were stimulated and +advanced rather then dwarfed by the presence of one whose powers were +far above the reach of ordinary speakers. Of these it is not invidious +to mention Emerson, Banks, Burlingame, Hopkins and Kellogg. + +Of the many who spoke in the presence of Kossuth there was no one whose +words were more acceptable than were those of the venerable Josiah +Quincy. He was then eighty years of age. At the banquet in Faneuil +Hall he made a ten minutes' speech that glowed with the fire of youth. +Its spirit can be exhibited in a quotation of two short sentences: +"Age chills the feelings, and renders the heart cold; but I have still +feeling enough left to say to the hero of the Old World, Welcome to the +liberty of the New! I can say to the hero of Hungarian liberty, +Welcome to the peace and happiness of our western home." At the +commencement of his speech Kossuth said: "Before all, let me express a +word of veneration and thanks to that venerable gentleman" (pointing to +Mr. Quincy). "Sir, I believe when you spoke of age cooling the hearts +of men, you spoke the truth in respect to ordinary men, but you did +yourself injustice. The common excitement and warm blood of youth +pass away; but the heart of the wise man, the older it grows the +warmer it feels." It is difficult to imagine a more graceful impromptu +recognition of words of praise. + +Kossuth's speech at Bunker Hill, more than his other speeches in New +England, bears marks of its Oriental origin. Pointing to the monument +he said: "My voice shrinks from the task to mingle with the awful +pathos of that majestic orator. Silent like the grave, and yet +melodious like the song of immortality upon the lips of cherubim, . . . +and thus it speaks: 'The day I commemorate is the rod with which the +hand of the Lord has opened the well of liberty. Its waters will flow; +every new drop of martyr blood will increase the tide; it will overflow +or break through. Bow, and adore, and hope.'" In the course of his +remarks he mentioned Gridley, Pollard, Knowlton and Warren, but he +appears not to have heard of Putnam and Prescott. + +At Lexington he said he was inclined to smile at the controversy with +Concord, declaring that it was immaterial whether the fire of the +British was first returned at Lexington or Concord; that its was +immaterial whether those who fell at Lexington were "butchered martyrs, +or victims of a battle-field." + +Kossuth was presented to Amariah Preston, aged ninety-four years, and +to Abijah Harrington, aged ninety-one years, veterans of the +Revolutionary war, and to Jonathan Harrington, then ninety-four years +of age, and the only survivor in Lexington of the action of April 19, +1775. + +At Concord, Emerson said to the exile: "There is nothing accidental in +your attitude. We have seen that you are organically in that cause you +plead. The man of freedom, you are also the man of fate. You do not +elect, but you are elected by God and your genius to your task. We do +not, therefore, affect to thank you." + +In his reply Kossuth appealed to Emerson to give to him and to his +cause the aid of his philosophical analysis, and to impress the +conviction upon the public mind that the Revolution, of which Concord +was the preface, was full of a higher destiny,--of a destiny as broad +as the world, as broad as humanity itself. + +In that speech he anticipated Matthew Arnold in the remark, "One thing +I may own, that it is, indeed, true, everything good has yet been in +the minority; still mankind went on, and in going on to that destiny +the Almighty designed, when all good will not be confined to the +minority, but will prevail amongst all mankind." His speech at Concord +was not of his best, and there are indications that his estimate of +Emerson's supremacy as a philosopher and thinker subjected him to a +degree of restraint which he could not overcome. + +Only once, as far as I know, did Kossuth speak of himself, except as +the chosen and legitimate representative of down-trodden Hungary, and +that was in his parting speech in Faneuil Hall, May 14, 1852: "Some +take me here for a visionary. Curious, indeed, if that man who, a +poor son of the people, has abolished an aristocracy of a thousand +years old, created a treasury of millions out of nothing, an army +out of nothing, and directed a revolution so as to fix the attention +of the whole world upon Hungary, and has beaten the old, well-provided +power of Austria, and crushed its future by its very fall, and +forsaken, abandoned, alone, sustained a struggle against two empires, +and made himself in his very exile feared by czars and emperors, and +trusted by foreign nations as well as his own,--if that man be a +visionary therefor, so much pride I may be excused, that I would like +to look face to face into the eyes of a practical man on earth." + +In closing so much of my review of Kossuth's sojourn in Massachusetts +as relates to the incident of his visit to Boston and the neighboring +cities and towns, I may be permitted to devote a few lines to my +acquaintance with him. To my position as Governor of the State, to the +paragraph in my address to the Legislature, to my letter of invitation, +and to my speech of welcome from the steps of the State House, he gave +much more consideration than was deserved; and on many occasions I +received evidences of his friendship and confidence. + +I class Kossuth among the small number of great men, whether he be +classed among orators, philosophers, students of history and +government, or as an advocate of the largest range of individual +freedom that is consistent with the good order of society. + +The great orators have appeared and the great orations have been +delivered in revolutionary periods; and this has been illustrated most +strikingly when states have been menaced by the fear of transition from +a constitution of freedom to a government of tyranny. Of the great +orations of this class, the most significant are the orations of +Demosthenes in behalf of the imperiled liberties of Greece, and the +orations of Cicero in defence of his character and of his conduct in +the public service, and in denunciation of the crimes by which the +Republic of Rome was transformed into the Empire of the Caesars. In +modern times attention may be directed to the speech of James Otis on +the Writs of Assistance, to Burke's speech on Conciliation with +America, to Fisher Ames' speech on the Jay Treaty, and to Webster's +speech on Nullification. + +In all these speeches, the ancient and modern alike, with the +exception of the speech of Fisher Ames, the inspiring, the controlling +sentiment is the sentiment of patriotism,--the claim to continued +independence and sovereignty in an existing condition, and the claim +to independence and sovereignty on the part of an aspiring people. +Burke was animated by a sense of patriotic duty to Britain and by a +sense of justice to her colonies in America. Fisher Ames' +argumentative speech was an appeal to the sense of justice of the +House of Representatives. + +Of the speeches to which reference has been made, it is to be said that +the circumstances in which they had their origin were local, although +they may have embraced the affairs of an empire. In the main, the +considerations advanced were temporary in their relations to the +affairs of mankind. In its very nature patriotism is local, and the +considerations by which the sentiment is stimulated relate usually to +the conditions and events in the country where the sentiment is +evolved. Moreover, a manifestation of the sentiment of patriotism in +one people is accompanied usually with a degree of hostility to some +other community or nation, and in its excesses it often fosters a +disregard for the just rights of others. Nor is the sentiment or +sense of justice usually universal in its application. As it is +manifested in individuals and communities, it too often embodies a +degree of selfishness, from which neither states nor individuals are +exempt. + +In like manner the words "freedom" and "liberty," in their application, +have been limited to classes and castes, and to individual communities +and states. The earliest and best expression of the universality of +the idea of liberty belongs to America, but in America even its +practical realization is a recent event. Previous to the nineteenth +century, America was the only land in which it was possible to found a +state freed from the domination of the church, or to establish a church +free from the domination of the state; and in one half of the American +continent this degree of freedom does not exist even now, when we +approach the twentieth century. + +Of the great orators of the world, it was Louis Kossuth who first gave +to the word "liberty" the largest possible signification. Burke +approached the idea, but he seemed not to comprehend its universality. +In his oration on Conciliation with America he said: "In Virginia and +the Carolinas they have a vast multitude of slaves. When this is the +case in any part of the world, those who are free are by far the most +proud and jealous of their freedom. Freedom is to them not only an +enjoyment, but a kind of rank and privilege. Not seeing, then, that +freedom as in countries where it is a common blessing, and as broad and +general as the air, may be united with much abject misery, with all the +exterior of servitude, liberty looks among them like something that is +more noble and liberal." + +Although Burke speaks of countries where freedom was a common blessing, +it is apparent that the expression was a figure of speech rather than a +statement of existing facts. Kossuth came to the Western World, not as +the exponent merely of the sufferings and wrongs endured by the people +of Hungary, but he announced and advocated boldly the most advanced +theories of individual and national freedom, and of the mutuality of +the obligations resting upon states. + +Of the many speeches made by Kossuth in the United States, precedence +may be given to his speech in Faneuil Hall, April 29, 1852. In that +speech he announced in all its fulness his comprehensive idea of +liberty: "Cradle of American Liberty! it is a great name; but there +is something in it which saddens my heart. You should not say +_American liberty._ You should say _Liberty in America._ Liberty +should not be either American or European,--it should be just +_liberty_. God is God. He is neither America's God nor Europe's God; +he is God. So should liberty be. 'American liberty' has much the +sound as if you would say 'American privilege.' And there is the +rub. Look to history, and when your heart saddens at the fact that +liberty never yet was lasting in any corner of the world, and in any +age, you will find the key of it in the gloomy truth that all who were +yet free regarded liberty as their privilege, instead of regarding it +as a principle. The nature of every privilege is exclusiveness, that +of a principle is communicative. Liberty is a principle,--its +community is it security,--exclusiveness is its doom. What is +aristocracy? It is exclusive liberty; it is privilege; and aristocracy +is doomed, because it is contrary to the destiny and welfare of man. +Aristocracy should vanish, not _in_ the nations, but also from +_amongst_ the nations. So long as that is not done, liberty will +nowhere be lasting on earth . . . A privilege never can be lasting. +Liberty restricted to one nation never can be sure. You may say, 'We +are the prophets of God'; but you shall not say, 'God is only _our_ +God.' The Jews have said so, and the pride of Jerusalem lies in the +dust." + +Through all his speeches the thought of the universality of liberty, +and the doctrine that there is a community in man's destiny, can be +discerned. His later speeches, and especially his speeches made after +his tour through the South, indicate a loss of confidence in the +disposition of the country to give substantial aid to the cause of +Hungary, and thenceforward the loss of hope was apparent in his +conversation and speeches. Indeed, before he left the country, his +thoughts were directed most largely to the care of his mother, wife +and sisters, who, like himself, were exiles and destitute of the means +of subsistence. It is not probable that he anticipated at any time +any other assistance than that which might follow an official +announcement by the national authorities of an opinion adverse to +interference by any state in the affairs of other states. His visit +to Washington satisfied him that no such expression of opinion would +be made by Congress, or by the administration of President Fillmore. + +On the thirtieth day of April, 1852, Kossuth closed a speech in +Faneuil Hall, which had occupied two hours and a half in its delivery, +with these words: "I cannot better express my thanks than to pledge my +word, relying, as I have said on another occasion of deep interest, +upon the justice of our cause, the blessing of God, iron wills, stout +arms and good swords, and upon your generous sympathy, to do all in my +power with my people, for my country, and for humanity." Thus, as he +approached the end of his career in America, he abandoned the thought +of securing active interference, or, indeed, of official support in +behalf of Hungary, whatever might have been his hopes when he landed +in the United States. + +During the period of Kossuth's visit, from December, 1851, to June, +1852, the attention of the country was directed to the approaching +Presidential election, and in public speeches and in conversations +he attributed his failure to secure the endorsement of Congress and of +legislative assemblies to that circumstance. In his first speech in +Faneuil Hall he said, "Would it had been possible for me to have come +to America either before that contest was engaged, or after it will be +decided! I came, unhappily, in a bad hour." That Kossuth attributed +too much importance to that circumstance, there can be no doubt. +Other, deeper-seated and more adverse causes were at work. The advice +and instructions of Washington as to the danger of entangling foreign +alliances were accepted as authority by many, and as binding traditions +by all. Consequently, there was not, and could not have been, any time +in the century when his appeal would have been answered by an +aggressive step, or even by an official declaration in behalf of his +cause. + +Co-operating with this general tendency of public opinion, there +existed a latent sentiment in the slave States and everywhere among +the adherents and defenders of slavery that the mission of Kossuth was +a menace to that peculiar institution. Of this face he was convinced +by his visit to Washington and his brief tour in the slave States. At +Worcester a man in the crowd had shouted, "We worship not the man, but +we worship the principle." The slave-holders were interested in the +man, but they feared his principles; and well they might fear his +principles for he was the avowed enemy of all castes and all artificial +distinctions among men. Hence it was that he was avoided by the +leaders of the Democratic Party, and hence it was that his special +friends and supporters were Abolitionists, Free-soilers and Anti- +slavery Democrats. + +This condition of public opinion and of party division was reached as +early as the twenty-ninth day of April, when Kossuth said: "Many a man +has told me that if I had not fallen into the hands of the +Abolitionists and Free-soilers, he would have supported me; and had I +landed somewhere in the South, instead of New York, I would have met +quite different things from that quarter; but being supported by the +Free-soilers, of course I must be opposed by the South." All this was +error. If Kossuth had been spurned by the Abolitionists and Free- +soilers, he would not have been accepted by the South; for there was +not a _quadrennium_ from 1832 to 1860 when that section would have +contributed to the election of Thomas Jefferson to the Presidency with +the weight of the Declaration of Independence upon his shoulders, as it +came from his pen, had he been in existence and eligible to the office. + +Support of Kossuth, by aggressive action of by official declarations +against Austria and Russia, was an impossibility for the country; and +an open avowal of sympathy with his opinions and principles was an +impossibility for the South or for the Democratic Party. + +Henceforward Kossuth's hopes were limited to pecuniary aid for himself +and his family and friends, and to expressions of sympathy for his +downtrodden country by individuals, by voluntary associations, and by +municipalities. All his speeches after his visit to Washington were +laden with one thought, viz., the duty of all free countries to resist +the spread of absolutism. Pre-eminently this duty was upon America. +"Republican America," said he, "and all-overwhelming Russian +absolutism cannot much longer subsist together on earth. Russia +active,--America passive,--there is an immense danger in the fact; it +is like the avalanche in the Alps, which the noise of a bird's wing +may move and thrust down with irresistible force, growing every moment." + +He quoted the declaration which the elder Cato made whenever he spoke, +whether in private or in public: "However, my opinion is that Carthage +must be destroyed." Imitating the language and spirit of Cato, Kossuth +said: "However, the law of nations should be maintained, and +absolutism not permitted to become permanent." + +That he exaggerated the scope of what is called the law of nations +there can be no doubt. Beyond a few points, such as the recognized +rule in regard to piracy, the law of nations is very indefinite, and +most certainly it has but little relation, if indeed it can be said +justly to have any relation, to what he called "absolutism." Moreover, +it is very doubtful whether any interference by one nation in the +affairs of another nation, in whatever considerate way such +interference might by presented, could produce aught but evil, in +arousing the passions of jealously and hostility. Had England and the +United States tendered any advice even in the affairs of Austria, +Hungary and Russia, such advice would have been rejected by the +nations, and indignities would have been heaped upon the officious +parties. All that part of Kossuth's mission to England and the United +States was hopeless from the beginning, and it seems to be an +impeachment of his wisdom to assume that he ever entertained the +thought that either country could or would make the cause of Hungary +its own, whatever might be the general or official opinion as to the +justice of the contest that Hungary had carried on. + +His speeches and his private conversations justify the inference that +he had a hope that in some way the influence of England and the United +States might be exerted effectually in behalf of Hungary, and that +through that influence the activity of Russia might be arrested. +Although he looked to France for aid to the cause of Hungary, he +regarded the _coup d'etat_ of Napoleon as an adverse event,--as a step +and an important step in the direction of "absolutism." On one +occasion he said: "Look how French Napoleonish papers frown +indignantly at the idea that the Congress of the United States dared to +honor my humble self, declaring those honors to be not only offensive +to Austria, but to all the European powers." + +Mr. Webster delivered a speech in Boston in the month of November, +1849, when it was apprehended that Russia might assume the task of +demanding of Turkey the surrender of Kossuth and others, and of +executing them for crimes against Austria. On that occasion Mr. +Webster claimed that the Emperor of Russia was "bound by the law of +nations"; and to that declaration Kossuth often referred. The full +text of Mr. Webster's speech leaves upon the mind the impression that +what he then called "the law of nations" was only that general judgment +of the civilized nations before which the Czar of Russia "would stand +as a criminal and malefactor in the view of the public law of the +world." Having this declaration in mind, Kossuth said: "It was a +beautiful word of a distinguished son of Massachusetts (Mr. Webster), +which I like to repeat, that every nation has precisely the same +interest in international law that a private individual has in the laws +of his country." Mr. Webster's speech did not justify the inference +which Kossuth drew from it; but the speech itself was much less +reserved than that which Mr. Webster delivered in 1852, when he held +the office of Secretary of State, and spoke for the administration, +at a banquet given in the city of Washington in Kossuth's honor. + +When Kossuth had abandoned the hope, which his intense interest in the +fate of his country had inspired, that the United States might act in +behalf of Hungary, he yet returned again and again to the subject. On +one occasion he said; "I take it for an axiom that there exist +interests common to every nation comprised within the boundaries of +the same civilization. I take it equally for certain that among these +common interest none is of higher importance than the principles of +international law." Nor did he hesitate to say that our indifference +to the spread of "absolutism" would be attended with serious and +grievous consequences: "To look indifferently at these encroachments +is as much as a spontaneous abdication of the position of a power on +earth. And that position abandoned, is independence abandoned." He +declared that neutrality did "not involve the principles of +indifferentism to the violation of the law of nations"; and he +attempted to stimulate the national pride by the declaration that +neutrality was the necessity of weak states, like Belgium and Switzer- +land, whose neutrality was due the rivalry of other powers, and not to +their own will. + +These appeals were in vain, although they were made in language most +attractive, and although the sympathies of the people were sincere and +active in behalf of Hungary. His mission was a failure, inasmuch as +neither by argument, by eloquence, nor by sympathy was he able to +secure an official declaration or promise of a purpose in the national +authorities to interfere in the affairs of Continental Europe. +Kossuth's personal wants and the necessities of his family and friends +were met by the sale of Hungarian bonds and by voluntary contributions; +but no substantial aid was given to Hungary in its contest with Austria +and Russia. + +In his many speeches Kossuth set forth his views upon national and +international topics with freedom, and often with great wisdom. Said +he on one occasion: "I take political economy for a science not +exactly like mathematics. It is quite a practical thing, depending +upon circumstances; but in certain proceedings a negative principle +exists. In political economy it is not good for the people that a +prohibitory system be adopted. Protection may sometimes be of service +to a nation, but prohibition never." Thus did he qualify the claim +of authors and students, who assert that political economy deserves +rank among the sciences, whether exact or speculative, and thus did he +recognize the protective theory as adapted to the condition of states +while in the transition period in the development of the higher +industries. + +It was a favorite thought with Kossuth that England would become +republican, and that the United States and republican England could +lead the world in civilization and in the work and duty of elevating +the masses. His influence in Hungary had been due, in a large measure, +to his active agency in the work of establishing associations for the +advancement of agriculture, public education, commerce, and the +mechanic arts. He deprecated the opposition of the Irish in America +to any and every form of alliance with England, and he did not hesitate +to condemn the demand of O'Connell for the repeal of the union between +England and Ireland. Said he: "If I could contribute one line more +to the future unity in action of the United States and England, I +should more aid the Irish than by all exclamations against one or the +other. With the United States and England in union, the Continent of +Europe would be republican. Then, though England remained monarchist, +Ireland would be more free than it is now." + +It is a singular incident in Kossuth's history, in connection with +Irish affairs, that in one of his speeches he foreshadowed Gladstone's +Home Rule policy,--but upon the basis of a legislative assembly for +each of the three principal countries, England, Scotland and Ireland. +Thus did he indicate a public policy for Great Britain that has been +accepted in part by the present government,--a policy that is to be +accepted by the English nation and upon the broad basis laid down by a +foreigner and sojourner, who had had only limited means for observation. + +"If I were an Irishman, I would not have raised the standard of repeal, +which offended the people of England, but the standard of municipal +self-government against parliamentary omnipotence; not as an Irish +question, but as a common question to all; and in this movement all +the people of England and Scotland would have joined, and there now +would have been a Parliament in England, in Ireland and Scotland. Such +is the geographical position of Great Britain that its countries +should be, not one, but united, each with its own parliament, but still +one parliament for all." + +Although forty years have passed without the fulfillment of Kossuth's +prophetic declaration of a public policy, its realization is not only +possible, but probable. To the American mind, with our experience and +traditions, such a solution of the Irish question seems easy, +practicable, safe. We have States larger than Ireland, States smaller +than Ireland, in which the doctrine of self-government finds a +practical application. Not free from evils, not free from +maladministration; but if our States are judged at half-century +intervals, it will appear that they are moving with regular and certain +steps towards better conditions. There is not one American State in +which the condition of the people in matters of education, in personal +and public morals, in industrial intelligence, in wealth and in the +means of further improvement, has not been advanced, essentially, in +the last fifty years. If all the apprehensions touching the evils and +dangers of self-government in Ireland were well founded, there is an +assurance in our experience that the people themselves would discover +and apply an adequate remedy. + +Kossuth was an orator; and every orator is of necessity something of a +prophet. He is more than a historian who deals only with the past, +illustrated with reflections, called philosophical, concerning the +events of the past. With the orator those events are recalled and +reviewed for encouragement or warning. The eye of the orator is +turned to the future. The peroration of Mr. Webster's speech in reply +to Hayne contains a prophetic description of the Civil War as it was +experienced by the succeeding generation. Fisher Ames' bold prediction +as to the disposition of convicts to found and to maintain good +government has been realized in the history of Van Diemen's Land. Said +Ames: "If there could be a resurrection from the foot of the gallows, +if the victims of justice could live again, collect together, and form +a society, they would, however loath, soon find themselves obliged to +make justice--that justice under which they fell--the fundamental law +of their state." + +Nor did the spirit of prophecy desert Kossuth, in regard to Louis +Napoleon. In 1852 he said: "The fall of Louis Napoleon, though old +monarchial elements should unite to throw him up, can have no other +issue than a republic,--a republic more faithful to the community of +freedom in Europe than all the former revolutions have been." + +He seemed also to foresee the unity of Italy, although he overestimated +the tendency there towards republican institutions. He declared that +Austria studded the peninsula of Italy with bayonets, and that she was +able to send her armies to Italy because Russia guarded her eastern +frontier. His residence in Italy for a third of a century was due to +his admiration for the history of the Italian peoples, and his belief +in the capacity of the Italian races for the business of government. +"The spirit of republican liberty, the warlike genius of ancient Rome, +were never extinguished between the Alps and the Faro." He declared +that every stain upon the honor of Italy was connected with foreign +rule, and that the petty tyrants of Italy had been kept on their +tottering thrones through the intervention of Austria, Germany and +France. + +At the end he placed the responsibility for the domination of +absolutism upon the Continent of Europe to the intervention of +Russia and to her recognized supremacy in war. He appreciated the +fact that Russia in coalition with Austria or Germany or France was +more than the equal of the residue of the Continent, whether combined +for offensive or defensive operations. + +In the many speeches which Kossuth made in the United States, he +endeavored to impress upon his hearers the conviction that absolutism, +under which Europe was then groaning, would extend to America. This +view made a slight impression only. To the common mind the ocean and +the distance seemed a sufficient protection. In the lifetime of +Kossuth, absolutism, both in church and state, has lost much of power +on the Continent of Europe, while in America it has no abiding place. + +Kossuth did not err in his opinion as to the policy of Russia in +European affairs; but that policy never extended to America, even in +thought. Of that policy Kossuth said: "It is already long ago that +Czar Alexander of Russia declared that henceforth governments should +have no particular policy, but only a common one, the policy of safety +to all governments; as if governments were the aim for which nations +exist, and not nations the aim for which governments exist." + +Finally, he came to look upon Russia as the master of all Europe, and +he sought to impress upon his hearers in America the opinion that the +time would come when Russia would seek for mastery in the affairs of +this continent. This apprehension on his part was not accepted by +any class of his hearers and followers, and the cession of Alaska must +have quieted the apprehension which had taken possession of Kossuth's +mind. + +In passing from so much of Kossuth's career in America as relates to +his public policy and to his views upon public questions, it can be +said that he entertained the broadest ideas of personal liberty and of +the independence and sovereignty of states, coupled with an obligation +binding all states to protect each and every state from the aggressive +action of any other state. + +It was his hope that England and the United States would unite, and +by counsel, if not by active intervention, check, and in the end +control, Russia in its manifest purpose to dominate over the Continent +of Europe. This hope has not been realized. In no instance have the +United States and England co-operated for the protection of any other +state, and the influence of Russia on the Continent of Europe was +never greater than it now is. Manifestly, England is the only +obstacle to the domination of Russia over the Bosphorus. + +In these forty years, Hungary has gained as a component part of the +Austrian Empire, but, in the ratio of the augmentation of its power, +the tendency to independence and to a republican form of government +has diminished. The demonstrations that followed Kossuth's death +are evidence, however, that his teachings have affected the student +classes in Hungary, and it is possible that those teachings are +destined to work changes in Hungary and Italy in favor of republican +institutions. + +Kossuth's teachings were in harmony with the best ideas that have +been accepted in regard to state policy, international relations, and +individual rights; but he was in advance of his own age and in advance +of this age. For Europe he was an unpractical statesman, and in +America he demanded what could not be granted. It does not follow, +however, that his labors were in vain. He aroused the American mind to +a higher sense of the power and dignity of the American nation, and he +set forth the influence that England and the United States might exert +in the affairs of the world whenever they should co-operate in an +international public policy. He maintained the cause of universal +liberty. At West Cambridge Kossuth said: "Liberty was not granted +to your forefathers as a selfish boon; your destiny is not completed +till, by the aid and influence of America, the oppressed nations are +regenerated and made free." + +These words were not wholly visionary, and in these forty years since +they were uttered some progress has been made. The empires of Brazil +and France have been transformed into republics, slavery has been +abolished in North and South America, the weak states of Italy have +been united in one government, the German Empire has been created, and +all in the direction of popular liberty and with manifest preparation +for the republican form of government. Nor can it be said justly that +there has been a retrograde movement in any part of the world. These +changes would have come to pass without Kossuth; but it is to his +credit that his teachings were coincident with the trend of events, +and they may have contributed to the accomplished results. + +In 1849 Mr. Webster compared Kossuth to Wycliffe, by the quotation of +the lines: + + "The Avon to the Severn runs, + The Severn to the sea; + And Wycliffe's dust shall spread abroad, + Wide as the waters be." + +It is not easy to form an opinion of Kossuth's place as an orator, +when considered in comparison or in contrast with other orators. He +had but one central theme, the cause of Hungary, and on that theme he +spoke many hundred times, and never with any offensive or tedious +repetitions. In Massachusetts alone he delivered thirty-four speeches +and orations, and it may be said that all of them were carefully +prepared, and most of them were reduced to writing. His topics were +the wrongs inflicted upon Hungary, the sufferings endured by his +country, the dominating and dangerous influence of Russia in the +affairs of Europe, the duty of England and America to resist that +influence, the mission of the government and people of the United +States to labor for the extension of free institutions and the +blessings of liberty to the less favored nations of the world,--all +made attractive by references to general, local and personal histories. +As one test, and a very important test, of the presence of unusual +power, it can be said that no other orator ever made so many acceptable +addresses upon allied topics. + +His cause did much for him. For im and for his country there was deep- +seated and universal sympathy. In his case, with unimportant +exceptions, there were no prejudices, or passions, or principles, or +traditions, to be overcome. Our history, whether as exiles, as +revolutionists, or as pioneers in the cause of freedom, contributed +materially to the success of his orations and speeches. All who heard +him were astonished at the knowledge of our history, both local and +general, which he exhibited. When he came to the old Hancock House in +Boston, he mentioned the fact without waiting for information, so +carefully had he studied the features of the city in advance of his +visit. There were three persons in his suite who devoted themselves +to the preparation of his speeches,--Gen. Klapka, Count Pulszky and +Madame Pulszky. Their knowledge of Kossuth's mind was such that they +were able to mark the passages in local histories and biographies +that would be useful to him in his addresses. Those of his speeches +which were prepared were written by these assistants, to whom he +dictated the text. By their aid he was able to prepare his speeches +with a celerity that was incomprehensible to the Western mind. + +His first speech in Boston was delivered the twenty-seventh day of +April, 1852, the day that he completed his fiftieth year. When in +private conversation I spoke of the circumstance that it was my +good fortune to welcome him to the State on that anniversary, he said: +"Yes, it is a marked day; but unless my poor country is saved I shall +soon wither away and die." + +His voice, whether in public speech or in private conversation, +commanded sympathy by its tones, even when his words were not +comprehended. In his oratory there was exaggeration in statement, a +characteristic that is common to orators, but not more strongly marked +in the speeches of Kossuth than in the speeches of those with whom he +might be compared. + +His powers of imagination were not extraordinary, and of word painting +he has not left a single striking example,--not one passage that can be +used for recitation or declamation in the schools. His cause was too +pressing, his manner of life was too serious, for any indulgences in +speech. In every speech he had an object in view; and even when he was +without hope for Hungary in the near future, he yet announced and +advocated doctrines and truths on which he relied for the political +regeneration of Europe. He spoke to propositions,--clearly, concisely, +convincingly. + +In one oratorical art Kossuth was a adept; he deprecated all honors to +himself, and with great tact he transferred them to his country and to +the cause that he represented: + +"As to me, indeed, it would be curious if the names of the great men +who invented the plough and the alphabet, who changed the corn into +flour and the flour into bread, should be forgotten, and my name +remembered. + +"But if in your expectations I should become a screen to divert, for a +single moment, your attention from my country's cause and attract it +to myself, I entreat you, even here, to forget me, and bestow all your +attention and your generous sympathy upon the cause of my downtrodden +fatherland." + +Kossuth gave rise to just criticism in that he appealed too often and +too elaborately to the local and national pride of his audiences. This +criticism was applicable to his speeches in England and in America. + +In every attempt to fix Kossuth's place in the list of historical +orators,--and in that list he must have a conspicuous place,--certain +considerations cannot be disregarded, viz.: + +First, he spoke to England and American in a language that he acquired +when he had already passed the middle period of life. The weight of +this impediment he felt when he said, "Spirit of American eloquence, +frown not at my boldness that I dare abuse Shakespeare's language in +Faneuil Hall." + +Second, we are to consider the amount of work performed in a brief +period of time, and the conditions under which it was performed. +Between the twenty-fifth day of April and the fourteenth day of May, +1852, Kossuth delivered thirty speeches in Massachusetts, containing, +on an average, more than two thousand words in each speech, and not a +sentence inappropriate to the occasion. These speeches were prepared +and written in the intervals between the ceremonial proceedings, which +occurred as often as every day. + +Third, though his theme had many aspects, and these varying aspects +Kossuth presented with such skill as to command the attention of his +hearers, yet his theme was always the same,--the wrongs of Hungary. + +On the twentieth, the twenty-fourth, and the twenty-fifth days of May, +1859, Kossuth delivered speeches in London, Manchester, and Bradford, +England. The Lord Mayor presided at the meeting in London, and the +meetings one and all were designed to aid the Liberal Party in the +then pending general election. Kossuth's visit to England and the +purpose of the visit were due to an arrangement with the Emperor +Napoleon, from which Kossuth was led to expect the liberation of +Hungary from the grasp of Austria as one of the essential purposes of +the war in which France and Austria were engaged. As the result of an +interview with the Emperor on the night of the 5th of May, Kossuth +visited England in aid of the Liberal Party, and in the belief that +the accession of that party to power would secure the neutrality of +that country. Hence the wisdom and the duty of neutrality were the +topics to which Kossuth devoted himself during his short stay in +England. The Liberal Party triumphed, but the triumph was brief, and +the disposition of the new ministry was not tested. + +Kossuth's speeches of 1859 at the London Tavern, at a meeting presided +over by the Lord Mayor, and at Manchester and at Bradford, present him +at his best. He had received a pledge from Napoleon that if he could +secure the neutrality of England, and would organize a Hungarian legion +for service in the war with Austria, the liberation of Hungary should +be regarded as a necessary condition of peace. Such, at least, was the +interpretation which Kossuth put upon these words of the Emperor, +spoken at the midnight meeting of May 5, 1859: "We beg you to proceed +forthwith with your scheme; and be convinced that in securing the +neutrality of England you will have removed the greatest obstacle that +stands in the way of the realization of your patriotic hopes." + +In a preliminary conversation with Prince Napoleon, held at the +instance of the Emperor, Kossuth had stipulated that the Emperor should +publish a proclamation to the Hungarian nation, announcing his +confederation with the Hungarians as their friend and ally, and for the +purpose of carrying into effect the Declaration of Independence of +1849. The obligations assumed by Kossuth were faithfully performed. +General Klapka organized a legion in Italy of four thousand Hungarians. +The overthrow of the Tory Party in England, which Kossuth had predicted +and promised, was achieved, and thus the neutrality of Great Britain +was secured. + +Kossuth's speeches in England were delivered under the influence of the +highest incentives by which an orator and patriot could be moved. With +the utmost confidence in his ability to perform what he had promised, +he had pledged his honor for the neutrality of England. As he then +believed, the fate of Hungary was staked upon the fulfilment of that +pledge. Hence it came to pass that his speeches in England in May, +1859, were on a higher plane than the speeches that he delivered in +the years 1851 and 1852. At the former period he had no hope of +immediate relief for Hungary; in 1859 he imagined that the day of the +deliverance of his country was at hand, and that the neutrality of +England was a prerequisite, or at least a coincident condition. + +It is not too much to say that the following extract from his speech in +the London Tavern justifies every claim that has been made in behalf of +Kossuth as a patriot and an orator: + +"The history of Italy during the last forty years is nothing but a +record of groans, of evergrowing hatred and discontent, of ever- +recurring commotions, conspiracies, revolts and revolutions, of +scaffolds soaked in the blood of patriots, of the horrors of Spielberg +and Mantua, and of the chafing anger with which the words, 'Out with +the Austrians,' tremble on the lips of every Italian. These forty +years are recorded in history as a standing protest against those +impious treaties. The robbed have all the time loudly protested, by +words, deeds, sufferings, and sacrifice of their lives, against the +compact of the robbers. Yet, forsooth, we are still told that the +treaties of 1815 are inviolable. Why, I have heard it reported that +England rang with a merry peal when the stern inward judge, conscience, +led the hand of Castlereagh to suicide; and shall we, in 1859, be +offered the sight of England plunging into the incalculable calamities +of a great war for no better purpose than to uphold the accursed work +of the Castlereaghs, and from no better motive than to keep the House +of Austria safe? + +"Inviolable treaties, indeed. Why, my lord, the forty-four years that +have since passed have riddled those treaties like a sieve. The +Bourbons, whom they restored to the throne of France, have vanished, +and the Bonapartes, whom they proscribed, occupy the place of the +Bourbons on the throne of France. And how many changes have not been +made in the state of Europe, in spite of those 'inviolable treaties'? +Two of these changes--the transformation of Switzerland from a +confederation of states into a confederated state, and the independence +of Belgium--have been accomplished to the profit of liberty. But for +the rest, the distinctive features through which those treaties have +passed is this, that every poor plant of freedom which they had spared +has been uprooted by the unsparing hand of despotism. From the +republic of Cracow, poor remnant of Poland, swallowed by Austria, down +to the freedom of the press guaranteed to Germany, but reduced to such +a condition that, in the native land of Guttenberg, not one square yard +of soil is left to set a free press upon, everything that was not evil +in those inviolable treaties has been trampled down, to the profit of +despotism, of concordats, of Jesuits, and of benighting darkness. And +all these violations of the inviolable treaties were accomplished +without England's once shaking her mighty trident to forbid them. And +shall it be recorded in history that when the question is how to drive +Austria from Italy, when the natural logic of this undertaking might +present my own native country with a chance for that deliverance to +which England bade God-speed with a mighty outcry of sympathy rolling +like thunder from John O'Groat's to Land's End,--that deliverance for +which prayers have ascended, and are ascending still, to the Father of +mankind from millions of British hearts,--shall it be recorded in +history that at such a time, that under such circumstances, England +plunged into the horrors and calamities of war, nay, that she took +upon herself to make this war prolonged and universal, for the mere +purpose of upholding the inviolability of those rotten treaties in +favor of Austria, good for nothing on earth except to spread darkness +and to perpetuate servitude? + +"There you have that Austria in Piedmont carrying on war in a manner +that recalls to memory the horrors of the long gone-by ages of +barbarism. You may read in the account furnished to the daily papers, +by their special correspondents, that the rigorously disciplined +soldiers of Austria were allowed to act the part of robbers let loose +upon an unoffending population, to offer violence to unprotected +families, to outrage daughters in the presence of their parents, and +to revel in such other savage crimes as the blood of civilized men +curdles at hearing and the tongue falters in relating. Such she was +always--always. These horrors but faintly reflect what Hungary had +to suffer from her in our late war. And shall it be said that England, +the home of gentlemen, sent her brave sons to shed their blood and to +stain their honor in fighting side by side with such a _soldatesca_ for +those highwayman compacts of 1815 to the profit of that Austria?" + +With the treaty of Villafranca, July 11, 1859, Kossuth abandoned all +hope of the independence of Hungary. There can be no doubt that, from +the first, Napoleon intended to abandon Kossuth and his cause when he +had made use of his influence in England and in Italy for his own +purposes. The armistice and the peace with Austria were inaugurated by +Napoleon; and when, at the last moment, Emperor Francis Joseph raised +difficulties upon some points in the treaty, Prince Napoleon, who was +a party to the conference, threatened him with a revolution in Italy +and in Hungary. As to Kossuth, his only solace was in the reflection +that he had stayed the tendency to revolution on the soil of Hungary, +and thus his countrymen had been saved from new calamities. + +Thenceforward Kossuth had before him only a life of exile; but he +reserved for his children the right, and he set before them the duty, +of returning to their native land. + +I am giving large space to the visit of Kossuth in the belief that the +country is moving away from the doctrines of self-government as a +common right of mankind, as they were taught by him and as they were +accepted generally until we approached the end of the nineteenth +century. + +In Faneuil Hall Kossuth made these striking remarks. Addressing +himself to America, he said: "You have prodigiously grown by your +freedom of seventy-five years; but what are seventy-five years to take +for a charter of immortality! No, no, my humble tongue tells the +record of eternal truth. A privilege never can be lasting. Liberty +restricted to one nation never can be sure. You may say 'we are the +prophets of God,' but you shall not say, 'God is only our God.' The +Jews have said so and the pride of Jerusalem lies in the dust! Our +Saviour taught all humanity to say _'Our Father in Heaven,'_ and his +Jerusalem is 'lasting to the end of days.'" + +His style was that of a scholar who had mastered the English language +by the aid of books. His idiomatic expressions were few. In one of +his speeches when urging his audience to demand active intervention in +behalf of Hungary he attempted to use the phrase, "You should take time +by the forelock." At the last word he came to a dead pause and +substituted a twist of his own forelock with his right hand. He thus +commanded the hearty cheers of his hearers. It is probable that the +expedient was forced upon Kossuth, but the art of a skilled orator +might have suggested such a device. + +Kossuth was small in stature, not more than five feet seven inches in +height, and weighing not more than one hundred and forty pounds. His +eyes and hair were black, his complexion dark, giving the impression +that he did not belong to the Caucasian race. His career was a +meteoric display in political oratory, such as the world does not often +witness. His integrity cannot be questioned, and for more than a third +of a century he submitted to a life of exile rather than accept a home +under a government which he thought was a usurpation. He gave to the +country new ideas, and his name and fame will be traditional for a long +period of time. + +When Kossuth was in America he looked upon General Gorgey as a traitor +and he was so regarded by the friends of Hungary generally. In the +year 1885, however, a testimonial was presented to General Gorgey by +about thirty of the survivors of the contest of 1848, in which they +exonerated him from that charge. General Klapka was among the signers, +but the name of Kossuth did not appear upon the memorial. + +At the end of the nineteenth century neither Massachusetts nor any +other State could or would accord to an exile for liberty the reception +that was given to Kossuth in 1852. + +The expenses of his reception in Massachusetts, and of the +entertainment of his suite were paid by an appropriation from the +public treasury. He was given a public reception by the Governor of +the State, and a like reception was given to him by each House of the +Legislature in suspended session. + +He was further honored by a review on Boston Common of a fourth part of +the organized militia of the commonwealth. The assemblages of citizens +were as large in proportion to the population of the State as were ever +gathered upon any other occasion. + +Kossuth visited fifteen of the principal cities and towns of the State +and in each of them he delivered one address or more. His theme was +always the same, but his variety of argument and illustration seemed +inexhaustible. At Cambridge he urged the students to so use their +powers as to "promote their country's welfare and the rights of +humanity." + +The Legislature adopted a series of resolutions of sympathy and in +condemnation of Austria and Russia. The opening resolution was in +these words: "Resolved, That every nation has the right to adopt such +form of government as may seem to it best calculated to advance those +ends for which all governments are in theory established." Can this +resolution command an endorsement at the beginning of the twentieth +century? + +The States of Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont adopted resolutions of +sympathy with Hungary and of arraignment of Austria and Russia. + +[* This chapter was published substantially as it appears here in the +_New England Magazine._ Copyright, 1903, by Warren F. Kellogg.] + + +XIX +THE COALITION AND THE STATE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1853 + +The controversy over slavery, which wrought a division in the Whig and +Democratic parties as early as the year 1848, led to a reorganization +of parties in 1849, under the names of Whig, Democratic, and Free-soil +parties, respectively. Of these the Whig Party was the largest, but +from 1849 to 1853 it was not able to command a majority vote in the +State, and at that time a majority vote was required in all elections. +There was a substantial agreement between the Democratic and Free-soil +parties upon the leading questions of State politics. Of these +questions a secret ballot law and the division of counties for the +election of senators, and the division of cities for the election of +representatives, were the chief. Under the law then existing the +county of Middlesex, for example, elected six senators, and each year +all were of the same party. Boston was a Whig city, and each year it +chose forty-six members of the House on one ballot, and always of the +Whig Party. What is now the system of elections was demanded by the +Democratic and Free-soil parties. The change was resisted by the +Whig Party. In 1849 I was nominated by the Democratic Party for the +office of Governor, and a resolution was adopted denouncing the +system of slavery. In that year coalitions were formed in counties and +in cities and towns between Democrats and Free-soilers, which +demonstrated the possibility of taking the State out of the hands of +the Whig Party, if the coalitions could be made universal. This was +accomplished in 1850, and in 1851 I became Governor by the vote of the +Legislature, and Mr. Sumner was elected to the United States Senate. +It was the necessity of the situation that the two offices should be +filled, and the necessity was not less mandatory that one of the +places should be filled by a Democrat, and the other by a member of the +Free-soil Party. There were expectations and conjectures, no doubt, +but until the Legislature assembled in 1851 no one knew what the +arrangement would be. I am sure that I had no assurance that either +place would be assigned to me. The leaders of the Free-soil Party were +resolute in demanding the place in the Senate, so that their views on +the subject of slavery might be there set forth, and there were many +Democrats who preferred the control of the State. + +The coalition had control of the State for the political years of 1851 +and 1852. An act was passed which provided for a secret ballot, and by +another act the question of a Constitutional Convention was submitted +to the voters of the State. In March, 1853, an election was held for +the choice of delegates. A majority of the delegates elected were +members of the Democratic and Free-soil parties. + +Although I had made a resolution to retire from active participation in +politics at the end of my term as Governor, I was so much committed to +the objects of the Convention, and so much interested in its success, +that I could not avoid giving my time to the canvass for the election +of members. It happened, however, that I gave no attention to my own +town, and the Whig candidate, John G. Park, was elected. My defeat was +due to my action upon the liquor bill, which was enacted at the session +of 1852. The Legislature passed a prohibitory law, subject to its +ratification by the people by the use of the open ballot. The question +of the secret ballot was one of the prominent questions between the +parties, and at the session of 1851 the coalition had passed an act +requiring the votes to be deposited in envelopes of uniform character +and to be furnished by the State. I vetoed the bill upon the ground +that if the bill was to be submitted to the people the secret ballot +should be used. Thereupon the Legislature passed a similar bill +without a reference to the people. The bill was passed by the help of +the Whig members from Boston, who were in fact opposed to the measure, +and with the design of placing me in an unpleasant position. Contrary +to their expectation, I signed the bill. As a temperance man, I could +not have done otherwise, although I thought it proper to submit the +question to the people by the use of the secret ballot. + +Many members of the Democratic Party in Groton were users of liquor, +and they voted for my opponent in the contest for a delegate to the +Convention. Mr. Park was a Whig, but moderate in his feelings, an +upright man, and a fair representative of the Conservative feeling of +the time. + +It was one of the peculiarities of the call for the Convention, that +each constituency could elect a candidate from any part of the State. +That feature added immensely to the ability of the Convention. Hon. +Henry Wilson was the candidate of the coalition in the town of Natick, +but as he was not confident of an election he was a candidate also in +the town of Berlin. He was elected in both towns. Mr. Sumner was +elected in Marshfield, the home of Mr. Webster, Mr. Burlingame was +elected for Northboro, Mr. Hallett for Wilbraham, Mr. R. H. Dana, Jr., +for Manchester, and others, not less than ten in all, were elected by +towns in which they did not live. This circumstance gave occasion for +a turn upon words that attracted much attention at the time. It came +to be known that Mr. Burlingame had never been in Northboro. Upon some +question, the nature of which I do not recall, Mr. Burlingame made an +attack upon the rich men of Boston, and intimated that their speedy +transfer to the Mount Auburn Cemetery would not be a public misfortune. +Mr. Geo. S. Hillard, in reply, referred to Mr. Burlingame as the +"member who represented a town he had not seen, and misrepresented one +that he had seen." Unfortunately for Mr. Hillard he lost the value of +his sharp rejoinder by a statement in the same speech. Referring to +Boston, where he was a practising lawyer, he said that he "would not +strike the hand that fed him." + +Upon the meeting of the Convention in May, Mr. Wilson resigned his +seat for Berlin, and I was unanimously elected in his place. It was +my fortune also to represent a town that I had not seen. + +I may mention the fact that my father received a unanimous vote for +the Convention in Lunenburg, the town of his residence. There were +two other cases of the election of father and son as members of the +Convention. Marcus Morton and Marcus Morton, Jr.; Samuel French and +Rodney French. + +The two great subjects of debate and of anxious thought in the +Convention were the representative system and the tenure of the +judicial office. It was my earnest purpose to preserve town +representation and in the debate I made two elaborate speeches. It was +then and upon that subject that I encountered Mr. Choate for the first +time. He was a supporter, and, of course, the leading advocate of the +district system. The Convention adhered to town representation in a +modified form. The proposition was defeated by the vote of Boston, +which gave a majority against the new Constitution of about one +thousand in excess of the negative majority of the entire State. + +More serious difficulties, even, were encountered in the attempt to +change the tenure of judges. No inconsiderable portion of the +Convention favored an elective judiciary. To that project I was +opposed. By the co-operation of a number of the members of the +coalition party with the Whigs the proposition was defeated. Next, +a proposition was submitted by Mr. Knowlton of Worcester, to continue +the appointment in the Executive Department, limiting the tenure to +seven years. After an amendment had been agreed to extending the term +to ten years, the proposition was adopted. With some misgivings I +assented to the compromise. The attempt to change the tenure of the +judges was a grave mistake, and it was the efficient cause of the +defeat of the work of the Convention. Beyond this error, the defeat of +the new Constitution was made certain by the course of Bishop +Fitzpatrick of the Catholic Church. For many years the Irish +population of Boston had acted with the Democratic Party. Upon the +question of calling a Convention the adverse majority in Suffolk had +been 2,800 only, but upon the question of ratifying the work of the +Convention the adverse majority was nearly six thousand. To this +result the influence of Bishop Fitzpatrick had contributed essentially. +His reason he did not disguise. Portions of Boston were under the +control of the Irish. A division of the city would open to them seats +in the House and the Senate. The Bishop deprecated their entrance +into active, personal politics. Hence he used his influence against +the new Constitution. Such was his frank statement when the contest +was over. + +About the twentieth of June, when I had been a member of the Convention +for twenty days only, General Banks said to me that it was the wish of +our friends that I should move for a committee to prepare the +Constitution for submission to the people. At that time the thought of +such a movement had not occurred to me. The committee was appointed +upon my motion, and, according to usage, I was placed at the head of +it, and from that time I had in my own hands, very largely, the +direction of the business of the Convention. As is usual, the work of +the committee fell upon a few members. In this case the working +members were Richard H. Dana, Jr., and myself. Marcus Morton, Jr., a +volunteer, was a valuable aid. After considerable experience in other +places I can say that the preparation of the new Constitution was the +most exacting labor of my life. The committee were to deal with the +Constitution of 1780, with the thirteen amendments that had been +adopted previous to 1853, and with thirty-five changes in the +Constitution that had been agreed to by the Convention. The practical +problem was this:-- + +(1) To eliminate from the Constitution of 1780 all that had been +annulled by the thirteen amendments. + +(2) To eliminate from the Constitution of 1780, and from each of the +thirteen amendments, all the provisions that would be annulled by the +adoption of the thirty-five changes that had been agreed to by the +Convention. + +(3) To furnish Constitutional language for the new features that were +to be incorporated in the Constitution. + +(4) To arrange the matter of the new Constitution, and to reproduce +the instrument, divided upon topics and into chapters and articles. + +All the work under the first two heads was done by myself. The +language was so much the subject of criticism and of rewriting that +the responsibility for item three cannot be put upon any one. The +same may be said of the work under item four; although that work was +unimportant comparatively. The copy of the Constitution which was +used by me in making the eliminations is still in my possession. + +It is to be observed that the Convention did not furnish language in +which the amendments that had been agreed to were to be expressed in +the Constitution. + +The resolutions, as adopted, were in the form following: + +"Resolved, That it is expedient so to alter and amend the Constitution +as to provide for a periodical division of the Commonwealth into equal +districts on the basis of population." This form was observed in all +the results reached by the Convention. The Convention had named the +first day of August as the day of adjournment, and the serious work of +preparing the Constitution was entered upon about the 15th day of July. +The committee as a body, consisting of thirteen members, took no part +in the preparation of the Constitution. It sanctioned the work as it +had been done by Mr. Dana, Mr. Morton, and myself. + +As my constant presence in the Convention was required, the work +imposed upon me as chairman of the committee was performed in the +mornings, in the evenings, and during the recesses. Thus the days from +the early morning until ten o'clock at night were given to labor and +without thought of eating or drinking. At ten o'clock I ate a hearty +supper and then retired, always getting a sound sleep, whatever might +have been the work of the day preceding. + +In the last fifteen days of the session the _projet_ of the +Constitution was printed for proof-reading and for corrections twenty- +four times. The record shows that there were but few changes made by +the Convention, and those were formal and unimportant; and never in the +canvass that followed was the suggestion made that the proposed +Constitution failed to represent the mind and purpose of the Convention. + +The Address to the People of the State was written by me on the last +day of the Convention, August 1, 1853, and, as I now recall the events +of that day, it was not submitted to the committee, although the +members, by individual action, authorized me to make the report. On +the same day and upon the motion of Mr. Frank W. Bird, of Walpole, the +Convention adopted the following order:-- + +"Ordered, That the resolves contained in Document No. 128, and the +Address to the People signed by the president and secretaries, be +printed in connection with the copies of the Revised Constitution +ordered to be printed for distribution; and that thirty-five thousand +additional copies of said Constitution, with the Resolves and Address, +be printed for distribution, in accordance with the orders already +adopted." The Convention adjourned at ten minutes before two o'clock +on the morning of August 2. The work as a whole was rejected by the +voters of the State, but the mind and purpose of the Convention have +been expressed during the forty-four years now ended, in the many +amendments that have been engrafted upon the Constitution of 1780. + +My intimate acquaintance with Mr. Choate began in this Convention. +I had known him as early as 1842, when he came to Groton and made a +speech in defence of the Whig Party. He was then a member of the +Senate and in the fullness of his powers both intellectual and +physical. In 1853 his physical system was impaired, but his intellect +was as supreme as it had ever been. When I held the office of Governor +I made a visit to Mr. Choate at his house. My associate was Ellis Ames +of Canton. The circumstances were these. The contest with Rhode +Island in regard to the boundary line had reached a crisis. When I +came to office I found upon the Statute Book a resolution directing the +Governor to institute legal proceedings for the purpose of fixing the +boundary unless Rhode Island should agree to proceed by a new +commission. As Rhode Island had remained silent, I directed the +Attorney-General to execute the statute. After some time he informed +me that the preparation of the bill involved a good deal of labor and +that some assistance should be had. He suggested Ellis Ames who had +a reputation as an equity lawyer. Mr. Ames was employed. When the +bill was prepared and submitted to me, I found that a claim was made +to five towns that were originally in the Plymouth Colony, but which +by a decree of the King in Council had been set over to Rhode Island +in 1746. I objected to the presentation of this claim and said that we +should only ask that the true line should be run agreeably to that +decree. Soon after the Revolution the State of Rhode Island ran the +line _ex parte_ and encroached upon the territory of Massachusetts +one-fourth to three-fourths of a mile. + +From that time both parties had asserted and exercised jurisdiction +which had resulted in a number of controversies in the local courts. +The Attorney-General lived at New Bedford near the line. The people +were constantly excited, and Mr. Clifford was unwilling to accept my +proposed amendment. After some delay he suggested an interview with +Mr. Choate, who had been counsel for the Town of Fall River in some one +or more of the controversies involving the boundary. I assented to the +suggestion, and an evening was fixed for a call upon Mr. Choate by Mr. +Ames and myself. The evening was a stormy one, but we made our way to +Mr. Choate's house. He was in his library in the second story. It +consisted of two rooms that had been connected by making an arch in the +partition. The shelves were filled, and the floor was covered with +books. Ames said: + +"Why, Mr. Choate, what a quantity of books you have!" + +"Yes," said Mr. Choate, "I have a good many books, more than I have +paid for, but that is the book-seller's business, not mine." + +After some time had been spent in general conversation Ames introduced +the subject for which we had met, and stated the question of the claim +to the five towns, to which Choate said: + +"The best way is to go for enough and get what we can." + +I made no remark, and the business part of the interview ended. Before +we left Mr. Choate ordered a bottle of wine and made the remark: + +"I keep a little wine in my house, but as for myself, I don't drink a +glass once in a thousand years." + +One's first impressions of Mr. Choate were never disturbed by intimate +acquaintance. Many distinguished persons become insignificant upon +close inspection. With Mr. Choate those who knew him best, estimated +him most highly. He had no malice in his nature, and there was a +genial quality in his sharpest sallies of wit. + +In the Convention we had end seats. Mr. Choate occupied the seat +immediately in front of me. Thus I had an opportunity for two months +to observe his ways, and to enjoy his conversation. Great as were his +speeches, they did not transcend his exhibitions of power in private +conversation. His great speech in the Convention was upon the +Judiciary System, and his description of a good judge is one of the +finest paragraphs in oratory, ancient or modern. His second, or +perhaps his first great work in art is his sketch of Demosthenes in his +lecture on the Eloquence of Revolutionary Periods. As a specimen of +essay writing it is not surpassed by any passage to be found in Macaulay. + +The Convention of 1853 was the ablest body of men that ever met in +Massachusetts. The Convention of 1820 included Mr. Webster, an abler +man than any of the members of the Convention of 1853, but the +Convention as a whole was an inferior body of men. Mr. Choate was the +first man in the Convention of 1853, and he must ever remain one of +the great characters of Massachusetts. + +Simon Greenleaf, the author of the work on Evidence, was a member of +the Convention, and his influence was considerable. He was a dry, +hard-headed lawyer. His influence was due to his reputation rather +than to his power as a debater. Had he come to the Convention as an +unknown person, his standing would have been in the second or third class. + +Richard H. Dana, Jr., added to his reputation by his speeches in the +Convention. His style was free from exaggeration, and he addressed +himself to the question at issue and always with effect. My intimate +acquaintance with Mr. Dana began during the session of the Convention. +In 1854 and 1855 I visited him and his father, the poet, at their home +in Manchester-by-the-Sea. Mr. Dana, Sr., was a genial man, but +reserved, and not much given to conversation. My friendship with Mr. +Dana continued until General Butler became a candidate for Congress in +the Essex district, and Mr. Dana became the nominee of the dissenting +Republicans. That year I placed myself in the hands of the State +Committee for a limited number of speeches, and by direction of the +Committee, I spoke twice in the Essex district in aid of General +Butler, who was the regular nominee of the party. From that time Mr. +Dana avoided me, and when we met he addressed me with the coldest +formality. At a meeting in this canvass held in Gloucester, I combated +the charge of the Democrats that there had been many and great +defalcations under Republican rule, and among other things I said the +greatest defalcation was by a man who had been identified with the +Democratic Party. A man in the gallery said: "Name him." I answered: +--"His name is ----." "Oh," said my questioner, "I don't care anything +about that! I didn't know but it was General Butler." + +When General Grant nominated Mr. Dana for the English mission, I was in +the Senate, and I endeavored to secure his confirmation. General +Butler appeared as his opponent. The case at first turned upon his +manners and his responsibility in the matter of his edition of +Wheaton's International Law. In the suit instituted by Beach Lawrence, +the Court had found that Dana had violated the copyright of Mr. +Lawrence. I made a careful study of the case, and I flattered myself +that I had satisfied the Senate that Mr. Dana's offence was merely +technical, and that it ought not to interfere with his confirmation. +At that moment there appeared a letter from Mr. Dana which contained +an attack upon General Cameron, then a member of the Senate, and Mr. +Dana's case was rendered hopeless. He secured his own defeat when his +enemies were powerless to accomplish it. He was, however, very +grateful to me for my effort in his behalf. The result was a heavy +blow to his ambition and he resolved to prepare a new work on +International Law. For that purpose he took his residence in Europe, +but death came too soon for the realization of his purpose. + +Mr. Dana will be remembered by his tale of the sea, "Two Years Before +the Mast." He was a learned lawyer, an aristocrat by nature, and a man +of eminent power. He scorned the opinions of inferior men, and +therein was the cause of his failure. By a hair's breadth he failed +of success in all the public undertakings of his life, excepting only +his tale of the sea. + +Mr. Burlingame was then an enthusiastic young man. He had had some +experience in public affairs, but it could not have been predicted that +he would attain the distinction which he achieved subsequently, in the +field of diplomacy. He made speeches in the Convention, but they +produced little or no effect upon the opinions of others. When, on an +occasion, he had made an elaborate speech, his father-in-law, Mr. Isaac +Livermore, said he was glad it was delivered, as Anson had trodden down +all the roses in the garden while reciting it to himself. His speeches +were committed, and delivered without notes. + +Mr. Sumner was a conspicuous figure in the Convention of 1853, but his +influence upon its business was very limited. Indeed, he seemed not to +aspire to leadership. His faculties were not adapted to legislative +business. He was not only not practical, he was unpractical and +impracticable. Nor did experience in affairs give him an education in +that particular. Of his long career in the Senate only his speeches +remain. During the period of my acquaintance with him there, he +introduced a large number of bills, several of them upon matters of +finance, but none, as far as I can recall them, stood the test either +of logic or experience. From his seat in the Senate he was able to +affect and perhaps even to control the opinions of the country upon the +slavery question, and thus indirectly he helped to shape the policy of +the Republican Party. His knowledge of European diplomacy was far +greater than that of any other Senator and greater, probably than that +of any other American, excepting only Mr. Bancroft Davis. It was his +good fortune to live and act in a revolutionary period. Had he fallen +upon quiet times, when the ordinary affairs of men and states are the +only topics of thought and discussion, his career as a public man, if +such a career should have been opened to him, would have been brief and +valueless alike to himself and to the public. In all his life, he was +a victim to authority in affairs, and a slave to note- and common-place +books. + +Henry Wilson, Sumner's future colleague in the Senate of the United +States, had large influence in securing the adoption of measures, but +his learning was inadequate to the preparation of specific provisions +of a constitution. Indeed, in his later years, he was unequal to the +work of composing and writing with even a fair degree of accuracy. But +his judgment of the popular feeling was unequalled, and he had capacity +for shaping public opinion, whenever it was found to be hostile or +uncertain, far superior to that of any of his contemporaries. He was +not an orator, but his style of speaking was effective, and his +speeches, as they appeared in the columns of the newspapers, would bear +the test of ordinary criticism. He was a thorough politician who aimed +to have things right, but who would not hesitate to use doubtful +methods if thereby the right could be attained. In the year 1854 he +joined the Know Nothing Party in secret, while openly he was acting +with the Free-soil Party, that had placed him in nomination for the +office of Governor. The result was the election of Henry J. Gardner, +the candidate of the Know Nothings, as Governor, and the election of +Henry Wilson to the Senate of the United States. + +Of Mr. Wilson it cannot be said that he was false to friends or +unfaithful to the slave. Whatever criticisms may be made upon his +career in politics, he kept himself true to the one idea--the overthrow +of slavery. He often vacillated in opinion upon passing questions, but +at the end his votes were sound usually. As a consequence, his votes +and speeches were at times inconsistent. He had a long career in the +Senate, but his great service to the country was performed among the +people in the canvasses. It may be said of him that at the time of +his death he had spoken to more people than any one of his +contemporaries or predecessors. His influence was large, although he +did not often introduce any new view of a public question. He was +direct in speech and he comprehended the popular taste and judgment. +He was regarded as a prophet in politics. He was accustomed to make +predictions, and not infrequently his predictions were verified. At +the end it is to be said that a satisfactory analysis of his character +cannot be made. He was not learned, he was not eloquent, he was not +logical in a high sense, he was not always consistent in his political +actions, and yet he gained the confidence of the people, and he +retained it to the end of his life. His success may have been due in +part to the circumstance that he was not far removed from the mass of +the people in the particulars named, and that he acted in a period when +fidelity to the cause of freedom and activity in its promotion +satisfied the public demand. + +Francis W. Bird had been an active member of the Coalition on the +Free-soil side, and an active supporter of the project for a +Constitutional Convention. It cannot be said of Mr. Bird that he did +anything so well that one might say "nobody could have done better," +but his zeal never flagged and hence he did much to secure results. +Like Mr. Wilson, he knew every member, and he never hesitated to set +forth his views. He always had a following, and in those days it was +safe to follow him. In 1872 he became alienated from General Grant +and consequently from the Republican Party. His influence was +potential with Mr. Sumner, and it is not an over estimate of that +influence to assume that he was responsible in a large degree for the +defection of Mr. Sumner. Following that election, Mr. Bird became a +member of the Democratic Party, but upon what ground it is not easy to +conjecture. His whole life had been a protest against that party, and +much of his public career had been directed to its defeat. During the +war and the period of reconstruction, he had been its earnest and even +bitter antagonist. Mr. Bird was a public spirited man, and he was +especially liberal towards men and causes in whose fortunes or fate he +had become interested. Upon the close of the war there was a tendency +in the public mind to advance the successful military men to posts of +honor and power in civil life. Some were chosen to the Senate and the +House, some were appointed to important diplomatic places, and General +Grant was elected President. Many of the politicians were disturbed, +and chief among them was Mr. Chase, who allowed the use of his name as +a candidate for the Presidency in the Democratic Convention of 1868. +From that time many persons who had been conspicuous as anti-slavery +men before the war, separated from the Republican Party and joined the +Democracy. Mr. Bird was one of many such. + +There were a small number of men who had been members of the Convention +of 1820 who were members of the Convention of 1853. Of these Mr. +Robert Rantoul, of Beverly, was conspicuous, partly on account of his +age, partly on account of his services and character, and partly as +the father of Robert Rantoul, Jr. He was a noticeable figure in the +Convention of 1853. Mr. Rantoul, Jr., had died at Washington the +preceding year. His death was a public loss, and especially so to the +anti-slavery wing of the Democratic Party to which he maintained his +allegiance up to the time of his death. He had, however, taken issue +with the party upon the Fugitive Slave Act, and for his hostility to +that measure he was excluded from the Democratic Convention of 1852, +although he had been duly elected by the Democrats of the county of +Essex. There can be no doubt that he would have acted with the +Republican Party had he lived to the period of its organization. He +was one of the three distinguished persons who were born in the county +of Essex early in the century--Cushing, Choate and Rantoul. In +masterly ability Choate was the chief, unquestionably. In the +profession, neither Cushing nor Rantoul could compare with Choate, +although in learning Cushing may have been his rival. In knowledge of +diplomacy and international law neither Choate nor Rantoul could be +compared to Cushing. In the modern languages he was their superior +also, although it is probable that in the knowledge of Latin and Greek +he was inferior to Choate. In business matters they were alike +defective. In Rantoul there was a lack of continuity of purpose. He +was guided by his feelings and opinions. He had the temperament of a +reformer. Indeed, he was a reformer. He abhorred slavery, he made +war upon intemperance, he was an advocate of reform in prison +discipline, and he championed the abolition of capital punishment. In +neither of these movements did Cushing or Choate take an interest. +They thought slavery an evil, but they had no disposition to attack it. +Alike, they feared unpleasant consequences. Choate's devotion to the +Constitution was akin to idolatry. + +Cushing's support of the Constitution more nearly resembled +professional duty. Indeed, that peculiarity could be discovered in +much of his public conduct. In service to others he was liberal to a +fault. In conversation, he would make suggestions to politicians and +to lawyers in aid of their views or their causes with great freedom +and without apparent concern as to the effect upon parties or men. +Rantoul was not able to fix his attention upon any one branch of labor. +He was first of all a politician with an interest in social questions. +The profession of the law was not his mistress. His arguments were +clear and direct, but they lacked the quality that is near to genius. +This quality Choate possessed in a degree not elsewhere found in the +life or history of the American Bar. Cushing's arguments were loaded +with learning and heavy with suggestions upon the general subject +rather than upon the case. This of his law arguments. As I never saw +him before a jury I cannot speak of his quality as a _nisi prius_ +advocate; but I cannot imagine that he could have had eminent success, +and certainly he could not have had success, in the later period of his +career. + +Mr. Rantoul died at the age of forty-seven. Had he lived to take part +in the affairs of the war and of reconstruction, there can be no doubt +that he would have achieved great distinction. He had convictions in +which Cushing was deficient. He had courage in civil affairs, which +Mr. Choate did not possess. Of Choate it can be said, that he lived +long enough to establish his claim to the first place at the American +bar, if he be judged by what he said, and by what he did. Mr. Cushing +had a long career. As to him, there is no room for conjecture. He +had great power for acquisition. As an aid to others less well +equipped his society and counsels were invaluable. He had a vast fund +of knowledge in law, in history, in diplomacy, and in general +literature. It was his misfortune that he early lost the public +confidence, and it was a continuing misfortune that he never regained +it. While it cannot be claimed that either of these three persons is +entitled to a place in general history, it may be said with truth, +that the birth of Cushing, Choate and Rantoul in a single county and +in a single decade was an unusual circumstance in the affairs of the +world. + +Mr. Robert Rantoul, Sr., as the oldest member, called the Convention to +order and presided until the election of Mr. Banks as president. His +administration of the duties of the chair commanded the approval of the +Convention, and that without regard to personal or party feeling. + +The election of General Pierce to the Presidency in 1852 was fatal to +the coalition in Massachusetts. Upon his accession to the office, in +March, 1853, General Cushing became Attorney-General of the United +States, and in the summer or autumn of 1853 he wrote a letter to a +gentleman in Worcester, which was interpreted as a declaration of +hostility on the part of the administration against all Democrats +who affiliated with Free-soil politicians. The election of 1852 had +been favorable to the Whigs of Massachusetts, but the contest was +fatal to the Whig Party in a national point of view. That party +disappeared in the country, and after two elections in Massachusetts, +that of 1852 and 1853, it ceased to have power in the State. For many +years after, there were occasional attempts to revive it, but all such +attempts were vain. It was led by intelligent and well-disposed men, +but its principles were not accepted by the country, and it attempted +to secure the recognition of its principles by a policy that was +temporizing and expedient. It lacked the courage of the old Democratic +Party. + +Upon the defeat of the Constitution, I turned my attention to the +profession in the office of Mr. Joel Giles, with whom I had studied. +He had been a lecturer at Cambridge, a member of the House and the +Senate, and of the Constitutional Convention. He was a bachelor, +economical in his expenditures, rigid in his opinions, just in every +thing, and a most careful student and conscientious practitioner. He +was a patent lawyer, and as lawyer and mechanic he was the superior of +any other person that I have known. As an advocate his services were +not valuable. He seemed timid, and his style was not adapted to jury +trials nor to hearings by the court. However, in patent cases he could +make himself understood by the court, and he had influence resting upon +the belief that he was free from deception which was the fact. + +Mr. Giles was then attorney for Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing +machine. He had been counsel for Howe from the first, when Howe was in +extreme poverty and unable to pay fees. In the early stages of the +contest Mr. Giles conducted the case without present compensation, and +at the end, when Howe's income was enormous for the period, Mr. Giles +accepted only very moderate fees, and he was content therewith. Mr. +Howe was a peculiar character: odd in his ways, but generous with his +income:--so generous that at his death his fortune was very small. In +my long acquaintance with Mr. Giles I never knew that he made charges +for services against any one or that he ever presented a bill, although +he sometimes spoke of the indifference and neglect of his clients in +the matter of money. Some paid and others did not. Mr. Howe paid all +that Mr. Giles required, but that was very little compared with the +service rendered. The litigation over the Howe patent was severe and +the questions in a mechanical point of view were nice questions. Mr. +Giles began with the invention, and he became a master of the case. +Mr. Howe was indebted to Mr. Giles for the success of his litigation +which established his claim to the invention, secured to him as the +proceeds what might have been an enormous fortune, and placed his name +in the list of the names of great inventors. The patent-law practice +is the most exhausting branch of the legal profession, and the lawyers +and experts suffer from brain diseases in excess of the average of +sufferers in other branches of the profession. + + +XX +THE YEAR 1854 + +At the session of the Legislature, January, 1854, the town of +Fitchburg, aided by towns and citizens of the vicinity, petitioned for +a new county to be composed of towns to be taken from the counties of +Middlesex and Worcester and to be called the county of Webster. Mr. +Choate was retained for the new county, and I appeared for the county +of Middlesex. The hearing by the committee occupied two weeks or more, +for an hour or an hour and a half a day. The fees received seem now to +have been very small. It was said that Mr. Choate received the sum of +five hundred dollars, and my fee was two hundred and fifty dollars. +Mr. Choate obtained a favorable report from the committee, but the +project failed in the Legislature. It was renewed the succeeding year, +when Emory Washburn appeared for the county of Worcester. In those two +contests, covering a month of time in all, I had an opportunity to +study Mr. Choate in his characteristics as an advocate and as an +examiner of witnesses, a branch of the profession in which he had great +skill. + +Various witnesses were called for the purpose of gathering facts as to +the inconveniences of which complaints were made and also for the +purpose of showing the advantage to be derived from the proposed +change. A witness of importance and altogether friendly, was Stuart +J. Park, of Groton. He was a Scotchman by birth, his father having +been employed upon the Argyle estates. The father came to America +while the son was a minor. They were by trade stone masons. Stuart +J. Park was then nearly seventy years of age. He had represented the +county in the State Senate and for many years he had been a person of +note, although his education was limited. He had, however, an +abundance of sound sense and an excess of will power, even for a +Scotchman. In his business he had had a large and successful +experience. He was the master builder of the Boston Mill Dam, of the +Charlestown Dry Dock, of the State prison buildings in Massachusetts +and New Hampshire, of the track of the Lowell railway, which was laid +originally on granite sleepers, and of many jails in New England. +Experience proved that granite sleepers were too firm and sleepers of +wood were substituted. + +One of the county commissioners was John K. Going of Shirley. I had +known him from my youth. He was my senior by about ten years. In my +boyhood he called not infrequently at my father's house, driving an +old horse in a second-hand, well worn sulky. His business was trading +in horses and watches, and gambling, as was reported, for small sums of +money. To myself and my brothers he was held up by my mother as a +warning. Before he was twenty-one years of age he had induced his +father to mortgage his small homestead for four hundred dollars which +John lost in unwise or unfortunate ventures. Upon that experience he +began to recover his fortunes. He became a dealer in better horses, +then in hops, then in real estate, and to some extent he became an +operator in Boston markets. At the age of fifty he was worth, +probably, two hundred thousand dollars. With the improvement of his +fortunes, his character improved. He was always temperate and his +agreements were carefully kept. He made ample provision for his +parents, and for a sister; was a representative in the general court +and for many years he was a capable and acceptable county commissioner. +He was one of a not numerous class of persons who escape from evil +early associations and habits of life. + +In 1854 the Know Nothing Party took possession of Massachusetts. Its +secrecy made it attractive to many persons. Moreover, the then +existing parties were unsatisfactory to the people. The Whigs, who had +been out of power in 1851 and '52, had regained power, but the vitality +of the party had disappeared forever. Many of the leaders had joined +the Free-soil Party, and others were indifferent to its fortunes. The +Democratic Party was dissatisfied with the national administration, and +the Free-soil Party was without hope. The coalition could not be +repeated. In the spring or summer of 1854 General Banks asked me +whether I intended to join the Know Nothings. I said No, that I had +left politics and that I intended to practice law. He said in reply, +"I am in politics and I must go on." The success of the Know Nothing +Party was without precedent. They carried every city and town in the +State, elected all the members of the Legislature, unless there may +have been an accidental exception, unseated all the members of +Congress, elected Henry J. Gardner Governor by an immense majority, +and elected Henry Wilson to the Senate of the United States. + +Mr. Gardner was re-elected in 1855 by the momentum of the party, +although it had fallen into discredit which would have led to its ruin +in the face of a vigorous opposition. The Whig Party had disappeared +and the Republican Party had not reached a period when it could +command its forces. In 1856 the Know Nothing Party was yielding to +the Republican Party and Governor Gardner was accepted for a third term. + +In the year 1854 I made a trip to the Adirondack woods and mountains. +The party was organized by Francis W. Bird, and it consisted of Mr. +Bird, Henry W. Pierce, D. W. Alvord, a Mr. Hoyt and myself. We left +our homes about the 20th of June and were absent about twenty days. +We entered the woods from Amsterdam, N. Y. From that place we +travelled by a wagon to Lake Pleasant, about fifty-four miles. We +remained there two or three days at a hotel kept by a man named John +C. Holmes, or rather by his wife, while Holmes retailed old stories to +the few guests. The chief topic was the large trout caught in the +lake and when and by whom. The ten largest of the season caught in +Lake Pleasant and Round Lake weighed in the aggregate 154-1/2 pounds. +A Mrs. Peters from New York was the champion; her prize having weighed +something over 16 pounds. + +We started for the woods on a Thursday taking with us eight guides, a +donkey and a considerable quantity of provisions. As the protection +was insufficient, the bread, salt, pepper, etc., were soon ruined. The +salt pork was saved. At the end of three or four days we sent the +donkey and three men back to Lake Pleasant. On this trip I had my +first and indeed my only experience in sleeping on the ground. At +the small lakes we found the hunters' camps, which were made by +erecting poles and covering the scanty frame with the bark of cedar trees. + +Saturday night we divided our force as the camp at the lake where we +intended to stop was too small for the accommodation of our whole +party. Consequently some of the guides went on about four miles to a +lake where there was another camp of larger size. Hoyt was the +enthusiast of the party, and it was his ambition to kill a deer, +although the inhumane act was prohibited at that season of the year. + +Our leading guide was called Aaron Burr Sturgis. Thursday evening Hoyt +insisted upon going out deer hunting upon the lake. Burr took charge +of him. Hoyt had a shot, but missed the deer. Friday evening the +effort was renewed with the same result. Burr insisted that the game +was in sight at a reasonable distance, and that Hoyt was a victim of +the disease known as _buck fever._ When Saturday evening came there +was a public sentiment in favor of changing the hunter as the party +were becoming weary of salt pork and trout. Burr fixed upon me, and +warmly advocated my selection. Hoyt was warm in advocacy of his own +claim. Burr's partiality for me was due to the circumstance that at +Lake Pleasant I had sent a buck-shot fifteen rods straight to the mark. +Hoyt was finally driven from the field, his only consolation being my +promise that I would fire but once, and whether successful or not, I +would return to the camp. + +The hunter's boat was a narrow, long, flat-bottomed craft, capable of +carrying two persons if they were sober and careful. I took my place +in the bow of the boat, behind and rather under the jack. I rested +upon my knees, holding my gun in such a position that I could use it +at short notice. While we were crossing the lake to the feeding +ground, Burr gave me my instructions. He said that when I saw the +deer in the light from the jack, he would look as though he were cut +out of white paper. Such proved to be the fact. The light upon the +deer gave him the appearance of being white as the background was +black. He appeared in profile only. Next Burr said I must not fire +until he gave me orders, as I could not judge of the distance. + +After a time the light fell upon a deer. He raised his head and +gazed upon the light. Burr moved with the boat without making a +ripple and finally he held the boat with his oar and ordered me to +fire. This I did, and the deer ran for the shore, Burr pushed his +boat to the quag, took the jack, and followed the track. At the +distance of about fifteen rods he found the deer unable to move. Burr +applied his knife to the throat of the animal, and then dragged him to +the boat and we lifted him in. As Burr turned the boat he said, "Did +you her the deer whistle on the other side of the lake when you fired?" +I said no. Burr said they whistled and he was going over to see if we +couldn't get a shot. I referred to my promise to Hoyt, which Burr +answered with an oath of disapproval. As I saw no reason for getting +another deer I was disgusted with the new movement, and neglected to +re-load the empty barrel. When we reached the other side, we could +hear deer moving in the water among the tall grass, but we could not +see them. After a time I became interested in the undertaking, and I +raised myself upon my feet for the purpose of looking over the tall +grass. At once I was seen by a deer, and he made for the shore without +delay. In the excitement of the moment I discharged my remaining +barrel. The deer stopped suddenly, raised his tail, and whistled. I +thought that I had shot him, and that he would soon fall into the +water. I said to Burr, "How am I to get that deer?" Burr said, "I +don't know; you haven't hit him yet." The deer stood for a minute +within good range and fully exposed. Luckily I had only an empty gun, +or otherwise I might have killed a deer for which we had no use--for +which there could have been no excuse. The whistle of the animal was +a note of exultation and a notice that he was unharmed. Had he been +wounded he would have run without waiting to explain his condition. +This was the only success in deer hunting by any of the party. Hoyt +went out several times, to return a disappointed man. + +I spent the larger part of a night upon Louis Lake with a Canadian +Frenchman, of whom the rumor was, as I learned afterwards, that he was +a refugee charged with the murder of a woman. While one might not +choose such a person for a guide upon a forest lake and in the night +time, yet criminals of that sort are very often safer companions than +many reckless persons not yet guilty of any great crime. Murders +committed under the influence of passion do not lead to other murders +by the same parties. On the Sunday following we arrived at a small +lake where the camp was too limited for the accommodation of the +entire party and those who had remained proceeded to join their +companions. The day was rainy and when we reached our destination, we +found that one end of the camp had been destroyed by fire and that the +part standing furnished only inadequate room for the small party +already occupying it. The building of a new and much larger camp was +the work of the entire party. For a bed we cut great quantities of +hemlock boughs and after shaking the water from them we laid them upon +the ground and in our blankets we lay down with our feet to a rousing +fire which extended along the entire front of the camp not less than +twenty feet. None of the party suffered from the experience. + +At that time fishing for brook trout was not an art. On one occasion +I waded into the rapids of Racket River where the water was about two +feet deep, and as often as my hook struck the water, I would get a +bite. The fish were of uniform size and weighed about one pound each. +We had equally good fishing upon the streams which connect the +Eckford Lakes. At Racket Lake a controversy arose about the route to +be taken. Alvord and Hoyt had a plan which Bird did not approve. +Pierce and myself took no part in the debate; we had accepted Bird as +leader and we chose to follow him. + +We were quartered in a log house that had been built for the use of +some railway surveyors, but it was then occupied by a man who went by +the name of Wood. It was rumored that he was a refugee from Lowell, +Mass. He had lost both legs to the knees by freezing, and he walked +upon the stumps with considerable speed. He was able to walk to the +settlement at Lake Pleasant, a distance of thirty-eight miles. He had +a wife and one daughter, who were as ignorant as barbarians. After a +warm and almost bitter debate between Hoyt and Bird, a separation was +resolved upon. Hoyt and Alvord went northward and we resolved to +return by the way of Indian and Louis Lakes to Lake Pleasant. Bird +had incurred some expenses for our outfit, and Hoyt in his excitement +resolved to pay his share at once. He had no money nor was there any +money of consequence in the party. In this condition of affairs Hoyt +exclaimed, "Who will give me the money for a check on the Greenfield +Bank?" + +Bird, Pierce, and myself, with three guides, turned our faces toward +the Eckford Lakes and Mt. Emmons. From Eckford we made our way to +Indian Lake. The day was warm and rainy in showers. The guides were +ignorant of the route, having never passed over it, and the distance +was estimated at twenty miles. We started in the morning in good +spirits and confident of getting through to Forbes' Clearing on +Indian Lake. We followed a road made by the lumbermen and about noon +we crossed an upper branch of the Hudson and came upon a small dwelling +where an Irishman and a boy were grinding an ax. + +They were protected from flies and mosquitoes by a dull fire of chips +and leaves called a smudge. We asked for dinner and the way to Indian +Lake. They could not give us a dinner nor say definitely how we were +to get to Indian Lake. The man said there was another house farther +along where we might get something to eat, and he would follow in a +short time and go with us to the lake. We soon reached the second +dwelling where we found a woman and children; the husband having gone +to the settlement for supplies. She gave us some ham and corn bread, +to which we added tea from our own stock. When we were approaching +the house, we saw a deer making for the thick forest. This was the +only deer that I saw after my trip on the lake with Burr. When our +meal was over, we followed the Irishman into the thick wood where +there was no path, and where our way was often blocked by fallen +trees. Many times in the course of an hour we heard the noise caused +by the fall of a tree, and once when winding our way by the steep side +of a mountain, we saved ourselves by fleeing towards the lake. The +tree was a huge yellow birch and it was so much decayed that it was +broken into thousands of pieces, trunk as well as branches. + +When we began our trip, Pierce was unwell and the tramp of this day +quite overcame him. He often sat down upon fallen trees, and deplored +his folly in going into the woods. He amused us by his bids, offering +first five dollars and then from time to time advancing his offer to +anyone who would set him down at old John C.'s. When we came in sight +of the lake we raised the sum of fifty cents for our guide and +dismissed him. We then proceeded up the lake, keeping ourselves within +sight of it for the most part. At about sunset we reached an opening +where a small stream entered the lake. Pierce sat down upon the ground +and announced that he would not walk another step that night. In that +condition of affairs we sent guides forward with such luggage as they +could take, and with directions to return with a boat as soon as they +reached Forbes' Clearing. During twilight we saw a boat coming down +the lake. The boatman proved to be James Sturgis with a small boat +designed to carry two persons. We were four, and when we were seated +the water was within an inch of the top of the gunwale. I told Sturgis +to keep near the shore. In doing so he ran upon the limb of a fallen +tree. The boat careened on one side and then the other, dipping water. +At last we got off and after an hour's rowing, we reached the clearing, +where we got a supper and the privilege of sleeping on the floor of +the log house. + +The next morning we obtained the use of a large flat-bottomed scow and +paddled ourselves up the river which flows into the Indian Lake from +Louis Lake. The distance was about nine miles and through an intervale +from half a mile to two miles in width. This valley was studded with +huge trees at such a distance from each other that it might well be +called a park, and when in a state of nature it must have been not only +beautiful, but magnificent. The curse of civilization was upon it, +however. For lumbering purposes a dam had then been built across the +outlet of Indian Lake, and the intervale had been overflowed until all +the trees were dead. The grass was rich and we were told that it was +a favorite feeding ground of the deer. + +At Louis Lake I made an excuse to visit Burr Sturgis' mother who lived +with her husband on the opposite side of the lake from our camp. I +asked Burr to take me across that I might get from his mother some +corn cakes. We found Mrs. Sturgis to be a woman about forty-five years +of age with some of the freshness of youth in her appearance, and in +conversation quite above her surroundings. She had had a large family +of children all born in the woods. The rumor among the guides was that +she was from Connecticut. There were rumors about all the inhabitants +of the woods, but of authentic history there was but little. The +imagination might sketch the history of Mrs. Sturgis. + +NOTE.--Burr Sturgis and James Sturgis were brothers. + + +XXI +ORGANIZATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN MASSACHUSETTS IN 1855--AND THE +EVENTS PRECEDING THE WAR + +In the month of August 1855, the Republican Party of Massachusetts was +organized, and under the head of those who signed the call, a +convention was held at Worcester, the eighteenth day of September, of +that year. In Mr. Webster's time the Whig Party had been divided into +two parts, known as Conscience Whigs and Cotton Whigs. The Conscience +Whigs had become Free-soilers, and the Cotton Whigs upheld the flag of +the party in the belief that trade would follow the flag. The death of +Mr. Webster and the election of General Pierce ended the Whig Party in +the State. In 1855 the Democratic Party was a nerveless organization, +and without hope, except as the leaders looked to the supremacy of the +party in the country as a guaranty of office-holding to the few who +were in the ascendency in the commonwealth. In one short year of power +the Know Nothing Party had destroyed its influence in the State. Thus +was the way prepared for a new and formidable organization, destined +to succeed under the declaration that slavery was not to be extended +to the territories of the Union. + +The first meeting of the men who led the organization of the Republican +Party was held at the United States Hotel. By adjournment the second +meeting was held at Chapman Hall. At this meeting a committee of +twenty-seven persons was chosen, of which the Honorable Samuel Hoar was +chairman. He had been a Whig of the Federalist school, he was a +lawyer of eminence, ranking all but the few greatest leaders of the +bar, he had had a career of useful public service, and he enjoyed the +respect and the confidence of the commonwealth. His associates were +Homer Bartlett, Charles Francis Adams, George S. Boutwell, Stephen C. +Phillips, George Bliss, H. L. Dawes, John Brooks, Charles Allen, Moses +Kimball, R. H. Dana, Jr., Marcus Morton, Jr., William H. Wood, W. S. +Breckinridge, James H. Mitchell, George Grennell, D. W. Alvord, +Increase Sumner, William Clark, Charles W. Slack, Thomas D. Elliot, +Samuel Bowles, William Brigham, Ivers Phillips, George Cogswell of +Bradford, John H. Shaw. At this date, June 12, 1900, three of the +signers are living: H. L. Dawes, George Cogswell, and the writer of +this volume. A very exact account of the proceedings of the Chapman +Hall meeting may be found in the Boston _Journal_ under the dates of +August 16, 17, 22, 23, and 30. + +Mr. Franklin Dexter, a son of Samuel Dexter, was named upon the +committee. Mr. Dexter declined the appointment, and in a letter which +is printed in the _Journal_ under one of the dates named, he gave his +reasons. The one controlling reason was the fear that the persons +engaged in the movement would go too far and involve the country in +troubles and evils greater than those which the nation was then +experiencing. To these considerations, Mr. Winthrop, in a private +interview, added objections of a personal nature. + +A supplementary call, signed by more than a hundred citizens, including +Senator Wilson, was subjoined to the call of the committee. The +impetus which the Know Nothing Party had received in the election of +1854 was sufficient to secure the re-election of Governor Gardner over +Julius Rockwell, the first candidate of the Republican Party in the +State. In 1856 Governor Gardner was elected as the candidate of the +Republican Party. Since the year 1856 the Republican Party has given +direction to the policy of the State. + +In 1858 my friends made an effort to secure my nomination for the +United States House of Representatives. I was indifferent to the +movement, although I did not decline to be considered for the +nomination. Some of my best friends urged me to remain where I was, +and my opponents were certain that no one else could perform the +duties in a manner so acceptable. At the Convention I received sixty- +three votes, and my opponent, Charles R. Train, received sixty-six +votes. Train was declared the nominee, and as such he was elected. +After the Convention was over, some person of an inquiring turn of +mind found that if every portion of the district had been represented +the total vote could not have exceeded one hundred and eighteen. This +discovery led to some crimination, each party charging the other with +fraud. + +When in 1860 notices were posted in the town of Concord calling upon +the Republicans to meet in caucus, to choose delegates to the State +Convention, Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson called at the office of George M. +Brooks, who was an active supporter of Mr. Train, and said: + +"I see there is to be a caucus to choose delegates to the Convention, +and I have called to make an inquiry about it, as Mr. Boutwell was +cheated out of his nomination two years ago." + +Mr. Brooks said in reply: + +"This caucus is for delegates to the State Convention. The District +Convention has not been called. But we thought the cheating was on +the other side." + +"Ah!" said Mr. Emerson. "I see that you are not for Mr. Boutwell. Do +you know of anybody in the village who is for Mr. Boutwell?" + +Mr. Brooks did not give him the information, and he went away. When +the evening came for the district caucus, the leading men who managed +the caucuses usually, went to the hall, and to their surprise they +found the transcendentalists in force, surrounded by a deep fringe of +farmers from all parts of the town. The meeting was organized. Four +delegates were to be chosen. Upon the nomination of candidates the +names were placed upon a sheet of paper, and then the citizens passed +around and each one marked against four names. The friends of Train +secured the lead, in making nominations, and my friend followed with +four names. When this ceremony was over, Mr. Emerson rose and said: + +"The first four names on that paper are for Mr. Train. The second four +names are for Mr. Boutwell. We are for Mr. Boutwell, and our friends +will be careful not to vote for the first four names, but to vote for +the second four names." + +Mr. Emerson's policy prevailed, and as far as I know, this was his +only appearance in Concord politics. In that year I had a majority +of the delegates to the convention, but I attended, withdrew my name, +and nominated Mr. Train for election. When I was elected in 1862, Mr. +Emerson gave me his support and during my term I received many letters +from him in approval of my course, which to many others seemed extreme +and unwise. My acquaintance with Mr. Emerson was never intimate, but +it was always friendly and I rest in the belief that he so wished our +relations to continue. It began in the Forties, when he honored me +with his presence at the Concord Lyceum, where, for a period, I had an +opportunity to speak. It was my better fortune to hear Mr. Emerson +speak on many occasions. He was not an orator in a popular sense, but +he had the capacity to make his auditors anxious to hear what he would +say in his next sentence, which, not infrequently, was far removed from +the preceding sentence. + +In April, 1859, I presided at a dinner in honor of Jefferson. In the +speech that I then made, I predicted the Rebellion, although at that +time there were but few who expected an event more serious than a +political struggle. I then said: + +"The great issue with slavery is upon us. We cannot escape it. The +policy of men may have precipitated the contest; but, from the first, +it was inevitable. The result is not doubtful. The labor, the +business, the wealth, the learning, the civilization, of the whole +country, South as well as North, will ultimately be found on the side +of freedom. The power of the North is not in injustice. We are bound +to be just; we can afford to be generous. Concede to our brethren of +the South every constitutional right without murmuring and without +complaint. Under the Constitution and in the Union every difficulty +will disappear, every obstacle will be overcome. But, rendering +justice to others, let us secure justice for ourselves; and we of the +North, not they of the South, shall be held responsible, if the slave- +trade upon the high seas is openly pursued or covertly permitted, if +new territory is consigned to slavery, or if the gigantic powers of +this government are longer perverted to the support of an institution +dangerous to the welfare of the people and hostile to the perpetuity of +the Union." + +A letter from Abraham Lincoln was read at the Jefferson dinner. As Mr. +Lincoln's letter has more value, manifestly, in the year 1901, than it +appeared to have in the year 1859, I reprint the important parts of +that communication: + +"Bearing in mind that about seventy years ago two great political +parties were first formed in this country--that Jefferson was the head +of one of them, and Boston the headquarters of the other, it is both +curious and interesting that those supposed to descend politically from +the party opposed to Jefferson should now be celebrating his birthday, +in their own original seat of empire, while those claiming political +descent from him have nearly ceased to breathe his name everywhere. +But soberly, it is now no child's play to save the principles of +Jefferson from total overthrow in this nation. One would state with +great confidence that he could convince any sane child that the simpler +propositions of Euclid are true; but nevertheless he would fail, +utterly, with one who should deny the definitions and axioms. + +"The principles of Jefferson are the definitions and axioms of free +society. And yet they are denied and evaded, with no small show of +success. One dashingly calls them 'evident lies.' And others +insidiously argue that they apply only to 'superior races.' + +"These expressions, differing in form, are identical in object and +effect--the supplanting the principles of free government, and +restoring those of classification, caste, and legitimacy. They would +delight a convocation of crowned heads plotting against the people. +They are the vanguard--the sappers and miners of returning despotism. +We must repulse them, or they will subjugate us. This is a world of +compensation; and he who would be no slave, must consent to have no +slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for +themselves, and under a just God cannot long retain it. All honor to +Jefferson--to the man who, in the concrete pressure of a struggle for +national independence by a single people, had the coolness, forecast +and capacity to introduce into a merely revolutionary document an +abstract truth, applicable to all men and all times, and so to embalm +it there, that to-day and in all coming days, it shall be a rebuke and +a stumbling block to the very harbingers of reappearing tyranny and +oppression." + +In the canvass of 1860 I made a speech at Cambridge in reply to a +speech made in Faneuil Hall by Mr. Yancey. I again gave my opinion +that war was impending. I then saw that the preliminary incidental +conspiracy was in the Democratic Party, by which the party was to be +divided, and by which the Republican Party was assured of success. Had +the government been continued in the hands of the Democrats there could +have been no pretext for rebellion. The first necessary step in the +movement was the destruction of the Democratic Party. That step was +taken, and thus the way was opened for the election of Mr. Lincoln. +The secession of the States, beginning with South Carolina, was a +recognition of the legitimacy of the Government, of which Mr. Lincoln +became the head. This recognition was consummated beyond question, +when Vice-President Breckinridge announced the election of Mr. Lincoln, +in February, 1861. + +The interests of the seceding States would have been promoted as the +measures of the incoming administration would have been retarded, if +the members from those States could have retained their seats in +Congress. It is probably that in the excitement of the time, the +States gave no thought to the question whether it would be wise to +allow their members to remain in the old Congress, and there thwart the +administration in its efforts to raise men and money. However that may +have been, when the Southern members left their seats they surrendered +to the Republican Party that absolute power by which in the end the +Rebellion was suppressed. Upon the theory of many Democrats and of +some Republicans, that the seceding States were never out of the Union, +they might have kept a representation in Congress while the States +themselves were carrying on a war for the destruction of the old +Government. Happily for the country the logic of events was mightier +than the logic of the schools. The larger number of men who went out +haughtily in 1860 and 1861 never returned. + +In 1861 I was invited to deliver an address at Charlestown, Mass., on +the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans. I said nothing of that +battle, for my thoughts were directed too exclusively to the prospect +of war in the near future, to allow me to deal with the past except for +the purpose of warning or encouragement. That address gave great +offence to Democrats generally, and it led many Republicans to denounce +me as unwise, and to declare that my counsels were dangerous. Governor +Andrew, who had just taken his seat as Governor, accepted the view that +I expressed, as did his privy counsellor, Frank W. Bird, although they +had disagreed with me in the National Convention, of June, 1860. They +were the earnest supporters of Mr. Seward, I was opposed to his +nomination, and as I would not pledge myself to his support, I barely +escaped defeat at the State Convention, which elected the delegates at +large to the Chicago Convention. + +In my address at Charlestown, I made these remarks, which gave no +inconsiderable offence: + +"In this juncture of affairs, we anxiously ask, what more remains to be +done? I infer, from what I see and hear, that most of my countrymen +believe that the election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency is to +be declared in the customary way, and that he is to be inaugurated at +Washington on the 4th of March next. The intentions of men are hidden +from our view; but the necessities of the seceders we can appreciate, +and the logic of events we can comprehend. It is a necessity of the +South to prevent the inauguration of Lincoln. If he is inaugurated at +Washington on the 4th of March, the cause of the secessionists is lost +for ever. In all their proceedings, they have been wise and logical, +thus far; and I assume that resistance to the inauguration of Lincoln +is a part of their well-laid scheme. No man can now tell whether this +scheme will be abandoned, whether it will be tried and fail, or +whether it will be tried with success. I believe it will be tried. + +"True, the administration has put itself on the side of order; the city +is alarmed for its existence, knowing full well that if it is given +up to the military or the mob, and the representatives of eighteen free +States are, for a single hour only, fugitives from the capital of the +country, its re-occupation will be upon terms less agreeable to the +inhabitants of the District and the neighboring States. The possession +of Washington does, in a considerable degree, control the future of +this country. Believing, as I do, in the stern purpose of these men; +knowing, also, that Maryland and Virginia command on the instant the +presence of large bodies of volunteers,--I deem it only an act of +common prudence, for the free States, without menaces, without threats, +with solemn and official declarations even that no offensive movement +will be undertaken, to organize, and put upon a war footing, a force +of one hundred thousand men, who may be moved at any moment when +desired by the authorities of the country. + +"What, then, will be our position? The way ought to be open for the +inauguration of Mr. Lincoln; but there are those who demand a +compromise as a step necessary and preliminary to that event. I do +not now speak of the demand made upon States, in their sovereign +capacity, to repeal certain laws, concerning personal liberty, alleged +to be unconstitutional. . . . + +"The compromises of which I speak are the various propositions, which +proceed upon the idea that the election by the people of a President +of the Republic, in constitutional ways and by constitutional means +only, shall not be consummated by his peaceful inauguration, unless the +character of the government is fundamentally changed previously, or +pledges given that such changes shall be permitted. I see no great +evidence that these demands are to be acceded to; but I see that the +demands themselves attack the fundamental principles of republican +liberty. If disappointed men, be they few or many, be they +conspirators and traitors, or misguided zealots merely, can interpret +their will, and arrest or divert or contravene the public judgment, +constitutionally expressed, then our government is no longer one of +laws, but a government of men." + + +XXII +AS SECRETARY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BOARD OF EDUCATION + +In the early autumn of 1855 the Board of Education elected me to the +office of secretary of the board. The position was offered to Mr. +George B. Emerson, who declined to accept it for the reason that he +was unwilling to perform the necessary labor. My predecessor was +Barnas Sears, who resigned to accept the presidency of Brown +University. I made no effort to secure the appointment; indeed, I was +doubtful as to the wisdom of accepting it. I had been a member of the +board for several years, and I had had a limited acquaintance with Mr. +Mann during his term of office. Mr. Mann had had a brilliant career. +He entered upon his duties at a time when the public schools of +Massachusetts were in a low condition, and under his administration +there had been a revival of interest, whose force is felt, I imagine, +to this day. He attacked the customs and ridiculed the prejudices of +the people, made war upon the practice of corporal punishment, engaged +in a controversy with the Boston schoolmasters, and in the end he +either achieved a victory whenever a stand was made against him, or +he laid the foundation of ultimate success. + +Dr. Sears was a man of peace. He was a carefully educated scholar and +progressive in his ideas, but he relied upon quiet labor and carefully +prepared arguments. He was at the head of the school system for the +long period of thirteen years, and in that time great progress was +made. He supplemented Mr. Mann by a steady and sturdy effort to +establish permanently the reforms which Mr. Mann had inaugurated. One +obnoxious relic of the ancient ways remained--the district system. In +1840 Governor Morton had called the school districts of the State, +"Little Democracies." They were in fact little nurseries of +selfishness and intrigue. In the selection of teachers, in the +erection and repairs of school houses, and even in the business of +furnishing the firewood, there were little intrigues and arrangements +by which interested parties secured the appointment of a son or +daughter to the place of teacher, or a contract for wood or work. The +election of the committee not infrequently turned upon the interest +of some influential citizens. + +The great evil was the inefficiency of the teachers. Even in cases +where the committeeman was left free to act, he was usually incapable +of forming a safe opinion as to the quality of teachers. To be sure +the examination and approval of candidates were left to the +superintending committee, but most frequently the examination was +deferred to a time only one or two days prior to the day when the +school was to be commenced and the committee would too often yield to +the temptation to keep the candidate even though the qualifications +were unsatisfactory. The contest with the district system fell upon +me, and during my administration the system was abolished. The end +was not accomplished without vigorous opposition. + +The citizens of the town of Mansfield took the field and under a +memorial to the Legislature they appeared before the Committee on +Education. The hearings were public in the hall of the House of +Representatives. They made personal attacks upon me--among other +things alleging that my traveling expenses were greater than the law +allowed. This charge was met successfully by an opinion that had +been given by Attorney-General Clifford. I changed the defence to an +attack upon the promoters of the movement, and they retreated after a +contest of several days; one of the party admitting that they were +wrong in their views and wrong in their actions. For the most part, +they were well intentioned persons, but not informed, or rather they +were misinformed upon the subject of education. They were unimportant +in numbers, but for a time they strewed the State with handbills, +placards and newspaper articles. They illustrated one half of the +fable of the frog and the ox. + +In my five years of service I made more than three hundred addresses +upon educational topics. In that service I visited most of the cities +and towns, met the citizens individually and in masses, visited the +factories and shops, and thus I became well acquainted with the habits +of the people, their industries and modes of life. In each year I +held twelve teachers' institutes and each institute continued five days +in session. A portion of each day was given to criticisms, during +which time the teachers of the institute and the lecturers were freely +criticised by cards sent to the chair without the names of the critics. +Hence there was the greatest freedom, and no one on the platform was +allowed to escape. It is an unusual thing to find a speaker, even of +the highest culture, who can speak an hour without violating the rules +of pronunciation, or showing himself negligent in some important +particular. The teachers of the teachers gained daily by these +critical exercises. + +Among the lecturers and teachers were some men of admitted eminence. +Agassiz was with me about two years as lecturer in Natural History. +His skill in drawing upon the blackboard while he went on with his oral +explanation was a constant marvel. He was not a miser in matter of +knowledge more than in money. Of his vast stores of knowledge he gave +freely to all. Any member of a class could get from him all that he +knew upon any topic in his department. When he was ignorant he never +hesitated to say: "I don't know." He was very chary of conjectures in +science. Indeed, I cannot recall an instance of that sort. He chose +to investigate and to wait. In all his ways he was artless. He was a +well built man with a massive head and an intelligent face. His +presence inspired confidence. + +Associated with him by nativity and ties of friendship, was Professor +Guyot. Professor Guyot taught physical geography, and previous to 1855 +he had wrought a change in public opinion in regard to the method of +introducing the science to children. All the then recent text-books +omitted physical geography, or reserved it for a brief chapter at the +close of the work. Guyot changed the course of study. His motto was +this: "We must first consider this earth as one grand individual." +On this foundation he built his system. Morse, the father of the +inventor of the system of telegraphic communication, was the author of +a geography published in the eighteenth century, and he commenced with +physical geography. His successors, Cummings, Worcester, and others +abandoned that scientific arrangement and introduced the learners to +political and descriptive geography. Moreover, their teaching of +physical geography was devoted to definitions to be learned by rote. +Many of the text-books in use in the schools were framed upon similar +erroneous ideas. The first sentence in Murray's Grammar was a +definition of the science, and was in fact, the conclusion deduced +from a full knowledge of the subject. + +George B. Emerson, who was one of our teachers, gave a great impetus to +the art of teaching grammar. He discarded books, and beginning with an +object, as a bell or an orange, he would give a child at the age of +twelve years a very good knowledge of the science in six lessons of an +hour each. Dr. Lowell Mason was a teacher in the institutes during my +entire period of service, although he offered to retire on account of +age. He was an excellent teacher, and in the art practically, perhaps, +the best of all. Professor William Russell was the teacher of +elocution. His recitations were good, as were his criticisms on +language, but as a teacher, he had not a high rank. After the +retirement of Professor Agassiz, I employed Sanborn Tenney, a young man +of great industry and enthusiasm. He had in him the promise of a +great career in natural science, but he died prematurely in the State +of Michigan while upon a lecturing tour. From first to last I had +the benefit of a good corps of teachers with a single exception. In +drawing I inherited from Dr. Sears a young man of English parentage. +His statements were so extraordinary often, that I lost confidence in +him. One day he wandered from his subject and indulged himself in +denunciations of the English aristocracy. He closed with this remark: +"Although I belong to the haristocracy, I 'ate 'em!" At the end of +the autumn term, I dismissed him. + +During my service as Secretary, I made the acquaintance of several +persons whom I should not otherwise have known. Among them were +President Hopkins of Williams College, President Hitchcock of Amherst +College, and President Felton of Harvard College. Hopkins might +properly be termed a wise man. He resembled President Walker who for +several years presided over Harvard. Felton was a genial man, of +sufficient learning for his office, and exceedingly popular with the +students and with the public. It was during his administration that +I was elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and +Sciences, through his influence, and the influence of the professors +at the College. + +I resigned the office of Secretary, January 1, 1861, with the purpose +of resuming the practice of law. During my term of office, I prepared +five annual reports, the last of which, the twenty-fourth in the +Series, was devoted to an analysis of the school laws with a history of +the educational and reformatory institutions of the State. I also +published a volume of educational papers, which had a considerable +sale, especially in the State of Ohio, where a copy was ordered for +each school library. + + +XXIII +PHI BETA KAPPA ADDRESS AT CAMBRIDGE + +About ten days before the 18th of June, 1861, Judge Hoar called at my +office and invited me to deliver the Phi Beta Kappa oration at +Cambridge on the 18th of the month. Although I had but little time for +preparation, I accepted the invitation upon the understanding, or +rather upon his request, that I was to deal with the questions then +agitating the country. Among my hearers was the venerable Josiah +Quincy, formerly President of the College. My address was so radical +that the timid condemned it, and even Republican papers deprecated the +violence of my language--they then living in the delusion that +concessions, mild words and attitudes of humility could save the Union. +Mr. Quincy was not of those. He gave to my address unqualified +support, and I had no doubt that the majority of my audience +sympathized with my views. There were, however, copperheads, and +peace-men at any price, and gradually there appeared a more troublesome +class of men who professed to be for the prosecution of the war, but +criticized and condemned all the means employed. They were the +hypocrites in politics--a class of men who affect virtue, and who +tolerate and protect vice in government. + +My address was called "The Conspiracy--Its Purpose and Power," and as +far as I know, it was the first time that emancipation was demanded +publicly, as a means of ending the war and saving the nation. The +demand was made in a qualified form, but I renewed it in the December +following in an address that I delivered before the Emancipation +League. This address gave rise to similar or even to severer +criticisms from the same classes. They were never a majority in +Massachusetts, but they had sufficient power to impair the strength of +the state, and in 1862 under the style of the People's Party, they +endangered the election of Governor Andrew. + +These criticisms made no impression upon me, for my confidence was +unbounded that emancipation was inevitable and I was willing to wait +for an improved public opinion. + +I quote a portion of my remarks at Cambridge, which gave rise to +criticism in some quarters, and provoked hostility among those whose +sympathies were with the South: + +"The settlers at Jamestown and Plymouth did not merely found towns or +counties or colonies, or States even; they also founded a great nation, +and upon the idea of its unity. + +"Their colonial charters extended from sea to sea. Their origin, their +language, their laws, their civilization, their ideas, and now their +history, constitute us one nation. In the geological structure of this +continent, Nature seems to have prepared it for the occupation of a +single people. I cannot doubt, then, that continental unity is the +great, the supreme law of our public life. + +"A division such as is sought and demanded by those who carry on this +war would do violence to our traditions, to our history, to those ideas +that our people South and North have entertained for more than two +centuries, and to the laws of Nature herself. An agreement such as is +desired by the discontented would only intensify our alienations, +embitter the strife, and protract the war upon subordinate and +insignificant issues. Separation does not settle one difficulty at +present existing in the country; while it furnishes occasion, and +necessity even, for other controversies and wars, as long as the line +of division remains. + +"Nor can we doubt, that when, by division, you abandon the Union, +acknowledge the Constitution to be a failure, the contest would be +carried on regardless of State sovereignty, and finally end in the +subjugation of all to one idea, and one system in government. Whatever +may stand or fall, whatever may survive or perish, the region between +the Atlantic and the Rocky Mountains, between the great lakes and the +Gulf of Mexico, is destined to be and to continue under one form of +government. . . ." + +I advanced a step further in December, as will be seen from the +extracts from my speech on Emancipation: + +"I say, then, it is a necessity that this war be closed speedily. By +blockade it cannot be; by battle it may be; but we risk the result upon +the uncertainty whether the great general of this continent is with +them or with us. I come, then, to emancipation. Not first,--although +I shall not hesitate to say, before I close, that as a matter of +justice to the slave, there should be emancipation,--but not first do I +ask my countrymen to proclaim emancipation to the slaves in justice to +them, but as a matter of necessity to ourselves; for, unless it be by +accident, we are not to come out of this contest as one nation, except +by emancipation. And first, emancipation in South Carolina. Not +confiscation of the property of rebels; that is inadequate longer to +meet the emergency. It might have done in March or April or May, or +possibly in July; but, in December, or January of the coming year, +confiscation of the property of the rebels is inadequate to meet the +exigency in which the country is placed. You must, if you do anything, +proclaim at the head of the armies of the republic, on the soil of +South Carolina, FREEDOM,--and then enforce the proclamation as far and +fast as you have an opportunity; and you will have opportunity more +speedily then than you will if you attempt to invade South Carolina +without emancipating her slaves. Unsettle the foundations of society +in South Carolina; do you hear the rumbling? Not we, not we, are +responsible for what happens in South Carolina between the slaves and +their masters. Our business is to save the Union; to re-establish the +authority of the Union over the rebels in South Carolina; and, if +between the masters and their slaves collisions arise, the +responsibility is upon those masters who, forgetting their allegiance +to the Government, lent themselves to this foul conspiracy, and thus +have been involved in ruin. As a warning, let South Carolina be the +first of the States of the Republic in which emancipation to the +enslaved is proclaimed." + +I left home for Washington on the Monday following the Sunday when the +first battle of Bull Run was fought. When near New Haven, the +conductor brought me a copy of a press despatch which gave an account +of the engagement and indicated or stated that the rebels had been +successful. On the seat behind me were two men who expressed their +gratification to each other, when they read the despatch over my +shoulder. When I had a fair view of them, I formed the opinion that +they were Southern men returning South to take part in the conflict. +It is difficult to comprehend the control which the States' Rights +doctrine had over the Southern mind. In my conversations with General +Scott the influence which the course pursued by Virginia exercised +over him was apparent. Those conversations left upon me the impression +that he had debated with himself as to the course he ought to pursue. +Attachment to Virginia was the sole excuse which Lee offered in his +letter to his sister which contained a declaration that there was no +just cause for secession. + +In July, 1861, Washington was comparatively defenceless. Mr. Lincoln +was calm, but I met others who were quite hopeless of the result. + +My speech upon Emancipation in December, 1861, led to a request from +the publishers of the _Continental Magazine_ for an article upon the +subject. It appeared in February, 1862, and in that article I set +forth the necessity of immediate emancipation as a war measure, and +by virtue of the war power, under the title, "Our Danger, and Its +Cause." Rapid changes were then taking place in public opinion, and +in Massachusetts the tide was strong in favor of vigorous action. It +was arrested temporarily in the summer of 1862, by the untoward events +of the war, and the "People's Party" became formidable for a brief +season. + +One of the peculiar circumstance of the contest was the acceptance by +General Devens of the post of candidate for Governor by the People's +Party. General Devens was then in the army, and with considerable +experience he had shown the qualities of a good soldier. But he was +not a Republican. In other days he had been a Webster Whig, and as +marshal of the district of Massachusetts he had charge officially of +the return of the negro Sims to slavery. + +This act had brought down upon him criticisms, quite like maledictions, +from the Anti-Slavery Party. By these criticisms he had been +embittered, and although he was hearty in support of the war, he had +not then reached a point in his experience when he could realize that +the only efficient way of supporting the war was to support the +Republican Party. + +At a later period he identified himself with the Republican Party, and +as a Republican he filled with honor a place upon the bench of the +Supreme Court of Massachusetts, and upon the election of President +Hayes, he was made Attorney-General of the United States. That office +he filled with tact, urbanity, and reasonable ability. He belonged to +a class of orators of which Massachusetts has furnished a considerable +number--Mr. Everett was the chief. His disciples or followers +included Hillard, Burlingame, Bullock, Devens, Long, and some others +of lesser note. The style of these men was attractive, sometimes +ornate, but lacking in the force which leaves an indelible impression +upon the hearer. + + +XXIV +THE PEACE CONVENTION OF 1861 + +In the month of January, 1861, the State of Virginia invited the States +to send delegates to a congress or convention to be held in the city of +Washington. The call implied that the Union was a confederation of +States as distinguished from an independent and supreme and sovereign +government, set up and maintained by the people of the whole country, +except as the States were made the servants of the nation for certain +specified purposes. There was hesitation on the part of Massachusetts, +and some of the States of the North declined to respond to the call. +After delay, Governor Andrew appointed John Z. Goodrich, Charles Allen, +George S. Boutwell, T. P. Chandler, F. B. Crowninshield, J. M. Forbes, +and Richard P. Waters as commissioners to the convention. + +The meeting was held on the 6th of February in Willard's Hall, in the +city of Washington. The door upon the street was closed, and the +delegates were admitted from Willard's Hotel through a side door, cut +for the purpose. The entrance was guarded by a messenger, and only +members were admitted. There were no reporters, but Mr. Chittenden, of +Vermont, made notes from which he prepared a volume that was published, +but not until several years after the congress had ceased to exist. A +few of the members furnished him with reports of their speeches, but +not always in the language used at the time of delivery. My memory of +what was said by Mr. Chase and Mr. Frelinghuysen did not correspond +with the Chittenden Report. As the Convention had been in session +several days when the Massachusetts delegation appeared, we were +assigned to seats that were remote from the chair. + +The convention was composed of three classes of men. Secessionists, +led by John Tyler, the president of the convention, Seddon of Virginia, +and Davis and Ruffin of North Carolina; border State men from Virginia, +Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Kentucky, who had faith in +differing degrees that the Union might be saved, and war averted; and +radical men who had no faith that anything could be done by which the +Union could be saved, except through war. Soon after my arrival in +Washington, I called on a Sunday upon Mr. Seddon. We had a free +conversation. He said: + +"It is of no use for us to attempt to deceive each other. You have one +form of civilization, and we have another. You think yours is the best +for you, and we think that ours is the best for us. But our culture is +exhausting, and we must have new lands. One part of your people say +that Congress shall exclude slavery from the territories, and another +set of men say that it will be excluded by natural laws. Under either +theory, somebody must go, and if we can't go with our slaves, we must +go without them and our country will be given up to the negroes." + +With the system of slavery, and in the absence of knowledge of the +value of manufactured fertilizers, this was not an unreasonable view. +Looking forward a hundred years and assuming the continued existence +of slavery, there was no conclusive solution of the problem presented +by Mr. Seddon. But he did not seem to consider that he was warring +against nature as well as against the Union in his attempt to extend +the area of slavery. His efforts, had they been successful, could +only have postponed the crisis for a period not definite, but surely +not of long duration. When the Confederacy was formed, Mr. Seddon +became Secretary of War, and when the war was over, I recognized his +friendship by securing the removal of his disabilities under the +Fourteenth Amendment. Of the Secessionists, Mr. Seddon was the +leading man upon the floor of the convention. It was manifest that he +did not wish to secure the return of the seceded States. On one +point he was anxious, and he did not attempt to disguise his purpose. +He sought to secure from the convention, or if not from the convention, +from the delegates from the Republican States, an assurance that in no +event should there be war. One of the errors, indeed, the greatest +error, was the failure of the Northern delegates to assert that in no +event should the Union be dissolved except through the success of the +South in arms. As far as I remember, this was not asserted by any one +except myself. + +Many expressed their fear of war and urged the convention to agree to +some plan of settlement as the only means of averting war. Mr. +Stockton, of New Jersey, went so far as to assert that in case of war +the North would raise a regiment to aid the South as often as one was +raised to assail it. Mr. Chase's remarks on the floor of the +convention indicated a disposition to allow the South to go without +resistance on our part, and in a conversation that I had with him as +we walked one evening on Pennsylvania Avenue, toward Georgetown, he +said: + +"The thing to be done is to let the South go." + +The interest of the convention centred upon the Committee of Thirteen, +of which Mr. Guthrie was chairman. While the Committee of Thirteen was +considering what should be done, Mr. John Z. Goodrich said that he had +called upon Mr. Seward, and that Mr. Seward expressed a wish to see me. +I had not the personal acquaintance of Mr. Seward, and Mr. Goodrich +offered to take me to Mr. Seward's house. We called in the evening. +His conversation and bearing were different from the conversation and +bearing of most of the public men of the time. He spoke as though the +subject of conversation was the chance of a client and the means of +bringing him safely out of his perils. He spoke of the speech he had +made in the Senate and said: + +"My speech occupies the mind of the South for the present: then the +proceedings of the Peace Congress will attract attention, and by and +by we shall have the President's inaugural which will probably have +a good influence." + +He did not assume the probability of war. Before we left he asked me +whether I had seen a certain number of the _Richmond Enquirer._ I said +that I had not. He sent for it, and gave it to me with the request +that I should return it after reading the leading editorial. The +editorial was upon Mr. Seward, and it was written upon the theory that +he was engaged in a scheme for delaying definite action in Virginia +and the other States of the South, until the inauguration of Mr. +Lincoln, when he would use both whip and spur. From the conversation +and the editorial I inferred that he intended to have me understand +that such was his purpose. It is possible he may have thought that war +could be averted by dilatory proceedings. + +When the report of the Committee of Thirteen was made, the border State +men had high hopes that the country, both North and South, would accept +its recommendations. In truth, there was no ground for believing that +the Secessionists or the anti-slavery Republicans, would accept the +propositions. The recommendations were more offensive to the North +than the original constitution, with all the compromise legislation, +considered together. + +I think that there were five speeches made in support of the +resolutions before a speech was made in opposition, and it fell to me +to make that speech. One morning there was a conference between the +Massachusetts delegation, which was composed of radical men only, and +the radical members of the New York delegation, at which it was +agreed that a speech should be made in opposition, and that +Massachusetts should lead. The duty was put upon me, accompanied with +the suggestion that I should speak that day. I had not made any +preparation, but during the time that I had occupied a seat in the +convention, my conviction had been strengthened that it was impossible +to adopt a plan that would be acceptable to the contending parties, +and consequently that any scheme of compromise that could be framed +would result in a renewal of the controversy, under circumstances less +favorable to the North. At that moment the government was in the +hands of men who were incapable of decisive action. While we could not +count upon active measures against secession on the part of Mr. +Buchanan, on the other hand, the country had ample assurance that he +would do nothing in aid of the unlawful proceeding. That he had +declared in his message of December, 1860. Beyond that, we had a right +to assume that Mr. Lincoln would maintain the Union by force. Hence, I +resolved to say that no scheme would be accepted by us which did not +contain an abandonment of the doctrine of secession, an acknowledgment +of the legality of Mr. Lincoln's election, and a declaration that it +was the duty of the whole body of citizens to render obedience to the +Government. I very well knew that these terms would be rejected with +scorn, as I well knew that any other terms would be rejected. +Conspirators are never disposed to make terms with the party or person +against whom their conspiracy is aimed, until the conspiracy has +failed. Hence it was that those who humbled themselves in the dust +were treated with contumely, even more offensive than the invectives +which the conspirators showered upon the heads of those who neither +proffered nor accepted terms of compromise. + +Mr. Chittenden's report is accurate in respect to the views that I +presented, but it is incomplete, as I spoke about an hour. When I +began to speak, I advanced slowly up the aisle until I could look into +the faces of the Virginia delegation, who occupied the settee next to +the president's desk. Mr. William C. Rives was one of the Virginia +delegation, a Union man, who sympathized with the border State men, and +hoped by some concession to avert war. When I said that if the South +persisted in secession, "the South would march its armies to the Great +Lakes, or we should march ours to the Gulf of Mexico," the tears came +into his eyes. My remark that the North abhorred the institution of +slavery, wounded the Southern men sorely. They were not indignant, but +grieved rather. At any rate, such was their aspect, and for many days +the remark was repeated or referred to with the hope, apparently, of +inducing me to retract or qualify it. I allowed it to stand as a +truth which they might well accept. + +When the day came for the final vote upon the first resolution relating +to slavery as reported by the Committee of Thirteen, a meeting of the +New York delegation was called in consequence of the engagement of +David Dudley Field to argue a case in the Supreme Court. Mr. Field was +one of the six Republican members, and associated with them were five +Democrats and Conservatives. + +As each State had one vote, his absence would set New York out of the +contest unless the Democrats would agree that Mr. Field's vote should +be counted in his absence. This proposition the Democrats refused to +accept, and they gave notice that the vote of New York would be lost +unless Mr. Field remained and voted. Mr. Field left, and the vote of +the State was lost. There were twenty-one States represented, +including Kansas, which was in a territorial condition when the +convention assembled, and the Territorial Governor had sent a +Conservative, Mr. Thomas Ewing, Jr. His father was a member from Ohio. +When the State government of Kansas was organized, the Governor +delegated a Republican. Both were allowed seats, although manifestly, +Mr. Ewing should have retired. + +When the vote was declared, it appeared that eight States had voted in +the affirmative, and eleven States in the negative. The border State +men were sorely disappointed, and some of them wept like children. The +result they must have anticipated, but they had been wrought to a high +condition of nervous excitement, due in part to the circumstance that +they were unable to discuss the business of the convention in public. +The disagreeable silence which followed the announcement of the vote, +was broken by Mr. Francis Granger, who counseled calmness and +deliberation, and finally, he appealed to the States of the majority +to move a reconsideration. This was done by the State of Illinois, +through Mr. Turner, who made the motion. The next day the resolution +was adopted by a vote of nine to eight. Upon this question the +Missouri delegation refused to vote, under the lead, it was said, of +General Doniphan, who denounced the resolutions as not satisfactory to +either side. Doniphan was a large, muscular man, who acquired some +fame in the Mexican war as the leader of a cavalry expedition to +California, of which nothing was heard for about six months. + +The reconsideration was attributed to the interference of Mr. Lincoln +or of his recognized friends. + +When the convention was about to adjourn, President Tyler made a speech +in which he thrice invoked the blessing of Heaven upon the doings of +the convention, and from that act he went to Richmond, and in less than +three days he was an avowed and recognized leader in secession. +Indeed, it was understood in the convention that Mr. Seddon was his +representative on the floor. The doings of the Congress were endorsed +by Maryland, but in the National Congress, and in the States North and +South they were neglected utterly. The result which Mr. Seward +anticipated was not realized by the country. + +After the arrival of Mr. Lincoln the Massachusetts delegation called +upon him to recommend the selection of Mr. Chase for the Treasury +Department in preference to General Cameron, and to say that the +capitalists of the East would have more confidence in the former than +in the latter. Mr. Lincoln did not say what his purposes were, but +he made this remark: + +"From what I hear, I think Mr. Chase is about one hundred and fifty to +any other man's hundred." + +On the Saturday next but one, preceding the 4th of March, we called +upon Mr. Buchanan at about eleven o'clock in the morning. He said that +he should prefer to see us in the evening. In the evening we found him +alone. He at once commenced conversation, which he continued with but +slight interruptions on our part. His chief thought seemed to be to +avert bloodshed during his administration. Next, he thought he had +been wronged by both sections. Said he: + +"When I rebuked the North for their personal-liberty bills, the South +applauded; but when I condemned the secession movement, then they +turned against me." + +He referred to the _Charleston Mercury_ as having been very unjust, and +then putting his feet together, and with his head on one shoulder, he +said: + +"I am like a man on a narrow isthmus, without a friend on either side." + +Within a few days of this interview, we called upon General Cass, who +was then living in a house that is now annexed to the Arlington Hotel. +He had retired from the Cabinet of Mr. Buchanan, and he had regained +something of his standing in the North, but he had been so long the +advocate of compromises and the servant of the slave power, that he was +unable to place himself in line with the movement that was destined to +destroy slavery. The slave power had more vitality than slavery +itself; and after a third of a century its poison still disturbs the +politics of the country. The call was made in the forenoon. General +Cass sat at a small, plain table, engaged in writing. He was in a +large room, from which the furniture, including the carpets, had been +removed. He said that he had been kept in Washington by the illness of +his daughter, and that upon her improvement he should leave for +Michigan. He was dressed in a much worn suit of black--his shirt had +seen more than one day's service--he had not been shaved recently, and +his russet-colored wig was on awry. The room had an aspect of +desolation, and General Cass appeared like a man to whom life had +nothing of interest. As soon as the ceremony of introduction was over, +he commenced walking and talking, while the tears ran down his wan and +worn cheeks. He gave us an account of his early life, of his residence +in Virginia, and then he said: + +"I crossed the Ohio with only a dollar in my pocket. I went to +Michigan. I was four times Governor of the Territory, and on more than +one occasion I was confirmed by the Senate without a single dissenting +vote. I have been a Senator, and Minister to France; and I am going +home to Michigan to die. If I wanted the office of constable, there +isn't a town in the State that would elect me." + +He reminded me of Cardinal Wolsey, rather than of the Senator, Minister +to France, and Secretary of the Department of State that he had been. +He spoke of his course in politics, the substance of which was that he +had always opposed secession and nullification, although he had +maintained the right of the States to hold slaves if they chose to +tolerate the institution. + +General Cass was the last of the statesmen of the middle period of our +history whom it was my fortune to meet. As a whole, and as individuals +their fortunes were unenviable. They struggled against the order of +things. They accomplished nothing, unless it may be said of them, that +they kept the ship afloat. Their memories deserve commiseration, +possibly gratitude. No effort of theirs could have secured the +abolition of slavery. Any vigorous movement in that direction would +have ended in the destruction of the government. From John Adams to +Lincoln, only three important measures remain: The acquisition of +Louisiana, the acquisition of California, and the Independent Treasury +Bill. The war of 1812 was unwise, and in conduct it was weak. The +policy of that middle period in regard to paper money, to internal +improvements, in regard to the protection of domestic industry, and in +regard to slavery has been set aside or overthrown by the better +judgment of recent years. Yet so much are statesmen and parties the +servants or victims of events, that our opinions should be tolerant of +the men who kept the system in motion. Slavery was an inheritance, and +time was required for its destruction. + +I returned to Massachusetts without waiting for the inauguration. + +As I spoke in the convention upon the request of the Republican members +of the New York delegation, and as the Representative of the +Massachusetts delegation; and as my remarks were not criticized +adversely by either party, I reproduce the speech as it was reported by +Mr. Chittenden: + +SPEECH IN PEACE CONVENTION + +I have not been at all clear in my own mind as to when, and to what +extent, Massachusetts should raise her voice in this convention. She +has heard the voice of Virginia, expressed through her resolutions, in +this crisis of our country's history. Massachusetts hesitated, not +because she was unwilling to respond to the call of Virginia, but +because she thought her honor touched by the manner of that call and +the circumstances attending it. She had taken part in the election of +the 6th of November. She knew the result. It accorded well with her +wishes. She knew that the government whose political head for the +next four years was then chosen was based upon a Constitution which she +supposed still had an existence. She saw that State after State had +left that government,--seceded is the word used,--had gone out from +this great confederacy, and that they were defying the Constitution and +the Union. + +Charge after charge has been vaguely made against the North. It is +attempted here to put the North on trial. I have listened with grave +attention to the gentleman from Virginia to-day; but I have heard no +specification of these charges. Massachusetts hesitated, I say: she +has her own opinion of the Government and the Union. I know +Massachusetts; I have been into every one of her more than three +hundred towns; I have seen and conversed with her men and her women; +and I know there is not a man within her borders who would not to-day +gladly lay down his life for the preservation of the Union. + +Massachusetts has made war upon slavery wherever she had the right to +do it; but, much as she _abhors_ the institution, she would sacrifice +everything rather than assail it where she has not the right to assail +it. + +Can it be denied, gentlemen, that we have elected a President in a +legal and constitutional way? It cannot be denied; and yet you tell +us, in tones that cannot be misunderstood, that, as a precedent +condition of his inauguration, we must give you these guarantees. + +Massachusetts hesitated, not because her blood was not stirred, but +because she insisted that the government and the inauguration should go +in the manner that would have been observed had Mr. Lincoln been +defeated. She felt that she was touched in a tender point when invited +here under such circumstances. + +It is true, and I confess it frankly, that there are a few men at the +North who have not yielded that support to the grand idea upon which +this confederated Union stands that they should have yielded; who have +been disposed to infringe upon, to attack certain rights which the +entire North, with these exceptions, accords to you. But are you of +the South free from the like imputations? The John Brown invasion was +never justified at the North. If, in the excitement of the time, there +were those to be found who did not denounce it as gentlemen think they +should, it was because they knew it was a matter wholly outside the +Constitution,--that it was a crime to which Virginia would give +adequate punishment. + +Gentlemen, I believe--yes, I know--that the people of the North are as +true to the government and the Union of the States now as our fathers +were when they stood shoulder to shoulder upon the field, fighting for +the principles upon which that Union rests. If I thought the time had +come when it would be fit or proper to consider amendments to the +Constitution at all, I believe that we should have no trouble with you, +except upon this question of slavery in the Territories. You cannot +demand of us at the North anything that we will not grant, unless it +involves a sacrifice of our principles. These we shall not sacrifice; +these you must not ask us to abandon. I believe, further,--and I +speak in all frankness, for I wish to delude no one,--if the +Constitution and the Union cannot be preserved and effectually +maintained without these new guarantees for slavery, then the Union is +not worth preserving. + +The people of the North have always submitted to the decisions of the +properly constituted powers. This obedience has been unpleasant +enough when they thought those powers were exercised for sectional +purposes; but it has always been implicitly yielded. I am ready, even +now, to go home and say that, by the decision of the Supreme Court, +slavery exists in all the Territories of the United States. We submit +to the decision, and accept its consequences. But, in view of all the +circumstances attending that decision, was it quite fair, was it quite +generous, for the gentleman from Maryland to say that under it, by the +adoption of these propositions, the South was giving up everything, the +North giving up nothing? Does he suppose the South is yielding the +point in relation to any territory which, by any probability, would +become slave territory? Something more than the decision of the +Supreme Court is necessary to establish slavery anywhere. The decision +may give the _right_ to establish it: other influences must control +the question of its actual establishment. + +I am opposed, further, to any restrictions on the acquisition of +territory. They are unnecessary. The time may come when they would +be troublesome. We may want the Canadas. The time may come when the +Canadas may wish to unite with us. Shall we tie up our hands so that +we cannot receive them, or make it forever your interest to oppose +their annexation? Such a restriction would be, by the common consent +of the people, disregarded. + +There are seven States out of the Union already. They have organized +what they claim is an independent government. They are not to be +coerced back, you say. Are the prospects very favorable that they will +return of their own accord? But _they_ will annex territory. They are +already looking to Mexico. If left to themselves, they would annex her +and all her neighbors, and we should lose our highway to the Pacific +coast. They would acquire it, and to us it would be lost forever. + +The North will consider well before she consents to this, before she +even permits it. Ever since 1820, we have pursued, in this respect, +a uniform policy. The North will hesitate long, before, by accepting +the condition you propose, she deprives the nation of the valuable +privilege, the unquestionable right, of acquiring new territory in an +honorable way. + +I have tried to look upon these propositions of the majority of the +committee as true measures of pacification. I have listened patiently +to all that has been said in their favor. But I am still unconvinced, +or, rather, I am convinced that they will do nothing for the Union. +They will prove totally inadequate; may perhaps be positively +mischievous. The North, the free States, will not adopt them,--will +not consent to these new endorsements of an institution which they do +not like, which the believe to the injurious to the interests of the +republic; and if they did adopt them, as they could only do by a +sacrifice of principles which you should not expect, the South would +not be satisfied: the slave States would not fail to find pretexts +for a course of action upon which I think they have already determined. +I see in these propositions anything but true measures of pacification. + +But the North will never consent to the separation of the States. If +the South persist in the course on which she has entered, we shall +march our armies to the Gulf of Mexico, or you will march yours to the +Great Lakes. There can be no peaceful separation. There is one way +by which war may be avoided, and the Union preserved. It is a plain +and a constitutional way. If the slave States will abandon the design +which we must infer from the remarks of the gentleman from Virginia +they have already formed, will faithfully abide by their constitutional +obligations, and remain in the union until their rights are in _fact_ +invaded, all will be well. But, if they take the responsibility of +involving the country in a civil war, of breaking up the government +which our fathers founded and our people love, but one course remains +to those who are true to that government. They must and will defend it +at every sacrifice--if necessary, to the sacrifice of their lives. + + +At the close of the session, and upon the request of my associates upon +the commission, I wrote a report to Governor Andrew, which was signed +by all the members of the delegation. Governor Andrew submitted the +report, with his approval, to the Legislature the 25th day of March. + +The character of the convention, and something of the condition of the +country may be gathered from the following extracts from the report: + +"The resolutions of the State of Virginia were passed on the 19th of +January; and it was expected that within sixteen days thereafter the +representatives of this vast country would assemble for the purpose of +devising, maturing, and recommending alterations in the Constitution of +the Republic. As a necessary consequence, the people were not +consulted in any of the States. In several, the commissioners were +appointed by the executive of each without even an opportunity to +confer with the Legislature; in others, the consent of the +representative body was secured, but in no instance were the people +themselves consulted. The measures proposed were comparatively new; +the important ones were innovations upon the established principles of +the Government, and none of them had ever been submitted to public +scrutiny. They related to the institution of slavery; and the +experience of the country justifies the assertion that any proposition +for additional securities to slavery under the flag of the nation, +must be fully discussed and well understood before its adoption, or it +will yield a fearful harvest of woe in dissentions and controversies +among the people. Nor could the undersigned have justified the act to +themselves, if they had concurred in asking Congress to propose +amendments to the Constitution unless they were prepared also to +advocate the adoption of the amendments by the people. + +"It is due to truth to say that the Convention did not possess all the +desirable characteristics of a deliberative assembly. It was in some +degree disqualified for the performance of the important task assigned +to it, by the circumstances of its constitution, to which reference has +been already made. Moreover, there were members who claimed that +certain concessions must be granted that the progress of the secession +movement might be arrested; and on the other hand there were men who +either doubted or denied the wisdom of such concessions. + +"The circumstances were extraordinary. Within the preceding ninety +days the integrity of the Union had been assailed by the attempt of +six States to overthrow its authority; seven other States were +disaffected, and some of them had assumed a menacing and even hostile +attitude. The political disturbances had been associated with or +followed by financial distress. + +"The Convention was then a body of men without a recognized and +ascertained constituency, called together in an exigency and without +preparation, and invited to initiate measures for the amendment of the +Constitution in most important particulars, and all at a moment when +the public mind was swayed by fears and alarms such as have never +before been experienced by the American people. + +"In these circumstances the undersigned thought it inexpedient to +propose amendments to the Constitution, believing that so important an +act should not be initiated and accomplished without the greatest +deliberation and care. Nor could the undersigned satisfy themselves +that any or all of the proposed amendments would even tend, in any +considerable degree, to the preservation of the Union. Although +inquiries were repeatedly made, no assurance was given that any +proposition of amendment would secure the return of the seceded States; +and it was admitted that several of the border States would ultimately +unite with the Gulf States, either within or without the limits of the +Union, as might be dictated by events yet in the future. Indeed, no +proposition was in any degree acceptable to the majority of delegates +from the border slave States that did not provide for the extension of +slavery to the Territories, and its protection and security therein." + + +XXV +THE OPENING OF THE WAR + +When the call was made for seventy-five thousand men, the Sixth +Regiment of Massachusetts was one of the first to respond. On the +night of the 16th of April some, if not all, of the regiment, were +quartered in Boston. I called upon Company B, of Groton, then in the +hall over the Williams Market. I found that they understood that the +movement meant war and duty. One of the men said to me: + +"Some of us will never see Massachusetts again." + +After the affair in Baltimore on the 19th of April, Governor Andrew +asked me to go to Washington with despatches for Mr. Lincoln and +General Scott. The message was communicated to me through Mr. John M. +Forbes. In his letter of request and appointment Governor Andrew said: + +"We need your information, influence and acquaintance with the Cabinet, +and knowledge of Eastern public sentiment, to leave immediately for +Washington. Hope you will proceed at once and open and preserve +communication between you and myself." This letter was dated April 22. +Under the same date the Governor wrote to President Lincoln: + +"Ex-Governor Boutwell has been appointed Agent of the commonwealth to +proceed to Washington to confer with you in regard to the forts in +Massachusetts and the militia." I was instructed also to see General +Wool in New York. I received a package of letters, the contents of +which were disclosed to me, one hundred dollars in gold, and a small +revolver loaded.* I took with me a young man named Augustus Bixby, +who then lived in Groton, but who had seen something of the world, +and was not daunted by the uncertainties of life. He was afterwards +a cavalry officer. During the war I one day read in the papers that +Bixby had been promoted for gallantry in an affair in the Shenandoah +Valley. Within a few days after I met him in Washington on a crutch, +or walking with the help of a cane. He had been wounded in the +contest. I said: + +"Bixby, what did you do?" He replied: + +"I don't know, except I sailed in." + +At New York I telegraphed Vice-President Hamlin, then in Maine, that +he should come as far South as New York, that he might be in a +situation to act in case of the death or capture of Mr. Lincoln, of +whom we then knew nothing. At New York, April 24, I telegraphed +Governor Andrew: + +"General Wool and Vice-President Hamlin are in favor of your taking the +responsibility of sending two regiments to take charge of the forts, +and to furnish and arm three vessels for the protection of the coast. +You can exercise the power, under the circumstance, better than anybody +else." The same day I sent this dispatch: "Send without delay a +steamer with provisions for General Butler's command at Annapolis." + +At Perryville, at the mouth of the Susquehanna, I sent Bixby with the +despatches by the first boat to Annapolis, with instructions to make +his way to Washington at the earliest moment. I followed in the next +boat. Upon my arrival at General Butler's headquarters, I learned that +Bixby had left on foot. As the troops were at work in re-laying the +track, there was no danger. Indeed, the small squads of men who had +burned bridges and torn up tracks disappeared with the arrival of +troops. At nine o'clock in the evening, a train, the first train, +carrying the New York Sixty-ninth Regiment, left for Annapolis +Junction, at which place we arrived at one o'clock in the morning. +The only light upon the train was the headlight, and we moved only +the length of the train at each inspection of the road. I made a +pillow of my small valise, and a bed of my blanket, and camped on the +floor of one of the small houses at Annapolis Junction. In the morning +I found Colonel Butterfield of the New York Twelfth and Colonel Scott, +a nephew of General Scott, who assumed the direction of affairs. He +afterwards joined the rebels. I observed also that our encampment was +commanded by hills on the north and east, and Colonel Butterfield +informed me that the picket line was a long way inside the base of the +hills. At about six o'clock in the evening, a train with troops and +three civilians was made ready for Washington. The American flag was +displayed at many of the houses on the line of the road. + +I arrived in Washington the 27th day of April. I annex a copy of a +letter that I wrote to Governor Andrew the day following: + +WASHINGTON, April 28, 1861. +To His Excellency Governor Andrew. + +Sir:--I arrived in Washington to-day, after a journey of forty-eight +hours from Philadelphia by Annapolis. There have been no mails from +the North for a week; and you may easily understand that the mighty +public sentiment of the Free States is not yet fully appreciated here. + +The President and Cabinet are gaining confidence; and the measures of +the Administration will no longer be limited to the defence of the +capital. Secretary Welles has already sent orders to Captain Hudson +to purchase six steamers, with instructions to consult you in regard +to the matter. I regret that the Secretary was not ready to put the +matter into the hands of commissioners, who would have acted +efficiently and promptly. + +Mr. Welles will accept, as a part of the quota, such vessels as may +have been purchased by Mr. Forbes. + +Senator Grimes of Iowa will probably give Mr. Crowninshield an order +for arms. The United States Government may do the same; but no +definite action has yet been taken. + +Martial law will be proclaimed here to-morrow. Colonel Mansfield will +be appointed general, and assigned to this district. He is one of the +most efficient officers in the country. + +Baltimore is to be closed in from Havre-de-Grace, from the Relay House, +from the Carlisle line, and by an efficient naval force. She will be +reduced to unconditional submission. The passage of the troops through +Maryland has had a great moral effect. The people are changing rapidly +in the country places. Many instances of a popular revolution, in +towns through which troops have passed or been stationed, have come to +my knowledge. I came to Washington with the Twelfth New York Regiment; +and from Annapolis Junction there were cheers from three fourths of the +houses by the wayside. + +Everything appears well at Annapolis, where General Butler commands in +person. There is a large body of troops, the people are gradually +gaining confidence in the army and the Government, and the regulations +seem to be effective. General Butler is popular with the officers whom +I met. He has taken command of the highlands that command the town and +the encampment. All sorts of rumors are spread among the troops +concerning an attack upon the Annapolis Station; but the place can be +defended under any conceivable circumstances. I am sorry to say, that +everything is in confusion at Annapolis Junction, and a moderate force +might, in a single night, break off the connection of this city with +the North. Each colonel, as he moves towards Washington, commands for +twelve or twenty-four hours. My own belief, however, is, that Maryland +will never see two thousand men together as a military organization +in opposition to the Government. + +I presume that your Excellency has means of obtaining information +concerning the condition of Massachusetts men, morally and physically; +but, as I am here, I shall try to obtain and transmit any information +that seems important. I may say now, that the Eighth Regiment is +quartered in the rotunda of the Capitol; and a military man, not of +Massachusetts, says, that they are already suffering from the cold +and dampness of the place. He advises tents and out-door encampment. + +I repeat what is every hour and in my hearing, that Massachusetts +has taken her place at the head of the column in support of the +Government; and our regiments are everywhere esteemed as noble examples +of citizen soldiers. I, for one, feel anxious that everything that is +proper should be done. + +I have written this communication in great haste; and I have only time +to subscribe myself your Excellency's obedient servant. + +GEORGE S. BOUTWELL. + + +The next day I called upon General Scott. It was apparent that he was +in no condition to organize or lead armies. He was lying upon a +lounge, and when he arose he walked with his hand upon his hip and gave +an account of his wound at the battle of Lundy's Lane. He was national +in his views of duty, and he spoke with earnestness in reprobation of +the conduct of Virginia. He spoke also of the efforts that had been +made to induce him to go with his State. He seemed like a man without +hope, but there were no indications of a lack of fidelity to the +country. Aside from the circumstance that he was a native of Virginia +and that Virginia was engaged in the Rebellion, it was too much to +expect that at his age he could cope with so formidable a movement +as the rebellion of eleven States. While I was in Washington I +presented to General Scott a young man, Henry S. Briggs, a son of +ex-Governor Briggs, whom General Scott had known when Governor Briggs +was in Congress. Young Briggs was a lieutenant in the Berkshire +regiment, then on duty in Washington. He wished for a corresponding +appointment in the regular army. This appointment General Scott +secured for him. Afterwards he became colonel of a Massachusetts +regiment of volunteers and at the end of the war he was a brigadier- +general of volunteers. + +I left Washington for Massachusetts May 1. I was delayed a night and +until four o'clock the day following at Annapolis, where General Butler +was in command. I had my quarters with him, and during the night the +long roll was beaten. The troops came out, and I waited for the +result, which was the discovery that the call was due to a +misunderstanding of the signal rockets. I left Annapolis in a small +steam tug that came out of the Raritan Canal. We were buffeted about +in the bay by a heavy wind, the captain lost his reckoning, anchored, +and the next morning we found ourselves uncomfortably near to the +Maryland shore. + +The next day, May 2, I reached New York and from there I sent the +following letter to Governor Andrew: + +NEW YORK, May 2, 1861. + +Sir:--I arrived here this afternoon, and I hope to report to you in +person Saturday. I had free conversation with the President, General +Scott, Mr. Seward, Mr. Chase, General Cameron, and Mr. Blair, upon +public affairs. The impression I received from all, except perhaps +Mr. Seward, was favorable to a vigorous prosecution of the war. Mr. +Seward repeated his words of December and February. "The crisis is +over." It is, however, understood at Washington that Mr. Seward +favors vigorous measures. Mr. Chase says that the policy of the +Administration is vigorous and comprehensive, as sure to succeed in +controlling the Rebellion, and preserving the whole territory of the +Union. I will only say now, that I left Washington with a more +favorable impression of the policy of the Government than I entertained +when I left Boston. + +General Cameron agreed to authorize Massachusetts to raise two +regiments in addition to that of Dwight. The papers were all made, and +only a Cabinet meeting prevented their completion on Tuesday. I did +not wish to remain another day, and I left the papers with the chief +clerk; and I also received the assurance of Colonel Ripley, that he +would give personal and prompt attention to transmitting them to +Boston. I shall expect them on Sunday. + +Colonel Ripley issued an order on Tuesday for rifling cannon. Mr. +Forbes' letter aided very much. + +I am truly your most obedient servant, +GEORGE S. BOUTWELL. + + +I was in Washington again in the month of May, and I made a third visit +the second day after the first battle of Bull Run. At one of these +visits I met General Hooker, at Mr. Sumner's quarters on F. Street. He +had then recently arrived from California and his appearance indicated +poverty. His dress was worn, and his apparel was that of a decayed man +of the world. He had called upon Senator Sumner to secure his aid in +obtaining the command of a Massachusetts regiment, he being a +Massachusetts man by birth. In the course of the conversation Hooker +said that if he could obtain a regiment, he would come to the command +of the army, and take Richmond. When he came to the command of the +army it seemed possible that his vain boast might be fulfilled in both +particulars. The cause of his failure may be the subject of debate, +but, at Chancellorsville, his orders were not obeyed. It is probable, +however, that Hooker lacked the qualities of a great commander. He +inspired his soldiers with enthusiasm, he was brave, and his heart was +in the cause. With many faults, he was one of the great soldiers of +the war, and with less sensitiveness of spirit he might have been one +of its renowned chieftains. + +I have obtained from the War Department copies of two letters that I +wrote to Gen. Cameron, Secretary of War, dated at Havre de Grace, +April 26, 1861. They throw some light on the war movements at that +time. + +HAVRE DE GRACE, _April_ 26, 1861. +HON. SIMON CAMERON: + +_Sir:_ I have written upon the letter of Governor Andrew which Mr. +Bixby will hand to you. + +I cannot too strongly impress upon the Government the importance of +authorizing Governor Andrew to procure three steamers for the +protection of the coast and to aid in a blockade of the southern ports. +The New York merchants are anxious to do the same. I hope you will +grant the order. Governor Andrew will put the work of preparation +into the hands of our best merchants, who will charge no commissions +whatever. + +The whole North is wild and determined in its enthusiasm. Should not +the Government make another requisition? They will be needed, I fear, +and a short and vigorous campaign round Washington will be advantageous +in the highest degree. + +I am, very truly, your obedient servant, +GEORGE S. BOUTWELL. + + +HAVRE DE GRACE, _April_ 26, 1861. +HON. SIMON CAMERON: + +_Sir:_ I have obtained an order from General Wool to garrison the +forts and arsenals, but it is of the utmost importance to obtain +authority to purchase at least three steamers and equip them for coast +defense. This can be done at a moderate cost and the merchants of +Boston are anxious to secure so great a protection to commerce. They +can be used effectively upon the Southern coast. I trust that you will +transmit an order to Governor Andrew by the bearer of this, Mr. +Augustus H. Bixby. + +I am, your obedient servant, +GEORGE S. BOUTWELL. + + +[* This revolver gave me and my friend, Ebenezer F. Stone, then +Adjutant-General of the State, more anxiety than all things else +connected with the expedition. It never occurred to me to return the +pistol. I discharged the barrels and laid the weapon away, only too +glad to have it out of sight. Some years after the war, the Adjutant- +General's department was investigated, and a shortage of arms was +discovered. I received a letter asking me if I had a pistol belonging +to the State. I returned the weapon which I neither wanted nor needed, +and to that extent I relieved General Stone.] + + +XXVI +THE MILITARY COMMISSION OF 1862 AND GENERAL FREMONT + +In the month of May, or early in June 1862, I received a message from +Mr. Stanton asking me to report in Washington, prepared to serve upon +a commission at Cairo, Illinois. Upon arriving at Washington, I was +informed that it would be the duty of the commission to examine claims +that might be preferred against the Government, from the States of +Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. These claims had +arisen from the operations of General Fremont and they were of great +variety. At the end the commission were of the opinion that he was +an expensive commander. Charles A. Dana was chairman of the +commission, and Judge Logan, of Springfield, Illinois, an old friend +of President Lincoln, was my associate. The health of Judge Logan +soon failed, and he was succeeded by Mr. Cullom, afterwards Governor +of Illinois, and a member of the United States Senate. + +Our life at Cairo was disagreeable to an extent that cannot be +realized easily. In the months of June and July the weather was +extremely hot. The army of General Grant had quartered in and around +the town during the preceding winter. The larger portion of the town +inside of the levee, had been covered with water to the depth of +several feet. Much of the refuse of the army, including some dead +animals, had been left upon the surface of the ground. Sickness was +general among the inhabitants. Health was the exception. We had our +quarters upon the levee, and before a long time had passed we +organized a mess with General Strong, the officer in command at that +point. For myself I drank only tea and water from Iowa ice. With this +drink and a moderate diet, I preserved my health. It was our fate +each evening to witness and endure a collision of the thunder showers, +one coming down the Mississippi, and the other down the Ohio. + +Late in the afternoon we had the benefit of a trip upon a Government +boat up the Ohio as far as Mound City. Once of a Sunday we made a +trip to Columbus, Kentucky, then in command of General Quimby, of New +York. We there met General Dodge, afterward a member of Congress from +Iowa and subsequently a successful railway operator. + +At Columbus we had a collation on the boat, where speeches were made by +officers and civilians, in support of the war and for emancipation. +On our return to Cairo, we were met by the customary evening shower, an +unwelcome attendant upon a steamboat excursion. + +My acquaintance with Mr. Dana gave me a high opinion of his business +habits and faculties, and when General Grant became President and I was +in charge of the Treasury, I urged the President to appoint Mr. Dana +collector of the port of New York. The President had already selected +Mr. Grinnell, but whether he had communicated the fact to Mr. Grinnell +I never knew. Moreover, the President had formed an unfavorable +opinion of Mr. Dana, arising from some intercourse during the war. +Consequently, my advice was unavailing. The President said, however, +that I might offer him the post of chief appraiser of the port of New +York. The offer was declined; and from that time forward Mr. Dana was +the President's bitter enemy. As another result, there was no further +communication between Mr. Dana and myself. Once I saw him upon a +steamer, but we did not recognize each other. In the year 1887, in +consequence of a paragraph in the New York _Sun_ in which my name was +mentioned, not unkindly, I wrote a brief note to Mr. Dana. Without +delay I received from him a long and almost affectionate letter, in +which he urged me to let him know when I was in New York, that he might +call upon me, and talk over some things old, and some things new. + +I called upon him in New York at his office, where we had a pleasant +chat of an hour. His office was plain, without carpets, the floor +was worn rough, rather than smooth, and the appearance of the rooms +was a striking contrast to the editorial rooms of prosperous +journalists generally. + +My experience at Cairo gave me a poor opinion of Fremont's qualities as +a business man, but in the early part of his career he had exhibited +capacity of a high order as a bold and successful explorer of the then +unknown regions of the Rocky Mountains. He had also exhibited genius +as a soldier, which led to high expectations which were not realized +when he came to important commands in the Civil War. My studied +opinion of General Fremont is contained in an article that I prepared +for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, of which society he was +an honorary member: + +ARTICLE ON GENERAL FREMONT + +It is a singular circumstance in the career of John C. Fremont that +his important services as an explorer and his contributions to science +were brought to a close when he was scarcely more than thirty-four +years of age. He was born in the State of Georgia in the year 1813, +and from the year 1842 to the year 1846 inclusive, he undertook and +carried to a successful result three expeditions from the Mississippi +River across the plains, and finally over both chains of the Rocky +Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Mr. Jefferson, during his +administration had realized the importance of securing "open over-land +commercial relations with Asia," as stated in one of his messages to +Congress, and, as a preparation for establishing such relations with +Asia, he originated and organized the expedition of Lewis and Clark, +whose duty it was to trace the affluents of the Columbia River now +known as Snake River and Clarke's Fork. + +Fremont's early education was obtained under the charge largely of Dr. +John Roberton, a Scotchman, who had been educated at Edinburgh, and who +had established himself at Charleston, S. C., as a teacher of the +ancient languages. Dr. Roberton says that in the space of a year +Fremont read four books of Caesar, six books of Vergil, nearly all of +Horace, and two books of Livy; and in Greek, all the Graeca Minora, +about half of the Graeca Majora, and four books of Homer's Iliad. At +the end of a year he entered the Junior Class of Charleston College, +where he gained high standing for study and in scholarship; but for +insubordination he was expelled from the college. + +In 1833 he was appointed teacher of mathematics in the Navy, and made +a cruise to South America, which occupied about two and a half years +of time. While absent, a law was passed creating the office of +professor of mathematics in the Navy, for which Fremont upon his return +was examined, and appointed. Without entering upon the duties of the +place, he declined the position, and accepted the post of surveyor and +railroad engineer upon the railway line between Charleston and Augusta. +In 1838 and 1839 he was associated with M. Nicollet, a Frenchman and a +member of the Academy of Science, in an exploring expedition over the +Northwestern prairie and along the valley of the Mississippi. During +his absence, he was appointed by President Van Buren a second +lieutenant in the corps of topographical engineers. Upon his return +from the Upper Mississippi, and for the period of a year, he was +engaged with Nicollet and Mr. Hassler, then the head of the Coast +Survey, in the arrangement of the scientific materials that had been +collected during the expedition, and in the preparation of a map and +a report. In 1842 he was directed by Colonel Abert, the chief of the +topographical corps, to make an exploration of the Northwestern +frontier of the State of Missouri to the Rocky Mountains, and with +special reference to an examination of what was known as South Pass in +those mountains. This expedition was on a small scale, consisting of +twenty-one men only, most of whom were of French extraction. In this +expedition he traced the waters of the Platte to the South Pass, which +he reached the 8th of August. It was stated by Dr. Linn, then a +Senator from the State of Missouri, that "over the whole course of the +road barometrical observations were made by Mr. Fremont to ascertain +the elevations both of the plains and of the mountains, astronomical +observations were made to ascertain latitudes and longitudes, the +face of the country was marked as arable or sterile, the facility of +traveling and the practicability of routes noted, the grand features +of nature described and some represented in drawings, military +positions indicated, and a large contribution to geology and botany +was made in varieties of plants, flowers, shrubs, trees and grasses, +and rocks and earths, which were enumerated." The second expedition +of May, 1843, was upon a larger scale, and it was not completed until +the month of July, 1844. He was directed to extend his survey across +the continent, on the line of travel between the State of Missouri and +the tide-water region of the Columbia. + +In its execution, much more ground was covered than had been +contemplated in the order. Fremont was the first person that visited +the basin of the Great Salt Lake who was able to furnish a scientific +and accurate description of the region. Von Humboldt, in his work +entitled "Aspects of Nature" (pp. 32-34) has given a summary of the +results reached by Fremont in his first and second expeditions, as +follows: + +"Fremont's map and geographical researches embrace the immense tract +of land extending from the confluence of the Kansas River with the +Missouri to the cataracts of the Columbia, and the missions of Santa +Barbara and the Pueblo de los Angeles in New California, presenting a +space amounting to 28 degrees of longitude (about 1,300 miles) between +the 34th and 35th parallels of north latitude. Four hundred points +have been hypsometrically determined by barometrical measurements, and +for the most part astronomically; so that it has been rendered possible +to delineate the profile above the sea's level of a tract of land +measuring 3,600 miles, with all its inflections, extending from the +north of Kansas to Fort Vancouver and to the coasts of the South Sea +(almost 720 miles more than the distance from Madrid to Tobolsk). As +I believe I was the first who attempted to represent, in geognostic +profile, the configuration of Mexico, and the Cordilleras of South +America,--for the half-perspective projections of the Siberian +traveler, the Abbe Chappe* were based upon mere, and for the most part +on very inaccurate, estimates of the falls of rivers,--it has afforded +me special satisfaction to there find the graphical method of +representing the earth's configuration in a vertical direction, that +is, the elevation of a solid over fluid parts, achieved on so vast a +scale. In the mean latitude of 37 degrees to 43 degrees, the Rocky +Mountains present, besides the great snow-crowned summits, whose height +may be compared to that of the Peak of Teneriffe, elevated plateaux of +an extent scarcely to be met with in any other part of the world, and +whose breadth from east to west is almost twice that of the Mexican +highlands. From the range of mountains which being a little westward +of Fort Laramie, to the farther side of the Wasatch Mountains, the +elevation of the soil is uninterruptedly maintained from 5,000 to +upwards of 7,000 feet above the sea level; nay, this elevated portion +occupies the whole space between the true Rocky Mountains and the +Californian snowy coast range from 34 degrees to 45 degrees north +latitude. This district, which is a kind of broad longitudinal valley, +like that of Lake Titicaca, has been named the _Great Basin_ by Joseph +Walker and Captain Fremont, travelers well acquainted with those +western regions. It is a _terra incognita_ of at least 128,000 English +square miles, almost uninhabited, and full of salt lakes, the largest +of which is 3,940 Parisian (or 4,200 English) feet above the level of +the sea, and is connected with the narrow Lake Utah,** into which the +'Rock River' (_Timpan Ogo_ in the Utah language) pours its copious +stream." + +Fremont's third expedition was commenced August 16, 1845, under +instructions to explore the interior of the region known as the Great +Basin, and the maritime ports of Oregon and California. The first +important incident of that expedition was the message of General +Castro, ordering Fremont to leave the Territory. This was in the +month of March, 1846. At the moment, Fremont refused to obey the +order, and proceeded to fortify his camp, where he raised the United +State flag, and remained for about three days. On further +consideration, however, he left his camp and proceeded north towards +Oregon. In the early part of the month of May he was overtaken by a +messenger named Neal, who informed him that Lieutenant Gillespie, an +agent of the Government at Washington, was on his way, charged with +the delivery of letters, and with verbal instructions from the +authorities. Upon receipt of this information, Fremont changed his +course, and on the second day met Gillespie, who brought only a letter +of introduction from the Secretary of State, Mr. Buchanan, with letters +and papers from Senator Benton. From Gillespie he learned that it was +the purpose of the authorities to ascertain the disposition of the +inhabitants of California, to conciliate their feelings in favor of +the United States, and to counteract as far as possible any designs of +the British Government upon that Territory. Fremont made his way to +the settled parts of California, near Monterey, where he found +Commodore Sloat in command of a United States fleet. In co-operation +with him and largely through Fremont's agency, the Mexican authorities +were dispersed, the flag of the United States was raised at Monterey +and other points, and all was accomplished before information was +received of the existence of war between the United States and Mexico. +These proceedings were justified by the Government of the United +States. In the month of December following, Brigadier-General S. W. +Kearny arrived in the Territory, and ultimately there was a conflict +between him and Commodore Stockton, who had succeeded Commodore Sloat, +as to the command of the forces in California. Until the arrival of +Kearny, Fremont had been acting under the orders of Commodore +Stockton, had raised troops, and had received from him the appointment +of Governor of the Territory. General Kearny, in asserting his +authority as commander-in-chief, ordered Fremont to raise troops and +submit himself to his orders. This Fremont declined to do, giving as +his reason that he had acted under Commodore Stockton, that it was +their duty to adjust their differences, and that until they had done +so, he should act under the orders of Commodore Stockton. This course +on his part led to his arrest while on his way to Washington, and his +trial by a court martial upon three charges: "1st, mutiny; 2nd, +disobedience of orders; and 3d, conduct prejudicial to good order and +discipline." On these charges he was convicted, and sentenced by the +court martial to be dismissed from the service. Six of the officers +who were of the court recommended him to the clemency of the President. +The President disapproved of the findings of the court as to the charge +of mutiny, but expressed the opinion that the second and third charges +were sustained by the proofs; but that, in consideration of the +valuable services of Lieutenant Colonel Fremont, the penalty of +dismissal from the service was remitted. When the findings of the +court were announced, and the action of the President was made known to +Fremont, he wrote a letter to the Adjutant-General resigning his +commission as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Army, and giving as a reason +that he could not, by accepting the clemency of the President, admit +the justice of the sentence. + +It is not easy, from a legal point of view, to justify the action of +the President. If the conduct of Fremont in refusing to recognize the +authority of General Kearny was an offence, it must have rested upon +the fact that Kearny exhibited to him evidence which should have +satisfied a reasonable person that he had authority from the President +to take command of the military forces in California; and if such +authority was exhibited to Fremont and he refused obedience, his +refusal constituted the crime of mutiny. The other offences charged +against Fremont would have followed as a matter of course; but in the +absence of proof that he was guilty of mutiny, there was no evidence +whatever on which the minor charges could be sustained. Thus ended +Fremont's military services and his career as an explorer when he was +less than thirty-four years of age. + +Fremont's subsequent career may be considered under three heads. +First, in business affairs, in which, apparently, he was unsuccessful. +Next, he was the first candidate of the Republican Party for the office +of President of the United States. His acceptance of the nomination, +and his letters and statements touching the policy and purposes of the +new organization were not merely formal, but they were pronounced +declarations in favor of the movement, with clear expressions in +harmony with the object of the party, which was the prevention of the +extension of slavery in the Territories. Although a Southern man by +birth his devotion to the freedom of the Territories was as ardent as +that of Lincoln, or any of the other leaders of the time. Finally, in +the Civil War, he made a tender of his services to the Government, and +as Major-General, and in command of the forces in the Department of +Missouri, he issued a proclamation of emancipation of the slaves within +his jurisdiction. This proclamation was countermanded by the +President, and for the sufficient reason that he reserved to himself +the absolute control of the question of the abolition of slavery in the +seceding States and within the lines of our armies. It cannot be said +that Fremont's military career was marked by any signal successes, but +there can be no doubt of his ardent devotion to the cause of his country. + +[* Chappe d'Auteroche, "Voyage en Sibirie," fait en 1761, 4 vols., +4th ed., Paris, 1768. + +** Fremont "Report of the Exploring Expedition," pp. 154 and 273-276.] + + +XXVII +ORGANIZATION OF THE INTERNAL REVENUE SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES + +Before the work at Cairo was finished I received a message from Mr. +Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, asking me to come to Washington and +take charge of the Internal Revenue Office, or rather, to organize it +under a statute then recently passed, but which I had not seen. After +a conversation with Mr. Dana, who advised me to accept the place, I +returned to Washington, where I arrived July 16, 1862. After an +interview with Mr. Chase I took the oath of office before Mr. Justice +Wayne of the Supreme Court. He was then aged and that fact may have +deterred him from following the example of his younger associate, +Justice Campbell, who resigned his office, and joined in the work of +secession. Judge Wayne was disposed to conversation, but he made no +allusion to the war and the issues involved. + +I was assigned to a small room on the first floor of the Treasury +building, on the right of the lower door fronting on Pennsylvania +Avenue. First, I read the statute and formed for myself an idea of +the process by which the machine was to be set in motion. The statute +was a remarkable exhibition of legislative wisdom under the +circumstances, but it was incomplete in parts rather than imperfect in +plan. In the course of two or three days Mr. Chase assigned to me +three clerks from other offices in the Treasury, and all of them were +very competent assistants--Mr. Estes, Mr. George Parnell, and Mr. A. B. +Johnson. The order of assignment I do not recall. Mr. Estes went to +New York in a few months, where he engaged in business. Mr. Parnell +remained in the department many years and until his death. Mr. Johnson +was subsequently transferred to the Lighthouse Board, of which he is +the chief clerk. + +We first considered what blanks would be needed to enable assessors +and collectors to perform their duties and make proper records and +returns. Then we devised the books for the local offices, and for the +offices in Washington. There was but one error as tested by experience +in the preparations of the blanks and books, and the forms were +followed in the department, except so far as changes in the law +required alteration. Thus far there has never been a fraud or +defalcation that was attributable to inadequate checks in the system. +While I was at the head of the office, Mr. Chase never required me to +retain a clerk who was incompetent or untrustworthy. There were times, +however, when he looked to appointments with reference to Presidential +preferences, and he always considered himself in the line of succession. + +Mr. Chase's mental processes were slow, but time being given, he had +the capacity to form sound opinions. Not infrequently, when I called +at his office for conference, he would say: "My mind is preoccupied-- +you must either decide for yourself, or call again." As a result, he +never gave an opinion or tendered any advice in relation to the +business of the Internal Revenue Office while I was at the head of it. +Mr. Chase had only a limited knowledge of the business of the +department. Indeed, only a very extraordinary man could have +administered the business of the department systematically, with a +daily or frequent knowledge of the doings of the many heads of bureaus +and divisions, and at the same time have matured and put into +operation, the financial measures which were required by the exigencies +of the war. + +Mr. Chase's three great measures were the Abolition of State Banks +and the substitution of the National Banking System, the issue of the +United States legal tender notes, and the issue of the Five-Twenty +Bonds. In combination, as a financial system, they enabled the country +to carry a debt of three thousand million dollars, and it is probable +that a debt of six thousand million would not have paralyzed the +public credit. It is an instance of the frailty of human nature, when +men are in the presence of great temptations, that when he became +Chief Justice of the United States, he announced the opinion that the +issue of United States legal tender notes was unconstitutional. That +measure was the key to his financial system, and a measure +indispensable to the prosecution of the war. It was a forced loan, but +in an exigency a government has as good a right to force capital into +the public service as to force men. If in 1862 Mr. Chase had acted +upon the doctrine set forth in his judicial opinion in the Hepburn +and Griswold case, the probability is that the government of Mr. +Lincoln would have been reduced financially to an equality with the +government of the Confederate States. The ultimate reversal of that +opinion is the most important act of the Supreme Court. It gives to +the political department of the Government, the power to convert all +the resources of the country into the means of defence in time of war, +foreign or domestic. + +While I held the office of commissioner of internal revenue, I had +occasion to consult Mr. Bates, the Attorney-General. He was a kind +hearted gentleman, but lacking in vigor and official independence. + +There was no provision in the statute for a cashier. The law +contemplated that the money would be paid to the commissioner. As it +was impossible for me to perform that duty personally, I asked Mr. +Chase for authority to appoint Mr. Marshall Conant, who had been and +perhaps then was principal of the Normal School, at Bridgewater, Mass., +a clerk in the office, and assign him to duty as cashier. He was +appointed to a twelve hundred dollar clerkship, from which he was +advanced to fourteen and then to sixteen hundred dollars. From +September 1, 1862, to March 3, 1863, he collected and accounted for +about thirty-seven million dollars, without any other security than his +own good name, and all for a compensation of about eight hundred +dollars. I urged Congress to make some adequate compensation, but the +request was neglected. When I was in the Senate, I renewed the effort +in behalf of his widow, but the attempt was a failure. + +The organization of the office was effected by systematic processes. +From manufacturers, from assessors and collectors, and from other +interested parties numerous inquiries came to the office. The letters +containing these inquiries were thrown into a basket, and reserved for +the evening sessions, at which the heads of divisions--as divisions were +created--were required to attend. These letters were read at the +conferences, and when a conclusion was reached, the letter containing +the inquiry was put aside for answer. The other letters were held for +further consideration. All unanswered letters were read and considered +every evening. Letters often remained unanswered for days, and perhaps +for weeks, but at length the answer would be reached. By this process +the decisions were rendered harmonious. I had the aid of two short- +hand writers, and between 8:30 and 10 A. M., I was able usually to +dictate the answers and in sufficient quantity to occupy the short-hand +writers till 3 o'clock P. M., when the answers were submitted to me. +These I read, corrected and signed. They were then referred to the +respective divisions for future guidance. Thereafter all inquiries +which had been so answered, were treated as routine business, and the +letters in reply were signed without inquiry by clerks or by myself. +Thus it happened that we were not often compelled to reverse our +rulings, and generally they were sustained by the courts. + +Mr. S. M. Clark, then superintendent of the Bureau of Printing, was +greatly disappointed when I decided to reject all his designs for +stamps, and required him to introduce the likeness of Washington after +Stuart into each stamp. As far as I know, the internal revenue stamps +were never approved or criticized by the critics nor by the public. +After advertisement a contract was made with Messrs. Butler and +Carpenter, of Philadelphia, to furnish the stamps of all sizes, and +to meet the expense of the engraving, at the rate of thirteen cents +per thousand. In the year 1873 I received from Mr. Carpenter an album +which contained proof specimens of every internal revenue adhesive +stamp, public and private, engraved and printed, previous to March, +1873. This volume may contain the only complete collection of stamps +issued from the Internal Revenue Office previous to that year. + +When we were about to make appointments of assessors, and of collectors +of internal revenue, Mr. Thurlow Weed called at the office, and said +that if I would allow him to see the New York papers he would give me +his opinion of the qualifications of the candidates, and any facts +within his knowledge. This he did, and with entire fairness, as I +now believe. He distinguished between the Seward men and the opponents +of Seward, treating their merits and weaknesses without prejudice or +feeling. Again, when the collectors' bonds had been filed, he examined +them, and under his advice, the principals, in several cases, were +required to add to the strength of the security. Mr. Chase took no +part in the appointment of collectors and assessors, beyond the +designation of two collectors, one in Ohio, and one in Massachusetts, +with whom he was acquainted. Mr. Lincoln also designated two, one in +Illinois and one in California, and for the same reason. Of these, +three proved unworthy. They may have assumed upon the way of their +appointment, as security against discipline or removal. The rest were +appointed upon written recommendations, and for the most part the +duties were well performed to the end of their terms, and some of them +held their places for more than twenty years. The appointments were +made in August and September when visits to Washington were not +agreeable. In a number of recommendations for a candidate, if he is +not entirely worthy, some of the letters of commendation will indicate +weakness. The whole ground will not be covered, or there will be +qualifications. A candidate so weakened should always be passed by. +Letters are the safest basis of action in appointments to office. +Personal appeals are made most usually by interested parties. + +At the time of the disasters to Pope and McClellan, Mr. Chase was +demoralized completely. He said to me: + +"We have only to wait for the end." + +He took me to the President, and said that he could take no part in +the appointments. In that period Mr. Chase was very bitter in his +criticisms of the President. He thought him very slow in regard to +emancipation. Of this opinion there was a formidable knot around +Washington, Mr. Chase and Mr. Sumner being at their head. Indeed, +their opinion in that particular was shared by many, myself among them, +but I never lost confidence in the purposes of Mr. Lincoln, and I well +knew that the way of safety was to maintain the closest relations with +him. No one who knew him had any ground to doubt his good intentions. +The truth was, that Mr. Chase was a candidate for the Presidency +whenever he had the courage to believe in the preservation of the +Government. + +From July to the end of December, 1862, I went to the office before +breakfast, then during the day, and then again in the evening. My only +exercise was a ride on horseback after office hours and before dinner. +When Pope's army was driven within the entrenchments of Washington, +General Banks was made military commander of the district. I was then +living in a house at the corner of G and Twenty-first Streets, which my +friend Mr. Hooper tendered me during the recess of Congress upon the +condition that I would retain, pay and maintain his servants. Among +them was his cook, Monaky, who had been cook for Mr. Webster. When +Fletcher Webster was killed, she was in great grief. I invited General +Banks to make his quarters with me, and I had thus some means of +knowing the condition of affairs in the army and around the district. + +While he was with me, we called upon General Hooker at the asylum, the +Insane Hospital, on the east side of the east branch of the Potomac +River, to which place he had been sent to be treated for a wound in his +leg, which he had received at the Battle of Antietam. He was violent +in his denunciation of McClellan for not using his entire force, and +for not following the enemy--claiming that the whole body might have +been destroyed. Barring his violence of language, and the impropriety +of criticising his commander, there can be no doubt of the justice of +what he said. McClellan retained upon the left bank of the Antietam, +a body of men whose participation in the battle at the opportune moment +would have changed a qualified victory into a rout of the enemy. Lee +was saved at Antietam and at Gettysburg by the incompetency of +McClellan and Meade. + +The movements by Lee in crossing the Potomac in 1862 and again in 1863 +were most unfortunate for the Confederacy, and with Grant, or Sherman, +or Sheridan, or Logan in command of our forces, must have resulted +disastrously. It was the necessity of the situation that we were +compelled to go to Lee, wherever he might choose to place himself. +When he assumed the offensive, and abandoned his base, he exchanged +positions, and greatly to his disadvantage. That he escaped +destruction was due to his good fortune and to our incompetency and +not to his own merit as commander. + +The Sunday morning after Pope's defeat, David Dudley Field called at +my office at the Treasury, and after some conversation upon the +condition of affairs, he said he wished to see the President. I aided +him in securing an interview. What was the object of this interview +with the President I cannot say, but his conversation led my mind to +the conclusion that he thought himself qualified for the command of +the army. + +The events of that day made a lasting impression upon my mind. The +city was filled with troops, the hospitals, churches and other +buildings were crowded with the wounded; the streets were stuffed with +ambulances, baggage wagons, artillery, and material of war. The hills +were dotted with tents, and the officers and men were discontented and +almost in a state of mutiny. The demand for the restoration of +McClellan was almost universal. There can be no doubt that he was then +adored by the troops. In six months that feeling had given place to a +feeling of indifference or positive distrust as to his capacity of +integrity of purpose. + +During the preceding week, I had made many attempts to secure an +interview with the President in regard to the appointment of collectors +and assessors, as they were to commence their duties under the law +September 1. Finally he gave me Sunday at 11 o'clock. He canvassed +the papers and considered the merits of the candidates with as much +coolness and care apparently, as he would have exhibited in a condition +of profound peace. When the business was ended, he asked me what I +thought about the command of the army. I said unhesitatingly that the +restoration of McClellan seemed the only safe policy. I had seen and +heard so much, that I was apprehensive of serious trouble in the army +if he should again be superseded. I then said that emancipation +seemed the only way out of our troubles. He said in reply: + +"Must we not wait for something that looks like a victory? Would not +a proclamation now appear as _brutum fulmen?"_--the only Latin I ever +heard from the President. + +In Gorham's Life of Stanton, it appears that the Cabinet advised +against the restoration of McClellan, and that a vigorous protest was +signed by three members, which, however, was not presented. + +During the autumn and winter of 1862-3, I was in the habit of calling +at the War Office for news, when I left the Treasury--usually between +nine and eleven o'clock. Not infrequently I met Mr. Lincoln on the +way or at the department. When the weather was cold he wore a gray +shawl, muffled closely around his neck and shoulders. There was great +anxiety for General Grant in 1863, when he was engaged in the +movement across the Mississippi. At that time I went to the War Office +daily. One evening I met the President in front of the Executive +Mansion, on his way back from the War Department. I said: + +"Any news, Mr. President?" + +"Come in and I will tell you!" + +I knew from the tones of his voice that he had good news. He read the +dispatch, and then by the maps followed the course that Grant had +taken. The news he had received was from Grant himself. From the 4th +of March, 1861, I had not seen Mr. Lincoln as cheerful as he was when +he read the dispatch, and traced the campaign on the map. He felt, +evidently, that the end was approaching--although it was nearly two +years away. + +As I had been elected to the House of Representatives in November, +1862, I resigned my office of commissioner of internal revenue March +3, 1863. Mr. Chase was very unwilling to have me leave, and he +endeavored to satisfy me that there was neither illegality nor +impropriety in my continuing until the meeting of Congress. I did not +agree to his view of the law, and moreover, Congress had so changed the +law that the commissioner was required to give bonds. In presence of +that requirement I should have left the place. By the same act a +cashier was authorized, and thus it happened that when the commissioner +was actually in receipt of the moneys the Government had no security +and yet security was required when he was deprived of the power to +touch one cent of the receipts. I remained at Washington from March 3 +to August, engaged in the preparation of a work upon the Revenue +System. This volume contains the rulings and decisions by me most of +which have been sustained by the courts or justified by experience.* + +My successor was Joseph J. Lewis, a country lawyer from Pennsylvania. +He had written a biography of Mr. Lincoln, and he had been the +President's choice at the outset. When I resigned, the President had +his way. Whether Mr. Chase presented any other person I cannot say. +Mr. Lewis had no idea of the work of administration. When questions +were submitted to the office, he proceeded to prepare an answer which +he wrote with a quill pen in his own hand. At the beginning he sent +off his answers without the knowledge of the chiefs of division, and in +some instances a newspaper report was the first information that the +subordinates obtained that a decision had been made. In some instances +he passed upon old questions, without any inquiry or examination, until +it was discovered that the head of a division was ruling one way and +Mr. Lewis was ruling another way at the same time. + +When I left the office in March, 1863, Mr. Chase said to me that it +exceeded in magnitude the entire Treasury Department, March 1861. It +was in fact the largest Government department ever organized in +historical times, and it was organized without a precedent. By its +machinery, it became finally so vast, that three hundred and fifty +million dollars were assessed and collected in a single year. In the +thirty-eight years of its existence, the gross collections have +amounted to $5,524,363,255.89. It has existed eight and thirty years +with no other changes than such as have been required by the change +of laws. The frame work, including the system of bookkeeping with its +checks and tests, remains. + +When I entered upon the work in July, I examined the records of the +Excise Bureau established during the War of 1812, but they furnished +no aid whatever in the execution of the work that was before me. I had +neither time nor opportunity to study the excise system of Great +Britain; and hence the organization of the system of the United States +was based upon, and grew out of, the requirements of the law. I do not +deem this a misfortune. The public anxiety in regard to the +construction of the law induced a large amount of correspondence with +persons in various parts of the country, and in the month of October +the letters sent numbered occasionally eight hundred per day. Many of +these letters were formal, and others were repetitions of those +previously given; but each day compelled attention to a large number +of new questions. + +The practice of our office in the construction of the law was +controlled by a few leading principles. + +First: to levy a tax in those cases only which were clearly provided +for by the statute and, consequently, whenever a reasonable doubt +existed, the decision was against the Government and in favor of the +contestant. + +Second: In deciding whether an article was or was not a manufacture, +it was the practice to ascertain how it was regarded by business men at +the time the excise law was passed; in all cases abstaining from +inquiry as to the mode of preparation, or the nature or extent of the +change produced. If the article in question was regarded by the makers +and by business men as an article of commerce, and it was produced by +hand or machinery, it was the practice to treat it as a manufacture +under the law, unless specially exempt. + +Third: Upon articles manufactured and removed for consumption by the +manufacturer, the tax was assessed precisely as it would have been +assessed if the articles had been removed for sale. + +Fourth: In considering the law relating to the use of stamps, it was +the rule of the office to give that signification to the name used in +the statute descriptive of various instruments subject to stamp tax, +which was ordinarily given to such descriptive terms by business and +professional men. In the year 1901 it may be assumed that the +Internal Revenue Office will exist while the Government shall exist, +although it came into being as a war measure and as a temporary policy. + +[* In the early sixties I was associated in the profession with a man +eight years my junior, John Quincy Adams Griffin. He was a man of +infinite jest, but lacking in fancy. His letters and other writings +would make a volume of no mean quality. His death came too early for +an extended and lasting reputation. In his sallies he did not spare +his friends, and he wounded his opponents. On one occasion as we were +upon the street I was induced to buy a paper by a boy's cry "Great +battle!" When I opened the paper the sheet was a blank. I said: + +"What do you suppose will become of that wretch?" + +Alluding to the fact that I was about forty years of age when I was +admitted to the bar, Griffin said: + +"I think he will study law and enter the profession rather late in +life." + +His last letter to me was as solemn as death itself, but he could not +omit an instance of his habit: + +"The doctors tell me that I have water around my heart, but I know it +isn't so, for I have drank nothing but beer for six months." + +This paragraph was commenced for the purpose of citing another instance +of his quality. In our office was a volume of my treatise on the +Excise and Internal Revenue Laws of the United States. Many years +after Griffin's death I found this entry on the fly-leaf of the volume: + +"DEDICATION +"To the memory of Caesar Augustus in whose reign there went forth the +decree that all the world should be taxed, this book is respectfully +dedicated by the AUTHOR."] + + +END OF VOL. I. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public +Affairs, Vol. 1, by George Boutwell + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REMINISCENCES OF SIXTY YEARS *** + +***** This file should be named 19828.txt or 19828.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/8/2/19828/ + +Produced by An Anonymous volunteer + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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