diff options
Diffstat (limited to '28456.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 28456.txt | 11488 |
1 files changed, 11488 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/28456.txt b/28456.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7737ee5 --- /dev/null +++ b/28456.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11488 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 6 of 8, by Various + +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: Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 6 of 8 + A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more + than 200 of the most prominent personages in History + +Author: Various + +Editor: Charles F. Horne + +Release Date: March 30, 2009 [EBook #28456] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREAT MEN AND FAMOUS WOMEN. *** + + + + +Produced by Sigal Alon, Christine P. Travers and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Mme. Roland in the Prison of Ste. Pelagie.] + + + + +GREAT MEN AND FAMOUS WOMEN + + +_A Series of Pen and Pencil Sketches of_ + +THE LIVES OF MORE THAN 200 OF THE MOST PROMINENT PERSONAGES IN HISTORY + + +VOL. VI. + + + + +Copyright, 1894, BY SELMAR HESS + +edited by Charles F. Horne + +[Illustration: Publisher's arm.] + +New-York: Selmar Hess Publisher + + +Copyright, 1894, by SELMAR HESS. + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOLUME VI. + + + SUBJECT AUTHOR PAGE + + BENEDICT ARNOLD, _Edgar Fawcett_, 207 + PETER COOPER, _Clarence Cook_, 299 + CHARLOTTE CORDAY, _Oliver Optic_, 229 + GENERAL GEORGE A. CUSTER, _Elbridge S. Brooks_, 391 + SIR HUMPHRY DAVY, _John Timbs, F.S.A._, 277 + THOMAS ALVA EDISON, _Clarence Cook_, 404 + JOHN ERICSSON, _Martha J. Lamb_, 311 + CYRUS W. FIELD, _Murat Halstead_, 354 + GENERAL JOHN C. FREMONT, _Jane Marsh Parker_, 340 + ROBERT FULTON, _Oliver Optic_, 267 + WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, _William Lloyd Garrison_, 318 + GENERAL CHARLES GEORGE + GORDON, _Colonel R. H. Veitch, R.E._, 384 + NATHAN HALE, _Rev. Edward Everett Hale_, 212 + ANDREAS HOFER, 246 + DR. EDWARD JENNER, _John Timbs, F.S.A._, 263 + ELISHA KENT KANE, _General A. W. Greely_, 325 + THADDEUS KOSCIUSKO, 216 + LOUIS KOSSUTH, 304 + MARQUIS DE LA FAYETTE, _William F. Peck_, 221 + FERDINAND DE LESSEPS, _Clarence Cook_, 334 + DAVID LIVINGSTONE, _Professor W. G. Blaikie, L.L.D._, 350 + _Letter of Affection and + Advice from Livingstone + to his Children_, 353 + QUEEN LOUISE OF PRUSSIA, _Mrs. Francis G. Faithfull_, 249 + MARIE ANTOINETTE, _Mrs. Octavius Freire Owen_, 241 + _Letter to Marie Antoinette + from Maria Theresa on the + Duties of a Sovereign_, 242 + SAMUEL F. B. MORSE, 297 + FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE, _Lizzie Alldridge_, 369 + DR. LOUIS PASTEUR, _Dr. Cyrus Edson_, 378 + MADAME ROLAND, _Ella Wheeler Wilcox_, 233 + GENERAL SAN MARTIN, _Hezekiah Butterworth_, 281 + HENRY M. STANLEY, _Noah Brooks_, 395 + GEORGE STEPHENSON, _Professor C. M. Woodward_, 286 + QUEEN VICTORIA, _Donald Macleod, D.D._, 361 + JAMES WATT, _John Timbs, F.S.A._, 256 + WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, 272 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +VOLUME VI. + + +PHOTOGRAVURES + + ILLUSTRATION ARTIST TO FACE PAGE + + MME. ROLAND IN THE PRISON OF + STE. PELAGIE, _Evariste Carpentier_ _Frontispiece_ + THE ARCH OF STEEL, _Jean Paul Laurens_ 224 + CHARLOTTE CORDAY AND MARAT, _Paul-Jacques-Aime Baudry_ 230 + MARIE ANTOINETTE, _Theophile Gide_ 244 + QUEEN LOUISE VISITING THE POOR, _Hugo Haendler_ 250 + THE FIRST VACCINATION--DR. JENNER, _Georges-Gaston Melingue_ 266 + VICTORIA GREETED AS QUEEN, _H. T. Wells_ 362 + PASTEUR IN HIS LABORATORY, _Albert Edelfelt_ 380 + + + + +WOOD-ENGRAVINGS AND TYPOGRAVURES + + ANDREAS HOFER LED TO EXECUTION, _Franz Defregger_ 248 + WATT DISCOVERING THE CONDENSATION + OF STEAM, _Marcus Stone_ 256 + SAMUEL F. B. MORSE, INVENTOR OF + THE TELEGRAPH, _From a photograph_ 298 + CUTTING THE CANAL AT PANAMA, _Melton Prior_ 338 + WINDSOR CASTLE, _G. Montbard_ 364 + GORDON ATTACKED BY EL MAHDI'S + ARABS, _W. H. Overend_ 388 + CUSTER'S LAST FIGHT, _A. R. Ward_ 394 + STANLEY SHOOTING THE RAPIDS OF + THE CONGO, _W. H. Overend_ 400 + THOMAS A. EDISON--THE WIZARD OF + MENLO PARK, 406 + + + + +BENEDICT ARNOLD[1] + + [Footnote 1: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By EDGAR FAWCETT + +(1741-1801) + +[Illustration: Benedict Arnold.] + + +Some of Arnold's biographers have declared that he was a very +vicious boy, and have chiefly illustrated this fact by painting him +as a ruthless robber of birds'-nests. But a great many boys who +began life by robbing birds'-nests have ended it much more +creditably. The astonishing and interesting element in Benedict +Arnold's career was what one might term the anomaly and incongruity +of his treason. Born at Norwich, Conn., in 1741, he was blessed from +his earliest years by wholesome parental influences. The education +which he received was an excellent one, considering his colonial +environment. Tales of his boyish pluck and hardihood cannot be +disputed, while others that record his youthful cruelty are +doubtless the coinings of slander. It is certain that in 1755, when +the conflict known as "the old French war" first broke out, he gave +marked proof of patriotism, though as yet the merest lad. Later, at +the very beginning of the Revolution, he left his thriving business +as a West India merchant in New Haven and headed a company of +volunteers. Before the end of 1775 he had been made a commissioned +colonel by the authorities of Massachusetts, and had marched through +a sally-port, capturing the fortress of Ticonderoga, with tough old +Ethan Allen at his side and 83 "Green Mountain Boys" behind him. +Later, at the siege of Quebec, he behaved with splendid courage. +Through great difficulties and hardships he dauntlessly led his band +to the high-perched and almost impregnable town. Pages might be +filled in telling how toilsome was this campaign, now requiring +canoes and bateaux, now taxing the strength of its resolute little +horde with rough rocks, delusive bogs and all those fiercest +terrors of famine which lurk in a virgin wilderness. Bitter cold, +unmerciful snow-falls, drift-clogged streams, pelting storms, were +constant features of Arnold's intrepid march. When we realize the +purely unselfish and disinterested motive of this march, which has +justly been compared to that of Xenophon with his 10,000, and to the +retreat of Napoleon from Moscow as well, we stand aghast at the +possibility of its having been planned and executed by one who +afterward became the basest of traitors. + +During the siege of Quebec Arnold was severely wounded, and yet he +obstinately kept up the blockade even while he lay in the hospital, +beset by obstacles, of which bodily pain was doubtless not the +least. The arrival of General Wooster from Montreal with +reinforcements rid Arnold, however, of all responsibility. Soon +afterward the scheme of capturing Quebec and inducing the Canadas to +join the cause of the United Colonies, came to an abrupt end. But in +his desire to effect this purpose Arnold had identified himself with +such lovers of their country as Washington, Schuyler, and +Montgomery. And if the gallant Montgomery had then survived and +Arnold had been killed, history could not sufficiently have +eulogized him as a hero. Soon afterward he was promoted to the rank +of brigadier-general, and on October 11, 1776, while commanding a +flotilla of small vessels on Lake Champlain, he gained new celebrity +for courage. The enemy was greatly superior in number to Arnold's +forces. "They had," says Bancroft, "more than twice his weight of +metal and twice as many fighting vessels, and skilled seamen and +officers against landsmen." Arnold was not victorious in this naval +fray, but again we find him full of lion-like valor. He was in the +Congress galley, and there with his own hands often aimed the cannon +on its bloody decks against the swarming masses of British gunboats. +Arnold's popularity was very much augmented by his fine exploits on +Lake Champlain. "With consummate address," says Sparks, "he +penetrated the enemy's lines and brought off his whole fleet, +shattered and disabled as it was, and succeeded in saving six of his +vessels, and, it might be added, most of his men." Again, at the +battle of Danbury he tempted death countless times; and at Loudon's +Ferry and Bemis's Heights his prowess and nerve were the perfection +of martial merit. It has been stated by one or two historians of +good repute that Arnold was not present at all during the battle of +Saratoga; but the latest and most trustworthy researches on this +point would seem to indicate that he commanded there with discretion +and skill. He was now a major-general, but his irascible spirit had +previously been hurt by the tardiness with which this honor was +conferred upon him, five of his juniors having received it before +himself. He strongly disliked General Gates, too, and quarrelled +with him because of what he held to be unfair behavior during the +engagement at Bemis's Heights. At Stillwater, a month or so later in +the same year (1777), he issued orders without Gates's permission, +and conducted himself on the field with a kind of mad frenzy, riding +hither and thither and seeking the most dangerous spots. All concur +in stating, however, that his disregard of life was admirable, in +spite of its foolish rashness. In this action he was also severely +wounded. + +One year later he was appointed to the command of Philadelphia, and +here he married the daughter of a prominent citizen, Edward Shippen. +This was his second marriage; he had been a widower for a number of +years before its occurrence, and the father of three sons. Every +chance was now afforded Arnold of wise and just rulership. In spite +of past disputes and adventures not wholly creditable, he still +presented before the world a fairly clean record, and whatever minor +blemishes may have spotted his good name, these were obscured by the +almost dazzling lustre of his soldierly career. But no sooner was he +installed in his new position at Philadelphia than he began to show, +with wilful perversity, those evil impulses which thus far had +remained relatively latent. Almost as soon as he entered the town he +disclosed to its citizens the most offensive traits of arrogance and +tyranny. But this was not all. Not merely was he accused on every +side of such faults as the improper issuing of passes, the closing +of Philadelphia shops on his arrival, the imposition of menial +offices upon the sons of freemen performing military duty, the use +of wagons furnished by the State for transporting private property; +but misdeeds of a far graver nature were traced to him, savoring of +the criminality that prisons are built to punish. The scandalous +gain with which he sought to fill a spendthrift purse caused wide +and vehement rebuke. For a man of such high and peculiar place his +commercial dabblings and speculative schemes argued most deplorably +against him. There seems to be no doubt that he made personal use of +the public moneys with which he was intrusted; that he secured by +unworthy and illegal means a naval State prize, brought into port by +a Pennsylvanian ship; and that he meditated the fitting up of a +privateer, with intent to secure from the foe such loot on the high +seas as piratical hazard would permit. His house in Philadelphia was +one of the finest that the town possessed; he drove about in a +carriage and four; he entertained with excessive luxury and a large +retinue of servants; he revelled in all sorts of pompous parade. +Such ostentation would have roused adverse comment amid the simple +colonial surroundings of a century ago, even if he had merely been a +citizen of extraordinary wealth. But being an officer intrusted with +the most important dignities in a country both struggling for its +freedom and impoverished as to funds, he now played a part of +exceptional shame and folly. + +Naturally his arraignment before the authorities of the State soon +followed. The Council of Pennsylvania tried him, and though their +final verdict was an extremely gentle one, its very mildness of +condemnation proved poison to his truculent pride. Washington, the +commander-in-chief, reprimanded him, but with language of exquisite +lenity. Still, Arnold never forgave the stab that was then so +deservingly yet so pityingly dealt him. + +His colossal treason--one of the most monstrous in all the records +of history, soon afterward began its wily work. Under the name of +_Gustavus_ he opened a correspondence with Sir Henry Clinton, an +English officer in command at New York. Sir Henry at once scented +the sort of villainy which would be of vast use to his cause, +however he might loathe and contemn its designer. He instructed his +aide-de-camp, Major John Andre, to send cautious and pseudonymic +replies. In his letters Arnold showed the burning sense of wrong +from which he believed himself (and with a certain amount of +justice) to be suffering. He had, when all is told, received harsh +treatment from his country, considering how well he had served it in +the past. Even Irving, that most dispassionate of historians, has +called the action of the court-martial just mentioned an +"extraordinary measure to prepossess the public mind against him." +Beyond doubt, too, he had been repeatedly assailed by slanders and +misstatements. The animosity of party feeling had more than once +wrongfully assailed him, and his second marriage to the daughter of +a man whose Tory sympathies were widely known had roused political +hatreds, unsparing and headstrong. + +But these facts are merely touched upon to make more clear the +motive of his infamous plot. Determined to give the enemy a great +vantage in return for the pecuniary indemnity that he required of +them, this unhappy man stooped low enough to ask and obtain from +Washington, the command of West Point. Andre, who had for months +written him letters in a disguised hand under the name of John +Anderson, finally met him, one night, at the foot of a mountain +about six miles below Stony Point, called the Long Clove. Arnold, +with infinite cunning, had devised this meeting, and had tempted the +adventurous spirit of Andre, who left a British man-of-war called +the Vulture in order to hold converse with his fellow-conspirator. +But before the unfortunate Andre could return to his ship (having +completed his midnight confab and received from Arnold the most +damning documentary evidence of treachery) the Vulture was fired +upon from Teller's Point by a party of Americans, who had secretly +carried cannon thither during the earlier night. Andre was thus +deserted by his own countrymen, for the Vulture moved away and left +him with a man named Joshua Smith, a minion in Arnold's employ. Of +poor Andre's efforts to reach New York, of his capture and final +pathetic execution, we need not speak. On his person, at the time of +his arrest, was found a complete description of the West Point post +and garrison--documentary evidence that scorched with indelible +disgrace the name of the man who had supplied it. + +On September 25, 1780, Arnold escaped to a British sloop-of-war +anchored below West Point. He was made a colonel in the English +army, and is said to have received the sum of L6,315 as the price of +his treachery. The command of a body of troops in Connecticut was +afterward given him, and he then showed a rapacity and intolerance +that well consorted with the new position he had so basely +purchased. The odium of his injured countrymen spoke loudly +throughout the land he had betrayed. He was burned in effigy +countless times, and a growing generation was told with wrath and +scorn the abhorrent tale of his turpitude. Meanwhile, as if by +defiant self-assurance to wipe away the perfidy of former acts, he +issued a proclamation to "the inhabitants of America," in which he +strove to cleanse himself from blame. This address, teeming with +flimsy protestations of patriotism, reviling Congress, vituperating +France as a worthless and sordid ally of the Crown's rebellious +subjects, met on all sides the most contemptuous derision. Arnold +passed nearly all the remainder of his life--eleven years or +thereabouts--in England. He died in London, worn out with a nervous +disease, on June 14, 1801. It is a remarkable fact that his second +wife, who had till the last remained faithful to him, suffered +acutely at his death, and both spoke and wrote of him in accents of +strongest bereavement. + +To the psychologic student of human character, Benedict Arnold +presents a strangely fascinating picture. Elements of good were +unquestionably factors of his mental being. But pride, revenge, +jealousy, and an almost superhuman egotism fatally swayed him. He +desired to lead in all things, and he had far too much vanity, far +too little self-government, and not half enough true morality to +lead with success and permanence in any. The wrongs which beyond +doubt his country inflicted upon him he was incapable of bearing +like a stoic. Virile and patriotic from one point of view, he was +childish and weak-fibred from another. He has been likened to +Marlborough, though by no means so great a soldier. Yet it is true +that John Churchill won his dukedom by deserting his former +benefactor, James II, and joining the Whig cause of William of +Orange. If the Revolution had been crushed, we cannot blind our eyes +to the fact that Arnold's treason would have received from history +far milder dealing than is accorded it now. Even the radiant name of +Washington would very probably have shone to us dimmed and blurred +through a mist of calamity. Posterity may respect the patriot whose +star sinks in unmerited failure, but it bows homage to him if he +wages against despotism a victorious fight. Supposing that Arnold's +surrender of West Point had extinguished that splendid spark of +liberty which glowed primarily at Lexington and Bunker Hill, the +chances are that he might have received an English peerage and died +in all the odor of a distinction as brilliant as it would have been +undeserved. The triumph of the American rebellion so soon after he +had ignominiously washed his hands of it, sealed forever his own +social doom. That, it is certain, was most severe and drastic. The +money paid him by the British Government was accursed as were the +thirty silver pieces of Iscariot; for his passion to speculate +ruined him financially some time before the end of his life, and he +breathed his last amid comparative poverty and the dread of still +darker reverses. + +Extreme sensitiveness is apt to accompany a spirit of just his +high-strung, petulant, and spleenful sort. Beyond doubt he must have +suffered keen torments at the disdain with which he was everywhere +met in English society, and chiefly among the military officers whom +his very conduct, renegade though it was, had in a measure forced to +recognize him. When Lord Cornwallis gave his sword to Washington, +its point pierced Arnold's breast with a wound rankling and +incurable. He had played for high stakes with savage and devilish +desperation. Our national independence meant his future slavery; our +priceless gain became his irretrievable loss. It is stated that as +death approached him he grew excessively anxious about the risky and +shattered state of his affairs. His mind wandered, as Mrs. Arnold +writes, and he fancied himself once more fighting those battles +which had brought him honor and fame. It was then that he would call +for his old insignia of an American soldier and would desire to be +again clothed in them. "Bring me, I beg of you," he is reported to +have said, "the epaulettes and sword-knots which Washington gave me. +Let me die in my old American uniform, the uniform in which I fought +my battles!" And once, it is declared, he gave vent to these most +significant and terrible words: "God forgive me for ever putting on +any other!" That country which he forswore in the hour of its direst +need can surely afford to forgive Benedict Arnold as well. Grown the +greatest republic of which history keeps any record, America need +not find it difficult both to forget the wretched frailties of this, +her grossly misguided son, and at the same time to remember what +services he performed for her while as yet his baleful qualities had +not swept beyond all bounds of restraint. + +[Signature: Edgar Fawcett.] + + + + +NATHAN HALE[2] + + [Footnote 2: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By Rev. EDWARD EVERETT HALE + +(1755-1776) + +[Illustration: Nathan Hale.] + + +Nathan Hale, a martyr soldier of the American Revolution, was born +in Coventry, Conn., on June 6, 1755. When but little more than +twenty-one years old he was hanged, by order of General William +Howe, as a spy, in the city of New York, on September 22, 1776. + +At the great centennial celebration of the Revolution, and the part +which the State of Connecticut bore in it, an immense assembly of +the people of Connecticut, on the heights of Groton, took measures +for the erection of a statue in Hale's honor. Their wish has been +carried out by their agents in the government of the State. A bronze +statue of Hale is in the State Capitol. Another bronze statue of him +has been erected in the front of the Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford. +Another is in the city of New York. + +Nathan Hale's father was Richard Hale, who had emigrated to +Coventry, from Newbury, Mass., in 1746, and had married Elizabeth, +the daughter of Joseph Strong. By her he had twelve children, of +whom Nathan was the sixth. + +Richard Hale was a prosperous and successful farmer. He sent to Yale +College at one time his two sons, Enoch and Nathan, who had been +born within two years of each other. This college was then under the +direction of Dr. Daggett. Both the young men enjoyed study, and +Nathan Hale, at the exercises of Commencement Day took what is +called a part, which shows that he was among the thirteen scholars +of highest rank in his class. + +From the record of the college society to which he belonged, it +appears that he was interested in their theatrical performances. +These were not discouraged by the college government, and made a +recognized part of the amusements of the college and the town. Many +of the lighter plays brought forward on the English stage were thus +produced by the pupils of Yale College for the entertainment of the +people of New Haven. + +When he graduated, at the age of eighteen, he probably intended at +some time to become a Christian minister, as his brother Enoch did. +But, as was almost a custom of the time, he began his active life as +a teacher in the public schools, and early in 1774 accepted an +appointment as the teacher of the Union Grammar School, a school +maintained by the gentlemen of New London, Conn., for the higher +education of their children. Of thirty-two pupils, he says, "ten are +Latiners and all but one of the rest are writers." + +In his commencement address Hale had considered the question whether +the higher education of women were not neglected. And, in the +arrangement of the Union School at New London, it was determined +that between the hours of five and seven in the morning, he should +teach a class of "twenty young ladies" in the studies which occupied +their brothers at a later hour. + +He was thus engaged in the year 1774. The whole country was alive +with the movements and discussions which came to a crisis in the +battle of Lexington the next year. Hale, though not of age, was +enrolled in the militia and was active in the military organization +of the town. + +So soon as the news of Lexington and Concord reached New London, a +town-meeting was called. At this meeting, this young man, not yet of +age, was one of the speakers. "Let us march immediately," he said, +"and never lay down our arms until we obtain our independence." He +assembled his school as usual the next day, but only to take leave +of his scholars. "He gave them earnest counsel, prayed with them, +shook each by the hand," and bade them farewell. + +It is said that there is no other record so early as this in which +the word "independence" was publicly spoken. It would seem as if the +uncalculating courage of a boy of twenty were needed to break the +spell which still gave dignity to colonial submission. + +He was commissioned as First Lieutenant in the Seventh Connecticut +regiment, and resigned his place as teacher. The first duty assigned +to the regiment was in the neighborhood of New London, where, +probably, they were perfecting their discipline. On September 14, +1775, they were ordered by Washington to Cambridge. There they were +placed on the left wing of his army, and made their camp at the foot +of Winter Hill. This was the post which commanded the passage from +Charlestown, one of the only two roads by which the English could +march out from Boston. Here they remained until the next spring. +Hale himself gives the most interesting details of that great +victory by which Washington and his officers changed that force of +minute-men, by which they had overawed Boston in 1775, into a +regular army. Hale re-enlisted as many of the old men as possible, +and then went back to Coventry to engage, from his old school +companions, soldiers for the war. After a month of such effort at +home, he came back with a body of recruits to Roxbury. + +On January 30th his regiment was removed to the right wing in +Roxbury. Here they joined in the successful night enterprise of +March 4th and 5th, by which the English troops were driven from +Boston. + +So soon as the English army had left the country, Washington knew +that their next point of attack would be New York. Most of his army +was, therefore, sent there, and Webb's regiment among the rest. They +were at first assigned to the Canada army, but because they had a +good many seafaring men, were reserved for service near New York, +where their "web-footed" character served them well more than once +that summer. Hale marched with the regiment to New London, whence +they all went by water to New York. On that critical night, when the +whole army was moved across to New York after the defeat at +Brooklyn, the regiment rendered effective service. + +It was at this period that Hale planned an attack, made by members +of his own company, to set fire to the frigate Phoenix. The frigate +was saved, but one of her tenders and four cannons and six swivels +were taken. The men received the thanks, praises, and rewards of +Washington, and the frigate, with her companions, not caring to risk +such attacks again, retired to the Narrows. Soon after this little +brush with the enemy, Colonel Knowlton, of one of the Connecticut +regiments, organized a special corps, which was known as Knowlton's +Rangers. On the rolls of their own regiments the officers and men +are spoken of as "detached on command." They received their orders +direct from Washington and Putnam, and were kept close in front of +the enemy, watching his movements from the American line in Harlem. +It was in this service, on September 15th, that Knowlton's Rangers, +with three Virginia companies, drove the English troops from their +position in an open fight. It was a spirited action, which was a +real victory for the attacking force. Knowlton and Leitch, the +leaders, were both killed. In his general orders Washington spoke of +Knowlton as a gallant and brave officer who would have been an honor +to any country. + +But Hale, alas! was not fighting at Knowlton's side. He was indeed +"detached for special service." Washington had been driven up the +island of New York, and was holding his place with the utmost +difficulty. On September 6th he wrote, "We have not been able to +obtain the least information as to the enemy's plans." In sheer +despair at the need of better information than the Tories of New +York City would give him, the great commander consulted his council, +and at their direction summoned Knowlton to ask for some volunteer +of intelligence, who would find his way into the English lines, and +bring back some tidings that could be relied upon. Knowlton summoned +a number of officers, and stated to them the wishes of their great +chief. The appeal was received with dead silence. It is said that +Knowlton personally addressed a non-commissioned officer, a +Frenchman, who was an old soldier. He did so only to receive the +natural reply, "I am willing to be shot, but not to be hung." +Knowlton felt that he must report his failure to Washington. But +Nathan Hale, his youngest captain, broke the silence. "I will +undertake it," he said. He had come late to the meeting. He was pale +from recent sickness. But he saw an opportunity to serve, and he did +the duty which came next his hand. + +William Hull, afterward the major-general who commanded at Detroit, +had been Hale's college classmate. He remonstrated with his friend +on the danger of the task, and the ignominy which would attend its +failure. "He said to him that it was not in the line of his duty, +and that he was of too frank and open a temper to act successfully +the part of a spy, or to face its dangers, which would probably lead +to a disgraceful death." Hale replied, "I wish to be useful, and +every kind of service necessary to the public good becomes honorable +by being necessary. If the exigencies of my country demand a +peculiar service, its claims to perform that service are imperious." +These are the last words of his which can be cited until those which +he spoke at the moment of his death. He promised Hull to take his +arguments into consideration, but Hull never heard from him again. + +In the second week of September he left the camp for Stamford with +Stephen Hempstead, a sergeant in Webb's regiment, from whom we have +the last direct account of his journey. With Hempstead and Asher +Wright, who was his servant in camp, he left his uniform and some +other articles of property. He crossed to Long Island in citizen's +dress, and, as Hempstead thought, took with him his college diploma, +meaning to assume the aspect of a Connecticut schoolmaster visiting +New York in the hope to establish himself. He landed near +Huntington, or Oyster Bay, and directed the boatman to return at a +time fixed by him, the 20th of September. He made his way into New +York, and there, for a week or more apparently, prosecuted his +inquiries. He returned on the day fixed, and awaited his boat. It +appeared, as he thought; and he made a signal from the shore. Alas! +he had mistaken the boat. She was from an English frigate, which lay +screened by a point of woods, and had come in for water. Hale +attempted to retrace his steps, but was too late. He was seized and +examined. Hidden in the soles of his shoes were his memoranda, in +the Latin language. They compromised him at once. He was carried on +board the frigate, and sent to New York the same day, well guarded. + +It was at an unfortunate moment, if anyone expected tenderness from +General Howe. Hale landed while the city was in the tenor of the +great conflagration of September 21st. In that fire nearly a quarter +of the town was burned down. The English supposed, rightly or not, +that the fire had been begun by the Americans. The bells had been +taken from the churches by order of the Provincial Congress. The +fire-engines were out of order, and for a time it seemed impossible +to check the flames. Two hundred persons were sent to jail upon the +supposition that they were incendiaries. It is in the midst of such +confusion that Hale is taken to General Howe's head-quarters, and +there he meets his doom. + +No testimony could be stronger against him than the papers on his +person. He was not there to prevaricate, and he told them his rank +and name. There was no trial, and Howe at once ordered that he +should be hanged the next morning. Worse than this, had he known it, +he was to be hanged by William Cunningham, the Provost-Major, a man +whose brutality, through the war disgraced the British army. It is a +satisfaction to know that Cunningham was hanged for his deserts in +England, not many years after.[3] + + [Footnote 3: Such is the current tradition and belief, that + he was hanged at Newgate; but Mr. George Bancroft found no + such name in the records of the prison.] + +Hale was confined for the night of September 21st in the greenhouse +of the garden of Howe's head-quarters. This place was known as the +Beckman Mansion, at Turtle Bay. This house was standing until within +a few years. + +Early the next day he was led to his death. "On the morning of the +execution," said Captain Montresor, an English officer, "my station +being near the fatal spot, I requested the Provost-Marshal to permit +the prisoner to sit in my marquee while he was making the necessary +preparations. Captain Hale entered. He asked for writing materials, +which I furnished him. He wrote two letters; one to his mother and +one to a brother officer. The Provost-Marshal destroyed the letters, +and assigned as a reason that the rebels should not know that they +had a man in their army who could die with so much firmness." + +Hale asked for a Bible, but his request was refused. He was marched +out by a guard and hanged upon an apple-tree in Rutgers's orchard. +The place was near the present intersection of East Broadway and +Market Streets. Cunningham asked him to make his dying "speech and +confession." "I only regret," he said, "that I have but one life to +lose for my country." + +[Signature: Edward E. Hale.] + + + + +THADDEUS KOSCIUSKO + +(1746-1817) + + +Among the remarkable men of modern times there is perhaps none whose +fame is purer from reproach than that of Thaddeus Kosciusko. His +name is enshrined in the ruins of his unhappy country, which, with +heroic bravery and devotion, he sought to defend against foreign +oppression and foreign domination. Kosciusko was born at Warsaw +about the year 1746. He was educated at the School of Cadets, in +that city, where he distinguished himself so much in scientific +studies as well as in drawing, that he was selected as one of four +students of that institution who were sent to travel at the +expense of the state, with a view of perfecting their talents. In +this capacity he visited France, where he remained for several +years, devoting himself to studies of various kinds. On his return +to his own country he entered the army, and obtained the command of +a company. But he was soon obliged to expatriate himself again, in +order to fly from a violent but unrequited passion for the daughter +of the Marshal of Lithuania, one of the first officers of state of +the Polish court. + +[Illustration: Thaddeus Kosciusko.] + +He bent his steps to that part of North America which was then +waging its war of independence against England. Here he entered the +army, and served with distinction as one of the adjutants of General +Washington. While thus employed, he became acquainted with +Lafayette, Lameth, and other distinguished Frenchmen serving in the +same cause, and was honored by receiving the most flattering praises +from Franklin, as well as the public thanks of the Congress of the +United Provinces. He was also decorated with the new American order +of Cincinnatus, being the only European, except Lafayette, to whom +it was given. + +At the termination of the war he returned to his own country, where +he lived in retirement till the year 1789, at which period he was +promoted by the Diet to the rank of major-general. That body was at +this time endeavoring to place its military force upon a respectable +footing, in the vain hope of restraining and diminishing the +domineering influence of foreign powers in what still remained of +Poland. It also occupied itself in changing the vicious constitution +of that unfortunate and ill-governed country--in rendering the +monarchy hereditary, in declaring universal toleration, and in +preserving the privileges of the nobility, while at the same time it +ameliorated the condition of the lower orders. In all these +improvements Stanislas Poniatowski, the reigning king, readily +concurred; though the avowed intention of the Diet was to render the +crown hereditary in the Saxon family. The King of Prussia (Frederick +William II.), who, from the time of the treaty of Cherson, in 1787, +between Russia and Austria, had become hostile to the former power, +also encouraged the Poles in their proceedings; and even gave them +the most positive assurances of assisting them, in case the changes +they were effecting occasioned any attacks from other sovereigns. + +Russia at length, having made peace with the Turks, prepared to +throw her sword into the scale. A formidable opposition to the +measures of the Diet had arisen, even among the Poles themselves, +and occasioned what was called the confederation of Targowicz, to +which the Empress of Russia promised her assistance. The feeble +Stanislas, who had proclaimed the new constitution in 1791, bound +himself in 1792 to sanction the Diet of Grodno, which restored the +ancient constitution, with all its vices and all its abuses. In the +meanwhile Frederick William, King of Prussia, who had so mainly +contributed to excite the Poles to their enterprises, basely +deserted them, and refused to give them any assistance. On the +contrary, he stood aloof from the contest, waiting for that share of +the spoil which the haughty empress of the north might think proper +to allot to him, as a reward of his non-interference. + +But though thus betrayed on all sides, the Poles were not disposed +to submit without a struggle. They flew to arms, and found in the +nephew of their king, the Prince Joseph Poniatowski, a general +worthy to conduct so glorious a cause. Under his command Kosciusko +first became known in European warfare. He distinguished himself in +the battle of Zielenec, and still more in that of Dubienska, which +took place on June 18, 1792. Upon this latter occasion he defended +for six hours, with only 4,000 men, against 15,000 Russians, a post +which had been slightly fortified in twenty-four hours, and at last +retired with inconsiderable loss. + +But the contest was too unequal to last; the patriots were +overwhelmed by enemies from without, and betrayed by traitors +within, at the head of whom was their own sovereign. The Russians +took possession of the country, and proceeded to appropriate those +portions of Lithuania and Volhynia which suited their convenience; +while Prussia, the friendly Prussia, invaded another part of the +kingdom. + +Under these circumstances the most distinguished officers in the +Polish army retired from the service, and of this number was +Kosciusko. Miserable at the fate of his unhappy country, and at the +same time an object of suspicion to the ruling powers, he left his +native land and retired to Leipsic, where he received intelligence +of the honor which had been conferred upon him by the Legislative +Assembly of France, who had invested him with the quality of a +French citizen. + +But his fellow-countrymen were still anxious to make another +struggle for independence, and they unanimously selected Kosciusko +as their chief and generalissimo. He obeyed the call, and found the +patriots eager to combat under his orders. Even the noble Joseph +Poniatowski, who had previously commanded in chief, returned from +France, whither he had retired, and received from the hands of +Kosciusko the charge of a portion of his army. + +The patriots had risen in the north of Poland, to which part +Kosciusko first directed his steps. Anxious to begin his campaign +with an action of vigor, he marched rapidly toward Cracow, which +town he entered triumphantly on March 24, 1794. He forthwith +published a manifesto against the Russians; and then, at the head of +only 5,000 men, he marched to meet their army. He encountered, on +April 4th, 10,000 Russians at a place called Wraclawic, and entirely +defeated them after a combat of four hours. He returned in triumph +to Cracow, and shortly afterward marched along the left bank of the +Vistula to Polaniec, where he established his head-quarters. + +Meanwhile the inhabitants of Warsaw, animated by the recital of the +heroic deeds of their countrymen, had also raised the standard of +independence, and were successful in driving the Russians from the +city, after a murderous conflict of three days. In Lithuania and +Samogitia an equally successful revolution was effected before the +end of April, while the Polish troops stationed in Volhynia and +Podolia marched to the reinforcement of Kosciusko. + +Thus far fortune seemed to smile upon the cause of Polish +freedom--the scene was, however, about to change. The undaunted +Kosciusko, having first organized a national council to conduct the +affairs of government, once more advanced against the Russians. On +his march he met a new enemy in the person of the faithless +Frederick William, of Prussia, who, without having even gone through +the preliminary of declaring war, had advanced into Poland at the +head of 40,000 men. + +Kosciusko, with but 13,000 men, attacked the Prussian army on June +8th, at Szcekociny. The battle was long and bloody; at length, +overwhelmed by numbers, he was obliged to retreat toward Warsaw. +This he effected in so able a manner that his enemies did not dare +to harass him in his march; and he effectually covered the capital +and maintained his position for two months against vigorous and +continued attacks. Immediately after this reverse the Polish +general, Zaionczeck, lost the battle of Chelm, and the Governor of +Cracow had the baseness to deliver the town to the Prussians without +attempting a defence. + +These disasters occasioned disturbances among the disaffected at +Warsaw, which, however, were put down by the vigor and firmness of +Kosciusko. On July 13th the forces of the Prussians and Russians, +amounting to 50,000 men, assembled under the walls of Warsaw, and +commenced the siege of that city. After six weeks spent before the +place, and a succession of bloody conflicts, the confederates were +obliged to raise the siege; but this respite to the Poles was but of +short duration. + +Their enemies increased fearfully in number, while their own +resources diminished. Austria now determined to assist in the +annihilation of Poland, and caused a body of her troops to enter +that kingdom. Nearly at the same moment the Russians ravaged +Lithuania; and the two corps of the Russian army commanded by +Suwarof and Fersen, effected their junction in spite of the battle +of Krupezyce, which the Poles had ventured upon, with doubtful +issue, against the first of these commanders, on September 16th. + +Upon receiving intelligence of these events Kosciusko left Warsaw, +and placed himself at the head of the Polish army. He was attacked +by the very superior forces of the confederates on October 10, 1794, +at a place called Macieiowice, and for many hours supported the +combat against overwhelming odds. At length he was severely wounded, +and as he fell, he uttered the prophetic words "_Finis Poloniae_." It +is asserted that he had exacted from his followers an oath, not to +suffer him to fall alive into the hands of the Russians, and that in +consequence the Polish cavalry, being unable to carry him off, +inflicted some severe sabre wounds on him and left him for dead on +the field; a savage fidelity, which we half admire even in +condemning it. Be this as it may, he was recognized and delivered +from the plunderers by some Cossack chiefs; and thus was saved from +death to meet a scarcely less harsh fate--imprisonment in a Russian +dungeon. + +Thomas Wawrzecki became the successor of Kosciusko in the command of +the army; but with the loss of their heroic leader all hope had +deserted the breasts of the Poles. They still, however, fought with +all the obstinacy of despair, and defended the suburb of Warsaw, +called Praga, with great gallantry. At length this post was wrested +from them. Warsaw itself capitulated on November 9, 1794; and this +calamity was followed by the entire dissolution of the Polish army +on the 18th of the same month. + +During this time, Kosciusko remained in prison at St. Petersburg; +but, at the end of two years, the death of his persecutress, the +Empress Catharine, released him. One of the first acts of the +Emperor Paul was to restore him to liberty, and to load him with +various marks of his favor. Among other gifts of the autocrat was a +pension, by which, however, the high-spirited patriot would never +consent to profit. No sooner was he beyond the reach of Russian +influence than he returned to the donor the instrument by which this +humiliating favor was conferred. From this period the life of +Kosciusko was passed in retirement. He went first to England, and +then to the United States of America. He returned to the Old World +in 1798, and took up his abode in France, where he divided his time +between Paris and a country-house he had bought near Fontainebleau. +While here he received the appropriate present of the sword of John +Sobieski, which was sent to him by some of his countrymen serving in +the French armies in Italy, who had found it in the shrine at +Loretto. + +Napoleon, when about to invade Poland in 1807, wished to use the +name of Kosciusko in order to rally the people of the country round +his standard. The patriot, aware that no real freedom was to be +hoped for under such auspices, at once refused to lend himself to +his wishes. Upon this the emperor forged Kosciusko's signature to an +address to the Poles, which was distributed throughout the country. +Nor would he permit the injured person to deny the authenticity of +this act in any public manner. The real state of the case was, +however, made known to many through the private representations of +Kosciusko; but he was never able to publish a formal denial of the +transaction till after the fall of Napoleon. + +When the Russians, in 1814, had penetrated into Champagne, and were +advancing toward Paris, they were astonished to hear that their +former adversary was living in retirement in that part of the +country. The circumstances of this discovery were striking. The +commune in which Kosciusko lived was subjected to plunder, and among +the troops thus engaged he observed a Polish regiment. Transported +with anger, he rushed among them, and thus addressed the officers: +"When I commanded brave soldiers they never pillaged; and I should +have punished severely subalterns who allowed of disorders such as +those which we see around. Still more severely should I have +punished older officers, who authorized such conduct by their +culpable neglect." "And who are you," was the general cry, "that you +dare to speak with such boldness to us?" "I am Kosciusko." The +effect was electric: the soldiery cast down their arms, prostrated +themselves at his feet, and cast dust upon their heads according to +a national usage, supplicating his forgiveness for the fault which +they had committed. For twenty years the name of Kosciusko had not +been heard in Poland save as that of an exile; yet it still retained +its ancient power over Polish hearts; a power never used but for +some good and generous end. + +The Emperor Alexander honored him with a long interview, and offered +him an asylum in his own country. But nothing could induce Kosciusko +again to see his unfortunate native land. In 1815 he retired to +Soleure, in Switzerland; where he died, October 16, 1817, in +consequence of an injury received by a fall from his horse. Not long +before he had abolished slavery upon his Polish estate, and declared +all his serfs entirely free, by a deed registered and executed with +every formality that could insure the full performance of his +intention. The mortal remains of Kosciusko were removed to Poland at +the expense of Alexander, and have found a fitting place of rest in +the cathedral of Cracow, between those of his companions in arms, +Joseph Poniatowski, and the greatest of Polish warriors, John +Sobieski. + + + + +MARQUIS DE LA FAYETTE[4] + + [Footnote 4: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By WILLIAM F. PECK + +(1757-1834) + +[Illustration: Marquis de la Fayette.] + + +Marie Jean Paul Roch Yves Gilbert Motier, Marquis de la Fayette,[5] +one of the most celebrated men that France ever produced, was born +at Chavaignac, in Auvergne, on September 6, 1757, of a noble family, +with a long line of illustrious ancestors. Left an orphan at the age +of thirteen, he married, three years later, his cousin Anastasie, +Countess de Noailles. Inspired from the earliest age with a love of +freedom and aversion to constraint, the impulses of childhood became +the daydreams of youth and the realities of maturer life. Filled +with enthusiastic sympathy for the struggling colonies of America in +their contest with Great Britain, he offered his services to the +United States, and, though his enterprise was forbidden by the +French Government, hired a vessel, sailed for this country, landed +at Charleston in April, 1777, and proceeded to Philadelphia. His +advances having been treated by Congress with some coldness, by +reason of the incessant application of other foreigners for +commissions, he offered to serve as a volunteer and at his own +expense. Congress may be excused for having taken him at his word; +on July 31st it appointed him major-general, without pay the titular +honor, which carried with it no command, being, perhaps, the highest +ever given in America to a young man of nineteen years. Having +accepted the cordial invitation of General Washington, the +commander-in-chief, to live at his head-quarters and to serve on his +staff, Lafayette was severely wounded in the leg at the battle of +the Brandywine, on September 11th, and the intrepidity he displayed +in that engagement was equalled by the fortitude that he evinced +during the following winter, in which he shared the privations of +the American army in the wretched camp at Valley Forge. His fidelity +to Washington at this time, when the latter was maligned by secret +foes and conspired against by Conway's cabal, cemented the +friendship between those great men. Lafayette was soon afterward +detached to take command of an expedition that was to set out from +Albany, cross Lake Champlain on the ice, and invade Canada; but, on +arriving at the intended starting-point, and finding that no +adequate preparations had been made, he refused to repeat the +unfortunate experiment of Montgomery and Arnold of two years before, +and waited for suitable supplies to be sent to him before setting +out. These came not, the ice melted in March, and he returned to +Valley Forge, with the thanks of Congress for his forbearance in +abstaining from risking the loss of an army in order to acquire +personal glory. France having declared war against England, May 2, +1778, and at the same time effected an alliance with the colonies, +Lafayette returned home in January, 1779; on his arrival at Paris he +was lionized and feted, and during his stay there he received from +the United States Congress a sword with massive gold handle and +mounting, presented to him in appreciation of his services and +particularly of his gallantry at the battle of Monmouth, on June +28th, in the preceding year. The high reputation that he had +acquired in America increased his influence at home to such a degree +that he was able to accomplish the object of his mission and procure +money and troops from the ministry of war. These followed him to +this country in the following year, but little was accomplished +thereby, D'Estaing, the commander of the fleet, being blockaded in +the harbor of Newport, and Washington being unwilling to undertake +the contemplated attack on New York, even with the assistance of the +French military force, without naval co-operation. In February, +1781, Lafayette was sent with a division into Virginia, where he +soon found himself arrayed against the British general, Lord +Cornwallis. That distinguished officer, the best, perhaps, of all on +that side of the conflict, expected to make short work of his +youthful antagonist, but Lafayette, who had learned from Washington +the art of skilful retreat combined with cautious advance, +succeeded, after a long series of skirmishes, in shutting Cornwallis +up in Yorktown. In September, the French fleet, under the Count de +Grasse, appeared and landed a force of 3,000 men under the Marquis +de St. Simon. Lafayette was urged to make the assault at once and +gain the glory of an important capture, but a feeling of honor, +combined possibly with prudential considerations, impelled him to +wait for the arrival of the main allied army under Washington and +Rochambeau. They came a fortnight later, the investment was +regularly made, and on October 14th Lafayette successfully led the +Americans to the assault of one of the redoubts, while another was +taken by the French under the Baron de Viomesnil. The surrender of +Cornwallis, with his army of 7,000, took place on the 19th, which +ended, practically, the American war of independence, though the +final treaty of peace was not signed till January 20, 1783, the +first knowledge of which came to Congress by a letter from +Lafayette, who had returned to Europe in the meantime. Revisiting +the United States in 1784, he was treated with great consideration +by his old comrades in arms, and the next year he travelled through +Russia, Austria, and Prussia, in the last of which he attended the +military reviews of Frederick the Great in company with that +renowned soldier. + + [Footnote 5: The condensed form of the name, when used apart + from the title, is preferable to the open, for, though he + employed the conventional style, De La Fayette, up to the + time of the French Revolution, he then abandoned it, and + always afterward wrote it as one word, Lafayette, which is + now the family name.] + +From this time Lafayette's history is bound up with that of his +country. Beginning by formulating plans for meliorating the +condition of the slaves on his plantation in French Guiana, his +philanthropic thoughts soon turned homeward. He saw France groaning +under oppression and the people suffering from a thousand antiquated +abuses. Some of these he succeeded in mitigating, in his capacity of +member of the Assembly of the Notables, in 1787, but, as nothing of +permanent value was accomplished by that body, he urged the +convocation of the States General. In this assemblage, which met at +Versailles, on May 4, 1789, he sat at first among the nobility, but +when the deputies of the people declared themselves to be the +National Assembly--afterward called the Constituent Assembly--he was +one of the earliest of his order to join them and was elected one of +the vice-presidents. On July 14th the Bastille was taken by the mob, +and on the following day Lafayette was chosen commandant of the +National Guard of Paris; an irregular body, partly military, partly +police, having no connection with the royal army and in full +sympathy with the people, from which its ranks were filled. On the +17th King Louis XVI. came into the city, where he was received by +the populace with the liveliest expressions of attachment and +escorted to the Hotel de Ville, where Lafayette and Mayor Bailly +awaited him at the foot of the staircase, up which he passed under +an arch of steel formed by the uplifted swords of the members of the +Municipal Council. Bailly offered to the king a tricolor cockade, +which had been recently adopted as the national emblem, Lafayette, +in devising it, having added white, the Bourbon color, to the red +and blue that were the colors of Paris, to show the fidelity of the +people to the institution of royalty. The king accepted the badge, +pinned it to his breast, appeared with it on the balcony before the +vast throng, and returned to Versailles with the feeling, on his +part and that of others, that the reconciliation between all parties +was complete and that the era of popular government had begun. +Instead of that, the troubles continually increased, and Lafayette +was placed in a most trying position, equally opposed to the +encroachments of the destructionists and to the intrigues of the +court, and longing as eagerly for the retention of the monarchy as +for the establishment of the constitution. The brutal murder of +Foulon, the superintendent of the revenue, and of his son-in-law +Berthier, who were torn in pieces by the enraged populace on the +22d, in spite of the commands, entreaties, and even tears of +Lafayette, so disgusted him that he resigned his command, and +resumed it only when the sixty districts of Paris agreed to support +him in his efforts to maintain order. On October 5th a mob of +several thousand women set out from Paris to march to Versailles, +with vague ideas of extorting from the National Assembly the passage +of laws that should remove all distresses, of obtaining in some way +a supply of food that should relieve the immediate needs of the +capital, and of bringing back with them the royal family. The +National Guard were urgent to accompany the women, partly from a +desire to protect them in case of a possible collision with the +royal troops, but still more to bring on a conflict with a regiment +lately brought from the frontier, and to exterminate the body-guard +of the king, the members of which had, at a supper given a few +nights before, been so indiscreet as to trample the tricolor under +their feet and pin the white cockade to their lapels. Lafayette did +all in his power to prevent the march of the National Guard, sitting +on his horse for eight hours in their midst, and refusing all their +entreaties to give the word of command, till the Municipal Council +finally issued the order and the troops set forth. Arrived at +Versailles he posted one of his regiments in different parts of the +palace, to protect it in case it were really attacked by rioters, +and then, in the early morning, repairing to his head-quarters in an +adjoining street, he threw himself on a bed, for a short season of +necessary repose. Monarchical writers generally have reproached him +for this act, calling it his "fatal sleep," the source of unnumbered +woes, the beginning of the downfall; but it is difficult to see +wherein he can justly be blamed for yielding, wearied out with +fatigue, to the imperative demand of nature, after providing as far +as possible for the preservation of order. Awakened in a few minutes +by the report that the worst had happened, he hurried to the scene +and found that the mob, having broken down the iron railings of the +courtyard, had invaded the palace and massacred two of the +body-guard, and that the lives of the king and queen were in instant +peril. With characteristic courage, activity, and address he +prevented the further effusion of blood, and the entire royal +family, together with the Assembly, migrated to Paris the same day, +escorted by the citizen soldiers and a turbulent mob both male and +female. July 14, 1790, was memorable for the Oath of Federation, +taken in the Champ de Mars, with imposing ceremonies, upon a +platform of earth raised by the voluntary labors of all the +citizens. Lafayette, as representative of the nation, and +particularly of the militia, was the first to take the oath to be +faithful to the law and the king and to support the constitution +then under consideration by the Assembly. With a shout of +affirmation from all of the National Guard, the taking of the entire +oath by the president of the Assembly and the king, followed by a +roar of assent from nearly half a million of spectators, and the +joyful spreading of the news throughout the country by prearranged +signals, the dream of peace and harmony came back again, as bright +and as fleeting as the year before. Three days later the National +Guard of France, outside of the city, united in an address to +Lafayette, expressive of their confidence in his ability and his +patriotism, and regretting their inability to serve under him, for, +by the terms of a law proposed by himself, the commander of the +militia of Paris was to have no authority over other troops. In +September the municipality made a strong appeal to him to revoke his +declaration that he would accept no pay or salary or indemnity of +any kind, but he refused fixedly, saying that his fortune was +considerable, that it had sufficed for two revolutions and that it +would be devoted to a third, if one should arise, for the benefit of +the people. By the death of Mirabeau, April 2, 1791, the last chance +of a compromise between the court party and the radicals was taken +away. Two weeks later the royal family attempted to leave the +Tuileries for St. Cloud, in order to pass the Easter holidays there +and to hear mass in the royal chapel; but the populace blocked the +way, and even a portion of the National Guard, in a state of +semi-mutiny, threatened to interfere if the other battalions fired +on the people. This, nevertheless, Lafayette offered to do, and to +force a passage at all hazards, but the king positively forbade the +shedding of blood on his account, and resumed his virtual +imprisonment in the palace. Lafayette was so chagrined by the +seditious behavior of his troops that he again threw down his +commission, whereupon an extraordinary revulsion of feeling took +place; the municipality and the citizens were terror-stricken lest +universal anarchy should ensue, and even the National Guard, +repentant of their disgraceful conduct, cast themselves at the feet +of their general, joining their voices to those of others in +entreating him to resume his office, which, after three days, he +consented to do, upon promise of obedience in the future. + +[Illustration: The Arch of Steel.] + +This was the meridian of Lafayette's career, when his popularity and +his influence were at their height. Power we can hardly call it, for +that implies some voluntary deed of assumption, and he always acted +in obedience to others, to some authority constituted at least under +the forms of law, or, in the absence of that, to the sovereign +people. From this time difficulties thickened around him and he was +constantly environed by suspicion and by intrigues of all kinds +against his character and his life, but he never swerved from the +line of his duty. Not one of the political parties gave him its +entire confidence, and each in turn conspired against him, only to +be baffled by the underlying conviction, on the part of the masses, +of his supreme patriotism and integrity. After the flight of the +king and his family, on June 20th, Lafayette was violently denounced +in the Jacobin club as a friend to royalty, and accused of having +assisted in the evasion; but the attempt to proscribe him in the +Assembly failed utterly, and that body appointed six commissioners +to protect him from the sudden fury of the people. The royal +fugitives having been stopped at Varennes and brought back to the +Tuileries on the 25th, he saved them, by his personal efforts, from +being torn in pieces by the mob, but was compelled to guard them +much more strictly than before. On July 17th a disorderly assemblage +gathered in the Champ de Mars to petition for the overthrow of the +monarchy, and, in the tumult that ensued on the appearance of the +troops, Lafayette ordered a volley of musketry, whereby the rioters +were dispersed with a loss of several killed and wounded, but +whereby, also, while that act of firmness elicited commendation from +all lovers of order, occasion was given for further intrigues on the +part of his enemies and the shattering of his influence among the +lower classes. A momentary gleam of sunshine broke forth in +September, when, the king having accepted the new constitution, +Lafayette took advantage of the general state of good feeling +thereby produced to propose a comprehensive act of amnesty for all +offences committed on either side during the revolution, which was +passed by the Constituent Assembly just before its final adjournment +on the 30th. On that day he resigned, permanently, the command of +the National Guard, and retired to his estate at Chavaignac, being +followed by the most gratifying testimonials of public regard, among +them a sword and a marble statue of Washington, presented by the +city of Paris, and a sword cast from one of the bolts of the +Bastille, given by his old soldiers. Contrary to his personal +wishes, his friends and his patriotism persuaded him, in November, +to stand as a candidate for the mayoralty of Paris, with the result +that might have been foreseen, for Petion, being supported both by +the Jacobins and by the court party, was elected by a large +majority. This defeat did not prevent Lafayette's appointment, a +month later, to the command of one of the three armies formed to +defend the frontier against an expected invasion of the Austrians, +the rank of lieutenant-general being given to him, with the exalted +honor of marshal of France. War was declared against Austria, April +20, 1792, and hostilities began, but even the active service in +which he was engaged could not keep his thoughts from the political +condition of the country, and on June 16th he wrote to the +Legislative Assembly, which had succeeded the Constituent in the +previous autumn, a letter in which he pointed out the dangers that +menaced the nation and denounced the Jacobins as the faction whose +growing power was full of peril to the state. Four days later the +mob invaded the Tuileries and passed riotously through all the +rooms, insulting in the grossest manner the royal family, who were +compelled to stand before them and undergo this humiliation for +three hours. On hearing of this event Lafayette hurried from his +camp and appeared before the Assembly, entreating the punishment of +the instigators of the outrage. His sublime audacity in thus +opposing his own personality to the machinations of his enemies, and +that, too, before a body already irritated by his unasked advice, +paralyzed the fury of his adversaries, while his eloquence charmed +the hearts of his hearers; but all was in vain, and the only result +of this heroic action was that a decree of accusation was brought in +against him, which was rejected by a vote of 406 to 224. Upon the +massacre of the Swiss Guards, on August 10th, followed by the actual +deposition and imprisonment of the king, Lafayette sounded his army +to ascertain if they would march to Paris in defence of +constitutional government, but he found them vacillating and +untrustworthy. His own dismissal from command came soon after: +orders were sent for his arrest, and nothing remained for him but +flight. + +On August 19th he left the army and attempted to pass through +Belgium on his way to England, but he was captured by Austrian +soldiers near the frontier. He protested that he no longer held rank +as an officer in the army and should be considered as a private +citizen; but his rights were not respected in either capacity, for +he was not treated as a prisoner of war neither was he arraigned as +a criminal. On the contrary, without any charges being preferred +against him, and without the formality of a trial of any kind, he +was immediately thrown into prison and was detained in various +Belgian, Prussian, and Austrian jails and fortresses for more than +five years, the last three being passed in close confinement at +Olmutz. An unsuccessful attempt at escape increased the severity of +his detention, and he nearly lost his life through the hardships and +privations that he endured, till his wife and daughters came, in +1795, and voluntarily shared his incarceration. The only reason for +the savage treatment that he received, unjustified by any forms of +international, of military, or of criminal law, seems to have lain +in the fact that he had been a member of the National Assembly and +prominent in the constitutional struggle for liberty. A feeling of +revenge, as mean as it was groundless--for he had done everything in +his power to protect the dignity as well as the life of Marie +Antoinette, the sister of the Austrian emperor--joined with a fear +that other peoples might follow the lead of the French and overthrow +monarchical institutions unless deterred by some world-shocking +example, formed the mainspring of this atrocious procedure. Efforts +were made in this country and in England to procure the release of +the prisoner, but no governmental action was taken in that +direction, the United States Congress declining to pass a resolution +to that effect, so that President Washington was left alone in his +unceasing attempts, by instructions to our ministers abroad and by a +personal letter to the emperor, to repay some of the debt that he +and the whole country owed to our adopted citizen. It was not till +the successes of the French republican armies enabled General +Bonaparte, at the instance of the Directory, to insist upon the +liberation of Lafayette as one of the conditions of the treaty of +Campo Formio, that he was discharged on September 19, 1797, the +Austrian Government pretending that this was done out of regard for +the United States of America. Passing into Denmark and Holland he +resided in those countries for two years, when he returned to France +only to receive from Bonaparte a significant message recommending to +him a very quiet life, a piece of advice which, as it accorded with +his own desires, he followed, settling down at Lagrange, an estate +inherited by his wife, as his own property had been confiscated by +the National Convention, which had succeeded the Legislative +Assembly. True to the principles that he had always entertained, he +cast his vote, in 1802, with less than nine thousand others, and in +opposition to the suffrages of more than three-and-a-half millions, +against the decree to make Bonaparte consul for life, writing after +his name on the polling register the statement that he could not +vote for such a measure till public freedom was sufficiently +guaranteed. This insured the continued displeasure of the military +despot, who revenged himself by refusing to Lafayette's only son, +George Washington, the promotion that he had earned by his brilliant +exploits in the army. President Jefferson's offer in 1803, of the +governorship of the province of Louisiana, just after its purchase +from France, was rejected by Lafayette, who continued in his +retirement through the time of the empire and after the first +restoration of the Bourbons, till the return from Elba, in March, +1815, of Napoleon, who used every exertion to conciliate him and win +his support. All these overtures he declined, but, on the other +hand, accepted an election to the popular branch of the Legislature, +of which he was chosen vice-president. After the battle of Waterloo, +on June 18th, Napoleon returned to Paris and proposed to his council +the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies and the assumption of +absolutely dictatorial power; a desperate project which was +frustrated only by the alertness, vigor, and energy of Lafayette, +whose eloquent appeals induced the Legislature to compel the final +abdication of the emperor, under the alternative threat of +forfeiture and expulsion. Five commissioners, with Lafayette at the +head, appointed by the chambers, proceeded to the head-quarters of +the allied sovereigns, at Haguenau, to treat for peace; but, while +negotiations were pending, the foreign armies pushed on toward the +capital, and he returned on July 3d, to find that Paris had +capitulated and was at the mercy of the conquerors, who dictated +their own terms, forcibly dissolved the Corps Legislatif, and +replaced Louis XVIII. on the throne. Lafayette retired to Lagrange, +but was again elected, in 1817, a deputy, in spite of the strenuous +opposition of the Government, and exerted his influence in favor of +liberal measures, though with indifferent success. In 1824, on the +invitation of President Monroe, he revisited this country, travelled +through every State, was received with the highest honors by +Congress (which voted him $200,000 and a township of land for his +services), by legislatures, by colleges, by corporations of cities, +by societies of all kinds by his surviving comrades of the +revolution, and by the whole nation; took part in the laying of the +corner-stone of the Bunker Hill Monument June 17, 1825, and sailed +for home in September, on the United States frigate Brandywine, +which had been put at his disposal by the Government. Soon after his +return to France he was re-elected to the Corps Legislatif, and +served as a member for most of the remainder of his life. The stupid +tyranny of King Charles X. having caused an outbreak of the +Parisians in July, 1830, Lafayette unhesitatingly espoused the +popular cause, and, though nearly seventy-three years old, accepted +the command of the National Guard; after a conflict of three days +the royal troops gave way, the king abdicated, to be succeeded by +the Duke of Orleans as King Louis Philippe, and Lafayette had the +satisfaction of contributing largely to the establishment of what he +had advocated so strongly forty years before--a constitutional +monarchy. He died at his home, in the country, on May 20, 1834, but +his remains were taken to Paris for interment, and as the funeral +train passed through the streets the lamentations on every hand +attested the affection and the sorrow of the people. Few men have +lived who present a figure so attractive to the eye of the student; +fewer still, so prominent on the theatre of history, who will bear, +with so little possibility of censure, the closest scrutiny, the +severest judgment. His actions were visible to all the world, his +motives were transparent, his sentiments were unconcealed, his life +was blameless. To the physical endowments of dignity of person and +resistless charm of manner he added all desirable qualities of head +and heart, a dauntless courage, an enthusiasm beautiful and yet +consistent, a sublime patriotism, a disinterested generosity. If, +with all these, he seems to have failed of achieving the highest +success, it was because not of what he lacked but of what he +possessed in the fullest degree, a lofty integrity that forbade him +to pander to the passions of the mob, a supreme regard for the +rights of the community and of the individual. He might have +snatched the sovereign power, but in doing it he would have lost his +self-respect. In place, then, of glittering success, he obtained the +quiet admiration of mankind and the loving gratitude of two nations. + +[Signature: William F. Peck.] + + + + +CHARLOTTE CORDAY[6] + + [Footnote 6: Copyright. 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By OLIVER OPTIC + +(1768-1793) + +[Illustration: A guillotine.] + + +The despotism of Louis XIV. and the exhaustion of the finances by his +wars and his reckless extravagance had reduced France to a very +unhappy condition. His son, the Grand-Dauphin, died four years before +his father, and his grandson, the Duke of Burgundy, a year later. +Louis the Great was therefore succeeded by his great-grandson, Louis +XV. During this reign the nation continued on the decline. He was +followed by his grandson, Louis XVI., a better man than his immediate +predecessor, but too weak to carry out the reforms necessary to +restore the prosperity of the nation. Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, +and many other writers, as well as the influence of the American +Revolution, had fostered democratic ideas among the people, for the +government was reeking with abuses. + +The parliament had not assembled for three-quarters of a century; +but representatives of the people met in 1789, in spite of the +opposition of the king. The extreme of license followed the extreme +of absolutism. The king opposed the Constituent Assembly, for this +body changed its name several times, till the political conflict +ended in the death by the guillotine of Louis XVI., and later by the +execution of his queen, Marie Antoinette. For every two hundred and +fifty of the gross population there was a member of the nobility who +was exempted from the payment of any land tax, though this kind of +property was almost exclusively in their possession, and from many +other taxes and burdens, which all the more heavily weighed down +the great body of the people. The latter had a long list of genuine +grievances which the king and his advisers refused to remedy. + +The revolution became an accomplished fact in the capture and +destruction of the Bastille, on July 14, 1789, which day is still +celebrated as a national holiday in France. It had been for hundreds +of years a prison for political offenders, and was regarded by the +people as the principal emblem and instrument of tyranny. The +population became as intemperate as their rulers had been, thousands +perished by the guillotine, and the reign of terror was established. +The National Convention proclaimed a republic; but this body was +divided by conflicting opinions, and had not the power to inaugurate +their ideal government. Blood flowed in rivers, and the reaction was +infinitely more terrible than the tyranny which had produced it. + +The Convention was divided into at least four parties, though the +lines which separated them were not very clearly defined. The +Jacobins were the most prominent, and the most radical. It had its +origin in the Jacobin Club, formed in Versailles, taking its name +from a convent in which it met. This organization soon spread +through its branches all over France, and its party was the most +violent and blood-thirsty in the convention. Danton, Robespierre, +Marat, Desmoulins, and other desperate leaders were of this faction. + +The Girondists were next in numbers and influence. They were the +moderate republicans of the time, though at first they were inclined +to accept the constitution, and favor a limited monarchy. Its name +came from the earliest leaders of the party who were representatives +from the department of the Gironde. Its members labored to check the +violence and bloodshed of the times, and might be called the +respectable party of the period. Unfortunately they were in the +minority, and all the members of the party in the Convention who did +not escape, were arrested, convicted, and guillotined. + +The Montagnards (mountaineers) or Montagne (Mountain) was the term +applied to the Democrats holding the most extreme views, though its +members were also Jacobins and Cordeliers. Among them were the most +blood-thirsty, unreasonable, and intolerant men of the time, for +Danton, Robespierre, Marat, St. Just, and others of that stamp, +affiliated with them. They took their name from the fact that they +were grouped together in the uppermost seats of the chamber of the +Convention. The Cordeliers was hardly more than another name for a +club of the same men, so called from the chapel of a Franciscan +monastery where they held their meetings. + +[Illustration: Charlotte Corday and Marat.] + +Jean Paul Marat was one of the most prominent personages of the +Revolution, whose infamy will continue to be perpetuated down to +generations yet to come, with other of his red-handed associates. He +was a Frenchman, though he spent considerable time in Holland and +Great Britain, where he practised medicine, having studied the +profession at Bordeaux. He made some reputation as a political +writer, and in Edinburgh obtained a degree. It is believed that he +was convicted for stealing, and sentenced to five years imprisonment +at Oxford under several _aliases_. Perhaps he was sincere in his +opinions, and he threw himself vigorously into the work of the +Revolution in Paris, issuing inflammatory pamphlets, which he caused +to be printed and circulated secretly. He established an infamous +journal, attacking the king and all his supporters, and especially +the Girondists, whose moderation disgusted him. His virulence caused +him to be intensely hated, and twice he was compelled to flee to +London, and once to hide in the sewers. In the latter he contracted +a loathsome disease of the skin which soon began to eat away his +life; and his sufferings from it intensified his zeal and his +hatred. + +Marat was elected to the Convention as a delegate from Paris. +Perhaps he was to a greater degree responsible for the September +massacre than any other man. While he was dying of his malady he was +urging on his fanatical measures, and declared that most of the +members of the Convention, Mirabeau first, ought to be executed. His +most virulent hatred was directed against the Girondists, whose +execution he advocated with all the venom of his nature. Though he +could write only when seated in a bath, he continued to hurl his +invectives against them, impatient for the guillotine to do its gory +work upon them. + +The avenger was at hand. Charlotte Corday d'Armont was the +granddaughter of Corneille, the great tragic poet of France. Though +of noble descent, she was born in a cottage, for her father was a +country gentleman so poor that he could not support his family. His +daughters worked in the fields like the peasants, till he was +compelled to abandon them. Then they obtained admission to a convent +in Caen, where they were received on account of their birth and +their poverty. The library furnished Charlotte abundant reading +matter, and she read works on philosophy, though she also rather +inflated her imagination by the perusal of romances, which had some +influence on her after life. + +When monasteries and convents were abolished, she was turned loose +upon the world; but her aunt, as poor almost as her father, took the +young woman, now nineteen years old, to her home in Caen. Charlotte +had developed into a beautiful girl, rather tall, honest, and +innocent. She had imbibed republican sentiments from her father in +spite of his nobility, and Caen was the head-quarters of the +Girondists. She was familiar with the details of the struggle +between the Jacobins and the Girondists, and they inspired her with +an intense feeling against the persecutors of her people, as she +regarded the latter. The members of that party who had been driven +from Paris instructed her. She was a woman; but if she had been a +queen she had the nerve to rule a nation and fight its battles. + +A tremendous purpose took possession of her being. It was not +prompted by the spirit of revenge. She was mistaken, but she +believed that the removal of Marat was the remedy for the evils of +the time; and this became the work of her life, upon which she +entered, fully conscious that her path ended at an ignominious +grave. She had an admirer in a young man by the name of Franquelin, +and though she favored him she sacrificed her attachment to what she +regarded as a lofty, even a sublime duty. She had the means to +proceed to Paris and she went by the coach. She deceived her aunt, +her father, and her sisters with the statement that she was going to +England in search of remunerative employment. She went to a hotel in +the great city which had been recommended to her in Caen. + +A friend had given her a letter of recommendation to Duperret, a +Girondist deputy, by the aid of which she hoped to get into the +presence of Marat. She had arranged a plan for the assassination of +the brawling fanatic, and it was to take place at the celebration of +the anniversary of the destruction of the Bastille, July 14th, on +the Champ de Mars. She desired to do the deed as publicly as +possible, not to make it sensational, but in order to produce the +stronger impression upon the minds of the people. The postponement +of the celebration, for the suppression of the rebellion among the +Vendeans, prevented the execution of her first plan, and she then +decided to strike down her victim in his seat at the "summit of the +mountain," in the midst of the victim's accomplices. Then she +learned that Marat was confined to his lodgings by his malady. She +promptly determined to confront him in his own home. + +She wrote a note to him, professing to be a sufferer at the hands of +the Girondists, asking for an appointment at his house. He made it, +but was unable to keep it. She wrote another note, and then went to +the house in the Rue de l'Ecole de Medecine, now a part of the +Boulevard St. Germain. The woman with whom Marat lived refused to +admit her, and she crowded up a short stairway. Her intended victim +heard the altercation, and suspecting it was the person who had sent +him two notes, he called out to Catherine Everard to admit her. +Charlotte had visited the Palais Royal and purchased a knife, which +was concealed in her bosom in readiness to do the deed. + +Marat, though at the height of his pernicious influence, lived in +mean and squalid apartments, in a sort of pride of poverty as "the +friend of the people." In spite of his disease, which compelled him +to work in a bath, he was always busy. The room was littered with +papers and pamphlets. He was only five feet in height, with a +naturally disagreeable face, increased by his malady. At the very +time his visitor entered his den, he was making out on a board +before him a list of Girondists to be executed. She would not look +at him, but she told him a story she had invented, and gave him the +names of Girondist refugees at Caen; to which he replied as he wrote +them down, that "they should have the guillotine before they were a +week older." + +At these words, as though they had steeled her arm, she drew the +knife from her bosom, and with superhuman power, plunged it to the +hilt and to the heart of Marat. He called for help and then expired. +Assistance came, and the house was thronged with National Guards and +policemen. They were necessary to save the murderess from the fury +of those who forced their way into the house. She was arrested, and +conveyed in the same carriage in which she had come to the +Conciergerie. All Paris groaned and howled. + +She had the form of a trial, and the guillotine quickly followed it. +Her fortitude did not forsake her at any time, and she died as +firmly as any martyr ever went to the stake. Her beauty and her +heroism excited the sympathy of the crowd, but they could not save +her. She was a mistaken heroine, but her courage and fortitude were +sublime. + +[Signature: William S. Adams.] + + + + +MADAME ROLAND[7] + + [Footnote 7: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX + +(1754-1793) + +[Illustration: Madame Roland.] + + +France has produced many remarkable women; perhaps no other country +can boast such an array of illustrious names; they shine from the +pages of French history like fixed stars from the firmament. Among +them, down the long vista of a hundred years, brilliant and +beautiful, shines the name of Madame Roland, the spirit of the great +French Revolution personified. + +Striking beauty, great genius, and wonderful courage in the hour of +martyrdom, rendered this woman an unusual character in an unusual +epoch. Surrounded by deceit, she was honest and fearless. In the +midst of immorality and license, she was pure, and brave enough to +resist temptation which came from without and from within, and she +went to the scaffold with an untarnished name and soul. + +Manon Philipon, as Madame Roland was known in her childhood, was +born in Paris in the year 1754. Her father was a worker in enamel, +who thrived well enough in his art when he was content to toil at +it, but a restless spirit of speculation led him into ventures which +brought him neither profit nor renown. + +Manon's beauty was a direct inheritance from both father and mother. +Gratien Philipon was a handsome man, and vain and frivolous as he +was handsome; but his beautiful wife was serious-minded, and much +the superior of her husband in intellect as well as morals. Of seven +children born to this couple, only one lived--Manon, the subject of +our sketch--who inherited the combined beauty of both parents, with +the rectitude and high ideals of the mother. But there lies no +explanation of inheritance from either father or mother to make us +understand how the child of these common people became at nine years +of age a student of Plutarch, Tasso, and Voltaire, and a philosopher +at the age of eleven. It requires a deeper law than that of heredity +to explain these things. + +At ten, Manon developed a strongly religious tendency, which was +fostered, no doubt, by daily studying the "Lives of the Saints." +While reading the accounts of martyrs who had died at the stake +rather than resign their faith, the child often regretted that she +had not lived in those "good old days," so happy a thing it seemed +to her to die for one's principles. This privilege was granted her +in after-years, strangely enough; and she proved as courageous in +reality as she had in childhood imagined herself capable of being +under similar circumstances. + +Manon's religious feelings were culminated by a request made to her +mother, in a paroxysm of tears, that she might be placed in a +convent to prepare herself for her first communion; accordingly, she +was taken to the Convent of the "Sisters of the Congregation" in +May, 1765, when she was eleven years old. Side by side with this +nunnery, where the precocious child passed one of the happiest +epochs of her life, stood the prison which was to immure her in +later years. Should such a circumstance and situation be unfolded in +the pages of fiction, we would call it strained and unnatural. + +During the year Manon passed in the convent, she made the +acquaintance of two sisters, Henrietta and Sophie Cannet, who were +allied to the nobility; and she afterward attributed her facility in +writing to the correspondence with the younger of these sisters, +which continued without interruption over more than a decade of +years. In her memoirs, written under the shadow of the guillotine, +she says, "In the gloom of a prison, in the midst of political +storms, how shall I recall to my mind, and how describe, the +rapture, the tranquillity I enjoyed at that period; but when I +review the events of my life, I find it difficult to assign to +circumstances that variety and that plenitude of affection which +have so strongly marked every point of its duration, and left me so +clear a remembrance of every place at which I have been." + +After she left the convent, she found her passion for reading +unabated, and as her father's library was limited, she was obliged +to borrow and hire books; from these she made copious extracts and +abstracts which formed her valuable habit of reflection upon what +she had read. + +Her first feelings of contempt and bitterness toward the aristocrats +were roused by the air of condescension which the Cannets exhibited +to her in her occasional visits to Sophie. They were stupid and +arrogant people, but they made her realize that the daughter of an +artisan was not on equal footing with people allied to the nobility, +albeit she was a prodigy of beauty, learning, and talent, and they +the dullest of beings. + +"I endeavored," she says, "to think with hope that everything was +right, but my pride told me things were ordered better in a +republic." So, as early as at the age of fourteen, we find this +remarkable being philosophizing upon republics, and taking part in +mind against the evils and injustice fostered by monarchies. + +Madame Roland wandered from prescribed creeds, and became a liberal +in her religious ideas. She has been called an Atheist, but every +line she writes, and her life of self-sacrifice, disprove this +assertion. Her "one prayer," to which she says she confined herself, +is, to my mind, sublime with beautiful and practical religion. + +"O Thou who hast placed me on the earth, enable me to fulfil my +destination in the manner most conformable to the Divine will, and +most beneficial to my fellow-creatures." + +I can imagine no more perfect religious faith, no more complete +submission to, and acknowledgment of, a Supreme Power than this +prayer contains. It strikes me as far more devout and respectful +than the prayers of many people who endeavor to dictate to God and +direct Him what to do and what not to do, what to bestow and what to +withhold. + +She writes of her religious agitations with great reluctance to +Sophie Cannet, fearful of disturbing the serenity of her friend's +convictions; but she continued to conform to her mother's religious +ideas during that good woman's life, and even afterward she kept up +the forms of Catholicism for the sake of a valued family servant who +was devoted to her. + +This delicate consideration of the feelings of others has been +mistaken by some bigoted minds for deceit or vacillation on the part +of Madame Roland; as if such a being were capable of either. + +We owe all our knowledge of her early private life to the voluminous +correspondence between her and Sophie Cannet; to this friend she +wrote those long, journal-like letters, in which one young girl +often pours out the inmost secrets of her heart and soul to another; +but, unlike the letters of the ordinary girl, Manon's contained +criticisms of the books she had read, and discussions of +philosophical subjects, which bear evidence to her wonderful +precocity of thought and feeling in her "teens." + +Originality, unselfishness, genius of the rarest order, are all +displayed in these letters; already had her mind grasped some great +truths which it requires the average philosopher half a century to +discover, when at seventeen, she says, "Man is the epitome of the +universe. The revolutions of the world without are an image of those +which take place in his own soul." + +Upon the news of the mortal illness of Louis XV., she writes to +Sophie this strongly humanitarian passage: "Although the obscurity +of my birth, name, and position seem to preclude me from taking any +interest in the government, yet the common weal touches me in spite +of it. My country is something to me, and the love I bear it is +unquestionable. How could it be otherwise when nothing in the world +is indifferent to me? A love of humanity unites me to everything +that breathes. A Caribbean interests me; the fate of a Kaffir goes +to my heart. Alexander wished for more worlds to conquer. I could +wish for more to love." + +In spite of her philosophy, her seriousness, and her learning, +however, Manon Philipon was a girl, and a charming one; and we learn +in her letters to Sophie how she was pestered with lovers of low and +high degree, during her long maidenhood. I might better say with +proposals for her hand, since, as we know, French custom does not +permit the "love-making" which American girls consider their natural +prerogative. + +Manon was so beautiful, brilliant, and magnetic, that when she went +out to promenade with her father, she was greeted with admiring +glances and remarks; and from the fruit vender of whom she made +occasional purchases, and the butcher who served the family with +joints, to dancing and drawing masters, up along the line to +merchants, professional, and literary men, she seemed to fascinate +and attract with no effort on her own part. + +Each one in turn asked for her hand and was rejected; and a host of +others followed, to meet a similar fate, until her father threatened +to marry her to the first stranger who crossed his portal, whether +either one wished it or no. She says in her memoirs, "The +respectable character of my mother, the appearance of some fortune, +and my being an only child, made the project of matrimony a tempting +one to a number of persons who were strangers to me. The greater +part, finding it difficult to obtain an introduction, adopted the +expedient of writing to my father. These letters were always shown +to me. I wrote the answers, which my father faithfully copied. I was +much amused at acting the part of my own father, and dismissed my +suitors with dignity, leaving no room for resentment or hope. Here +began to break out those dissensions with my father which lasted +ever after. He loved and respected commerce, I despised it; and he +was much concerned at my rejection of suitors who possessed any +fortune." + +After the death of Madame Philipon, which occurred in her daughter's +twenty-first year, Manon's life at home became almost unbearable. +Her extreme grief impaired her health, and anxiety and mortification +were added by the excesses and frivolous extravagances into which +her father plunged. He formed associations with people of bad +character, and took to gambling. Manon strove to make herself an +agreeable companion, and to entertain him at home, but the attempt +was futile. She filled her lonely hours with study, and with writing +letters to Sophie. One day a tall, thin gentleman, bald and yellow, +past forty, and looking older, presented a letter of introduction +from Miss Cannet. + +It was M. Roland, an austere philosopher, of an ancient family, to +whom Sophie had often referred. Manon admired his intellect and his +respectability; and when, after some two or three years, he made an +offer of marriage, she was ready to accept; but M. Philipon bluntly +and insolently refused his consent, through a strong personal +dislike which he had conceived for the severe moralist and +philosopher. + +Manon could not marry against her father's wishes, but she could +leave the home now so distasteful to her. She had saved only a small +sum from her mother's fortune, amounting to about one hundred +dollars per year. With this, she retired to the Convent of the +Congregation, and shut herself up with her books, and received only +her old friends. + +M. Roland, for whose sake she had taken so decisive a step, was far +from an ardent lover in his conduct at this juncture. He wrote her +affectionately, but he made no reference to his proposal of marriage +until six months had passed. Then he came to Paris, had an interview +through iron gratings, and expressed himself determined to make her +his wife. Since she had left her father's roof, she was at liberty +to accept his somewhat tardy proposal, and she emerged from the +convent to become Madame Roland. + +We have seen that M. Roland was not an ardent lover, and it is +readily understood that this beautiful, intense girl, in the very +prime of young womanhood, was not in love with him. She felt only +esteem for his virtues, and admiration for his intellect. But she +was twenty-five years old, and virtually homeless; of all the score +of men who had sought her hand in marriage, no one had ever stirred +her heart, and she married, believing, no doubt, that this cold +regard and high admiration which the character of M. Roland +elicited, was all that she could feel for any man. + +It was not until the thunders of the Revolution shook the world, +that her heart awoke to real passion; and even then, in a situation +where hundreds of women who have professed greater religious fervor, +have fallen, she conquered herself, and virtually died to protect +her husband's life. + +During the first year of their marriage, the Rolands lived in Paris. +Manon had imagined a happy association with her friends, the +Cannets; but her husband was morbidly jealous of these friends, and +extracted a promise from her that she would see them as little as +possible. She became his amanuensis and secretary, and scarcely ever +left his side. + +During the next ten years we find her passing the greater part of +her time in the Clos de la Platiere, an ancient and humble +country-seat belonging to the Roland family. Here, with her taxing +domestic duties, the exactions of her husband, the care of her child +Eudora, the tyrannies of her aged mother-in-law, this wonderful +woman had little opportunity for the exercise of her talents. + +It seems strange to think of this beautiful martyr, whose name is a +synonym for all that is grand and heroic, passing the best years of +her womanhood in preparing dishes for the appetite of a dyspeptic +husband, in looking after house-linen, and arranging lessons for a +child. Matilda Blind says "This affects one with something of the +ludicrous disproportion of making use of the fires of Etna to fry +one's eggs by." + +Yet Madame Roland performed these and less agreeable duties as +cheerfully and as perfectly as she had performed her chosen tasks in +the convent years before. Women doctors were not known in those +days, but the genius of Madame Roland embraced a knowledge of +medicine with other things; and she often went three leagues to +relieve a sick peasant, and was ever ready to sacrifice herself for +the good of others. + +There was very little happiness for her in the companionship of her +husband. He was twenty-two years her senior, and possessed an +imperious temper and an exacting nature. But the most ardent wife +could not have better performed her duty to the most lovable of +husbands. + +Naturally democratic in her feelings and sympathies, Madame Roland +took the keenest interest in the progress of the Revolution; from +her quiet retreat she studied its leading members, and when, in +1791, her husband was chosen deputy to the Constituent Assembly, she +accompanied him to Paris, and their apartments became the rendezvous +for such men as Brissot, Buzot, Danton, Robespierre, Petion, and +many more, who met to confer with one another and to exchange ideas +and suggestions. Madame Roland sat apart with her embroidery and +listened. Of these meetings she speaks thus in her "Memoirs": "Good +ideas were started and excellent principles maintained; but there +was no path marked out, no determinate point toward which each +person should direct his views. Sometimes for very vexation, I could +have boxed the ears of these philosophers." + +Had not her sex precluded this silent spirit of the Girondists from +taking part in these counsels, if, instead of acting second hand +through her husband, she could have taken the lead, as her genius, +perception, honesty, and courage entitled her to do, who knows that +she might not have averted the disasters which befell the party +through its dissensions. + +In March, 1792, Roland was elected minister of the interior; and +Madame Roland presided over the establishment that had been +sumptuously fitted up for Madame Necker. Roland became the idol of +the patriotic party, and was enchanted with his excellent position. +He urged upon King Louis XVI., in whom he reposed great faith, the +necessity of a decree against the priesthood, and the establishment +of a camp in the suburbs of Paris. Louis demurred, Roland insisted +in the famous letter written by his wife, and placed in the king's +hands June 11th. This letter became immensely popular. The Assembly +ordered it to be printed and copies sent to all departments, +together with expressions of national regret at the discharge of +Roland and his friends, which the letter caused. But they were +recalled to office after the dreadful August 10th. + +Twice a week Madame Roland gave a dinner to fifteen of her husband's +colleagues, with whom he wished to converse. No other lady was +present. The Girondists were at the apex of society, and Madame +Roland was the life and impetus of the party. She endeavored to +infuse its members with her hatred of false pride and old +prejudices, and with her desire to establish a liberal democracy. +Always enthusiastic, and vexed with the lack of unity and direct +purpose in the Assembly, she was over-zealous in some of her +suggestions. + +Among the brilliant men whom she entertained at these dinners, was +one, young, handsome, elegant, and refined, whose many manly +qualities woke in her heart that long-delayed passion which a nature +so ardent must sometime feel. This man was Buzot; and he was as +irresistibly drawn to this beautiful, brilliant woman as the magnet +to the steel. + +Madame Roland was at this time thirty-eight years old; her brilliant +color and her open expression made her look much younger, and her +tall, finely developed form, her splendid eyes and engaging smile, +charmed and attracted all who came near her. But though domestic +life and morality were held at the lowest possible value in those +chaotic days, and each man made a law for himself, Madame Roland +never wavered in her loyalty and devotion to the man whose name she +bore. Only through her remarkable letters written to Buzot from her +prison cell, and never made public till 1863, does the glory and +intensity of her hopeless passion display itself. + +From the very first, Madame Roland had distrusted Danton. It was not +long before her intuitions proved correct, for Danton soon showed +his jealousy and dislike of the minister, whom he found too honest +to tamper with. He feared, too, the penetration, frankness, and +genius of Roland's wife. Men who saw the insidious, selfish +qualities of Danton, began to cultivate and conciliate him out of +fear of his enmity. + +Robespierre, whom Madame Roland had at first believed in as an +honest friend to liberty, became an ally of Danton and Marat, and +Roland soon realized that it was not the monarchists he had to +contend against, but the new party headed by these dissenting +Girondists, who were savage with a thirst for human blood. + +The Rolands were accused of trying to establish an aristocracy of +talent on the ruins of a monarchical aristocracy; their semi-weekly +dinners were represented as sumptuous feasts where, like a new +Circe, Madame Roland strove to corrupt the unfortunates who partook +of her banquets. + +She was called before the Convention December 7th, to listen to the +charges against her; her eloquence won the admiration of even her +enemies. But her safety was in danger, and she was obliged to sleep +with a pistol under her pillow for fear of the outrages of +desperadoes who lurked about her house. + +The strife between the two parties grew more bitter, and the +downfall of Roland had been determined upon by his savage opponents, +once his fawning friends and colleagues. An attempt was made to +arrest Roland by six armed men, deputies of the Insurrectionists. He +replied that he did not recognize their authority, and refused to +follow them. Madame Roland at once set off for the Tuileries, where +the Insurrectionists, more cruel and blood-thirsty than the deposed +Monarchists, were in session. At the door the sentinels forbade her +to enter. Obliged to return home without having been enabled to +address the Convention, as she hoped to do, she found that her +husband had taken refuge in the house of a friend. + +She sought him out, embraced him, and returned once more to the +Tuileries in another vain hope of arousing their former friends to +resolute action. But she was obliged to return to her apartment in +the evening, without having accomplished anything. Late that night +she was torn from her child and her home, and cast into the Prison +of the Abbaye, from which she was set at liberty a month later, and +wild with happiness, allowed to reach her own door; but as she +attempted to enter she was again seized and conveyed to the Prison +of Sainte Pelagie. The respite had only been given in malice to +render her second incarceration more bitter. + +Under the same roof were murderers and women of the town; and in the +morning, when the cell-doors were opened, the scum of the earth, as +one authority tells us, collected in the corridor. On each side of +this corridor (the only place where the prisoners could take +exercise) were small cells, and one of these, separated only by thin +walls from the most depraved beings, whose vile language was +constantly audible to her ears, this refined and elegant woman was +forced to occupy. She suffered acutely from this proximity to +depravity and vulgarity at first; but ere long she transformed the +vicinity in which her cell was situated "from an inferno to an oasis +of peace." When she walked in the corridor, where at first she was +pointed at, abused and reviled, she was now surrounded by wretched +beings who clung to her skirts and regarded her as a divinity. Her +sweet voice soothed brawls, her words of courage inspired the most +hopeless. Everybody loved her, everybody desired her acquittal. + +Meantime she was writing her famous "Memoirs," and the touching +letters to her husband, her child, and to Buzot. After an +imprisonment of more than six months, she was finally called before +the judge and the prosecution, and accused of being the wife of +Roland, the conspirator, the friend of his accomplices. Twenty-one +Girondists had already been executed, and she could not hope to +escape. She was condemned to death as guilty of traitorous relations +with conspirators. She heard the sentence proudly, and replied, "You +consider me worthy to share the fate of the great men whom you have +assassinated. I shall try to carry to the scaffold the courage they +have shown." + +Robespierre signed her death-warrant. He had been her friend, guest, +and correspondent. She had helped him when he was unknown, defended +him when he was in need of a defender. But he sent her to the +scaffold; and on November 9, 1793, the tumbril came to convey her to +the guillotine. It had taken many others on that same day; and now +her only companion on that fatal ride was a trembling old man named +La Marche. He wept bitterly, but Madame Roland cheered him with +words of courage and strength. + +When they arrived at the Place de la Concorde, she begged the +executioner to permit the "etiquette of the scaffold" to be waived, +and to allow La Marche to die first, that the sight of her death +might not accentuate his fear and misery. So to the last moment of +her life she was true to her religion of thoughtfulness for others. + +Beautiful, self-possessed, and calm, she stood upon the scaffold in +the pride of her womanhood, and spoke those last immortal words as +she lifted her eyes to the statue of Liberty, "O Liberty, how many +crimes are committed in thy name." + +Then the axe fell, and the assassins of the Revolution had added +another victim to their list. Seven days after this event, M. Roland +committed suicide by stabbing himself through the heart. + +[Signature: Ella Wheeler Wilcox.] + + + + +MARIE ANTOINETTE + +By Mrs. OCTAVIUS FREIRE OWEN + +(1755-1793) + +[Illustration: Marie Antoinette.] + + +Maria Theresa, the Empress of Austria, was not highly educated; and +she was incapable of directing the studies of her children, although +by precept and example she laid the foundation of characters, all of +which became more or less remarkable. Marie Antoinette, her youngest +child, was perhaps the most neglected. She once innocently caused +the dismissal of her governess, through a confession that all the +letters and drawings shown to her mother, in proof of her +improvement, had been previously traced with a pencil. At fifteen +her knowledge of Italian, studied under Metastasio, was the only +branch of her education which had been fairly attended to, if we +except considerable conversance with the "Lives of the Saints" and +other legendary lore, the favorite fictions of monastic compilers. +Nature had, nevertheless, done much for the young archduchess; she +possessed great facility for learning, and was not slow in taking +advantage of opportunities for improvement when they were afforded. +In person she was most attractive. "Beaming with freshness," says +Madame Campan, "she appeared to all eyes more than beautiful. Her +walk partook at once of the noble character of the princesses of her +house and of the graces of the French; her eyes were mild, her smile +lovely. It was impossible to refrain from admiring her aerial +deportment; her smile was sufficient to win the heart; and in this +enchanting being, in whom the splendor of French gayety shone forth, +an indescribable but august serenity--perhaps, also, the somewhat +proud position of her head and shoulders--betrayed the daughter of +the Caesars." Such, according to her affectionate chronicler, +appeared Marie Antoinette, when her nuptials were celebrated at +Versailles with the Dauphin of France. + +Superstitious minds discovered fatal omens from the earliest years +of the hapless dauphiness. She had begun ill by first drawing breath +upon the very day of the earthquake of Lisbon; this made a great +impression on the mother, and later upon the child also. Another +incident was not less discouraging: the empress had "protected a +person named Gassner," who fancied himself inspired, and affected to +predict events. "Tell me," she said to him one day, "whether my +Antoinette will be happy?" At first Gassner turned pale and remained +silent, but, urged by the empress, and dreading to distress her by +his own fancies, he said, equivocally, "Madame, there are crosses +for all shoulders." Goethe notices that a pavilion erected to +receive Marie Antoinette and her suite in the neighborhood of +Strasburg was lined with tapestry depicting the story of Jason, "the +most fatal union" on record; and a few days later, when the young +queen arrived from Versailles to witness the rejoicings of the +people upon her marriage, she was compelled to fly, terrified, from +a scene remarkable not for festivity and happiness, but for the +variety and horror of its accidents. These circumstances threw a +gloom over the prospective triumphs of the impressionable bride; but +her nature and age were alike favorable to vivacity, and she shook +off the morbid influence. + +Something of her mother's wise advice to her as to the course she +should follow in her new position has been preserved in the +following letter: + +"MY DEAR DAUGHTER: + +"... Do not take any recommendations; listen to no one, if you would +be at peace. Have no curiosity,--this is a fault which I fear +greatly for you; avoid all familiarity with your inferiors. Ask of +Monsieur and Madame de Noailles, and even exact of them, under all +circumstances, advice as to what, as a foreigner and being desirous +of pleasing the nation, you should do, and that they should tell you +frankly if there be anything in your bearing, discourse, or any +point which you should correct. Reply amiably to every one, and with +grace and dignity; you can if you will. You must learn to refuse.... +After Strasburg you must accept nothing without taking counsel of +Monsieur and Madame de Noailles; and you should refer to them every +one who would speak to you of his personal affairs, saying frankly +that being a stranger yourself, you cannot undertake to recommend +any one to the king. If you wish you may add, in order to make your +reply more emphatic, 'The empress, my mother, has expressly +forbidden me to undertake any recommendations.' Do not be ashamed to +ask advice of any one, and do nothing on your own responsibility.... +In the king you will find a tender father who will also be your +friend if you deserve it. Put entire confidence in him; you will run +no risk. Love him, obey him, seek to divine his thoughts; you cannot +do enough on this moment when I am losing you.... Concerning the +dauphin I shall say nothing; you know my delicacy on this point. A +wife should be submissive in everything to her husband, and should +have no thought but to please him and do his will.... The only true +happiness in this world lies in a happy marriage; I know whereof I +speak. Everything depends on the wife if she be yielding, sweet, and +amusing.... I counsel you, my dear daughter, to reread this letter +on the twenty-first of every month. I beg you to be true to me on +this point. My only fear for you is negligence in your prayers and +studies; and lukewarmness succeeds negligence. Fight against it, for +it is more dangerous than a more reprehensible, even wicked state; +one can conquer that more easily. Love your family; be affectionate +to them--to your aunts as well as to your brothers-in-law and +sisters-in-law. Suffer no evil-speaking; you must either silence the +persons, or escape it by withdrawing from them. If you value your +peace of mind, you must from the start avoid this pitfall, which I +greatly fear for you knowing your curiosity.... + + "Your mother, + "MARIA-THERESA." + +The grand annoyance Marie Antoinette experienced upon her entrance +into the French Court, was the necessity of observing a system of +etiquette to which she had been unaccustomed, and soon pronounced, +with girlish vehemence, insupportable. Barriere copies a ridiculous +anecdote in illustration of this from the manuscript fragments of +Madame Campan: "Madame de Noailles" (this was the first lady of +honor to the dauphiness) "abounded in virtues; I cannot pretend to +deny it. Her piety, charity, and irreproachable morals rendered her +worthy of praise, but etiquette was to her a sort of atmosphere; at +the slightest derangement of the consecrated order, one would have +thought she would have been stifled, and that life would forsake her +frame. One day I unintentionally threw this poor lady into a +terrible agony. The queen was receiving I know not whom--some +persons just presented, I believe; the lady of honor, the queen's +tire-woman, and the ladies of the bed-chamber were behind the queen. +I was near the throne with the two women on duty. All was right; at +least, I thought so. Suddenly I perceived the eyes of Madame de +Noailles fixed on mine. She made a sign with her head, and then +raised her eyebrows to the top of her forehead, lowered them, raised +them again, then began to make little signs with her hand. From all +this pantomime, I could easily perceive that something was not as it +should be; as I looked about on all sides to find out what it was, +the agitation of the countess kept increasing. The queen, who +perceived all this, looked at me with a smile. I found means to +approach her Majesty, who said to me in a whisper: '_Let down your +lappets, or the countess will expire._' All this bustle arose from +two unlucky pins, which fastened up my lappets, while the etiquette +of costume said '_Lappets hanging down_.'" + +To the Countess de Noailles Marie Antoinette speedily gave the name +of Madame l'Etiquette; this pleasantry the object of it could +pardon, not so the French nation. The avowed dislike to ceremony +manifested by the lively little dauphiness, her desire to substitute +the simple manners of her native Vienna for the stately formality of +Versailles, displeased more than her genuine condescension and +affability attracted. Early also in her married life, to beguile the +heavy tedium of their evenings, she instituted a variety of childish +games which became talked of and condemned; she liked theatrical +representations, and persuaded her two young brothers-in-law, with +the princesses, to join her in performing plays, and though they +were kept secret for a time, she suffered for her innocent +contrivances in public opinion. It must be remembered that Marie +Antoinette had no sincere friends upon her arrival in France, except +the Duc de Choiseul and his party, and his disgrace prevented her +deriving much benefit from the man who had first negotiated her +marriage. The house of Austria was looked upon with dislike and +doubt; nor were these, even in the case of the young dauphin's aunt, +Madame Adelaide, made a matter of concealment. Thus, at her entrance +upon public life, Antoinette was met with cynicism and prejudice, +and unfortunately her own conduct rather increased than quieted the +insidious voice--the "_bruit sourd_"--of both. + +Louis XV. had manifested from the first great pleasure in the +society of his grandson's bride. After dining in his apartment at +the Tuileries, upon her arrival at Paris, she was obliged to +acknowledge the shouts of the multitude, which filled the garden +below, by presenting herself on the balcony. The Governor of Paris +had told her politely at the time, that "these were so many lovers." +Little did she think that at the very moment a strong party around +her was planning her divorce, under the supposition that the +dauphin's coldness to his bride proceeded from dislike. Louis was a +timid, though rough, youth at the time, and for a considerable +period treated the attractions which the courtiers so highly +extolled, with churlish indifference. The French king, indeed, did +his best to promote a better understanding, and when the reserve of +the dauphin once thawed, the latter became tenderly attached to her, +and greatly improved by her influence and society. + +An interesting trait of this youthful pair is told, as occurring at +the moment when they might have been excused for entertaining other +and more selfish thoughts. They were expecting the intelligence of +the death of Louis XV. It had been agreed, as the disorder was one +frightfully contagious, that the court should depart immediately +upon learning it could be of no further assistance, and that a +lighted taper, placed in the window of the dying monarch's chamber, +should form a signal for the cavalcade to prepare for the journey. +The taper was extinguished; a tumult of voices and advancing feet +were heard in the outer apartment. "It was the crowd of courtiers +deserting the dead sovereign's ante-chamber, to come and bow to the +new power of Louis XVI." With a spontaneous impulse the dauphin and +his bride threw themselves upon their knees, and shedding a torrent +of tears, exclaimed, "O God! guide us, protect us; we are too young +to govern." Thus the Countess de Noailles found them as she entered, +the first to salute Marie Antoinette as Queen of France. + +[Illustration: Marie Antoinette.] + +For some time the young queen's liking for children was ungratified by +the possession of any of her own, and this gave rise to an amusing +attempt to adopt one belonging to others. One day, when she was +driving near Luciennes, a little peasant boy fell under the horses' +feet, and might have been killed. The queen took him to Versailles, +appointed him a nurse, and installed him in the royal apartments, +constantly seating him in her lap at breakfast and dinner. This child +afterward grew up a most sanguinary revolutionist! It was nine years +before Marie Antoinette had the blessing of any offspring; four +children were after that interval, born to her, two of whom died in +their infancy, and two survived to share their parent's subsequent +imprisonment. The sad history of her son's fate, a promising and +attractive boy, is well known. + +We have seen the Austrian princess was no favorite with her +husband's nation. After a time accusations as unjust as serious +assailed her, and in the horrors of the succeeding revolution the +popular feeling evinced itself in a hundred frightful ways. Louis +XVI., a mild prince, averse to violence or bloodshed, was unfit to +stem the tide of opposition; had he possessed the energy of his +queen, the Reign of Terror had perhaps never existed. Throughout her +misfortunes, in every scene of flight, of opprobrium, and +desolation, her magnanimity and courage won, even from the ruffians +around, occasional expressions of sympathy. A harrowing and +melancholy history is hers, and one which has been often vividly +narrated; its details, also, are sufficiently recent to be still +fresh within the recollection of many. For these reasons, and +further because it seems to us a repellent, if not a mischievous, +act to amplify such records before advancing age shall have invested +them to the mind with deeper significance, we gladly pass over the +picture suggested by this dark historical page, and, resuming the +narrative where Madame de Campan drops it, content ourselves with a +description of the last scene in the terrible drama. + +When this devoted woman left her royal mistress in the miserable +cell at the Convent of the Feuillans, she never again saw her. +Imprisonment, and the intense grief she experienced, more for others +than for herself, completely transformed the once beautiful queen; +her hair was prematurely silvered, like that of Mary Stuart, her +figure bowed, her voice low and tremulous. Then came the separation +from the king. Once more only did her eyes again behold him, and +after the parting between the dethroned monarch and his adoring +family, he might indeed have been able to say, "The bitterness of +death was passed." However weak at intervals, the unhappy Louis met +his death heroically. The sufferings of his wife at the time when +the guns boomed out the fearful catastrophe, may be supposed to have +been as great as the human frame has power to endure. Shortly after, +she was separated from her children and conveyed to the prison of +the Conciergerie, a damp and loathsome place, whence she was +summoned one morning in October to receive a sentence for which it +is probable she ardently longed. Let us look at her through the bars +of her prison upon her return thither after it was pronounced. + +It is four o'clock in the morning. The widowed Queen of France +stands calm and resigned in her cell, listening with a melancholy +smile to the tumult of the mob outside. A faint illumination +announces the approach of day; it is the last she has to live! +Seating herself at a table she writes, with hurried hand, a last +letter of ardent tenderness to the sister of her husband, the pious +Madame Elizabeth, and to her children; and now she passionately +presses the insensible paper to her lips, as the sole remaining link +between those dear ones and herself. She stops, sighs, and throws +herself upon her miserable pallet. What! in such an hour as this can +the queen sleep? Even so! + +And now look up, daughter of the Caesars! Thou art waked from dreams +of hope and light, from the imaged embrace of thy beloved Louis, thy +tender infants, by a kind voice, choked by tears. Arise! emancipated +one, thy prison doors are open. Freedom, freedom is at hand! + +Immediately in front of the palace of the Tuileries--scene of the +short months of her wedded happiness--there rises a dark, ominous +mass. Around is a sea of human faces; above, the cold frown of a +winter's sky. With a firm step the victim ascends the stairs of the +scaffold, her white garments wave in the chill breeze, a black ribbon +by which her cap is confined beats to and fro against her pale cheeks. +You may see that she is unmindful of her executioners--she glances, +nay, almost smiles, at the sharp edge of the guillotine, and then +turning her eyes toward the Temple, utters, in a few agitated words, +her last earthly farewell to Louis and her children. There is a +hush--a stillness of the grave--for the very headsman trembles as the +horrible blade falls--anon, a moment's delay. And now, look! No, +rather veil your eyes from the dreadful sight; close your ears to that +fiendish shout--_Vive la Republique!_ It is over! the sacrifice is +accomplished! the weary spirit is at rest! + +Let us dwell upon this last mournful pageant only sufficiently far +as to imitate the virtues, and emulate the firmness and resignation +with which she met her doom. Nothing is permitted without a meaning, +all is for either warning or example; and while breathing a prayer +that Heaven may avert a recurrence of such outrages, let us remember +that moral indecision, the undue love of pleasure, and an aimless, +profitless mode of life, as surely, and not less fatally, may raise +the surging tide of events no human skill can quell, as the most +selfish abandonment to uncontrolled desires. + + + + +ANDREAS HOFER + +(1767-1810) + + +Andreas Hofer, a native of the village of St. Leonard, in the valley +of Passeyr, was born on November 22, 1767. During the greater part +of his life he resided peaceably in his own neighborhood, where he +kept an inn, and increased his profits by dealing in wine, corn, and +cattle. About his neck he wore at all times a small crucifix and a +medal of St. George. He never held any rank in the Austrian army; +but he had formed a secret connection with the Archduke John, when +that prince had passed a few weeks in the Tyrol making scientific +researches. In November, 1805, Hofer was appointed deputy from his +native valley at the conference of Brunnecken, and again at a second +conference, held at Vienna, in January, 1809. + +[Illustration: Andreas Hofer.] + +The Tyrol had for many years been an appendage of the Austrian +states, and the inhabitants had become devoted to that government; +so that when, by the treaty of Presburg, the province was +transferred to the rule of the King of Bavaria, then the ally of +Napoleon I., the peasants were greatly irritated, and their +discontent was further provoked by the large and frequent exactions +which the continual wars obliged the new government to levy on the +Tyrolese. The consequence was, that when their own neighborhood +became the theatre of military operations between Austria and +France, in the spring of 1809, a general insurrection broke out in +the Tyrol. His resolution of character, natural eloquence, and +private influence as a wealthy citizen, joined to a figure of great +stature and strength, pointed out Andreas Hofer to his countrymen as +the leader of this revolt; and with him were united Spechbacher, +Joseph Haspinger, and Martin Teimer, whose names have all become +historical. A perfect understanding was maintained between the +insurgents and their late masters, and the signal of the +insurrection was given by the Archduke John in a proclamation from +his head-quarters at Klagenfurth. An Austrian army of 10,000 men, +commanded by the Marquis Castellar, was directed to enter the Tyrol +and support the insurrection, which broke out in every quarter on +the night of April 8, 1809. The Austrian general himself crossed the +frontier at daybreak on the 9th. On their side the Bavarians marched +an army of 25,000 men into the province to quell the revolt. Hofer +and his band of armed peasantry fell upon the Bavarians while +entangled in the narrow glens, and on April 10th defeated Besson and +Lemoine at the Sterzinger Moos. The next day a troop of peasants +under Teimer took possession of Innsbrueck. On the 12th Besson +surrendered with his division of 3,000 men. In a single week all the +fortresses were recovered, nearly 10,000 troops of the enemy were +destroyed, and the whole province was redeemed. + +Incensed by this interruption of his plans, Napoleon despatched +three armies almost simultaneously to assail the province at three +different points. One of these forces was under the command of +Marshal Lefebvre, who, on May 12th, defeated the united army of the +Austrian soldiers, under Castellar, and the Tyrolese peasantry, +under Haspinger and Spechbacher, at Feuer Singer. The troops made a +bad use of their victory, slaughtering the inhabitants of the +villages on their route, without distinction of age or sex. The +Bavarian and French officers encouraged and took part in the +excesses of the soldiers; while the insurgents, far from +retaliating, refrained from every species of license, and nursed +their wounded prisoners with the same care as their own friends. +Hofer himself was not always present in action, his talent +consisting rather in stimulating his countrymen than in actual +fighting; but at the battle of Innsbrueck (May 28, 1809), he led the +Tyrolese, exhibited both skill and daring, and defeated the +Bavarians with a loss of 4,000 men. The whole of the Tyrol was +delivered a second time. But after the battle of Wagram (July 6th), +and the armistice of Znaim which immediately followed, the Austrian +army was obliged to evacuate the Tyrol, leaving the helpless +insurgents to the mercy of an exasperated enemy. Marshal Lefebvre +now invaded the province a second time, and entered it by the road +from Salzburg, with an army of 21,000 troops, while Beaumont, having +crossed the ridge of Schnartz with a force 10,000 strong, threatened +Innsbrueck from the north. On July 30th Innsbrueck submitted. A series +of desperate contests followed along the line of the Brenner, mostly +with doubtful success, but in one the marshal was defeated, when +twenty-five pieces of artillery and a quantity of ammunition fell +into the hands of the Tyrolese. Again, on August 12th, Marshal +Lefebvre, with an army of 25,000 Bavarian and French soldiers, 2,000 +of whom were cavalry, was totally beaten by the Tyrolese army, +consisting of 18,000 armed peasants. The battle, which was fought +near Innsbrueck, is said to have lasted from six in the morning until +midnight. For a third time the Tyrol was free. + +After this victory, entirely achieved by the peasantry themselves, +Hofer became the absolute ruler of the country; coins were struck +with his effigy, and proclamations issued in his name. His power, +however, scarcely lasted two months, and became the cause of his +ruin ultimately. Three veteran armies, comprising a force of nearly +50,000 French and Bavarian troops, were despatched in October to +subdue the exhausted province; and, unable to make head against +them, Hofer was obliged to take refuge in the mountains. Soon after, +a price having been set on his head, a pretended friend (a priest +named Donay) was induced to betray him, January 20, 1810. After his +arrest he was conveyed to Mantua, and the intelligence having been +communicated by telegraph to the French emperor, an order was +instantly returned that he must be tried. This order was a sentence; +and after a court-martial, at which, however, the majority were +averse to a sentence of death, Hofer was condemned to be shot. His +execution took place on February 20, 1810, his whole military career +having occupied less than forty weeks. The Emperor Francis conferred +a handsome pension upon the widow and family of Hofer, and created +Hofer's son a noble. The Austrian government also raised a marble +statue of heroic size in the cathedral of Innsbrueck, where the body +of the patriot was interred; while his own countrymen have +commemorated his efforts by raising a small pyramid to mark the spot +where he was taken. + +[Illustration: Andreas Hofer led to Execution.] + + + + +QUEEN LOUISE OF PRUSSIA + +By Mrs. FRANCIS G. FAITHFULL + +(1776-1810) + +[Illustration: Queen Louise of Prussia.] + + +There is at Paretz, near Potsdam, a flower-bordered walk leading +from a grotto overlooking the Havel to an iron gate, above which is +inscribed "May 20, 1810" and the letter "L." Within the grotto an +iron table bears in golden characters, "Remember the Absent." + +These words were engraved by order of Friedrich Wilhelm III. of +Prussia; and the "absent" he would have remembered--"the star of his +life, who had lighted him so truly on his darkened way"--was the +wife who died of a broken heart before reaching middle age. + +Louise Augusta Wilhelmina, third daughter of Duke Charles of +Mecklenburg-Strelitz, was born on March 10, 1776, in the city of +Hanover. Her mother died when she was six years old, and henceforth +she and her sister Frederica lived with their grandmother, the +Landgravine of Darmstadt, sometimes at the Burgfreiheit Palace, +sometimes at a chateau in the Herrengarten, surrounded by formal +gardens and orangeries. The girls were brought up simply, making +their own clothes, and going much among the poor. Now and then they +made expeditions to Strasburg or the Vosges Mountains; and, when the +Emperor Leopold was crowned at Frankfort, the Frau von Goethe housed +them hospitably, and was highly entertained by the glee with which +they worked a quaint sculptured pump in her courtyard. Two years +later the advance of French troops compelled them to seek refuge +with their eldest sister, the reigning Duchess of Hildburghausen; +and on their homeward way they visited the Prussian head-quarters, +that the Landgravine might present them to the king. His sons were +with him, and long afterward the Crown Prince told a friend, "I felt +when I saw her, 'tis she or none on earth." + +The wooing was short. On April 24, 1793, he exchanged betrothal +rings with Louise, and then rejoined his regiment. Soon after, the +Princesses of Mecklenburg went over to the camp, Louise appearing "a +heavenly vision" in the eyes of Goethe, who saw her there. + +In the December of that same year Berlin, gay with flags and ablaze +with colored lamps, welcomed Duke Charles and his daughters; and on +Christmas Eve the diamond crown of the Hohenzollerns was placed on +her fair head, and in her glistening silver robe she took part in +the solemn torch procession round the White Saloon. + +Then her young husband took her home to their palace in the "Unter +den Linden." They were very happy. In the sunshine of his wife's +presence the prince's spirit, crushed in childhood by a harsh tutor, +soon revived, while Louise, though the darling of the court, was +always most content when alone with him. + +"Thank God! you are my wife again," he exclaimed, one day, when she +had laid aside her jewels. + +"Am I not always your wife?" she asked, laughingly. + +"Alas! no; too often you can be only the crown princess." + +Her father-in-law never wearied of showering kindnesses on his +"Princess of Princesses." On her eighteenth birthday he asked if she +desired anything he could give. "A handful of gold for the Berlin +poor," was the prompt petition. + +"And how large a handful would the birthday child like?" + +"As large as the heart of the kindest of kings." + +The Castle of Charlottenberg, one of his many gifts to the young +pair, proving too splendid for their simple tastes, he bought for +them the Manor of Paretz, about two miles from Potsdam. There Louise +busied herself with household affairs, while her husband gardened, +strolled over his fields, or inspected his farm stock. They played +and sang together, or read Shakespeare and Goethe, while to complete +this home-life came two baby boys: Fritz, born in October, 1795, and +Friedrich Wilhelm, in March, 1797. Someone once asked Louise if this +country existence was not rather dull. "Oh! no," she exclaimed; "I +am quite happy as the worthy lady of Paretz." + +But in the late autumn of 1797 the king died, and the quiet freedom +of Paretz had to be exchanged for the restraints of court life. +Little as either of the two desired regal pomp, they played their +new parts well. Friedrich Wilhelm, stately in bearing, and +acknowledged as the handsomest man in his realm, looked every inch a +king; and if his laconic speech and caustic criticisms sometimes +gave offence, the winning gentleness of his beautiful wife more than +made amends. Nobles and citizens, statesmen, soldiers, and savants +were alike made welcome; and Louise knew instinctively how to make +each show at his best. With eager interest she discussed +Pestalozzi's ideas with his disciples; and when Gotloeeb Hiller, the +poet-son of a miner, was presented to her, she led him aside, and by +the friendly ease with which she talked of things familiar to him, +speedily banished his shyness. Indeed, ready as she was to recognize +high gifts and to learn from all able to teach, yet it was to the +obscure and suffering that her tones were most soft and gracious. +Even in trifles her thoughtfulness was unfailing. When a count and a +shoemaker were announced at the same moment, she gave audience first +to the shoemaker. "For time is more valuable to him." + +[Illustration: Queen Louise visiting the Poor.] + +At Dantzic she constantly wore an amber necklace, because it had +been the gift of the townsfolk. The voice which in childhood had +pleaded for the panting footman running beside her grandmother's +coach, might still be heard interceding, for when the royal carriage +was overturned near Warsaw, and the Oberk of Messterin rated the +servants, Louise interposed: "We are not hurt, and our people have +assuredly been more alarmed than we." + +Sometimes the midday meal was spread beneath a forest tree, and from +far and near the peasants flocked to get "even a glimpse of her +lovely face." They followed in crowds while she and the king climbed +the Schneekoppe on foot, but loyal shouts died into awed silence +when, at the summit, Friedrich Wilhelm bared his head, and the two +standing side by side gazed at the glorious view. "That was one of +the most blessed moments of my life," Louise said afterward; "we +seemed lifted above this earth and nearer our God." + +They entered the mines at Woldenberg by a swift-flowing stream, and +twenty years afterward the steersman of their boat was fond of +telling how, in the dark cavern--"The Foxes' Hole"--he saw her well +by the torchlight. "In all my life I never saw such a face. She +looked grand, as a queen should look, but gentle as a child. She +gave me with her own hands two Holland ducats. My wife wears them +when she goes to church, for what she touched is holy." + +Louise had never meddled in foreign politics. She had been, she +designed to be, only the "Landesmutter," and even when the murder of +the Duc d'Enghien, seized on Prussian soil, aroused in Berlin a +storm of indignation, in which she fully shared, she yet sympathized +in the mental distress which found vent in her husband's +often-repeated words, "I cannot decide for war." + +At last he did decide. In October, 1805, Napoleon ordered Bernadotte +to march his army corps through Anspach. This contemptuous comment +on Prussia's ten-years' forbearance was too much for the king's +pride. Armies were raised in Franconia, Saxony, Westphalia, and +while the excitement was at fever point the czar came to Berlin. All +his rare charm of manner was brought to bear, and at midnight, in +the presence of Louise, the two monarchs, standing with clasped +hands beside the tomb of the great Friedrich, solemnly pledged +themselves to a close alliance. + +Alexander departed to lead his Russians to Moravia, and Friedrich +Wilhelm despatched a protest to the French camp; but the envoy, +Haugwitz, arriving on the eve of Austerlitz, waited the issue of the +battle, and then, withholding his packet, proposed to the victor a +fresh treaty with Prussia. There was wrath in Berlin when his doings +became known. The king at first disowned the disgraceful compact, +but Austerlitz had just taught him what Napoleon's enemies might +expect. French troops were already massing on his frontier, and in +an evil hour he broke faith with the czar! To Louise, who neither +feared foe nor deserted friend, that was a bitter time--doubly sad, +indeed, since most of the long winter was spent by the dying bed of +her youngest child. When she lost him her own strength broke down, +and the doctors ordered her away to drink the Pyrmont waters. In the +late summer she was able to rejoin her husband, and he had startling +news to tell, for war with France was close at hand. + +Since Haugwitz's fatal agreement Napoleon had heaped injuries on +Prussia. Now, at least, king and people were of one mind. The young +Prussian officers sharpened their swords on the French ambassador's +window-sills, patriotic songs were hailed with thunders of applause +in street and theatre, and when the queen, clad in the uniform of +her own Hussars, rode at their head through the city, she was +greeted with passionate loyalty. + +Unhappily, Friedrich Wilhelm, hitherto too tardy, was now too +precipitate. He had been passive while France crushed Austria, and +Austria, suspicious and disabled, neither could nor would assist +him. Russia, with better reason for distrust, responded generously +to his appeal, but he did not wait for her promised aid. For all his +haste, Napoleon, with 180,000 men, was nearing the Thuringian Forest +before the Prussian troops left Berlin. They were very confident, +those Prussian troops, and the shouting multitudes who watched the +well-trained artillery and cavalry defiling by, hardly dreamed of +disaster; yet it came almost at once. The Saxon corps, led by the +king's cousin, Prince Louis, pushing on too fast, was surprised and +surrounded, and the gallant young commander, the queen's dear +friend, the idol of the army, fell while rallying his men. + +Louise, who had hurriedly joined the king from Weimar, could hardly +be persuaded to leave him, but on the evening of October 13th he +confided her to a cavalry escort, promising speedy tidings of the +coming battle. As she threaded the lonely passes of the Hartz +Mountains she heard the distant cannonading, and a broken sentence +now and again fell from her lips: "We know that all things work +together for good." Late in the misty October twilight she drove +into Brunswick. At Brandenburg a courier brought the news her +trembling heart awaited. All was lost! Twenty thousand Prussians lay +on the fields of Auerstadt and Jena, and the French were already in +Weimar. The king was alive, but two horses had been killed under +him. Grief-stricken, travel-worn as she was, Louise must not halt. +Before she reached Berlin her children had been sent to +Schwedt-on-Oder. She followed thither, almost terrifying them by her +changed, despairing looks. As soon as she could check her weeping, +she told her boys all she knew about Prince Louis's death. "Do not +only grieve for him. Be ready for Prussia's sake to meet death as he +met it," and then, in burning, never-forgotten words, she bade them +one day free their country and break the power of France. + +There seemed only a choice between utter destruction and utter +submission, and yet when Napoleon demanded the cession of almost the +whole kingdom, Friedrich Wilhelm and his wife agreed that "only +determined resistance can save us." She was slowly rallying at +Koenigsberg from a fever caught in the crowded city, when the cry was +raised of the coming French. Propped by pillows, swathed in shawls, +she drove through blinding sleet to Memel, the one fortress still +left to the king. At her first halting-place the wind whistled in +through a broken window, and the melting snow dripped from the roof +on to her bed. Her companions trembled for her, but she, calm and +trustful, hailed as a good omen the sunshine which welcomed them +within the walls of Memel. + +A week later Benningsen and his Russians, who had been wading +knee-deep through Polish forests and fording swollen streams, always +with 90,000 Frenchmen in hot pursuit, turned to bay amid the frozen +lakes and drifted snows of Eylau. Next day those snows for miles +around were red with blood. It was hard to tell with whom the costly +victory lay, but Napoleon despatched Bertrand to the Russian +outposts to propose an armistice, and Benningsen sent him on to +Memel, reminding the Prussian king that it could not be their +interest to grant what it was Napoleon's interest to ask. The terms +were, indeed, far easier than those offered after June; but +Friedrich Wilhelm, true to the ally who had held the field almost +single-handed through that terrible winter, would make no separate +agreement, nor did Louise receive more favorably a message to +herself, conveying Napoleon's wish to pay his court to her in her +own capital. + +Though the piercing Baltic winds tried her strength greatly, she +employed herself whenever able in reading and visiting the over-full +hospitals. To a dear friend she said, "I can never be perfectly +miserable while faith in God is open to me." "Only by patient +perseverance," so she wrote to her father, "can we succeed. Sooner +or later I know we shall do so." + +It was not to be yet. On June 14, 1807, Napoleon annihilated the +Russians at Friedland, and four days later Dantzic fell. Her tone +grew sadder. "We are not yet bereft of peace. My great sorrow is +being unable to hope." + +As the czar could resist no longer and Napoleon desired peace, they +met at Tilsit, and there, on a covered raft moored midway in the +Niemen, arranged the outlines of a treaty. The next day Friedrich +Wilhelm, yielding to stern necessity, accepted terms "to the last +degree hard and overwhelming." The czar, believing that Louise might +move even Napoleon to clemency, her husband begged her to join him +at Tilsit. On reading this summons she burst into tears, declaring +this the hardest task ever given her to do. "With my broken wing how +can I succeed?" she pathetically asked. + +Napoleon paid his respects soon after her arrival, and they met at +the stairhead. Louise, for Prussia's sake, forced herself to utter +courteous regrets that he should have to mount so steep a staircase. +He answered blandly that no difficulties were feared when striving +for a reward beyond. Then, touching her gauze robe, asked, "Is it +crepe?" + +"Shall we speak of such trifles at such a time?" was her only reply. + +He was silent; then demanded, "How could you make war on me?" + +She told him that they had overrated their strength. + +"And relying on the great Friedrich's fame you deceived yourselves." + +Louise's clear eyes met his steadily. "Sire, resting on the great +Friedrich's fame, we might naturally deceive ourselves, if, indeed, +we wholly did so." + +Then she told him that she had come to entreat him to be generous to +Prussia. He answered respectfully, but made no promise. Again, with +exceeding earnestness, she implored at least for Magdeburg, just +then Friedrich Wilhelm entered, and Napoleon abruptly took leave. + +"Sire," said Talleyrand warningly to him, when they were alone, +"shall posterity say that you threw away your great conquest for the +sake of a lovely woman?" + +Louise meanwhile dwelt again and again on Napoleon's words, "You ask +a great deal, but I will think about it." Yet her heart was heavy, +and when arrayed for the evening banquet in the splendid attire so +long unworn, she likened herself sadly to the old German victims +decked for sacrifice. Napoleon said of her afterward, "I knew I +should see a beautiful and dignified queen; I found the most +interesting woman and admirable queen I had ever known." + +The treaty of Tilsit restored to Friedrich Wilhelm a fragment of his +kingdom, but even this was to be held by the French till after the +payment of a huge indemnity. Napoleon's threat that he would make +the Prussian nobles beg their bread had hardly been a vain one, for +the unhappy Prussians had to feed, lodge, and clothe every French +soldier quartered in their land. Dark as was the outlook, Louise was +upheld by loving pride in her husband. "After Eylau he might have +deserted a faithful ally. This he would not do. I believe his +conduct will yet bring good fortune to Prussia." + +To help forward that good fortune they sold most of the crown lands +and the queen's jewels, and had the gold plate melted down. Amid +their heavy anxieties and pains they were not wholly unhappy, these +two, who loved each other so entirely. "My Louise," the king said to +her one day, "you have grown yet dearer to me in this time of +trouble, for I more fully know the treasure I possess." + +She, too, could write of him, "The king is kinder to me than ever, a +great joy and reward after a union of fourteen years." Still those +about her told of sleepless nights when prayer was her only relief. +Her eyes had lost their brightness, her cheeks were pale, her step +languid. By the Christmas of 1808 the last French soldier had +quitted Prussian soil; but it was not deemed safe for the royal +family to return at once to Berlin, and they spent the summer at +Hufen, near Koenigsberg. Parents and children were constantly +together, and the mother taught herself to believe that the sharp +trials of those years would tell for good on her boys and girls. "If +they had been reared in luxury and prosperity they might think that +so it must always be." + +It was not till the end of 1809 that the exiles turned their faces +homeward. They travelled slowly, for the queen was still feeble. +Everywhere a glad welcome greeted them; and on December 23d, the day +on which, sixteen years before, she had entered the capital a +girl-bride, Louise drove through its familiar streets in a carriage +presented to her by the rejoicing citizens. Her father was waiting +at the palace gate. He helped her to alight and led her in. Three +years had gone by since she last crossed the threshold of her home, +and what years they had been! Nor was the return all joy, for she +knew and dreaded the changes she would find there. Napoleon and his +generals had not departed empty handed. They had stripped the rooms +of paintings and statues, of manuscripts and antiquities. + +As the doors closed a great shout arose from the vast crowd before +the palace. Presently she appeared in the balcony, and all saw the +traces of long anguish in the lovely face, now bright with grateful +smiles. + +After a solemn service in the Dom, the king and queen drove through +the illuminated city to the opera-house. "The queen sat beside her +husband"--so wrote Fouque afterward--"and as she talked she often +raised her eyes to him with a very touching expression.... Our +beloved queen has thanked us with tears. Bonaparte has dimmed those +heavenly eyes ... and we must do all we can to make them sparkle +again." + +The bare walls, the empty cabinets of the palace, accorded with the +almost ascetic habits now maintained there. Self-denial was made +easy by one belief, that Prussia would arise from her great +suffering stronger than before. The king and queen were not left to +work alone toward that high end. Able generals replaced those who, +through treachery or faint-heartedness, had surrendered the +fortresses. Stein, now chief minister, curtailed the rights of the +nobles, and gave the serfs an interest in guarding the soil they +tilled; while Scharnhorst, by an ingenious evasion of Napoleon's +edict limiting the Prussian army, contrived to have 200,000 men +rapidly drilled and trained. The universities founded at Berlin and +Breslau became the head-quarters of secret societies for the +deliverance of the Fatherland. Princes and professors, merchants +ruined by the Berlin decrees, and peasants ground down by French +exactions, joined the Jugendbund, and implicitly obeyed the orders +of its unseen heads. Through town and country spread that vast +brotherhood, fired by the songs of Tieck and Arnim to live or die +for Prussia. + +And Louise watched thankfully the dawning promise of better days, +"though, alas! we may die before they come." + +Perhaps that sad presentiment haunted her husband too. If she jested +with her children he would say wistfully, "The queen is quite +herself to-day. What a blessing it will be if her mind recovers its +joyous tone!" + +That spring Louise was attacked by spasms of the heart. They did not +last long, and when the court moved to Potsdam she seemed to regain +strength, and showed much interest in discussing with Bishop Eylert +how best to train her boys so that they might serve their country. +Though very weak, she accompanied her family to Hohengieritz, the +king perforce returning to Berlin. The loving eyes that watched her +saw signs of amendment, but early on Monday, July 16th, the spasms +recurred. For hours no remedies availed. She could only gasp for +"Air! air!" and when the sharp pain had passed lay exhausted, now +murmuring a few words of some hymn learnt as a child, faintly +thanking God for each solace sent her, or entreating her grandmother +to rest. No complaint passed her lips; she was only "very, very +weary." + +They told her that couriers had been despatched for the king, and +she asked anxiously, "Will he soon come?" Before dawn he came, +bringing the two elder boys. For those who tried to cheer him he had +only one mournful reply: "If she were not mine she might recover." A +gleam of joy lighted her pale face when he came to her bedside, but +perceiving his emotion she asked, "Am I then so very ill?" Unable to +reply, he hurriedly left the room, and she said to those standing +by, "His embrace was so wild, so fervent, that it seemed as though +he would take leave of me. Tell him not to do that, or I shall die +at once." + +He returned bringing in the children. + +"My Fritz! my Wilhelm!" She had only time for one long gaze, and +then the agonizing pain came again. One of the doctors tried to +raise her, but she sank back. "Only death can help me;" and as all +watched in breathless silence, she leaned her head against the +shoulder of a faithful attendant, murmured, "Lord Jesus, shorten +it!" and with one deep-drawn breath passed away. + + + + +JAMES WATT + +By JOHN TIMES, F.S.A. + +(1736-1819) + +[Illustration: James Watt.] + + +James Watt was born at Greenock, January 19, 1736. He was the fourth +child in a family which, for a hundred years, had more or less +professed mathematics and navigation. His constitution was delicate, +and his mental powers were precocious. He was distinguished from an +early age by his candor and truthfulness; and his father, to +ascertain the cause of any of his boyish quarrels, used to say, "Let +James speak; from him I always hear the truth." James also showed +his constructive tastes equally early, experimenting on his +playthings with a set of small carpenter's tools, which his father +had given him. At six he was still at home. "Mr. Watt," said a +friend to the father, "you ought to send that boy to school, and not +let him trifle away his time at home." "Look what he is doing before +you condemn him," was the reply. The visitor then observed the child +had drawn mathematical lines and figures on the hearth, and was +engaged in a process of calculation. On putting questions to him, he +was astonished at his quickness and simplicity. "Forgive me," said +he, "this child's education has not been neglected; this is no +common child." + +[Illustration: Watt discovering the Condensation of Steam.] + +Watt's cousin, Mrs. Marian Campbell, describes his inventive capacity +as a story-teller, and details an incident of his occupying himself +with the steam of a tea-kettle, and by means of a cup and a spoon +making an early experiment in the condensation of steam. To this +incident she probably attached more importance than was its due, from +reverting to it when illustrated by her after-recollections. Out of +this story, reliable or not in the sense ascribed to it, M. Arago +obtained an oratorical point for an _eloge_, which he delivered to the +French Institute. Watt may or may not have been occupied as a boy with +the study of the condensation of steam while he was playing with the +kettle. The story suggests a possibility, nothing more; though it has +been made the foundation of a grave announcement, the subject of a +pretty picture, and will ever remain a basis for suggestive +speculation. + +Watt was sent to a commercial school, where he was provided with a +fair outfit of Latin and with some elements of Greek; but +mathematics he studied with greater zest, and with proportionate +success. By the time he was fifteen, he had read twice, with grave +attention, Gravesande's "Elements of Natural Philosophy;" and "while +under his father's roof he went on with various chemical +experiments, repeating them again and again, until satisfied of +their accuracy from his own observations." He even made himself a +small electrical machine, about 1750-53; no mean performance at that +date, since, according to Priestley's "History of Electricity," the +Leyden phial itself was not invented until the years 1745-46. + +His pastime lay chiefly in his father's marine store, among the +sails and ropes, the blocks and tackle: or by the old gray gateway +of the Mansion House on the hill above Greenock, where he would +loiter away hours by day, and at night lie down on his back and +watch the stars through the trees. + +At this early age Watt suffered from continual and violent +headaches, which often affected his nervous system for many days, +even weeks; and he was similarly afflicted throughout his long life. +He seldom rose early, but accomplished more in a few hours' study +than ordinary minds do in many days. He was never in a hurry, and +always had leisure to give to his friends, to poetry, romance, and +the publications of the day; he read indiscriminately almost every +new book he could procure. He assisted his father in his business, +and soon learned to construct with his own hands several of the +articles required in the way of his parent's trade; and by means of +a small forge, set up for his own use, he repaired and made various +kinds of instruments, and converted, by the way, a large silver coin +into a punch-ladle, as a trophy of his early skill as a metal-smith. +From this aptitude for ingenious handiwork, and in accordance with +his own deliberate choice, it was decided that he should proceed to +qualify himself for following the trade of a mathematical instrument +maker. He accordingly went to Glasgow, in June, 1754, and from +there, after a year's stay, he proceeded for better instruction to +London. + +On Watt's arrival in the metropolis, he sought a situation, but in +vain, and he was beginning to despond, when he obtained work with +one John Morgan, an instrument-maker, in Finch Lane, Cornhill. Here +he gradually became proficient in making quadrants, parallel rulers, +compasses, theodolites, etc., until, at the end of a year's +practice, he could make "a brass sector with a French joint, which +is reckoned as nice a piece of framing work as is in the trade." +During this interval he contrived to live upon eight shillings a +week, exclusive of his lodging. His fear of the press-gang and his +bodily ailments, however, led to his quitting London in August, +1756, and returning to Scotland, after investing twenty guineas in +additional tools. + +At Glasgow, through the intervention of Dr. Dick, he was first +employed in cleaning and repairing some of the instruments belonging +to the college; and, after some difficulty, he received permission +to open a shop within the precincts as "mathematical instrument +maker to the University." Here Watt prospered, pursuing alike his +course of manual labor and of mental study, and especially extending +his acquaintance with physics; endeavoring, as he said, "to find out +the weak side of nature, and to vanquish her." About this time he +contrived an ingenious machine for drawing in perspective; and from +fifty to eighty of these instruments, manufactured by him, were sent +to different parts of the world. He had now procured the friendship +of Dr. Black and another University worthy, John Robison, who, in +stating the circumstances of his first introduction to Watt, says: +"I saw a workman, and expected no more; but was surprised to find a +philosopher as young as myself, and always ready to instruct me." + +It was some time in 1764 that the professor of natural philosophy in +the University desired Watt to repair a pretty model of Newcomen's +steam-engine. Like everything which came into Watt's hands, it soon +became an object of most serious study. + +The interesting little model, as altered by the hand of Watt, was +long placed beside the noble statue of the engineer in the Hunterian +Museum at Glasgow. Watt himself, when he had got the bearings of his +invention, could think of nothing else but his machine, and +addressed himself to Dr. Roebuck, of the Carron Iron-works, with the +view of its practical introduction to the world. A partnership +ensued, but the connection did not prove satisfactory. Watt went on +with his experiments, and in September, 1766, wrote to a friend: "I +think I have laid up a stock of experience that will _soon_ pay me +for the trouble it has cost me." Yet it was between eight and nine +years before that invaluable experience was made available, so as +either to benefit the public or repay the inventor; and a much +longer term elapsed before it was possible for that repayment to be +reckoned in the form of substantial profit. + +Watt now began to practise as a land-surveyor and civil engineer. +His first engineering work was a survey for a canal to unite the +Forth and Clyde, in furtherance of which he had to appear before the +House of Commons. His consequent journey to London was still more +important, for then it was that he saw for the first time the great +manufactory which Boulton had established at Soho, and of which he +was afterward himself to be the guiding intelligence. In the +meantime, among his other performances, he invented a micrometer for +measuring distances; and, what is still more remarkable, he +entertained the idea of moving canal-boats by the steam-engine +through the instrumentality of a _spiral oar_, which as nearly as +possible coincides with the screw-propeller of our day. + +Watt's negotiations for partnership with Boulton were long and +tedious. Dr. Roebuck's creditors concurred because, curiously +enough, _none of them valued Watt's engine at a farthing_. Watt +himself now began to despair, and his health failed; yet in 1774, +when he had removed to Birmingham, he wrote to his father: "The +fire-engine I have invented is now going, and answers much better +than any other that has yet been made; and I expect that the +invention will be very beneficial to me." + +A long series of experimental trials was, nevertheless, requisite +before the engine could be brought to such perfection as to render +it generally available to the public, and therefore profitable to +its manufacturers. In January, 1775, six years of the patent had +elapsed, and there seemed some probability of the remaining eight +running out as fruitlessly. An application which was made for the +extension of its term was unexpectedly opposed by the eloquence of +Burke; but the orator and his associates failed, and the extension +was accorded by Act of Parliament. + +The first practical employment of Watt's engines to any considerable +extent was in the mining districts of Cornwall, where he himself +was, in consequence, compelled to spend much of his time subsequent +to 1775. Here he had to contend not only with natural obstacles in +the dark abysses of deeply flooded mines, but with a rude and +obstinate class of men as deeply flooded by inveterate prejudices. +The result in the way of profit was not, however, satisfactory, +notwithstanding the service to the mining interest was enormous. "It +appears," says Watt, in 1780, "by our books, that Cornwall has +hitherto eat up all the profits we have drawn from it, and all we +have got by other places, and a good sum of our own money to the +bargain." + +At this stage Watt himself was more fertile in mechanical inventions +than in any other portion of his busy life. Taking his patents in +their chronological order, the first (subsequent to that of 1769) +was "For a new method of copying letters and other writings +expeditiously," by means of copying _presses_. Of the same date was +his invention of a machine "for drying linen and muslin by steam." +On October 25, 1781, he took out his third patent (the second of the +steam-engine series), "for certain new methods of applying the +vibrating or reciprocating motion of steam or fire engines, to +produce a continued rotative motion round an axis or centre, and +thereby to give motion to the wheels of mills or other machines." +One of these methods was that commonly known as the _sun-and-planet +wheels_; they were five in all. A favorite employment of his in the +workshops at Soho, in the later months of 1783 and earlier ones of +1784, was to teach his steam-engine, now become nearly as docile as +it was powerful, to work a tilt-hammer for forging iron and making +steel. "Three hundred blows per minute--a thing never done before," +filled him, as his biographer says, with feelings of excusable +pride. Another patent in the steam-engine series, taken out in 1784, +contained, besides other methods of converting a circular or angular +motion into a perpendicular or rectilineal motion, the well-known +and much-admired _parallel motion_, and the application of the +steam-engine to give motion to wheel-carriages for carrying persons +and goods. To ascertain the exact number of strokes made by an +engine during a given time, and thereby to check the cheats of the +Cornish miners, Watt also invented the "Counter," with its several +indexes. Among his leading improvements, introduced at various +periods, were the _throttle-valve_, the application of the +_governor_, the _barometer_ or float, the _steam-gauge_, and the +indicator. The term during which he seems to have thus combined the +greatest maturity with the greatest activity of intellect, and the +portion of his life which they comprehended, was from his fortieth +to his fiftieth year. Yet it was a term of increased suffering from +his acute sick-headaches, and remarkable for the infirmities over +which he triumphed; notwithstanding, he himself complained of his +"stupidity and want of the inventive faculty." + +Watt's chemical studies in 1783, and the calculations they involved +from experiments made by foreign chemists, induced him to make a +proposal for a philosophical _uniformity of weights and measures_; +and he discussed this proposal with Priestley and Magellan. While +Watt was examining the constituent parts of water, he had +opportunities of familiar intercourse not only with Priestley, but +with Withering, Keir, Edgeworth, Galton, Darwin, and his own +partner, Boulton--all men above the average for their common +interest in scientific inquiries. Dr. Parr frequently attended their +meetings, and they kept up a correspondence with Sir William +Herschel, Sir Joseph Banks, Dr. Solander, and Afzelius. Mrs. +Schimmelpenninck, who was greatly given to physiognomical studies, +has left us this picture of Watt at this period. + +"Mr. Boulton was a man to rule society with dignity; Mr. Watt, to +lead the contemplative life of a deeply introverted and patiently +observant philosopher. He was one of the most complete specimens of +the melancholic temperament. His head was generally bent forward, or +leaning on his hand in meditation; his shoulders stooping, and his +chest falling in; his limbs lank and unmuscular, and his complexion +sallow. His intellectual development was magnificent; comparison and +causality immense, with large ideality and constructiveness, +individuality, an enormous concentrativeness and caution. + +"He had a broad Scottish accent; gentle, modest, and unassuming +manners; yet, when he entered a room, men of letters, men of +science, nay, military men, artists, ladies, even little children, +thronged round him. Ladies would appeal to him on the best means of +devising grates, curing smoky chimneys, warming their houses, and +obtaining fast colors. I can speak from experience of his teaching +me how to make a dulcimer and improve a Jew's harp." + +In the year 1786, Watt and Boulton visited Paris, on the invitation +of the French Government, to superintend the erection of certain +steam-engines, and especially to suggest improvements in the great +hydraulic machine of Marly, which Watt himself designates a +"venerable" work. In Paris Watt made many acquaintances, including +Lavoisier, Laplace, Fourcroy, and others scarcely less eminent; and +while here he discussed with Berthollet a new method of _bleaching_ +by chlorides, an invention of the latter which Watt subsequently +introduced into England. + +Meanwhile Watt had vigilantly to defend his patents at home, which +were assailed by unworthy and surreptitious rivals as soon as it was +proved that they were pecuniarily valuable. Some of the competing +engines, as Watt himself described them, were simply asthmatic. +"Hornblower's, at Radstock, was obliged to stand still once every +ten minutes to snore and snort." "Some were like Evan's mill, _which +was a gentlemanly mill_; it would go when it had nothing to do, but +it refused to work." The legal proceedings, both in equity and at +common law, which now became necessary, were numerous. One bill of +costs, from 1796 to 1800, amounted to between L5,000 and L6,000; and +the mental and bodily labor, the anxiety and vexation, which were +superadded, involved a fearful tax on the province of Watt's +discoveries. + +With the year 1800 came the expiration of the privilege of the +patent of 1769, as extended by the statute of 1775; and also the +dissolution of the original copartnership of Messrs. Boulton and +Watt, then of five-and-twenty years' duration. The contract was +renewed by their sons, the business having become so profitable that +Watt and his children were provided with a source of independent +income; and at the age of sixty-four the great inventor had +personally realized some of the benefits he contemplated. + +Henceforth Watt's ingenuity became excursive, discretionary, almost +capricious; but in every phase and form it continued to be +beneficent. In 1808 he founded a prize in Glasgow College, as an +acknowledgment of "the many favors that learned body had conferred +upon him." In 1816 he made a donation to the town of Greenock, "to +form the beginning of a scientific library" for the instruction of +its young men. Nor, amid such donations, were others wanting on his +part, such as true religion prescribes, to console the poor and +relieve the suffering. + +In 1816, on a visit to Greenock, Watt made a voyage in a steamboat +to Rothsay and back again. In the course of this experimental trip +he pointed out to the engineer of the boat the method of "backing" +the engine. With a foot-rule he demonstrated to him what he meant. +Not succeeding, however, he at last, under the impulse of the ruling +passion (and we must remember he was then eighty), threw off his +overcoat, and putting his hand to the engine himself, showed the +practical application of his lecture. Previously to this, the +"backstroke" of the steamboat engine was either unknown or not +generally known. The practice was to stop the engine entirely a +considerable time before the vessel reached the point of mooring, in +order to allow for the gradual and natural diminution of her speed. + +With regard to the application of steam power to _locomotion on +land_, it is remarkable enough that, when Watt's attention was first +directed, by his friend Robison, to the steam-engine, "he (Robison) +at that time drew out an idea of applying the power to the moving of +wheel-carriages." "But the scheme," adds Watt, "was not matured, and +was soon abandoned on his going abroad." + +In 1769, however, when he heard that a linen-draper, one Moore, had +taken out a patent for moving wheel-carriages by steam, he replied: +"If linen-draper Moore does not use my engine to drive his chaises, +he can't drive them by steam." In the specification of his patent of +1784, he even described the principles and construction of +"steam-engines which are applied to give motion to wheel-carriages +for removing persons or goods, or other matters, from place to +place," and in 1786, Watt himself had a steam-carriage "of some size +under hand;" but his most developed plan was to move such carriages +"on a hard smooth plane," and there is no evidence to show that he +ever anticipated the union of the rail and wheel. + +Among Watt's mechanical recreations, soon after the date of the last +of his steam-engine patents, were four plans of making lamps, which +he describes in a letter to Argand; and for a long time lamps were +made at Soho upon his principles, which gave a light surpassing, +both in steadiness and brilliancy, anything of the kind that had +appeared. About a year after, in 1788, he made "a pretty instrument +for determining the specific gravities of liquids," having, he says +to Dr. Black, improved on a hint he had taken. + +Watt also turned his "idle thoughts" toward the construction of an +_arithmetical machine_, but he does not appear ever to have +prosecuted this design further than by mentally considering the +manner in which he could make it perform the processes of +multiplication and division. + +Early in the present century Watt devised, for the Glasgow +water-works, to bring pure spring-water across the Clyde, an +articulated suction-pipe, with joints formed on the principle of +those in a lobster's tail, and so made capable of accommodating +itself to all the actual and possible bendings at the bottom of the +river. This pipe was, moreover, executed at Soho from his plans, and +was found to succeed perfectly. + +Watt describes, as his hobby, a _machine to copy sculpture_, +suggested to him by an implement he had seen and admired in Paris in +1802, where it was used for tracing and multiplying the dies of +medals. He foresaw the possibility of enlarging its powers so as to +make it capable of working even on wood and marble, to do for solid +masses and in hard materials what his copying machine of 1782 had +already done for drawings and writings impressed upon flat surfaces +of paper--to produce, in fact, a perfect fac-simile of the original +model. He worked at this machine most assiduously, and his "likeness +lathe," as he termed it, was set up in a garret, which, with all its +mysterious contents, its tools, and models included, have been +carefully preserved as he left them. + +It is gratifying to find that the charm of Watt's presence was not +dimmed by age. "His friends," says Lord Jeffrey, speaking of a visit +which he paid to Scotland when upward of eighty, "in that part of +the country never saw him more full of intellectual vigor and +colloquial animation, never more delightful or more instructive." It +was then also that Sir Walter Scott, meeting him "surrounded by a +little band of northern literati," saw and heard what he felt he was +never to see or hear again--"the alert, kind, benevolent old man, +his talents and fancy overflowing on every subject, with his +attention alive to everyone's question his information at everyone's +command." Campbell, the poet, who saw him later, in the beginning +of 1819 (he was then eighty-three), describes him as so full of +anecdote, that he spent one of the most amusing days he had ever had +with him. Lord Brougham, later still, in the summer of the same +year, found his instructive conversation and his lively and even +playful manner unchanged. But in the autumn of this year, on August +19th, he expired tranquilly at his house at Heathfield. He was +buried at Handsworth. A tribute to his memory was but tardily +rendered by the nation. + +Jeffrey and Arago added more elaborate tributes to Watt's genius; +and Wordsworth has declared that he looked upon him, considering his +magnitude and universality, "as perhaps the most extraordinary man +that this country has ever produced." His noblest monument is, +however, his own work. + + + + +DR. EDWARD JENNER + +By JOHN TIMBS, F.S.A. + +(1749-1823) + +[Illustration: Dr. Edward Jenner.] + + +Few of the many thousand ills which human flesh is heir to, have +spread such devastation among the family of man as small-pox. Its +universality has ranged from the untold tribes of savages to the +silken baron of civilization; and its ravages on life and beauty +have been shown in many a sad tale of domestic suffering. To stay +the destroying hand of such a scourge, which by some has been +identified with the Plague of Athens, was reserved for Edward +Jenner, the discoverer of vaccination. + +The great fact can, however, be traced half a century before +Jenner's time. In the journal of John Byron, F.R.S., under date June +3, 1725, it is recorded that: "At a meeting of the Royal Society, +Sir Isaac Newton presiding, Dr. Jurin read a case of small-pox, +where a girl who had been inoculated and had been vaccinated, was +tried and had them not again; but another [a] boy, caught the +small-pox from this girl, and had the confluent kind and died." + +This case occurred at Hanover. The inoculation of the girl seems to +have failed entirely; it was suspected that she had not taken the true +small-pox; doubts, however, were removed, as a boy, who daily saw the +girl, fell ill and died, "having had a very bad small-pox of the +confluent sort." This is the first use of the word _vaccination_, or, +more familiarly, cow-pox, which is an eruption arising from the +insertion into the system of matter obtained from the eruption on the +teats and udders of cows, and especially in Gloucestershire; it is +also frequently denominated _vaccine matter_; and the whole affair, +inoculation and its consequences, is called vaccination, from the +Latin _vacca_, a cow. + +It is admitted that Jenner's merit lay in the scientific application +of his knowledge of the fact that the chapped hands of milkers of cows +sometimes proved a preventive of small-pox, and from those of them +whom he endeavored to inoculate resisting the infection. These results +were probably known far beyond Jenner's range, and long before his +time; for we have respectable testimony of their having come within +the observation of a Cheshire gentleman, who had been informed of them +shortly after settling on his estate in Prestbury parish, in or about +1740. This does not in the least detract from Jenner's merit, but +shows that to his genius for observation, analogy, and experiment, we +are indebted for this application of a simple fact, only incidentally +remarked by others, but by Jenner rendered the stepping-stone to his +great discovery--or, in other words, extending its benefits from a +single parish in Gloucestershire to the whole world. + +We agree with a contemporary, that, "among all the names which ought +to be consecrated by the gratitude of mankind, that of Jenner stands +pre-eminent. It would be difficult, we are inclined to say +impossible, to select from the catalogue of benefactors to human +nature an individual who has contributed so largely to the +preservation of life, and to the alleviation of suffering. Into +whatever corner of the world the blessing of printed knowledge has +penetrated, there also will the name of Jenner be familiar; but the +fruits of his discovery have ripened in barbarous soils, where books +have never been opened, and where the savage does not pause to +inquire from what source he has derived relief. No improvement in +the physical sciences can bear a parallel with that which ministers +in every part of the globe to the prevention of deformity, and, in a +great proportion, to the exemption from actual destruction." + +The ravages which the small-pox formerly committed are scarcely +conceived or recollected by the present generation. An instance of +death occurring after vaccination is now eagerly seized and +commented upon; yet seventy years have not elapsed since this +disease might fairly be termed the scourge of mankind, and an enemy +more extensive and more insidious than even the plague. A family +blighted in its fairest hopes through this terrible visitation was +an every-day spectacle: the imperial House of Austria lost eleven of +its offspring in fifty years. This instance is mentioned because it +is historical; but in the obscure and unrecorded scenes of life this +pest was often a still more merciless intruder. + +Edward Jenner was the third son of the Vicar of Berkeley, in +Gloucestershire, where he was born, May 17, 1749. Before he was nine +years of age he showed a growing taste for natural history, in +forming a collection of the nests of the dormouse; and when at +school at Cirencester he was fond of searching for fossils, which +abound in that neighborhood. He was articled to a surgeon at +Sudbury, near Bristol, and at the end of his apprenticeship came to +London, and studied under John Hunter, with whom he resided as a +pupil for two years and formed a lasting friendship with that great +man. In 1773 he returned to his native village, and commenced +practice as a surgeon and apothecary, with great success. +Nevertheless, he abstracted from the fatigues of country practice +sufficient time to form a museum of specimens of comparative anatomy +and natural history. He was much liked, was a man of lively and +simple humor, and loved to tell his observation of nature in homely +verse; and in 1788 he communicated to the Royal Society his curious +paper on the cuckoo. At the same time he carried to London a drawing +of the casual disease, as seen on the hands of the milkers, and +showed it to Sir Everard Home and to others. John Hunter had alluded +frequently to the fact in his lectures; Dr. Adams had heard of the +cow-pox both from Hunter and Clive, and mentions it in his "Treatise +on Poisons," published in 1795, three years previous to Jenner's own +publication. Still, no one had the courage or the penetration to +prosecute the inquiry except Jenner. + +Jenner now resolved to confine his practice to medicine, and +obtained, in 1792, a degree of M.D. from the University of St. +Andrew's. + +We now arrive at the great event of Jenner's life. While pursuing +his professional education in the house of his master at Sudbury, a +young countrywoman applied for advice; and the subject of small-pox +being casually mentioned, she remarked she could not take the +small-pox because she had had cow-pox; and he then learnt that it +was a popular notion in that district, that milkers who had been +infected with a peculiar eruption which sometimes occurred on the +udder of the cow, were completely secure against the small-pox. The +medical gentlemen of the district told Jenner that the security +which it gave was not perfect; and Sir George Baker, the physician, +treated it as a popular error. But Jenner thought otherwise; and +although John Hunter and other eminent surgeons disregarded the +subject, Jenner pursued it. He found at Berkeley that some persons, +to whom it was impossible to give small-pox by inoculation, had had +cow-pox; but that others who had had cow-pox yet received small-pox. +This led to the doctor's discovery that the cow was subject to a +certain eruption, which had the power of guarding from small-pox; +and next, that it might be possible to propagate the cow-pox, and +with it security from the small-pox, first from the cow to the human +body, and thence from one person to another. Here, then, was an +important discovery, that matter from the cow, intentionally +inserted into the body, gave a slighter ailment than when received +otherwise, and yet had the same effect of completely preventing +small-pox. But of what advantage was it for mankind that the cows of +Gloucestershire possessed a matter thus singularly powerful? How +were persons living at a distance to derive benefit from this great +discovery? Dr. Jenner, having inoculated several persons from a cow, +took the matter from the human vesicles thus produced, and +inoculated others, and others from them again; thus making it pass +in succession through many individuals, and all with the same good +effect in preventing small-pox. + +An opportunity occurred of making a trial of the latter on May 14, +1796 (a day still commemorated by the annual festival at Berlin), +when a boy, aged eight years, was vaccinated with matter from the +hands of a milkmaid; the experiment succeeded, and he was inoculated +for small-pox on July 1st following without the least effect. Dr. +Jenner then extended his experiments, and in 1798 published his +first memoir on the subject. He had originally intended to +communicate his results to the Royal Society, but was admonished not +to do so, lest it should injure the character which he had +previously acquired among scientific persons by his paper on the +natural history of the cuckoo. In the above work Dr. Jenner +announces the security against small-pox afforded by the true +cow-pox, and also traces the origin of that disease in the cow to a +similar affection of the heel of the horse. + +The method, however, met with much opposition, until, in the +following year, thirty-three leading physicians and forty eminent +surgeons of London signed an earnest expression of their confidence +in the efficacy of the cow-pox. The royal family of England exerted +themselves to encourage Jenner; the Duke of Clarence, the Duke of +York, the king, the Prince of Wales, and the queen bestowed great +attention upon Jenner. The incalculable utility of cow-pox was at +last evinced; and observation and experience furnished evidence +enough to satisfy the Baillies and Heberdens, the Monros and +Gregorys of Britain, as well as the physicians of Europe, India, and +America. The new practice now began to supersede the old plan +pursued by the Small-pox Hospital, which had been founded for +inoculation. The two systems were each pursued until 1808, when the +hospital governors discontinued small-pox inoculation. + +A committee of Parliament was now appointed to consider the claims +of Jenner upon the gratitude of his country. It was clearly proved +that he had converted into scientific demonstration a tradition of +the peasantry. Two parliamentary grants, of L10,000 and L20,000, +were voted to him. In 1808 the National Vaccine Establishment was +formed by Government, and placed under his direction. Honors were +profusely showered upon him by various foreign princes, as well as +by the principal learned bodies of Europe. + +Dr. Jenner passed the remainder of his years principally at Berkeley +and at Cheltenham, continuing to the last, his inquiries on the +great object of his life. He died at Berkeley, in February, 1823, at +the green old age of seventy-four: his remains lie in the chancel of +the parish church of Berkeley. A marble statue by Sievier has been +erected to his memory in the nave of Gloucester Cathedral; and +another statue of him has been placed in a public building at +Cheltenham. Five medals have been struck in honor of Jenner: three +by the German nation; one by the surgeons of the British navy; and +the fifth by the London Medical Society. + +[Illustration: The First Vaccination--Dr. Jenner.] + +Dr. Jenner was endowed with a rare quality of mind, which it may be +both interesting and beneficial to sketch. A singular originality of +thought was his leading characteristic. He appeared to have +naturally inherited what in others is the result of protracted +study. He seemed to think from originality of perception alone, +and not from induction. He arrived by a glance at inferences which +would have occupied the laborious conclusions of most men. In human +and animal pathology, in comparative anatomy, and in geology, he +perceived facts and formed theories instantaneously, and with a +spirit of inventive penetration which distanced the slower +approaches of more learned men. But if his powers of mind were +singularly great, the qualities which accompanied them were still +more felicitous. He possessed the most singular amenity of +disposition with the highest feeling, the rarest simplicity united +to the highest genius. In the great distinction and the superior +society to which his discovery introduced him, the native cast of +his character was unchanged. Among the great monarchs of Europe, +who, when in Great Britain, solicited his acquaintance, he was the +unaltered Dr. Jenner of his birthplace. In the other moral points of +his character, affection, friendship, beneficence, and liberality +were pre-eminent In religion, his belief was equally remote from +laxity and fanaticism; and he observed to an intimate friend, not +long before his death, that he wondered not that the people were +ungrateful to him for his discovery, but he was surprised that they +were ungrateful to God for the benefits of which he was the humble +means. + + + + +ROBERT FULTON[8] + + [Footnote 8: Copyright, 1864, by Selmar Hess.] + +By OLIVER OPTIC + +(1765-1815) + +[Illustration: Robert Fulton.] + + +Very few inventors have achieved success in giving to the world new +or improved methods of carrying on the business of life without long +and hard study, repeated experiments and failures, and trying +struggles with opposing elements. Many have labored through long +years of poverty and obscurity to dazzle their fellow-beings in the +end by the triumph of genius. The idea of an inventor has almost +become coupled with that of anxiety, patient or impatient waiting, +trials, and hardships. They are usually enthusiasts in the special +pursuit to which they devote themselves, and the coldness and +incredulity of those whose approval they seek to win, wear heavily +upon them. The chilling common-sense of men more practical than +themselves overwhelms them. + +If the wonderful improvements of the present and the past age could +be placed in comparison with the attempts, the struggles, to +accomplish what has now been achieved, the list of failures would +far outnumber that of successes. Many of those who have rendered +priceless blessings to their own and after generations by the +production of wonderful machines or methods from the fine fibre of +their brains, were plundered and buffeted, even in the midst of +their grand successes, to such a degree that it requires a lofty +comprehension to determine whether their lives were triumphs or +defeats. Sometimes the failure of one generation becomes the success +of the next. + +Born the same year that gave Robert Fulton to the world was Eli +Whitney, who really made "cotton king," so that the great staple of +the South yielded millions upon millions of dollars to the planters; +but he might have died a beggar, so far as his marvellous invention +affected his fortunes. Before he had fully completed his machine for +separating the seeds from the cotton, which only two persons had +been permitted to see, his workshop was broken open, and it was +stolen. His idea was incorporated in other machines before he had +obtained his patent, though it was only his own that transmuted +cotton into gold. False reports, the repudiation of contracts for +royalties fairly made, the refusal of Congress, through Southern +influence, to renew his patent, constant litigation to protect his +rights, harassed his life, and robbed him of the pecuniary results +of his success. Defeated, he gave up the battle, devoted his +attention to the manufacture of firearms, and finally made a fortune +in this business. Fulton's experience was not very different. + +On the other hand, important discoveries in methods and mechanical +appliances have been made by accident, as it were, and fortunes +accrued from very little labor or study; but these are the +exceptions rather than the rule. + +It would be difficult to estimate the influence upon the prosperity +of the United States of steam-navigation. It came but a few years +after the organization of the Federal Government, when the greater +portion of the territorial extent of the country was a wilderness, +and preceded the general use of railroads by a quarter of a century. +Transportation on the inland waters of the nation was slow, +difficult, and expensive, and the introduction of the steamboat upon +its great lakes and rivers, notably upon the latter, was a new era +in its history. On the great streams of the West flatboats floated +for weeks, laden with the productions of the States, on their way to +a market, where days or hours are sufficient at the present time. +Between the metropolis of the nation and the capital of New York, +the sloops, which were the only means of communication by water, +required an average of four days to make the trip of about one +hundred and fifty miles, while to-day it is accomplished in half a +day or less. + +Now all the navigable rivers of the country are alive with +steamboats, and the growth and development of the States have been +mainly indebted to the introduction of steam navigation. On the +great lakes, though more available for transportation by means of +sailing vessels, the same powerful agency has achieved wonders, and +all of them are now covered by lines of steamers, by which, either +as tow-boats or independent vessels, a large proportion of the +inland commerce of the nation is carried on. On the ocean the result +of the introduction of steam-navigation is even more impressive, and +nations separated by thousands of miles of rolling billows now join +hands, as it were, with hearts commercially united, if not more +intimately, through the medium of peace-giving commerce, of which +thousands of gigantic steamers are the angel-messengers. On the +Atlantic a score or more of them leave the one side for the other +every week, and at the present time a merchant may breakfast in New +York on Saturday, and dine in London the next Saturday. + +It is now conceded, both in Europe and America, that the world is +indebted to Robert Fulton for the practical application of steam to +the purposes of navigation. Whatever has been claimed for or by +others in regard to the priority of the invention or application of +the mighty power of steam to the propulsion of vessels, Fulton was +"the first to apply it with any degree of practical success," as an +English work states it. As one who labored for years over the idea +which came from his own brain, though it also came to others, who +wellnigh sacrificed his own life in its improvement, and who +achieved the crowning glory of its utility, he is certainly entitled +to be regarded and honored as the Father of Steam-Navigation. + +Robert Fulton was born in a small village near Lancaster, in the +State of Pennsylvania, in the year 1765. He was the son of a poor +man of Scotch-Irish descent, who died when his son was only three +years old. He obtained only a common-school education, which he +afterward increased by his own efforts. He early manifested a taste +for, and considerable skill in, drawing and painting, and he +selected this art as his profession, though he was more inclined to +mechanical occupations, and spent his leisure hours in the shops of +the workmen in his vicinity. He was somewhat precocious in his +development, and at the age of seventeen he established himself as a +portrait painter. He could hardly have attained to any high standard +in art, though it appears that he had considerable success in his +occupation, for at the age of twenty-one he had purchased a small +farm in the western part of the State, where he placed his mother, +indicating that he had a proper filial regard for the welfare of his +remaining parent. It was evident from this success that he had +decided talent and that it attracted the attention of others. + +He was advised to visit England and place himself under the tuition +of Benjamin West, the eminent American painter, who had achieved +distinguished success in art. He followed this advice, was kindly +received by the great artist, and remained as an inmate of his home +for some years. In the palaces and mansions of the British nobility +were treasured up many of the most noted pictures of the day and of +the past. In order to see, study, and copy these, Fulton procured +letters of introduction which gave him admission to these paintings. +He resided for some time in the stately mansions of the Duke of +Bridgewater and Earl Stanhope. Both of these peers were largely +interested in making internal improvements in England, especially in +promoting inland navigation by canals. + +The duke was the possessor of immense wealth, and he had invested +largely in companies connected with the canal system. Through him +Fulton became interested in the same subject, and his mechanical +tastes and talent drew him in that direction. The result was that he +abandoned his easel and became a civil engineer, a profession hardly +known by that name in the early part of this century. Earl Stanhope +was also of a mechanical turn of mind, and had projected some +important enterprises. At that time he was engaged upon a scheme +which afterward filled up so much of the existence of Fulton--the +application of steam to navigation. + +The earl had devised a method of accomplishing the result, and had +caused a small craft to be built which was to be propelled by a +series of floats, by some compared to the paddles of a canoe, and by +others to the feet of water-fowls. He described his plan to Fulton, +who did not regard it as practicable, and stated plainly the reasons +for his belief. The earl clung to his idea, highly as he appreciated +the talents of the critic. The inventor resided at Birmingham about +two years, and was employed in a subordinate capacity at his newly +adopted profession for the greater portion of the time. In this city +he made the acquaintance of Watt, who had developed the steam-engine +from a mere pumping-machine to something near what it is at the +present time. + +Fulton's inventive genius was exercised during his residence at +Birmingham, and he devised an improvement of the machine for sawing +marble, from which he reaped both honor and profit. He produced a +machine for spinning flax, and for the manufacture of ropes, and +also one for excavating canals or river bottoms, for which purpose +many such are now in use. As an author he wrote a work on canals, +and published a treatise on the same subject in a London paper. He +had a plan for the use of inclined planes in changing the level of +the water for boats on canals, in place of locks, after the manner +of the Chinese, claiming that greater elevations could be overcome +in this manner; but it was never adopted. + +In 1797 Fulton went to Paris, where he resided seven years, as the +terrors of the French Revolution were passing away. At this period +he had invented what is now called a torpedo, largely used in modern +warfare for the protection of harbors. He devised a submarine boat +to operate these destructive weapons, which was not a success. He +demonstrated what he claimed for the torpedo in the destruction of a +brig of two hundred tons; but he failed to procure the adoption of +this more modern engine of warfare by either France or England, and +he had the honor to be snubbed by Napoleon I. In 1806 he returned to +New York, where he labored for the recognition and introduction of +the torpedo. He was encouraged by Jefferson and Madison, and +Congress appropriated money for experiments; but the naval officers +reported against him, and nothing came of his efforts. + +In Paris he had made the acquaintance of Chancellor Livingston, then +the American minister to France, who was interested in Fulton's +work, and who soon entered into business relations with him in +connection with it. He was a man of abundant fortune, while the +inventor was comparatively poor; occupied an elevated social +position, and was a person of great influence. He obtained a grant +of the monopoly of steam-navigation from the State of New York. +Fulton took out two patents for his invention; but unfortunately +they were not adequate to his protection, for they covered only the +application of the steam-engine to the turning of a crank in +producing the rotary motion of the paddle-wheels. + +While in England Fulton had contracted with Watt for the building of +such an engine as he desired, without stating the purpose for which +it was to be used. This engine reached New York at about the same +time as the inventor. He made his plans for the construction of the +boat, which was to be of different form and proportions from +ordinary vessels, and it was completed and fitted out with its +engine during the year following his return. Not long before this +event, when he found the sum of money Mr. Livingston had provided to +complete the steamboat was nearly exhausted, Fulton attempted to +sell an interest in his exclusive grant in order to raise funds to +supply the deficiency; but so little faith existed in the success of +his enterprise that he could find no one who had the courage to +purchase it. But the vessel was finished, and a trial trip was made +in her, to which gentlemen of science and general intelligence were +invited, most of them, like the rest of the world, sceptics and +unbelievers. A few minutes served to satisfy these men that the +steamboat was a success, and that the problem of steam-navigation +had been solved in its favor. It was the hour of Fulton's triumph. + +The strange craft, to which the name of Clermont had been given, +soon made a trip to Albany, accomplishing the distance in thirty-two +hours, or one-third of the average time of the sloops, and making +the return in thirty. Doubters and cavillers were silenced, and +regular trips were made till the ice closed the river for the +season. During the winter the Clermont was lengthened to one hundred +and forty feet, improved in many respects, gaudily painted, and +looked upon as a "floating palace." Another steamboat, called the +Car of Neptune, was built, and soon a contract for five more was +placed. The practical triumph had been achieved, and from that small +beginning has come forth the mighty steam-marine of the present +time. + +Fulton was married to Miss Harriet Livingston, a niece of the +Chancellor, and was the father of four children. His business +affairs were in anything but a prosperous condition. The State of +New Jersey contested his monopoly, which proved to have been +unconstitutionally granted. Fitch, or his successors, who had made +some successes in the same line, endeavored to supplant him, and his +patents were worthless. He was embarrassed by constant litigation, +and his last years were full of trials and anxiety. He died February +24, 1815, at the age of fifty. + +[Signature: William S. Adams.] + + + + +WILLIAM WILBERFORCE + +(1759-1833) + +[Illustration: William Wilberforce.] + + +William Wilberforce, whose name a heartfelt, enlightened, and +unwearied philanthropy, directing talents of the highest order, has +enrolled among those of the most illustrious benefactors of mankind, +was born August 24, 1759, in Hull, England, where his ancestors had +been long and successfully engaged in trade. By his father's death he +was left an orphan at an early age. He received the chief part of his +education at the grammar school of Pockington, in Yorkshire, and at +St. John's College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow-commoner +about 1776 or 1777. When just of age, and apparently before taking his +B.A. degree, he was returned for his native town at the general +election of 1780. In 1784 he was returned again, but being also chosen +member for Yorkshire he elected to sit for that great county, which he +continued to represent until the year 1812, during six successive +Parliaments. From 1812 to 1825, when he retired from Parliament, he +was returned by Lord Calthorpe for the borough of Bramber. His +politics were in general those of Mr. Pitt's party, and his first +prominent appearance was in 1783, in opposition to Mr. Fox's India +Bill. In 1786 he introduced and carried through the Commons a bill for +the amendment of the criminal code, which was roughly handled by the +Lord Chancellor, Thurlow, and rejected in the House of Lords without a +division. + +At the time when Mr. Wilberforce was rising into manhood, the +inquiry into the slave trade had engaged in a slight degree the +attention of the public. To the Quakers belongs the high honor of +having taken the lead in denouncing that unjust and unchristian +traffic. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, during the life +of Penn, the Quakers of Pennsylvania passed a censure upon it, and +from time to time the Society of Friends expressed their +disapprobation of the deportation of negroes, until, in 1761, they +completed their good work by a resolution to disown all such as +continued to be engaged in it. Occasionally the question was brought +before magistrates, whether a slave became entitled to his liberty +upon landing in England. In 1765 Granville Sharp came forward as the +protector of a negro, who, having been abandoned and cast upon the +world in disease and misery by his owner, was healed and assisted +through the charity of Mr. Sharp's brother. Recovering his value +with his health, he was claimed and seized by his master, and would +have been shipped to the colonies, as many Africans were, but for +the prompt and resolute interference of Mr. Sharp. In several +similar cases the same gentleman came forward successfully; but the +general question was not determined, or even argued, until 1772, +when the celebrated case of the negro Somerset was brought before +the Court of King's Bench, which adjudged, after a deliberate +hearing, that in England the right of the master over the slave +could not be maintained. The general question was afterward, in +1778, decided still more absolutely by the Scotch Courts, in the +case of Wedderburn _vs._ Knight. In 1783 an event occurred well +qualified to rouse the feelings of the nation, and call its +attention to the atrocities of which the slave trade was the cause +and pretext. An action was brought by certain underwriters against +the owners of the ship Zong, on the ground that the captain had +caused 132 weak, sickly slaves to be thrown overboard for the +purpose of claiming their value, for which the plaintiffs would not +have been liable if the cargo had died a natural death. The fact of +the drowning was admitted, and defended on the plea that want of +water had rendered it necessary, though it appeared that the crew +had not been put upon short allowance. It now seems incredible that +no criminal proceeding should have been instituted against the +perpetrators of this wholesale murder. + +In 1785 the Vice-chancellor of Cambridge proposed as the subject for +the Bachelor's Prize Essay, the question, Is it allowable to enslave +men without their consent? Thomas Clarkson, who had gained the prize +in the preceding year, again became a candidate. Conceiving that the +thesis, though couched in general terms, had an especial reference +to the African slave trade, he went to London to make inquiries on +the subject. Investigation brought under his view a mass of +cruelties and abominations which engrossed his thoughts and shocked +his imagination. By night and day they haunted him; and he has +described in lively colors the intense pain which this composition, +undertaken solely in the spirit of honorable rivalry, inflicted on +him. He gained the prize, but found it impossible to discard the +subject from his thoughts. In the succeeding autumn, after great +struggles of mind, he resolved to give up his plan for entering the +Church, and devoted time, health, and substance (to use his own +words) to "seeing these calamities to an end." In sketching the +progress of this great measure, the name of Wilberforce alone will +be presented to view; and it is our duty, therefore, in the first +place, to make honorable mention of him who first roused Wilberforce +in the cause, and whose athletic vigor and indomitable perseverance +surmounted danger, difficulties, fatigues, and discouragements which +few men could have endured, in the first great object of collecting +evidence of the cruelties habitually perpetrated in the slave trade. + +In the first stage of his proceedings, Mr. Clarkson, in the course +of his application to members of Parliament, called on Mr. +Wilberforce, who stated that "the subject had often employed his +thoughts and was near his heart." He inquired into the authorities +for the statements laid before him, and became not only convinced +of, but impressed with, the paramount duty of abolishing so hateful +a traffic. Occasional meetings of those who were alike interested +were held at his house; and in May, 1787, a committee was formed, of +which Wilberforce became the Parliamentary leader. Early in 1788 he +gave notice of his intention to bring the subject before the House; +but, owing to his severe indisposition, that task was ultimately +undertaken by Mr. Pitt, who moved and carried a resolution, pledging +the House in the ensuing session to enter on the consideration of +the subject. Accordingly, May 12, 1789, Mr. Wilberforce moved a +series of resolutions, founded on a report of the Privy Council, +exposing the iniquity and cruelty of the traffic in slaves, the +mortality which it occasioned among white as well as black men, and +the neglect of health and morals by which the natural increase of +the race in the West India islands was checked; and concluding with +a declaration that if the causes by which that increase was checked +were removed, no considerable inconvenience would result from +discontinuing the importation of African slaves. Burke, Pitt, and +Fox supported the resolutions. Mr. Wilberforce's speech was +distinguished by eloquence and earnestness, and by its unanswerable +appeals to the first principles of justice and religion. The +consideration of the subject was ultimately adjourned to the +following session. In that, and in two subsequent sessions, the +motions were renewed; and the effect of pressing such a subject upon +the attention of the country was to open the eyes of many who would +willingly have kept them closed, yet could not deny the existence of +the evils so forced on their view. In 1792 Mr. Wilberforce's motion +for the abolition of the slave trade was met by a proposal to insert +in it the word "gradually;" and, in pursuance of the same policy, +Mr. Dundas introduced a bill to provide for its discontinuance in +1800. The date was altered to 1796, and in that state the bill +passed the Commons, but was stopped in the Upper House by a proposal +to hear evidence upon it. Mr. Wilberforce annually renewed his +efforts, and brought every new argument to bear upon the question +which new discoveries, or the events of the times, produced. In 1799 +the friends of the measure resolved on letting it repose for awhile, +and for five years Mr. Wilberforce contented himself with moving for +certain papers; but he took an opportunity of assuring the House +that he had not grown cool in the cause, and that he would renew the +discussion in a future session. On May 30, 1804, he once more moved +for leave to bring in his bill for the abolition of the slave trade, +in a speech of great eloquence and effect. He took the opportunity +of making a powerful appeal to the Irish members, before whom, in +consequence of the Union, this question was now for the first time +brought, and the greater part of whom supported it. The decision +showed a majority of 124 to 49 in his favor; and the bill was +carried through the Commons, but was again postponed in the House of +Lords. In 1805 he renewed his motion; but on this occasion it was +lost in the Commons by over-security among the friends of the +measure. But when Mr. Fox and Lord Granville took office in 1806, +the abolition was brought forward by the ministers, most of whom +supported it, though it was not made a government question in +consequence of several members of the cabinet opposing it. The +attorney-general (Sir A. Pigott) brought in a bill, which was passed +into a law, prohibiting the slave trade in the conquered colonies, +and excluding British subjects from engaging in the foreign slave +trade; and Mr. Fox at Mr. Wilberforce's special request, introduced +a resolution pledging the House to take the earliest measures for +effectually abolishing the whole slave trade. This resolution was +carried by a majority of 114 to 15; and January 2, 1807, Lord +Granville brought forward, in the House of Lords, a bill for the +abolition of the slave trade, which passed safely through both +Houses of Parliament. As, however, the king was believed to be +unfriendly to the measure, some alarm was felt by its friends, lest +its fate might still be affected by the dismissal of the ministers, +which had been determined upon. Those fears were groundless; for +though they received orders to deliver up the seals of their offices +on March 25th, the royal assent was given by commission by the Lord +Chancellor Erskine on the same day; and thus the last act of the +administration was to conclude a contest, maintained by prejudice +and interest during twenty years, for the support of what Mr. Pitt +denominated "the greatest practical evil that ever afflicted the +human race." + +Among other testimonies to Mr. Wilberforce's merits, we are not +inclined to omit that of Sir James Mackintosh, who in his journal, +May 23, 1808, speaks thus of Wilberforce on the "Abolition." This +refers to a pamphlet on the slave trade which Mr. Wilberforce had +published in 1806: "Almost as much enchanted by Mr. Wilberforce's +book as by his conduct. He is the very model of a reformer. Ardent +without turbulence, mild without timidity or coolness; neither +yielding to difficulties nor disturbed or exasperated by them; +patient and meek yet intrepid; persisting for twenty years through +good report and evil report; just and charitable even to his most +malignant enemies; unwearied in every experiment to disarm the +prejudices of his more rational and disinterested opponents, and +supporting the zeal, without dangerously exciting the passions of +his adherents." + +The rest of Mr. Wilberforce's parliamentary conduct was consistent +with his behavior on this question. In debates chiefly political he +rarely took a forward part; but where religion and morals were +directly concerned, points on which few cared to interfere, and +where a leader was wanted, he never shrunk from the advocacy of his +opinions. He was a supporter of Catholic emancipation and +parliamentary reform; he condemned the encouragement of gambling, in +the shape of lotteries established by government; he insisted on the +cruelty of employing boys of tender age as chimney-sweepers; he +attempted to procure a legislative enactment against duelling, after +the hostile meeting between Pitt and Tierney; and on the renewal of +the East India Company's charter in 1816, he gave his zealous +support to the propagation of Christianity in Hindostan, in +opposition to those who, as has been more recently done in the West +Indies, represented the employment of missionaries to be +inconsistent with the preservation of the British empire. It is +encouraging to observe that, with the exception of the one levelled +against duelling, all these measures, however violently opposed and +unfairly censured, have been carried in a more or less perfect form. + +As an author, Mr. Wilberforce's claim to notice is chiefly derived +from his treatise entitled "A Practical View of the Prevailing +Religious System of Professing Christians in the Higher and Middle +Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity." The +object of it was to show that the standard of life generally adopted +by those classes not only fell short of, but was inconsistent with, +the doctrines of the gospel. It has justly been applauded as a work +of no common courage, not from the asperity of its censures, for it +breathes throughout a spirit of gentleness and love, but on the +joint consideration of the unpopularity of the subject and the +writer's position. The Bishop of Calcutta, in his introductory +essay, justly observes that "the author, in attempting it, risked +everything dear to a public man and a politician as such, +consideration, weight, ambition, reputation." And Scott, the divine, +one of the most fearless and ardent of men, viewed the matter in the +same light; for he wrote: "Taken in all its probable effects, I do +sincerely think such a stand for vital Christianity has not been +made in my memory. He has come out beyond my expectations." Of a +work so generally known we shall not describe the tendency more at +large. It is said to have gone through about twenty editions in +Britain, since the publication in 1797, and more in America; and to +have been translated into most European languages. + +In the discharge of his parliamentary duties, Mr. Wilberforce was +punctual and active beyond his apparent strength; and those who +further recollect his diligent attendance on a vast variety of +public meetings and committees connected with religious and +charitable purposes, will wonder how a frame naturally weak should +so long have endured the wear of such exertion. In 1788, when his +illness was a matter of deep concern to the Abolitionists, Dr. +Warren said that he had not stamina to last a fortnight. No doubt +his bodily powers were greatly aided by the placid and happy frame +of mind which he habitually enjoyed; but it is important to relate +his own opinion, as delivered by an ear-witness, on the physical +benefits which he derived from a strict abstinence from temporal +affairs on Sundays: "I have often heard him assert that he never +could have sustained the labor and stretch of mind required in his +early political life, if it had not been for the rest of his +Sabbath; and that he could name several of his contemporaries in the +vortex of political cares, whose minds had actually given way under +the stress of intellectual labor so as to bring on a premature death +or the still more dreadful catastrophe of insanity and suicide, who, +humanly speaking, might have been preserved in health, if they would +but conscientiously have observed the Sabbath." + +In 1797 Mr. Wilberforce married Miss Spooner, daughter of an eminent +banker at Birmingham. Four sons survived him. He died, after a +gradual decline, July 29, 1833, in Cadogan Place. He directed that +his funeral should be conducted without the smallest pomp; but his +orders were disregarded, in compliance with a memorial addressed to +his relatives by many of the most distinguished men of all parties, +and couched in the following terms: "We, the undersigned Members of +both Houses of Parliament, being anxious, upon public grounds, to +show our respect for the memory of the late William Wilberforce, and +being also satisfied that public honors can never be more fitly +bestowed than upon such benefactors of mankind, earnestly request +that he may be buried in Westminster Abbey, and that we and others +who may agree with us in these sentiments may have permission to +attend his funeral." The attendance of both Houses was numerous. Mr. +Wilberforce was interred within a few yards of his great +contemporaries, Pitt, Fox, and Canning. + + + + +SIR HUMPHRY DAVY + +By JOHN TIMBS, F.S.A. + +(1778-1829) + +[Illustration: Sir Humphry Davy.] + + +The boyhood of Davy has been sketched in some of the most +fascinating pieces of biography ever written: the annals of science +do not furnish us with any record that equals the school-days and +self-education of the boy, Humphry, in popular interest; and, unlike +many bright mornings, this commencement in a few years led to a +brilliant meridian, and, by a succession of discoveries, +accomplished more in relation to change of theory and extension of +science, than in the most ardent and ambitious moments of youth he +could either hope to effect or imagine possible. + +Humphry Davy was born at Penzance, in 1778; was a healthy, strong, +and active child, and could speak fluently before he was two years +old; copied engravings before he learned to write, and could recite +part of the "Pilgrim's Progress" before he could well read it. At +the age of five years, he could gain a good account of the contents +of a book while turning over the leaves; and he retained this +remarkable faculty through life. He excelled in telling stories to +his playmates; loved fishing, and collecting, and painting birds and +fishes; he had his own little garden; and recorded his impressions +of romantic scenery in verse of no ordinary merit. To his +self-education, however, he owed almost everything. He studied with +intensity mathematics, metaphysics, and physiology; before he was +nineteen he began to study chemistry, and in four months proposed a +new hypothesis on heat and light, to which he won over the +experienced Dr. Beddoes. With his associate, Gregory Watt (son of +the celebrated James Watt) he collected specimens of rocks and +minerals. He made considerable progress in medicine; he experimented +zealously, especially on the effects of the gases in respiration; at +the age of twenty-one he had breathed nitrous oxide, and nearly lost +his life from breathing carburetted hydrogen. Next year he commenced +the galvanic experiments which led to some of his greatest +discoveries. In 1802 he began his brilliant scientific career at the +Royal Institution, where he remained till 1812; here he constructed +his great voltaic battery of 2,000 double plates of copper and zinc, +and commenced the mineralogical collection now in the Museum. His +lectures were often attended by one thousand persons: his youth, his +simplicity, his natural eloquence, his chemical knowledge, his happy +illustrations and well-conducted experiments, and the auspicious +state of science, insured Davy great and instant success. + +The enthusiastic admiration with which he was hailed can hardly be +imagined now. Not only men of the highest rank--men of science, men of +letters, and men of trade--but women of fashion and blue-stockings, +old and young, pressed into the theatre of the Institution to cover +him with applause. His greatest labors were his discovery of the +decomposition of the fixed alkalies, and the re-establishment of the +simple nature of chlorine; his other researches were the investigation +of astringent vegetables in connection with the art of tanning; the +analysis of rocks and minerals in connection with geology; the +comprehensive subject of agricultural chemistry; and galvanism and +electro-chemical science. He was also an early, but unsuccessful, +experimenter in the photographic art. + +Of the lazy conservative spirit and ludicrous indolence in science, +which at this time attempted to hoodwink the public, a quaint +instance is recorded of a worthy professor of chemistry at Aberdeen. +He had allowed some years to pass since Davy's brilliant discovery +of potassium and its congeneric metals, without a word about them in +his lectures. At length the learned doctor was concussed by his +colleagues on the subject, and he condescended to notice it. "Both +potash and soda are now said to be metallic oxides," said he; "the +oxides, in fact, of two metals, called potassium and sodium by the +discoverer of them, one Davy, in London, a verra troublesome person +in chemistry." + +Turn we, however, to the brightest event in our chemical +philosopher's career. By his unrivalled series of practical +discoveries, Davy acquired such a reputation for success among his +countrymen, that his aid was invoked on every great occasion. The +properties of fire-damp, or carburetted hydrogen, in coal-mines had +already been ascertained by Dr. Henry. When this gas is mingled in +certain proportions with atmospheric air, it forms a mixture which +kindles upon the contact of a lighted candle, and often explodes +with tremendous violence, killing the men and horses, and projecting +much of the contents of the mine through the shafts or apertures +like an enormous piece of artillery. At this time, a detonation of +fire-damp occurred within a coal-mine in the north of England, so +dreadful that it destroyed more than a hundred miners. A committee +of the proprietors besought our chemist to provide a method of +preparing for such tremendous visitations; and he did it. He tells +us that he first turned his attention particularly to the subject in +1815; but he must have been prepared for it by the researches of his +early years. Still, there appeared little hope of finding an +efficacious remedy. The resources of modern mechanical science had +been fully applied in ventilation. The comparative lightness of +fire-damp was well understood; every precaution was taken to +preserve the communications open; and the currents of air were +promoted or occasioned, not only by furnaces, but likewise by +air-pumps and steam apparatus. We may here mention that, for giving +light to the coal-miner or pitman, where the fire-damp was +apprehended, the primitive contrivance was a steel-mill, the light +of which was produced by contact of a flint with the edge of a wheel +kept in rapid motion. A "safety-lamp" had already, in 1813, been +constructed by Dr. Clanny, the principle of which was forcing in air +through water by bellows; but the machine was ponderous and +complicated, and required a boy to work it. M. Humboldt had +previously, in 1796, constructed a lamp for mines upon the same +principle as that of Dr. Clanny. + +Davy, having conceived that flame and explosion may be regulated and +arrested, began a minute chemical examination of fire-damp. He found +that carburetted-hydrogen gas, even when mixed with fourteen times +its bulk of atmospheric air, was still explosive. He ascertained +that explosions of inflammable gases were incapable of being passed +through long, narrow metallic tubes; and that this principle of +security was still obtained by diminishing their length and diameter +at the same time, and likewise diminishing their length and +increasing their number, so that a great number of small apertures +would not pass explosion when their depth was equal to their +diameter. This fact led to trials upon sieves of wire-gauze; he +found that if a piece of wire-gauze was held over the flame of a +lamp, or coal-gas, it prevented the flame from passing; and he +ascertained that a flame confined in a cylinder of very fine +wire-gauze did not explode even in a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen, +but that the gases burned in it with great vivacity. These +experiments served as the basis of the safety-lamp. + +Sir Humphry Davy presented his first communication respecting his +discovery of the safety-lamp to the Royal Society in 1815. This was +followed by a series of papers, crowned by that read on January 11, +1816, when the principle of the safety-lamp was announced, and Sir +Humphry presented to the society a model made by his own hands, +which is to this day preserved in the collection of the Royal +Society at Burlington House. + +There have been several modifications of the safety-lamp, and the +merit of the discovery has been claimed by others, among whom was +Mr. George Stephenson; but the question was set at rest in 1817 by +an examination, attested by Sir Joseph Banks, P.R.S., Mr. Brande, +Mr. Hatchett, and Dr. Wollaston, and awarding the independent merit +to Davy. + +It should be explained that Stephenson's lamp was formed on the +principle of admitting the fire-damp by narrow tubes, and "in such +small detached portions that it would be consumed by combustion." +The two lamps were doubtless distinct inventions; though Davy, in +all justice, appears to be entitled to precedence, not only in point +of date, but as regards the long chain of inductive reasoning +concerning the nature of flame by which his result was arrived at. + +Meanwhile, the Report by the Parliamentary Committee "cannot admit +that the experiments (made with the lamp) have any tendency to +detract from the character of Sir Humphry Davy, or to disparage the +fair value placed by himself upon his invention. The improvements +are probably those which longer life and additional facts would have +induced him to contemplate as desirable, and of which, had he not +been the inventor, he might have become the patron." + +"I value it," Davy used to say, with the kindliest exultation, "more +than anything I ever did; it was the result of a great deal of +investigation and labor; but if my directions be attended to, it +will save the lives of thousands of poor men." + +The principle of the invention may be thus summed up: In the +safety-lamp, the mixture of the fire-damp and atmospheric air within +the cage of wire-gauze explodes upon coming in contact with the +flame; but the combustion cannot pass through the wire-gauze; and +being there imprisoned, cannot impart to the explosive atmosphere of +the mine any of its force. This effect has been attributed to the +cooling influence of the metal; but, since the wires may be brought +to a degree of heat but little below redness without igniting the +fire-damp, this does not appear to be the cause. + +Professor Playfair has elegantly characterized the safety-lamp of +Davy as a present from philosophy to the arts, a discovery in no +degree the effect of accident or chance, but the result of patient +and enlightened research, and strongly exemplifying the great use of +an immediate and constant appeal to experiment. After characterizing +the invention as the _shutting-up in a net of the most slender +texture_ of a most violent and irresistible force, and a power that +in its tremendous effects seems to emulate the lightning and the +earthquake, Professor Playfair thus concludes: "When to this we add +the beneficial consequences, and the saving of the lives of men, and +consider that the effects are to remain as long as coal continues to +be dug from the bowels of the earth, it may be fairly said that +there is hardly in the whole compass of art or science a single +invention of which one would rather wish to be the author.... This," +says Professor Playfair, "is exactly such a case as we should choose +to place before Bacon, were he to revisit the earth; in order to +give him, in a small compass, an idea of the advancement which +philosophy has made since the time when he had pointed out to her +the route which she ought to pursue." + +Honors were showered upon Davy. He received from the Royal Society +the Copley, Royal, and Rumford Medals, and several times delivered +the Bakerian Lecture. He also received Napoleon's prize for the +advancement of galvanic researches from the French Institute. The +invention of the safety-lamp brought him the public gratitude of the +united colliers of Whitehaven, of the coal proprietors of the north +of England, of the grand jury of Durham, of the Chamber of Commerce +at Mons, of the coal-miners of Flanders, and, above all, of the +coal-owners of the Wear and the Tyne, who presented him (it was his +own choice) with a dinner-service of silver worth L2,500. On the +same occasion, Alexander, the Emperor of all the Russias, sent him a +vase, with a letter of commendation. In 1817, he was elected to the +dignity of an associate of the Institute of France; next year, at +the age of forty, he was created a baronet. + +Davy's discoveries form a remarkable epoch in the history of the +Royal Society during the early part of this century; and from 1821 +to 1829 almost every volume of the _Transactions_ contains a +communication by him. He was president of the Royal Society from +1820 to 1827. + +Fond of travel, geology, and sport, Davy visited, for the purpose of +mineralogy and angling, almost every county of England and Wales. He +was provided with a portable laboratory, that he might experiment +when he chose, as well as fish and shoot. In 1827, upon resigning +the presidency of the Royal Society, he retired to the continent; in +1829, at Geneva, his palsy-stricken body returned to the dust. They +buried him at Geneva, where a simple monument stands at the head of +the hospitable grave. There is a tablet to his memory in Westminster +Abbey; there is a monument at Penzance; and his widow founded a +memorial chemical prize in the University of Geneva. His public +services of plate, his imperial vases, his foreign prizes, his royal +medals, shall be handed down with triumph to his collateral +posterity as trophies won from the depths of nescience; but his +work, designed by his own genius, executed by his own hand, tracery +and all, and every single stone signalized by his own private mark, +indelible, characteristic, and inimitable--his work is the only +record of his name. How deeply are its foundations rooted in space, +and how lasting its materials for time! + + + + +GENERAL SAN MARTIN[9] + + [Footnote 9: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH + +(1778-1850) + + "Seras lo que debes ser, + Y sino, no seras nada." + SAN MARTIN. + + +San Martin, the ideal liberator of South America from the long and +tyrannical rule of Spanish viceroys, was one of the most remarkable +men of his own or of any age. From a moral point of view he stands +in the first rank of the world's heroes. "He was not a man," said a +student of South American history, "he was a mission." Cincinnatus, +after serving the state, returned to the plough, and Washington to +the retirement of Mt. Vernon; but San Martin for the peace of his +country went into voluntary exile. His country crowned him dead and +made for his dead body a tomb of Peace, surrounded by the marble +angels of the arts of human progress, more beautiful in its meaning +than any tomb on the Appian Way, and one of the most wonderful +memorials on earth. + +The Battle of Maipu, of which San Martin was the victor, completed +the emancipation of South America, and made the achievements of +Bolivar easy in the Northern Andes. Said the hero of Maipu--and what +words of man under the circumstances ever equalled the declaration +in moral sublimity!-- + +"The presence of a fortunate general, however disinterested he may +be, is dangerous to a newly founded state. I have achieved the +independence of Peru: I have ceased to be a public man!" He died at +Boulogne, France, in poverty, after nearly thirty years of exiled +and fameless life. His career seems like that of some hero of +fiction, such as the imagination of a Plato, a Bacon, or a Sir +Thomas More might create for an Utopia. He is the one perfectly +unselfish man in history, and his fame has grown steadily in Spanish +America, since Argentina built a tomb-palace for his remains, and +decreed for him one of the most splendid funerals ever known to the +Western World. + +General Don Joachim de la Pezuela, the last Spanish ruler of Peru, +was the forty-fourth viceroy from Pizarro. "The Indians," he said, +"love the memory of the Incas--the country is ready to rise." The +banner of Argentina was putting to flight the condors of the Andes, +and the last viceroy saw in its advance the end of Spain in the New +World. + +The Argentine hero who had created the army of the Andes for +universal liberty was San Martin. He was born on February 25, 1778, +at Yapeyu, in Misiones. His father was a South American officer +under the last rule of the viceroys. The family removed to Spain in +his boyhood, and he became for two years a pupil in the Seminary of +Nobles, at Madrid. At the age of twelve he became a cadet, wearing a +uniform of blue and white, which he made in manhood the colors of +South American emancipation. + +He fought in the war against the Moors, and in the campaign against +France, in 1793. In 1800 he took part in the so-called "War of the +Oranges against Portugal." + +In the early part of the nineteenth century there began to be formed +in Spain secret societies for the purpose of advancing the cause of +liberty and human progress. One of these associations, called +_Caballeros Racionales_, became very influential, and corresponded +with the society of the Grand Reunion of America (_Gran Reunion +Americana_) of London. This society was pledged "to recognize no +government in America as legitimate unless it was elected by the +free will of the people." San Martin joined this society. The London +society was established by Miranda, the Spanish patriot, a friend of +Bolivar, by whose inspirations San Martin became a disciple of +liberty, and whose dreams he fulfilled long after the patriot was +dead. + +San Martin won honors and a medal in the Spanish resistance to the +victorious eagles of Napoleon. In that campaign he fought under a +banner of the Sun, having this motto in Latin: "We bear this aloft +dispersing the clouds." He made this banner the flag of the army of +the Andes. + +In 1812, San Martin, as a disciple of the principles of the Spanish +apostle of liberty, Miranda, returned to South America, and in March +went to Buenos Ayres, and offered his sword to the Argentine +patriots for the cause of independence. The country was in +revolution against the Spanish rule. San Martin was not only an +American, but a Creole; he was unselfish, truthful, the soul of +honor, and of all men in the world the one that would seem best +fitted to lead the cause of the South American patriots. He was +destined to become "the greatest of the Creoles of the New World." + +Soon after the arrival of San Martin in Buenos Ayres he married Dona +Remedios Esculada, and Mercedes, a daughter of this marriage, shared +with him his voluntary exile after the conquest of Peru. + +Appointed at once to a high military position under the Argentine +Government, he conceived the plan of creating an army of the Andes, +of crossing the Cordillera, and of driving the Spaniards from Chile. + +Mendoza, with which Buenos Ayres is now connected by railroad, lies +on an elevation under the snowy Cordilleras. San Martin made his +military camp here. On January 17, 1817, he began his march up the +Andes, one of the most perilous achievements of modern warfare. The +summit of the Uspallata Pass, over which the army was to climb, is +12,500 feet above the level of the sea, or 4,000 feet higher than +the Pass of St. Bernard. + +The 17th, on which the army set forth, was a high holiday in +Mendoza. The plaza was gay with banners, and the streets with +patriotic decorations. The ladies of the city presented an +embroidered flag to San Martin. The general, above whose head +gleamed the snowy heights of the Andes, ascended a platform in the +plaza, and waved this flag over his head, and shouted: + +"Soldiers, behold the first flag of independence!" + +There arose a great shout of "Viva la Patria!" + +"Soldiers, swear to sustain it." + +"We swear," answered the army, as one man. + +Salvos of musketry and artillery followed. Mitre, in his "Life of +San Martin," as presented to us in the condensed translation of +Pilling, eloquently says that this flag rose "for the redemption of +one-half of South America, passed the Cordilleras, waved in triumph +along the Pacific coast, floated over the foundations of two new +republics, aided in the liberation of another, and after sixty-four +years served as a funeral pall to the body of the hero, who thus +delivered it to the care of the immortal Army of the Andes." + +The mountains rose above the departing army, piercing the sky in the +fading day. Up they climbed, putting to flight the condors. The men +suffered greatly from the rarefaction of the air. Even many of the +animals of the expedition perished. Out of 9,261 mules, only 4,300 +ever reached Chile. + +"What spoils my sleep," said San Martin, on surveying the Andes at +the outset of the expedition, "is not the strength of the enemy, but +how to pass those immense mountains." He might well say that, for +before him gleamed peaks 21,000 feet high. + +The army, with all its sufferings, triumphantly crossed the lower +passes of the Cordilleras, and entered Chile. This march decided the +fate of South America. + +The army encamped upon the Sierra of Chacubuco, from the summit of +which the whole of the magnificent country could be seen. Here rose +the flag of liberation. The flower of the Spanish army, inferior in +numbers, was near. On February 12th a battle was fought, and the +royalists were defeated with a loss of 500 men killed, 600 taken +prisoners, and all of their artillery. + +The way was now open to Santiago, the capital. The army entered the +city amid the acclamations of the people. The Chilian assembly met +and offered San Martin the office of governor, with dictatorial +power. But San Martin was not fighting for power, or honor, but for +the liberties of his countrymen, and he nobly declined the office. + +The guns of Buenos Ayres roared, and the city was turned into a +festival when the news of the triumph of the army of the Andes +reached the coast. The Argentine Government offered to bestow on San +Martin its highest honors, but the latter declined them, lest his +work should be retarded and his motives of life should be +misconstrued. It awarded to his daughter a life pension, which he +devoted to her education. + +Santiago offered to him 10,000 ounces of gold. He refused the +splendid purse which he had so well won, but recommended that the +money be used for the cause of popular education in the form of a +public library. + +Chile and Argentina now formed an alliance in defence of their +liberties. + +But the royal army was gathering force and unity. On March 31st, it +numbered 5,500 men, and was prepared to make a final stand against +the army of liberation. + +There is a river in Chile which divides the country, named the +Maipo, or Maipu. On its banks the royal army encamped on the first +days of April, 1818. The patriot army was close at hand, and each +army felt that the battle to follow would decide the fate of the +movement for the independence of the South American empire. + +It is April 5, 1818. The royal army is ready for action, and the +patriots occupy the heights of Loma Blanca, overlooking the plains +of the Maipu. + +"Do not await a charge to-day," ordered San Martin; "_but charge_ +always within fifty paces!" + +At the beginning of the action he said, + +"I take the sun to witness that the day is ours." + +Just then the sun, which had been clouded, shone from the heavens. + +The royal army was defeated. That night of May 5th covered their +flight, and the War of Independence was won. + +San Martin began now to plan the liberation of Peru, and to create a +navy for the purpose of commanding the ports of the golden mountains +and rich plateaus of the incarial realms. + +In August, 1820, he had gathered a patriot force of 4,500 men at +Valparaiso, and was ready to embark for the conquest by sea. The +army was composed of Argentines and Chilians. A former expedition +had made the way of victory clear to the patriots. The fleet left +Valparaiso August 21, 1820. The army landed in Peru and began +operations near Lima. + +San Martin began his Chilian campaign by the liberation of the +slaves, whom he afterward found trusty soldiers. He began the +Peruvian war by issuing a most noble manifesto to his countrymen, in +which he said: "Ever since I came back to my native land, the +independence of Peru has been present in my mind." + +And again he grandly announced his future policy in nearly these +words: "From the time that a government is established by the people +of Peru, the army of the Andes will obey its orders." + +The army of liberation was as successful in Peru as in Chile. The +empire of the viceroys crumbled and fell. Amid the roar of cannon, +the shouts of the people, and strewing of flowers, the independence +of Peru was proclaimed on July 20, 1821, in the great square of +Lima. San Martin, as in Chile, was offered the supreme authority +under the title of the Protector of Peru. He made use of the office +merely for the pacification of the country. He convened the first +Congress in Peru, and to the new government he addressed the words, +or words like those, that we have quoted at the beginning of this +article. He saw that Bolivar was the man to complete the liberation +and bring about the unity of South America. The cause was all to +him: he was nothing. + +To Bolivar he wrote: "My decision is irrevocable. I have convened +the first Congress of Peru. The day of its installation I shall +leave for Chile, convinced that my presence is the only obstacle +that prevents you from coming to Peru." + +He sent to Bolivar a parting gift, saying, "Receive this memento +from the first of your admirers, and with my desire that you have +the glory of finishing the war for the independence of South +America." + +The history of chivalry has no match for the character of San +Martin. Bolivar united patriotism and vanity; San Martin's glory was +self-abnegation. At a banquet where the two were present, Bolivar +once offered the following toast: "To the two greatest men in South +America--San Martin and _myself_." + +San Martin followed with his toast. "To the speedy end of the war; +to the establishment of the republics, and to the health of the +Liberator of Colombia!" + +The two toasts were photographs. Time is lifting the character of +San Martin into its true place among glorious men. He was a man who +fought for peace. His life fulfilled his own motto: "Thou shalt be +what thou oughtest to be, or else thou shalt be nothing." + +On critical occasions, his magnanimous soul rose to the sublimity of +this motto, and to the end of his life of glory and poverty he was +always able to say, "I have been what I ought!" + +[Signature: Hezekiah Butterworth.] + + + + +GEORGE STEPHENSON[10] + + [Footnote 10: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By Professor C. M. WOODWARD + +(1781-1848) + +[Illustration: Steam engine.] + + +Far in the north of England, near the Scottish border, by the shore +of the German Ocean, is the county of brown and barren hills called +Northumberland, and its principal city, Newcastle, famous for its +coal. There is another Newcastle near the centre of England, so this +one is often distinguished by the name "Newcastle-on-Tyne"--Tyne +being the blackest and dirtiest of all rivers. + +A few miles from Newcastle, up the Tyne, is the little mining +village of Wylam, where, a hundred years ago, lived Robert +Stephenson and his wife Mabel. There was no style about Wylam, and +few evidences of wealth or culture. The houses straggled about near +the outlets of the coal-mines, and everything was as uninviting as +it well could be. Stephenson's house, or rather "shanty," had but +one room, and that had an earthen floor. Robert and Mabel were about +as ill-furnished as their house; for neither could read, they had +not a book nor a print, and neither knew much more of the world than +could be seen, as they stood on the bank of the Tyne and looked +about on the neighboring hills and down toward Newcastle. In 1892 I +rode down the valley of the Tyne, past Wylam, through Newcastle, and +over the high bridge that our fireman's grandson, Robert, built in +later days. Few valleys are less attractive, and few seem less +likely to be the birthplace of epoch-making men. + +Robert Stephenson, the father of our hero, was a fireman, earning +two shillings a day. He was sober and industrious, but as would be +expected, he never "got on." He was a good story-teller, and +transmitted to his children healthy bodies and clear heads. George +was the second of six children, and he was born June 9, 1781, during +our war for independence. His boyhood was uneventful enough. When +the weather was cold he was cooped up in their narrow home; he was +out of doors whenever the weather would permit. He played in the +street, ran errands, carried his father's dinner, and herded cows, +as soon as he was big enough, for four cents per day. At fourteen he +was assistant-fireman, earning twenty-five cents a day, and at +seventeen he was "plugman." He was thus in contact with much that +had been achieved in the way of building engines and transporting +materials on cars. But I must describe the engines then in use, and +explain what it was to be a "plugman." + +The coal-mines were so deep that, in spite of the valleys, they +could be drained only by pumps, and it was often more difficult to +keep the water out than it was to lift the coal out. The +steam-engine was then in a very incomplete condition, and both +pumping-and lifting-engines were crude and clumsy affairs. To be +sure Watt, the mathematical instrument-maker, had invented the +double-acting steam-engine, but few had been manufactured, and those +in common use were "atmospheric" engines, known as "Newcomen's" +engines. A pumping-engine had a long, vertical cylinder, with +arrangements for admitting steam at the top. The weight of the +piston, piston-rod, and pump-rod, which ran down a shaft to the +lowest point in the mine, being balanced by a counter-weight on a +sort of well-sweep, the steam, admitted by hand, forced the piston +to the bottom of the cylinder. The steam was then shut off, and a +spray of water was turned on within the cylinder. This water +condensed the steam and reduced the pressure within to almost +nothing, so that the air pressure on the exterior face of the piston +(which amounted to over a ton for every square foot of surface) +drove the piston to the top of the cylinder, and lifted the full +length of the stroke a large quantity of water. + +It is evident that the office of engineer was not an easy one. It +was all he could do to take care of the steam end of the pump; +another man was needed to look after the lower end, where the +pump-valve worked in another vertical cylinder. The water entered +this cylinder through holes in the sides, some higher, some lower, +according to the stage of water in the mine. The pumps did not run +continuously, but they lowered the water to the bottom as often as +it was necessary. As the level of the water in the mine fell, it was +necessary to plug the upper holes in the pump cylinder; the man who +watched the lower end and plugged those holes was known as the +"plugman." It is difficult to conceive of a less inspiring +occupation than that to which George Stephenson was promoted at the +age of seventeen. Alone in the dark, chilled by the damp air, and +wet by the black water, he was forced, by lack of other occupation, +to note every mechanical detail of the machinery, and to study +methods of improving it. + +At the age of eighteen he heard of some wonderful engines made by +Watt & Boulton, at their new factory, and was told that the engines +were fully described and illustrated in books. So he determined to +learn to read. He was encouraged in this resolve by stories that a +French soldier, by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte, was sweeping +everything before him on the continent of Europe, and that he was +planning the subjugation of Great Britain. Information about +Napoleon could be gained from printed newspapers if one could only +read. + +But where should he learn? There was no public school in Wylam; none +of our hero's companions went to school; none of the people he +associated with could read or write. However, he found a teacher in +a young man by the name of Robert Cowens, of whom he took three +lessons per week in the evening. He earned money for books and +instruction by mending shoes and repairing clocks. He was handy with +tools, and quick at seeing the relations of things. As soon as he +could read and write he learned to cipher, taking a slateful of +"sums," set by his teacher, to his work in the morning, to be "done" +during odd moments while watching his pump or engine, for he was +soon advanced to the care of the steam end of the machine. + +While young Stephenson, now grown a man, is thus busy with his +primer, his copy-book, and "four rules," let us reflect upon the +uncanny circumstances of his early life. He had no luxuries, few +real comforts. The people around him lived half the time underground +in mines that were dark, damp, and dangerous--in constant war with +water and a poisonous, explosive, natural gas, known as "fire-damp." +Above ground there was little that was attractive or educative. The +young men had their games, at which George was fairly successful, +for he was strong and active. The ale-house stood near by, and it +absorbed most of the spare time and scant earnings of the miners; +but it is said that young Stephenson avoided the saloon, and was +never known to leave his work for a drink of liquor. On off days he +took his engine to pieces, examined its parts and the functions of +each, and remedied small defects and devised improvements. Naturally +clear-headed and ingenious, every circumstance tended to develop his +executive powers. He soon was known in the Tyne valley as a good +engine-doctor. + +An incident, when he was about twenty years of age, did much to +shape his career. He heard that a neighboring mine had been flooded +on account of the inability of the engine to pump fast enough. No +engineer could make the engine efficient. One Sunday he went down +and looked at it. After a thorough examination he said he could make +it work in a week's time if he could have authority to make changes +as he saw fit. Authority was given him. In four days the engine was +repaired and set to work. In spite of jeers from old engine-men, who +were jealous of a mere boy, the pump worked well and the mine was +soon dry. George's reputation was made, and he soon received +appointment as engineer at a large mine at Killingworth, an +important place near by. + +Meanwhile Stephenson added exact instrumental drawing to his three +R's. He found, as every artisan finds, that exact drawing is +necessary not only to the study of existing mechanical devices, but +particularly to the successful design of new parts. The successful +inventor generally invents at his drawing-board. + +When twenty-one years of age Stephenson married Fanny Henderson, a +respectable country girl living at Ballast Hill. He brought the +bride home behind him on a pillion, a wedding journey of fifteen +miles. Robert Stephenson, who became his father's partner, and one +of the first of England's civil engineers, was born in 1803. In +1812, when Stephenson was thirty-one years old, he was made +engine-wright of a large colliery at Killingworth, at a salary of +$500. The position was one of profit and fine opportunity. All the +engines and machinery were in his hands, and all the repair-and +construction-shops were available for such new designs as he saw fit +to make. He at once set about making his first locomotive. + +Locomotives and railroads of certain sorts and fashions were already +in existence, but they were rough and clumsy affairs. + +The rails were at first angle-irons, then flat bars of wrought iron, +then cast-iron bars. In 1800 Benjamin Outram used stones for +sleepers, and improved rails--hence "tramways." Over these tramways +cars were drawn by horses, or by ropes from stationary engines. +Murduck made a locomotive in 1784, and by 1812 several types of +engines were used for hauling coal-cars. Stephenson saw one of +Blenkinsop's engines. Gear-wheels connected the crank-shaft with the +axles, and the driving-wheels were geared with the track, while of +course, the coal-cars ran on different rails. + +This Blenkinsop's engine was a fearful machine. All the teeth +rattled, and as there were no springs and the road was very uneven, +the shocks were heavy and frequent, even though its speed was only +four miles an hour. + +Stephenson's first engine, "My Lord," in honor of his patron, Lord +Ravensworth, was finished in 1814. Some experiments on the friction +of smooth wheels on iron rails led him to omit the teeth on the +drivers, though everyone laughed at him, declaring that the engine +would not run an "up grade," much less draw a load. His faith, +however, resisted all arguments; it was based on experiments and +careful calculations. Stephenson _knew_ that his engine would run up +hill and draw a load, and it did so triumphantly. + +But the engine lacked steam. The boiler was small, and the fire was +applied only on the exterior of the shell, and the draft was very +poor, for the chimney was of necessity short. Only very low +steam-pressure was possible, and little or no expansion was +practicable. Consequently the exhaust was noisy and forcible. +Stephenson turned it into the chimney and found that it increased +the draft considerably; he at once thought that a steady jet of +steam could be so directed as to make a strong draft even when the +engine was not in motion. Thus the "blast" was invented, which about +doubled the capacity of the machine. + +Stephenson's second locomotive, built in 1815, had no noisy gears, +but instead, chain-belts to the driving-axles. It had, however, no +springs, and the shocks were so great that only a low speed was +possible. In 1816 he built locomotives with springs, some of which +were in use for hauling coals for forty years. + +Meanwhile Robert was growing into a manly, useful lad. Knowing +something of the value of education, both of the head and of the +hand, his father determined that Robert should have the best of +both. He was sent to Edinburgh for scientific culture, and when at +home his father taught him drawing, mechanical processes, and the +theory of machines as far as he was able--and his ability was +considerable, for George Stephenson was more of a student than many +whose early advantages were far better than his. The broad dual +training given Robert appears to have been fully successful. Even +before he became a man he was of great value to his father. Together +they worked out plans for modifying and improving the locomotive and +the road it was to run upon. He could soon draw and calculate better +than his father, but he never excelled him in the solution of +practical problems which depended upon a knowledge of materials and +the simple laws of physics and mechanics. + +Thus far all railroads had been short, leading from mines to piers +for shipping by water. The success of Stephenson's locomotive, the +best working locomotive ever built at that time, led the +proprietors of the Hetton Colliery, a few miles south of the Tyne +valley, to propose a road, some eight miles long, over high hills +and on steep grades. Stephenson planned and superintended the +construction of the road as their engineer. There were several steep +inclines where loaded cars going down drew empty cars up. There were +two heavy stationary engines drawing cars by a rope, and five of +Stephenson's locomotives for the easy grades. Each locomotive drew +seventeen wagons, weighing about sixty-four tons, at the rate of +four miles per hour. This was the best done as yet, and was +considered a great success. It thoroughly established the reputation +of George Stephenson as an engineer. This road was opened in 1822. + +Before the Hetton Railway was opened Stephenson was busy on a larger +work. Parliament had given a franchise for a railway in Durham +County, some twenty miles long, through Darlington to Stockton. The +function of the road was to carry coal to a shipping pier, and it +was not at all settled that horses would not be used to draw the +cars. While not much was known about railways, and very little about +locomotives, there was a growing conviction that there was great +economy in the use of tramways and the steam-engine, and the +prospect brightened for building the road. + +The charming biographer, Smiles, tells how George Stephenson called +on Mr. Edward Pease, the president of the proposed railway, and +offered his services in building and equipping the road. Mr. Pease +was at once pleased with the man. "There was," said he later, "such +an honest, sensible look about him, and he seemed so modest and +unpretending. He spoke in the strong Northumbrian dialect, and +described himself as 'only the engine-wright at Killingworth.'" + +Stephenson urged at once that the road be built for locomotives. Mr. +Pease had never seen a locomotive at work, and had taken it for +granted that horses would be used; but he went up to Killingworth +and rode on the "Blucher" with Stephenson, while it hauled a train +of loaded cars. Seeing was believing, and Mr. Pease was in favor of +both Stephenson and his locomotive. + +So Stephenson was made chief engineer. He and his son Robert +surveyed the line, changed the location, avoiding certain territory +where people were hostile to a road of any sort, and built new and +improved locomotives for the line. What we now call good tools were +not to be had, and skilled workmen were not easy to find, but +Stephenson made a great advance in the quality of the workmanship. + +The amended Act of Parliament gave the Stockton and Darlington line +the right to carry passengers in cars drawn by locomotives. This was +the first instance of such a grant. Stephenson met Mr. Pease in +1821; the road was opened to the public in 1825. People came in +crowds to see the locomotives and to ride on the _first public +railway_. There had been bitter opposition to the road and a vast +amount of incredulity as to the ability of the locomotives to do +practical work. + +Imagine the excitement of the first ride. The train consisted of 6 +cars loaded with coal and other freight; then a short passenger +coach filled with directors and friends; then 21 open cars or +wagons fitted for excursionists; lastly came 6 more cars loaded with +coal--making 38 cars in all! + +Mr. Stephenson was proud to be on the locomotive and to run it +himself. It seemed to spectators incredible that the locomotive +could start such a load, but it did start it, and it drew it 8-3/4 +miles in 65 minutes, the speed at times reaching 12 miles per hour! +More cars were added at Darlington, and then the train drew on to +Stockton, all cars being crowded with passengers. + +The success was complete, and all doubts seemed to vanish. From that +day the traffic over the road continued without interruption. To the +surprise of all, the passenger business became a very important +item, and better cars were quickly in demand. + +The road is in use to-day, and I had the pleasure last year of +riding over a part of it. Of course it now looks in all respects +like a modern English road, but I was deeply moved by the thought +that it was there that George Stephenson built his first public +railway and achieved his first public triumph. + +Stephenson was not unmindful of the importance of that step. He +said, on that occasion, to some young men, "Now, lads, I will tell +you that I think you will live to see the day (though I may not live +so long), when railways will come to supersede almost all other +methods of conveyance--when mail coaches will go by railway. The +time is coming when it will be cheaper for a working-man to ride +than to go on foot." He lived to see all that himself, and far more. + +It is difficult for us to appreciate the popular surprise and +delight at that first railway excursion. We are so accustomed to +splendid engines, luxurious cars, and high speed, that we think +nothing of them; but when all were new--when coaches and carts on +highways were the sole reliance for passengers and freight--it was +astonishing indeed to see a "travelling engine," in charge of two +men, draw a train of forty cars and six hundred people! + +Many men would have been satisfied with the result, but Stephenson +was not. He said there was no limit to the speed but the strength of +the machinery and the supply of steam. He saw there was no limit to +the load but the strength and weight of the locomotive, and no limit +to the weight but the strength of the rails and the character of the +road-bed; thus he early saw how progress was to be made. + +But Stephenson's greatest triumph was yet to come. The Darlington +road was chiefly for coals, between small towns in a rough northern +county. The vast majority of English people heard nothing, and knew +nothing about it. Consequently when it was proposed to connect the +great commercial city of Liverpool with the great manufacturing city +of Manchester, forty miles away, by a railway, it was taken for +granted that the cars were to be drawn by horses. Nevertheless a +tram-road was opposed, first, by the Duke of Bridgewater, who had a +canal between the two cities; and, secondly, by those who owned the +coaches and the inns. Though proposed in 1821, the opposition was so +great that it was laid over for several years. In 1824 a committee +of interested parties went to Darlington and Killingworth to see +Stephenson's road and locomotives. The Darlington line was not yet +in operation, but the old locomotives were at work at Killingworth. +The committee decided that they must have a double track for cars, +whatever might be the motive power. + +Accordingly Stephenson was invited to make surveys and estimates, as +he was said to be a man of great energy and the only man in England +with the necessary experience. + +The surveys were made in 1825 with the greatest difficulty, on +account of the opposition of landowners. The surveyors were ordered +off the grounds, threatened with arrest and violence. Stephenson +testified before a Parliamentary Committee that the duke's manager +threatened to have him thrown into the mill-pond if he trespassed. +Stephenson kept on as good terms as he could with the hostiles, and +surveyed their grounds by stealth. + +The chief points of difficulty were a tunnel at Liverpool, and a +vast and treacherous morass known as "Chat Moss." + +Early in 1825, before the Darlington road was opened, Parliament was +considering the railway bill and Stephenson was called before the +committee as a most important witness. All the opposition was out in +force and every means was used to ridicule the undertaking and +defeat the bill. + +The spectacle presented by plain, blunt, unlettered George +Stephenson before the lawyers and members of the House of Commons +was strange and interesting, and no wonder it has become historical. + +In the cross-examination, every effort was made to confuse and +discredit the witness, but he bore himself remarkably well. He had +built or superintended half a dozen short railways, and had +constructed sixteen locomotives, and he could speak on the details +of his plans with certainty and confidence. Two things embarrassed +him; the consciousness of awkwardness of manner and speech among men +some of whom were inclined to sneer at his northern dialect and lack +of polish; secondly, the necessity of restraining himself in stating +what his locomotives could do. He fully believed they could draw +long trains at the speed of twenty miles, but he was told by the +friends of the bill that if he made that claim before the committee, +he would be called a madman, and the bill would be killed; +accordingly he promised to hold himself down to ten miles per hour. + +The evidence brought in against the bill was remarkable, and to-day +it sounds strange enough. It was urged that the rails would bend +under the locomotive at high speed; that the engine would run off +the track on curves; that if the engine got round the curves the +cars would go off; that the driving-wheels would "spin," if they +went fast, without drawing the train; that the noise and sight of +the train would frighten horses and cattle; that hens would not lay +and cows would cease to give milk along by the road; that the smoke +would poison the air and blast the fields and parks; that the coach +lines would be ruined, horses would no longer be of value, and +coach-makers, harness-makers, inn-keepers and others along the great +roads would have nothing to do, etc., etc. In the face of ignorance, +ridicule, contempt, and self-interest, Stephenson firmly maintained +the safety of a good road, the stability of his engines and cars, +the harmlessness of smoke and noise, and the facility with which +animals became indifferent to trains. He said that at Killingworth +cattle would not stop feeding as the trains went by. As to the +effect of speed, he boldly asserted that at twelve miles per hour +the load on a rail would be no more than at six, and in support of +his position he appealed to skaters who go swiftly over thin ice. As +to the "spinning" of the wheels, he was positive that no such thing +ever had happened or could happen. The enemies of the bill caught at +his suggestion of twelve miles per hour, and so pressed and led him +on that he declared his honest conviction that his trains could run +on such a road as he could make twelve miles per hour. This rashness +alarmed his friends, and they tried in vain to smooth it over by +declaring such speed to be purely "hypothetical." + +In spite of all that could be said in its favor, in spite of the +pressing need of better transportation for coal, cotton, +merchandise, and passengers, the bill failed. Such was the +blindness, and ignorance, and prejudice of the House of Commons! +Think of calling George Stephenson "an ignoramus, a fool, a maniac," +in Parliament, yet such was done. + +The friends of the bill were not discouraged; they determined to +apply again the next year; but poor Stephenson was discredited, Mr. +George Rennie, the great bridge engineer, was employed to make a new +survey, and Mr. Stephenson was not called before the committee. +Meanwhile, the Darlington line was opened, and reports of its +success had reached London. It seemed to be admitted that the _road_ +was a good thing, but there was great scepticism in regard to the +locomotive. However, the bill passed in the spring of 1826, and the +directors were not long in deciding that the only competent man to +build the road was George Stephenson, and he was elected principal +engineer at a salary of $5,000. + +The building of the road seemed to be, and was at the time, a +tremendous undertaking. Bridges, viaducts, tunnels, and above all, +Chat Moss, a yielding bog four miles across and of unknown depth, +all taxed the engineer and the company to the utmost. The road was +finished in 1830. With the exception of bridges and rails it was +very much as it exists to-day. + +For a long time the directors were undecided as to the method of +propelling the cars. Nearly every engineer except Stephenson was +opposed to the locomotive, or travelling engine. + +It seems incredible that Telford and the two Rennies, road-makers +and bridge-builders, lacked faith in the locomotive, and preferred +stationary engines and long cables. Their main objection to the +locomotive appears to have been based on the fact that the steam +capacity was small, and that it was impracticable to build a +locomotive large enough to furnish all the steam that was needed. +Stephenson insisted that already his locomotives were better than +stationary engines, and yet they could be greatly improved. He said, +"Offer a generous prize for the best locomotive, and inventors and +builders will greatly improve their machines, and we will have a far +better locomotive than now." He said he felt sure he could make a +much better one himself. By that time Stephenson was part owner in +new locomotive works at Newcastle, and Robert was in general charge +there. + +The puzzled directors decided to adopt Stephenson's suggestion, and +offered $2,500 as a prize for the best locomotive. The specifications +required: + +1. The engine (without tender) must not weigh more than six tons. + +2. The ordinary steam pressure must not exceed 50 pounds above that +of the atmosphere. + +3. It must be well supplied with safety-valves and pressure-gauges. + +4. It must not exceed fifteen feet in height. + +5. It must rest on springs. + +6. It must be able (if weighing six tons) to draw twenty tons +continuously ten miles per hour. + +7. It must not cost more than $2,750. + +8. The boiler must stand a pressure, when tested, of 150 pounds per +square inch. + +9. It must be ready for trial October 1, 1829. + +The publication of these conditions and the offer of the prize +excited great interest, and caused no small amount of comment.[11] +The Stephensons at once began the construction of "The Rocket," +without doubt the most famous locomotive ever built. The improved +feature it was to have was increased heating surface, so that +without increased weight it could generate more steam. This was +effected by putting fire-tubes through the water in the boiler. +Boiler-tubes had already been used by different people, and some of +Stephenson's locomotives which he had sent to France had been fitted +with tubes. At the suggestion of Mr. James Booth, Stephenson decided +to use a large number of tubes. Modern boilers have smaller tubes +and more of them, but "The Rocket" was the first to typify the +modern multitubular boiler. In other respects "The Rocket" was like +Stephenson's other locomotives built ten or twelve years earlier. + + [Footnote 11: It is said that a prominent man of Liverpool + declared that "only a parcel of charlatans would ever have + issued such a set of conditions; that it had been _proved_ to + be impossible to make a locomotive go ten miles per hour." He + added that, "if it ever was done, he would eat a stewed + engine-wheel for breakfast."] + +A brief description of "The Rocket" will not be out of place: The +boiler was 6 feet long, 3 feet 4 inches in diameter, and was +furnished with 25 copper tubes 3 inches in diameter. The fire-box +was at the rear end of the boiler, 2 feet wide and 3 feet high, +surrounded by water. The cylinders were high on the sides, pointing +down to the forward wheels, which were the only drivers. Stephenson +had used coupling rods between two sets of "drivers," but "The +Rocket" was made for speed chiefly. Its weight when furnished with +water was only _four and a half tons_! On trial at Killingworth "The +Rocket" worked finely and its capacity for steam was marvellous. It +was sent by wagon to Carlisle and by boat to Liverpool. + +On the day set for the trial there were four engines on hand: 1. The +"Novelty," built by young Ericsson, who afterward in New York built +the famous "Monitor." 2. The "Sanspareil," by Timothy Hackworth. 3. +The "Perseverance," by a Mr. Burstall. 4. "The Rocket," by +Stephenson and Booth. + +The programme of test fixed by the judges was to run over a level +piece of the road at Rainhill, two miles long, forty times during a +day, at a rate not less than ten miles per hour. The train was to +weigh three and one-third times as much as the locomotive. Each +engine was to have a day for trial. + +The "Perseverance" proved slow; its best speed was not more than six +miles per hour; so it was quickly withdrawn. + +The "Sanspareil" was made by one of Stephenson's own foremen, and +differed little from the Killingworth style of locomotive. It was +rather over weight, but it ran at times as fast as fourteen miles +per hour. Its machinery was defective, however, and it was ruled out +by the judges. + +The "Novelty" ran at times in good style, but its bellows, for +making a fire-blast, were defective and repeatedly gave out, causing +delay. It failed to make the required speed with a full load; by +itself it is said to have run at the rate of twenty-eight miles per +hour. Ericsson claimed that he had not had time to properly +construct his locomotive, and the claim was probably just. As it +was, the time was extended six days. + +The day assigned for "The Rocket" was the third day, but when on the +second day all other engines failed, it was brought out to entertain +the spectators. Attaching it to a coach full of passengers, +Stephenson ran over the line at a rate reaching _thirty miles per +hour_, to the amazement of all. + +The next morning "The Rocket" was subjected to the regular test. Its +assigned load was thirteen and a half tons which it drew back and +forth over the two-mile track the full stent of forty times, making +a spurt at times as high as twenty-nine miles, about three times +what had been declared possible by the judges! Finally, to show how +fast the engine could go and still keep the track, Mr. Stephenson +ran it alone at the astonishing rate of thirty-five miles per hour. + +Thus did "The Rocket" surpass all records and all expectations. The +enthusiasm of every one was unbounded. All doubts were removed and +Stephenson's opponents in the company became his ardent friends. His +judgment seemed infallible, and his word was law. + +This victory at Rainhill completed the triumph of the Liverpool and +Manchester Railway. The road was opened the following year, 1830, +with most imposing ceremonies. Members of Parliament, lords and +ladies, and even the great Duke of Wellington, honored the occasion +by their presence, and rode on the excursion trains. + +The story of George Stephenson's great work is told. His railroad +and his locomotive had come together, and to stay. All opposition +was crushed, and no sooner was one road in successful operation than +another, sometimes several, were on foot. George and Robert +Stephenson were in demand everywhere and their locomotive works were +full of orders. In twenty years England had nearly ten thousand +miles of railways. + +The spectacle of these two men, father and son, working together as +equals was one often admired. Both became wealthy and full of +honor. Titled men were proud to pay their respects to George +Stephenson, and when he died, in 1848, at the age of sixty-seven, +the whole nation rose up to do him honor. + +Though probably Stephenson had never heard of Emerson, Emerson had +heard of Stephenson, and he called upon him on his visit to England. +Afterward Emerson said that "it was worth crossing the Atlantic to +have seen Stephenson alone; he had such native force of character +and vigor of intellect." + +What a contrast that meeting offers! There face to face stood two +men, two great philosophers, both of whom have broadly and deeply +influenced mankind--one by deeds, the other by words. One wielded +the pen, giving us noble, beautiful and inspiring thoughts, +profoundly analyzing life and character; the other wielded those +cunning tools with which man subdues nature and harnesses its forces +to do his will. He wrote not for the pages of a book, but on lines +of steel with a stylus that conquered time and space, bringing +distant cities into companionship. I look up to each with an equal +reverence. Each achieved the conquest of mind over matter, and each +exhibited the exceeding manliness of a noble life and character. + +There is no space with which to speak of Stephenson's safety-lamp, +nor of the influence his life and character have had on the brain +and brawn of working England. If my reader is interested to know him +more and better, let him consult the nearest library. + +One word about "The Rocket" and this brief sketch is done. For some +years "The Rocket" did service on the Liverpool and Manchester road, +but it soon proved too light for the heavy traffic, and was sold to +a coal company in the North, where for years it faithfully hauled +coal-cars from the mines. But even there it was superseded, and in +contempt consigned to the back-yard. It was still fleet, but not +strong. In that dreary back-yard among useless lumber, the once +peerless "Rocket" spent a season or two in rain and snow and sunny +weather, when George Stephenson bought it back and put it in his +cabinet at the Newcastle works. After Stephenson's death the +precious relic was placed in the British Museum in London. + +"The Rocket" itself was exhibited a few years ago at the Railway +Exposition in Chicago, and an exact copy of it was shown at the +recent World's Fair. + +[Signature: C. M. Woodward.] + + + + +SAMUEL F. B. MORSE + +(1791-1872) + +[Illustration: Samuel F. B. Morse.] + + +Samuel Finley Breese Morse, artist and inventor, was born at the +foot of Breed's Hill, Charlestown, Mass., on April 27, 1791. His +father was the Rev. Jedediah Morse, D.D., the author of Morse's +"Geography." At the age of fourteen Samuel Morse entered Yale +College; under the instruction of Professors Day and Silliman he +received the first impulse toward those electrical studies with +which his name is mainly identified. + +In 1811 Morse, whose tastes during his early years led him more +strongly toward art than toward science, became the pupil of +Washington Allston, then the greatest of American artists, and +accompanied his master to England, where he remained four years. His +success at this period was considerable; but on his return to +America, in 1815, he failed to obtain commissions for historical +paintings, and after working on portraits for two years at +Charleston, S.C., he removed first to Washington and afterward to +Albany, finally settling in New York. In 1825 he laid the +foundations of the National Academy of Design, and was elected its +first president, an office which he filled until 1845. The year 1827 +marks the revival of Morse's interest in electricity. It was at this +time that he learned from Professor J. F. Dana, of Columbia College, +the elementary facts of electro-magnetism. As yet, however, he was +devoted to his art, and in 1829 he again went to Europe to study the +old masters. + +The year of his return, 1832, may be said to close the period of his +artistic, and to open that of his scientific, life. On board the +packet-ship Sully, which sailed from Havre, October 1, 1832, while +discussing one day with his fellow-passengers the properties of the +electro-magnet, he was led to remark: "If the presence of +electricity can be made visible in any part of the circuit, I see no +reason why intelligence may not be transmitted by electricity." + +It was not a novel proposition, but the process of formulating it +started in his mind a train of new and momentous ideas. The current +of electricity, he knew, would pass instantaneously any distance +along a wire; and if it were interrupted a spark would appear. It +now occurred to him that the spark might represent a part of speech, +either a letter or a number; the absence of the spark, another part; +and the duration of its absence, or of the spark itself, a third; so +that an alphabet might be easily formed, and words indicated. In a +few days he had completed rough drafts of the necessary apparatus, +which he displayed to his fellow-passengers. Five years later, the +captain of the ship identified under oath Morse's completed +instrument with that which Morse had explained on board the Sully, +in 1832. + +During the twelve years that followed Morse was engaged in a painful +struggle to perfect his invention and secure for it a proper +presentation to the public. The refusal of the Government to +commission him to paint one of the great historical pictures in the +rotunda of the Capitol, seemed to destroy all his old artistic +ambition. In poverty he pursued his new enterprise, making his own +models, moulds, and castings, denying himself the common necessaries +of life, and encountering embarrassments and delays of the most +disheartening kind. It was not until 1836 that he completed any +apparatus that would work, his original idea having been +supplemented by his discovery, in 1835, of the "relay," by means of +which the electric current might be reinforced or renewed where it +became weak through distance from its source. Finally, on September +2, 1837, the instrument was exhibited to a few friends at his room +in the University building, New York, where a circuit of 1,700 feet +of copper wire had been set up, with such satisfactory results as to +awaken the practical interest of the Messrs. Vail, iron and brass +workers in New Jersey, who thenceforth became associated with Morse +in his undertaking. + +Morse's petition for a patent was dated September 28, 1837, and was +soon followed by a petition to Congress for an appropriation to +defray the expense of subjecting the telegraph to actual experiment +over a length sufficient to establish its feasibility and +demonstrate its value. The Committee on Commerce, to whom the +petition was referred, reported favorably. Congress, however, +adjourned without making the appropriation, and meanwhile Morse +sailed for Europe to take out patents there. The trip was not a +success. In England his application was refused, on the alleged +ground that his invention had been already published; and while he +obtained a patent in France, it was subsequently appropriated by the +French Government without compensation to himself. His negotiations +also with Russia proved futile, and after a year's absence he +returned to New York. + +On February 23, 1843, Congress passed the long-delayed appropriation +of $30,000; and steps were at once taken to construct a telegraph +from Baltimore to Washington. On May 24, 1844, it was used for the +first time, Mr. Morse himself sending over the wires the first and +ever-to-be-remembered message, "What hath God wrought." + +[Illustration: Samuel F. B. Morse, Inventor of the Telegraph.] + +Morse's parents were already secured to him and his associates, and +companies were soon formed for the erection of telegraph lines all +over the United States. In the year 1847 he was compelled to defend +his invention in the courts, and successfully vindicated his claims +to be called the original inventor of the electro-magnetic recording +telegraph. Thenceforward Morse's life was spent in witnessing the +growth of his enterprise, and in gathering the honors which an +appreciative public bestowed upon him. As years went by he received +from the various foreign governments their highest distinctions, +while in 1858 the representatives of Austria, Belgium, France, the +Netherlands, Piedmont, Russia, the Holy See, Sweden, Tuscany, and +Turkey appropriated the sum of 400,000 francs in recognition of the +use of his instruments in those countries. + +The telegraph is not the only great success with which the name of +Samuel Morse is honorably connected. Having made the acquaintance of +Daguerre in Paris, he studied with him the infancy of photography, +and was the first to take sun pictures, or daguerreotypes, in +America. Also it was he who made the first submarine electric cable. +This was laid in New York Harbor; and from it he was the first to +conceive that stupendous idea of the transoceanic telegraph. In the +preparations for laying the first Atlantic cable he took an active +part, though the attempt of 1857, in which he personally engaged, +was not successful. He died April 2, 1872, at New York, where his +statue in bronze now stands in the Central Park. + + + + +PETER COOPER[12] + + [Footnote 12: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By CLARENCE COOK + +(1791-1883) + +[Illustration: Peter Cooper.] + + +It may be said, without exaggeration, that few men in our time and +country, not occupying official position, have been so widely and +sincerely mourned as the late Peter Cooper. Other men have been as +genuinely good as he, and have founded charitable institutions as +worthy and as useful, in their way, as the one which is to be the +lasting monument to his memory. But Peter Cooper held a place in the +hearts of his fellow-citizens which belonged to him alone. A man, to +outward seeming, in manners and conversation as plain and homespun +as his name, he held unshaken from youth to old age--and to few men +is it allotted to live in uninterrupted health and action to the age +of ninety-two--the confidence, the respect and the affection of all +sorts of people: the rich and the poor, the high and the low, the +learned and the unlearned, people of all parties and of all +religions. Character is the accumulation of little actions, and +makes its deepest impression, of course, when these actions have +been observed by great numbers of people during a long period of +time. The whole of his ninety-two years, with the exception of a +short time passed in his youth in its vicinity, were spent by Mr. +Cooper in the city of New York. It was little more than a country +town when he was born; it was already one of the great cities of the +world when he died; and in all that time he had been associated with +the business enterprises that had helped its growth, as one of the +chief actors. + +The fortune that he built up was both earned and expended here; the +manner of its earning was known of all men, but the way in which it +was expended was rather felt than known, for, like all great and +generous benefactors, Mr. Cooper was without ostentation; but as he +gave while he was alive and all the time that he was alive; and as +he gave to the people among whom he lived, and not to outsiders, it +naturally followed that his name, his person, his traits of +character, became, as it were, a common possession to the people of +New York; but few men upon whom such a glare of publicity had fallen +for so many years would have been able to bear the scrutiny so well +as Peter Cooper. + +He was born on February 12, 1791, presumably in Little Dock Street, +now Water Street, Coenties Slip, where his father, John Cooper, +carried on the trade of a hatter. His shop was near the store of +John Jacob Astor, from whom he bought the beaver-skins which he made +up into hats. John Cooper had served in the war of the Revolution, +and when it ended, he retired with the rank of lieutenant. He +married Margaret, the daughter of John Campbell, who also had served +in the Continental army, as quartermaster, and who now carried on +the trade of potter and tile-maker on the spot where St. Paul's +Chapel now stands. + +To John and Margaret Cooper nine children were born, two daughters +and seven sons, of whom Peter was the fifth, and was named after the +apostle in the belief, as his father expressed it, that he would +come to something. Following the fashion of the time, he was set to +work at his father's trade as soon as he was old enough to work, as +all his brothers had been before him: and in later years he +described himself as a little boy, with his head just reaching the +top of the table where he was set to pulling out the hairs from +rabbit skins to use in making fur hats; and he was kept at the +business until he was fifteen, when, as he used to tell, he had +learned to make every part of a hat. So independent is business +success of what is commonly called education, that it may be of +interest to record that Peter Cooper never went to school for more +than one year, and only in the half of each day of school: his +parents were poor, and could not spare what his labor earned, and +besides his health was delicate, and the confinement of school was +thought more injurious to him than the work in the shop. In +consequence of this restriction Peter Cooper grew to manhood with +very little learning beyond reading, writing, and the rudiments of +arithmetic, and while this was a source of regret to him all his +life, it was in reality the spur that drove him to found an +institution that should take away all excuses for ignorance from the +coming generations of poor boys in his native city. + +The elder Cooper would seem to have been a man of small practical +capacity or staying power, for he moved about from place to place, +changing his business in the hope of bettering his condition; now +going to Peekskill to set up a brewery; thence to Catskill, where +he added brick-making to making beer; then to Brooklyn to try +hatting again; and finally to Newburgh, where he returned to +brewing. In all these shiftings of home and business Peter remained +with his father and gave him what help he could; he used in later +life to recall his carrying about the beer-kegs to his father's +customers; but at the age of seventeen, with his parents' consent, +he came back to New York, and looked about for work on his own +account. He had saved up from his small earnings, while with his +father, the sum of ten dollars, and with this, he tells us, he +bought a lottery ticket, which drew a blank. This seeming misfortune +he turned to good account, for he then determined never to trust to +luck again, but to be content to earn his bread in the appointed +way: it was his first and last speculation. On reaching New York he +had the usual difficulty in finding employment, but at length was +accepted as an apprentice by a firm of carriage-makers, to whom, +with his father's consent, he bound himself until he should come of +age; his masters agreeing to pay him $25 a year and his board. His +grandmother had a house on Broadway, in which she gave him the use +of an upper room, and here in his spare hours he employed himself in +wood-carving, in which he acquired some proficiency. In his business +he worked so industriously, and made himself so valuable to his +employers, that when his time expired they offered to lend him the +money to go into business for himself; but he did not accept this +generous offer, as he was determined never to be in debt. While with +Messrs. Burtis and Woodward he had invented a machine for mortising +wheel-hubs, thus giving the first evidence of an inventive faculty +which, though never accomplishing great things, was often of +considerable service both to himself and the community. On leaving +the business of carriage-making Peter Cooper went to Hempstead, L. +I., where he found work in a woollen factory. Here he invented and +patented an improvement on the machine in use for shearing the nap +of cloth; and as during the war of 1812 all commerce with England +ceased, cloth-making in America flourished, and from the sale of his +machines, which he could hardly make fast enough to supply the +demand, young Cooper reaped a considerable profit. One of his first +customers was the late Matthew Vassar, of Poughkeepsie, to whom he +not only sold some of his machines, but also the right to dispose of +them in Dutchess County. When he found that his earnings had enabled +him to lay by the sum of $500, he thought himself justified in +asking a young woman, Miss Sarah Bedel, whom he had met when in +Hempstead, to become his wife; but before doing so, he determined to +visit his parents in Newburgh, and inform them of his intention. He +found them in great trouble, his father in debt and needing help; +and without hesitation he placed his small savings at his disposal, +paid the most pressing of the debts, and made arrangements for +paying off the rest. His father was thus saved from bankruptcy by +his son's devotion; but the action was characteristic of Peter +Cooper, both in its unselfishness, and as indicative of his business +integrity. He would never be in debt himself, and he was equally +resolved to keep those belonging to him as free as himself. He took +pride in the fact that neither he nor his father had ever failed in +business; and this is the more remarkable, since in the course of +his business life the country passed through no less than ten +serious commercial panics. + +Peter Cooper and Miss Bedel were married on December 22, 1813, when +he was twenty-two and the lady twenty-one. Their married life, as it +was exceptionally long, so it was exceptionally happy. It lasted +fifty-six years; Mrs. Cooper died in 1869, and Mr. Cooper survived +her fourteen years, dying in 1883. Their golden wedding was +celebrated in 1863. They had six children, but only two lived to +grow up; the Hon. Edward Cooper, once mayor of the city, and Sarah +Amelia Cooper, the wife of the Hon. Abram S. Hewitt. Mr. James +Parton says: "There never was a happier marriage than this. To old +age Mr. Cooper never sat near his wife without holding her hand in +his. He never spoke to her, nor of her, without some tender epithet. +He attributed the great happiness of his life and most of his +success to her admirable qualities. She seconded every good impulse +of his benevolence, and made the fulfilment of his great scheme +possible by her wise and resolute economy." + +Mr. Cooper seems to have inherited something of his father's +business restlessness, for in addition to the many pursuits in which +we have seen him engage, he now bought a grocery stand, and in about +a year gave that up and purchased a glue factory, selling his +grocery business and buying a lease of the glue factory for +twenty-one years, for $2,000, his whole savings. He differed from +his father in this, that everything prospered with which he had to +do. The grocery had done well, but the glue factory did better. "At +that time nearly all the glue used in this country was imported from +Ireland, and sold at a high price. Mr. Cooper studied the subject +and experimented, until he was able to make better glue than the +Irish and sell it at a lower price, and he soon had nearly the +entire glue business of the country in his hands." But chance had +nothing to do with Mr. Cooper's success: the secret of that success +was unremitting industry and generous economy. He worked that he +might earn, and he saved that he might use and give. For twenty +years while he held the glue factory, he was his own bookkeeper, +clerk, and salesman; going to the factory at daybreak to light the +fires, and spending the evenings at home, posting his books, +writing, and reading to his family. + +In 1828, moved by the interest in business circles in the completion +of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Mr. Cooper, with two partners, +bought a tract of three thousand acres within the city limits of +Baltimore. By the failure of his associates to meet the payment of +their shares, Mr. Cooper was obliged to shoulder the whole cost, +amounting to $105,000. The road, too, owing to unexpected +difficulties in construction, was dreading bankruptcy, from which it +was saved by Mr. Cooper's ingenuity in devising a locomotive that +enabled the company to overcome certain difficulties that had been +thought insurmountable. Failing in the end to sell his land as he +had hoped, Mr. Cooper decided to utilize the timber growing on it in +the manufacture of charcoal iron. When he had, after many +difficulties, established his works, he sold out to some Boston +capitalists, who formed the Canton Iron Company. Mr. Cooper took a +large part of the purchase in stock at $45 a share, which he finally +sold out at $230 a share. + +This was the beginning of his interest in the iron business, where +the greater part of his fortune was made. The remainder came from +his glue works and the industries connected with them. In 1873, the +year of the great panic, in a letter to President Grant suggesting +remedial legislation, Mr. Cooper said that not less than a thousand +persons depended for their bread on the business carried on in the +circle of his family. He had at that time two rolling-mills running, +and two mills for the manufacture of wire and springs; and his glue, +oil, and isinglass works gave employment to two hundred persons. + +The story of Mr. Cooper's connection with the laying of the Atlantic +cable has been so often told, that we do not repeat it here. It adds +further testimony to his indomitable energy, his largeness of view, +his financial ability, and the confidence that was felt in him by +his fellow-men. The story of the difficulties, failures and final +success of this grandest achievement of modern science and +enterprise, is as romantic as any episode in social history. + +But, in Peter Cooper's view, the most important event in his +life--the one to which all his energies, his thoughts, his economics +had been steadily directed since his youth--was the founding of the +institution that bears his name, and that has made him a powerful +factor in the development of New York. It was the outcome, in the +first place, of its founder's regret for the deficiencies of his own +early training, which were owing partly to his parents' poverty and +partly to the lack of public or free schools in his native city when +he was a boy. But this regret, which could only have been felt by a +man of superior intelligence, was made to flower in this great +result by Mr. Cooper's genuine, deep, and unfailing love for his +fellow-men, and his belief in the duty of every man to help the race +forward in its progress to a better social condition. He has himself +stated the principles on which his life was founded. His aim was "to +render some equivalent to society, in some useful form of labor, for +each day of his existence;" and "while he had always recognized that +the object of business is to make money in an honorable manner, he +had endeavored to remember that the object of life is to do good." + +In 1876 Mr. Cooper was nominated for the presidency by the National +Independent or "Greenback" party. It was with no selfish ambition +that he allowed his name to go before the voters of the country, and +his only regret at the result was that a policy was defeated which +he believed to be for the public good. + +Mr. Cooper died April 4, 1883, at the age of ninety-two, after a +short illness, the result of a cold. At his funeral, the late Dr. +Crosby said: "What an example has been set by this life to our young +men! How it shows them what the true aim of life should be! What an +example to our wealthy men to show that money obtained by honest +industry, and spent in benefiting mankind, will never produce war +between labor and capital, but will assuage all angry elements, and +give universal peace! Oh! if all our wealthy men were like Peter +Cooper, all classes would be satisfied, all commotions cease, and +the community would be as near perfection--as near perfection in the +pecuniary view--as it possibly could be on earth." + +[Signature: Clarence Cook.] + + + + +LOUIS KOSSUTH + +(1802-1894) + +[Illustration: Louis Kossuth.] + + +Louis Kossuth was born at Monok, in Zemplin, one of the northern +counties of Hungary, April 21, 1802. His family was ancient, but +impoverished; his father served in the Austrian army during the wars +against Napoleon; his mother is represented to have been a woman of +extraordinary force of mind and character. Kossuth thus adds another +to the long list of great men who seem to have inherited their +genius from their mothers. As a boy he was remarkable for the +winning gentleness of his disposition, and for an earnest +enthusiasm, which gave promise of future eminence, could he but +break the bonds imposed by low birth and iron fortune. A young +clergyman was attracted by the character of the boy, and voluntarily +took upon himself the office of his tutor, and thus first opened +before his mind visions of a broader world than that of the +miserable village of his residence. But these serene days of power +expanding under genial guidance soon passed away. His father died, +his tutor was translated to another post, and the walls of his +prison-house seemed again to close upon the boy. But by the aid of +members of his family, themselves in humble circumstances, he was +enabled to attend such schools as the district furnished. Little +worth knowing was taught there; but among that little was the Latin +language; and through that door the young dreamer was introduced +into the broad domains of history, where, abandoning the mean +present, he could range at will through the immortal past. + +In times of peace the law offers to an aspiring youth the readiest +means of ascent from a low degree to lofty stations. Kossuth, +therefore, when just entering upon manhood, made his way to Pesth, +the capital, to study the legal profession. Here he entered the +office of a notary, and began gradually to make himself known by his +liberal opinions and the fervid eloquence with which he set forth +and maintained them; and men began to see in him the promise of a +powerful public writer, orator, and debater. + +The man and the hour were alike preparing. In 1825, the year before +Kossuth arrived at Pesth, the critical state of her Italian +possessions compelled Austria to provide extraordinary revenues. The +Hungarian Diet was then assembled, after an interval of thirteen +years. This Diet at once demanded certain measures of reform before +they would make the desired pecuniary grants. The court was obliged +to concede these demands. Kossuth, having completed his legal +studies, and finding no favorable opening in the capital, returned, +in 1830, to his native district, and commenced the practice of the +law, with marked success. He also began to make his way toward +public life by his assiduous attendance and intelligent action in +the local assemblies. A new Diet was assembled in 1832, and he +received a commission as the representative in the Diet of a magnate +who was absent. As proxy for an absentee he was only charged, by the +Hungarian Constitution, with a very subordinate part, his functions +being more those of a counsel than of a delegate. This, however, was +a post much sought for by young and aspiring lawyers, as giving them +an opportunity of mastering legal forms, displaying their abilities, +and forming advantageous connections. + +This Diet renewed the Liberal struggle with increased vigor. By far +the best talent of Hungary was ranged upon the Liberal side. Kossuth +early made himself known as a debater, and gradually won his way +upward, and became associated with the leading men of the Liberal +party, many of whom were among the proudest and richest of the +Hungarian magnates. He soon undertook to publish a report of the +debates and proceedings of the Diet. This attempt was opposed by the +Palatine, and a law hunted up which forbade the "printing and +publishing" of these reports. He, for a while, evaded the law by +having his sheet lithographed. It increased in its development of +democratic tendencies, and in popularity, until finally the +lithographic press was seized by Government. Kossuth, determined not +to be baffled, still issued his journal, every copy being written +out by scribes, of whom he employed a large number. To avoid seizure +at the post-office, they were circulated through the local +authorities, who were almost invariably on the Liberal side. His +periodical penetrated into every part of the kingdom, and men saw +with wonder a young and almost unknown public writer boldly pitting +himself against Metternich and the whole Austrian cabinet. Kossuth +might well, at this period, declare that he "felt within himself +something nameless." + +In the succeeding Diets the Opposition grew still more determined. +Kossuth, though twice admonished by Government, still continued his +journal; and no longer confined himself to simple reports of the +proceedings of the Diet, but added political remarks of the keenest +satire and most bitter denunciation. He was aware that his course +was a perilous one. He was once found by a friend walking in deep +reverie in the fortress of Buda, and in reply to a question as to +the subject of his meditations, he said, "I was looking at the +casemates, for I fear that I shall soon be quartered there." +Government finally determined to use arguments more cogent than +discussion could furnish. Baron Wesselenyi, the leader of the +Liberal party, was arrested, together with a number of his +adherents, among whom Kossuth was of too much note to be overlooked. + +Kossuth became at once sanctified in the popular mind as a martyr. +Liberal subscriptions were raised through the country for the +benefit of his mother and sisters, whom he had supported by his +exertions, and who were now left without protection. Wesselenyi +became blind in prison; Lovassi, an intimate friend of Kossuth, lost +his reason; and Kossuth himself, as was certified by his physicians, +was in imminent risk of falling a victim to a serious disease. The +rigor of his confinement was mitigated; he was allowed books, +newspapers, and writing materials, and suffered to walk daily upon +the bastions of the fortress, in charge of an officer. Among those +who were inspired with admiration for his political efforts, and +with sympathy for his fate, was Teresa Mezlenyi, the young daughter +of a nobleman. She sent him books, and corresponded with him during +his imprisonment; and they were married in 1841, soon after his +liberation. + +In the second year of Kossuth's imprisonment Austria again needed +Hungarian assistance. The threatening aspect of affairs in the East, +growing out of the relations between Turkey and Egypt, determined +all the great powers to increase their armaments. A demand was made +upon the Hungarian Diet for an additional levy of 18,000 troops. A +large body of delegates was chosen pledged to oppose this grant +except upon condition of certain concessions, among which was a +general amnesty, with a special reference to the cases of Wesselenyi +and Kossuth. The more sagacious of the Conservative party advised +Government to liberate all the prisoners, with the exception of +Kossuth; and to do this before the meeting of the Diet, in order +that their liberation might not be made a condition of granting the +levy, which must be the occasion of great excitement. The cabinet +temporized and did nothing. The Diet was opened, and the contest was +waged during six months. The Opposition had a majority of two in the +Chamber of Deputies, but were in a meagre minority in the Chamber of +Magnates. But Metternich and the cabinet grew alarmed at the +struggle, and were eager to obtain the grant of men, and to close +the refractory Diet. In 1840 a royal rescript suddenly made its +appearance, granting the amnesty, accompanied also with conciliatory +remarks, and the demands of the Government for men and money were at +once complied with. + +Kossuth issued from prison, in 1840, bearing in his debilitated +frame, his pallid face, and glassy eyes, traces of severe +sufferings, both of mind and body. He repaired for a time to a +watering-place among the mountains to recruit his shattered health. +His imprisonment had done more for his influence than he could have +effected if at liberty. The visitors at the watering-place treated +with silent respect the man who moved about among them in +dressing-gown and slippers, and whose slow steps, and languid +features, disfigured with yellow spots, proclaimed him an invalid. +Abundant subscriptions had been made for his benefit and that of his +family, and he now stood on an equality with the proudest magnates. +These had so often used the name of the "Martyr of the Liberty of +the Press," in pointing their speeches, that they now had no choice +but to accept the popular verdict as their own. + +Soon after his liberation, Kossuth came forward as the principal +editor of the _Pesth Gazette_ (_Pesthi Hirlap_), which a bookseller +who enjoyed the protection of the Government had received permission +to establish. The name of the editor was now sufficient to electrify +the country; and Kossuth at once stood forth as the advocate of the +rights of the lower and middle classes against the inordinate +privileges and immunities enjoyed by the magnates. But when he went +to the extent of demanding that the house-tax should be paid by all +classes in the community, not even excepting the highest nobility, a +party was raised up against him among the nobles, who established a +paper to combat so disorganizing a doctrine. This party, backed by +the influence of the Government, succeeded in defeating the election +of Kossuth as member from Pesth for the Diet of 1843. He was, +however, very active in the local assembly of the capital. + +Kossuth was not altogether without support among the higher nobles. +The blind old Wesselenyi traversed the country, advocating rural +freedom and the abolition of the urbarial burdens. Among his +supporters at this period, also, was Count Louis Batthyanyi, one of +the most considerable of the Magyar magnates, subsequently President +of the Hungarian Ministry, and the most illustrious martyr of the +Hungarian cause. Aided by his powerful support, Kossuth was again +brought forward, in 1847, as one of the two candidates from Pesth. +The Government party, aware that they were in a decided minority, +limited their efforts to an attempt to defeat the election of +Kossuth. This they endeavored to effect by stratagem, but failed +utterly. + +Kossuth no sooner took his seat in the Diet than the foremost place +was at once conceded to him. At the opening of the session he moved +an address to the king, concluding with the petition that "liberal +institutions, similar to those of the Hungarian Constitution, might +be accorded to all the hereditary states, that thus might be created +a united Austrian monarchy, based upon broad and constitutional +principles." During the early months of the session Kossuth showed +himself a most accomplished parliamentary orator and debater; and +carried on a series of attacks upon the policy of the Austrian +cabinet, which for skill and power have few parallels in the annals +of parliamentary warfare. Those form a very inadequate conception of +its scope and power, whose ideas of the eloquence of Kossuth are +derived solely from the impassioned and exclamatory harangues which +he flung out during the war. These were addressed to men wrought up +to the utmost tension, and can be judged fairly only by men in a +state of high excitement. He adapted his matter and manner to the +occasion and the audience. Some of his speeches are marked by a +stringency of logic worthy of Webster or Calhoun; but it was what +all eloquence of a high order must ever be--"logic red-hot." + +Now came the French Revolution of February, 1848. The news of it +reached Vienna on March 1st, and was received at Presburg on the 2d. +On the following day Kossuth delivered his famous speech on the +finances and the state of the monarchy generally, concluding with a +proposed "Address to the Throne," urging a series of reformatory +measures. Among the foremost of these was the emancipation of the +country from feudal burdens--the proprietors of the soil to be +indemnified by the state; equalizing taxation; a faithful +administration of the revenue to be satisfactorily guaranteed; the +further development of the representative system; and the +establishment of a government representing the voice of, and +responsible to, the nation. The speech produced an effect almost +without parallel in the annals of debate. Not a word was uttered in +reply, and the motion was unanimously carried. On March 13th took +place the revolution in Vienna which overthrew the Metternich cabinet. +On the 15th the constitution granted by the emperor to all the nations +within the empire was solemnly proclaimed amid the wildest transports +of joy. Henceforth there were to be no more Germans or Sclavonians, +Magyars or Italians; strangers embraced and kissed each other in the +streets, for all the heterogeneous races of the empire were now +brothers: as likewise were all the nations of the earth at Anacharsis +Klootz's "Feast of Pikes" in Paris on that 14th day of July in the +year of grace 1790--and yet, notwithstanding, came the "Reign of +Terror." + +Among the demands made by the Hungarian Diet was that of a separate +and responsible ministry for Hungary. The Palatine, Archduke +Stephen, to whom the conduct of affairs in Hungary had been +intrusted, persuaded the emperor to accede to this demand, and on +the following day Batthyanyi, who, with Kossuth and a deputation of +delegates of the Diet was in Vienna, was named President of the +Hungarian ministry. It was, however, understood that Kossuth was the +life and soul of the new ministry. + +Kossuth assumed the Department of Finance, then, as long before and +now, the post of difficulty under Austrian administration. The Diet, +meanwhile, went on to consummate the series of reforms which Kossuth +had so long and steadfastly advocated. + +Up to this time there had been, indeed, a vigorous and decided +opposition, but no insurrection. The true cause of the Hungarian war +was the hostility of the Austrian Government to the whole series of +reformatory measures which had been effected through the +instrumentality of Kossuth; but its immediate occasion was the +jealousy which sprung up among the Servian and Croatian dependencies +of Hungary against the Hungarian ministry. This soon broke out into +an open revolt, headed by Baron Jellachich, who had just been +appointed Ban, or Lord, of Croatia. How far the Serbs and Croats had +occasion for jealousy is of little consequence to our present +purpose to inquire; though we may say, in passing, that the +proceedings of the Magyars toward the other Hungarian races was +marked by a far more just and generous feeling and conduct than +could have been possibly expected. But however the case may have +been, as between the Magyars and Croats, as between the Hungarians +and Austria, the hostile course of the latter is without excuse or +palliation. The emperor had solemnly sanctioned the action of the +Diet, and did as solemnly denounce the proceedings of Jellachich. On +May 29th the Ban was summoned to present himself at Innsprueck to +answer for his conduct, and as he did not make his appearance, an +imperial manifesto was issued on June 10th depriving him of all his +dignities, and commanding the authorities at once to break off all +intercourse with him. He, however, still continued his operations, +and levied an army for the invasion of Hungary, and a fierce and +bloody war of races broke out, marked on both sides by the most +fearful atrocities. + +The Hungarian Diet was opened on July 5th, when the Palatine, +Archduke Stephen, in the name of the king, solemnly denounced the +conduct of the insurgent Croats. A few days after, Kossuth, in a +speech in the Diet, set forth the perilous state of affairs, and +concluded by asking for authority to raise an army of 200,000 men, +and a large amount of money. These proposals were adopted by +acclamation, the enthusiasm in the Diet rendering any debate +impossible and superfluous. + +The Imperial forces having been victorious in Italy, and one +pressing danger being thus averted from the empire, the Austrian +cabinet began openly to display its hostility to the Hungarian +movement. Jellachich repaired to Innsprueck, and was openly +acknowledged by the court, and the decree of deposition was revoked. +Early in September Hungary and Austria stood in an attitude of +undisguised hostility. On the 5th of that month Kossuth, though +enfeebled by illness, was carried to the hall of the Diet, where he +delivered a speech, declaring that so formidable were the dangers +that surrounded the nation, that the ministers might soon be forced +to call upon the Diet to name a dictator, clothed with unlimited +powers, to save the country; but before taking this final step they +would recommend a last appeal to the Imperial Government. A large +deputation was thereupon despatched to the emperor, to lay before +him the demands of the Hungarian nation. No satisfactory answer was +returned, and the deputation left the imperial presence in silence. +On their return they plucked from their caps the plumes of the +united colors of Austria and Hungary, and replaced them with red +feathers, and hoisted a flag of the same color on the steamer which +conveyed them to Pesth. Their report produced the most intense +agitation in the Diet and at the capital, but it was finally +resolved to make one more attempt for a pacific settlement of the +question. In order that no obstacle might be interposed by their +presence, Kossuth and his colleagues resigned, and a new ministry +was appointed. A deputation was sent to the National Assembly at +Vienna, which refused to receive it. Jellachich had in the meantime +entered Hungary with a large army, not as yet, however, openly +sanctioned by imperial authority. The Diet, seeing the imminent +peril of the country, conferred dictatorial powers upon Kossuth. The +Palatine resigned his post and left the kingdom. The emperor +appointed Count Lemberg to take the entire command of the Hungarian +army. The Diet declared the appointment illegal, and the count, +arriving at Pesth without escort, was slain in the streets of the +capital by the populace, in a sudden outbreak. The emperor forthwith +placed the kingdom under martial law, giving the supreme civil and +military power to Jellachich. The Diet at once revolted, declared +itself permanent, and appointed Kossuth Governor, and President of +the Committee of Safety. + +There was now but one course left for the Hungarians: to maintain by +force of arms the position they had assumed. We cannot detail the +events of the war which followed, but merely touch upon the most +salient points. Jellachich was speedily driven out of Hungary toward +Vienna. In October the Austrian forces were concentrated, under +command of Windischgraetz, to the number of 120,000 veterans, and +were put on the march for Hungary. To oppose them the only forces +under the command of the new government of Hungary were 20,000 +regular infantry, 7,000 cavalry, and 14,000 recruits, who received +the name of Honveds, or "protectors of home." Of all the movements +that followed, Kossuth was the soul and chief. His burning and +passionate appeals stirred up the souls of the peasants, and sent +them by thousands to the camp. He kindled enthusiasm, he organized +that enthusiasm, and transformed those raw recruits into soldiers +more than a match for the veteran troops of Austria. Though himself +not a soldier, he discovered and drew about him soldiers and +generals of a high order. The result was that Windischgraetz was +driven back from Hungary, and of the 120,000 troops which he led +into that kingdom in October, one-half were killed, disabled, or +taken prisoners at the end of April. The state of the war on May 1st +may be gathered from the imperial manifesto of that date, which +announced that "the insurrection in Hungary had grown to such an +extent" that the Imperial Government "had been induced to appeal to +the assistance of his majesty the Czar of all the Russias, who +generously and readily granted it to a most satisfactory extent." +The issue of the contest could no longer be doubtful when the +immense weight of Russia was thrown into the scale. In modern +warfare there is a limit beyond which devotion and enthusiasm cannot +supply the place of numbers and material force. And that limit was +overpassed when Russia and Austria were pitted against Hungary. + +On May 1st the Russian intervention was announced. On August 11th +Kossuth resigned his dictatorship into the hands of Goergey, who, two +days after, in effect closed the war by surrendering to the +Russians. + +The Hungarian war thus lasted a little more than eleven months, +during which time there was but one ruling and directing spirit, and +that was Kossuth, to whose immediate career we now return. + +Nothing remained for him and his companions but flight. They gained +the Turkish frontier, and threw themselves on the hospitality of the +sultan, who promised them a safe asylum. Russia and Austria demanded +that the fugitives should be given up; but being supported by France +and England, the sultan arranged a compromise by which they were +detained in Asia Minor as prisoners. Kossuth was released in 1851, +and made a tour of the United States, agitating in favor of Hungary. +He never returned to his native land, but lived an exile for over +forty years. For a while he struggled desperately to help the +Hungarians; then, finding that the universal progress of liberal +ideas was doing more for them than he ever could, he resigned +himself to a peaceful life devoted to literature and science. He +died at Turin, March 20, 1894, reverenced by all the world, and +mourned by his countrymen with tumultuous demonstrations as their +national hero. + +Kossuth occupies a position peculiarly his own, whether we regard +the circumstances of his rise, or the feelings which have followed +him in his fall. Born in the middle ranks of life, he raised himself +by sheer force of intellect to the loftiest place among the proudest +nobles on earth, without ever deserting or being deserted by the +class from which he sprung. He effected a sweeping reform without +appealing to any sordid or sanguinary motive. No soldier himself, he +transformed a country into a camp, and a nation into an army. He +transmuted his words into batteries, and his thoughts into soldiers. +Without ever having looked upon a stricken field, he organized the +most complete system of resistance to despotism that the history of +revolutions has furnished. It failed, but only failed where nothing +could have succeeded. + + + + +JOHN ERICSSON[13] + + [Footnote 13: Reprinted, by permission, from the Magazine of + American History.] + +By MARTHA J. LAMB + +(1803-1889) + +[Illustration: John Ericsson.] + + +In a message, referring to the relations of our country with the +several nations of Europe, President Harrison said: "The restoration +of the remains of John Ericsson to Sweden afforded a gratifying +occasion to honor the memory of the great inventor, to whose genius +our country owes so much, and to bear witness to the unbroken +friendship which has existed between the land which bore him and our +own, which claimed him as a citizen." + +This paragraph is a forcible reminder of the impressive ceremonial +witnessed in the streets and harbor of New York City, on Saturday, +August 23, 1890. It had been intimated to this Government, as is +well known, that the Government of Sweden would regard it as a +graceful act if the remains of Captain John Ericsson should be +conveyed to his native country upon a United States man-of-war; and +arrangements having been completed, the Baltimore was assigned to +the service. In committing the illustrious dead to the care of the +commander of the Baltimore, Mr. George H. Robinson said: "We send +him back crowned with honor, proud of the life of fifty years he +devoted to this nation, and with gratitude for his gifts to us." + +John Ericsson's birthplace in Sweden is marked by a large granite +monument erected in 1867. His father was a mining proprietor, and +his mother an energetic, intellectual, and high-spirited woman. His +brother, Nils, one year older than himself, was trained as an +engineer, became chief of the construction of the system of +government railways in Sweden, was created a baron, and retired in +1862 with a pension larger than any before bestowed upon a Swedish +subject. His sister Caroline, born in 1800, was a girl of unusual +beauty. As a boy John was the wonder of the neighborhood. The +machinery at the mines was to him an endless source of curiosity and +delight. He was constantly trying to make models, even before he had +learned to read. He had from his own plans constructed a miniature +saw-mill prior to his tenth birthday, and made numerous drawings of +a complicated character. The graphic account of his youth and early +manhood which his biographer presents is full of suggestion and +instruction. The boy was too much occupied with his contrivances to +join in the pastimes of other children. His opportunities were +unusually stimulating. The project of the Goeta Canal Company, one of +the most formidable undertakings of its kind, was revived when he +was about ten years old, his father being appointed one of its +engineers, holding place next to that of the chief of the work. This +opened a new world of ideas, and the little fellow undertook all +manner of schemes. He was independent of outside assistance. Steel +tweezers, borrowed from his mother's dressing-case and ground to a +point, furnished him with a drawing pen, and his compasses were made +of birch-wood with needles inserted at the end of the legs. Later +on, he robbed his mother's sable cloak of the hairs required for two +small brushes, in order to complete his drawings in appropriate +colors. The clever lad attracted the notice of some of the greatest +mechanical draughtsmen in Sweden, who made him drawings to serve as +models, and taught him many of the principles of the art. Finally +the celebrated engineer, Count Platen, becoming interested, +appointed him a cadet in the corps of mechanical engineers; and such +was his progress in sketching profiles, maps, and drawings for the +archives of the canal company, that in 1816, at the age of thirteen, +he was made assistant leveller at the station of Riddarhagen. The +next year he was employed to set out the work for six hundred +operatives, though he was yet too small to reach the eye-piece of +his levelling instrument without the aid of a stool carried by an +attendant. Thus it will be seen that he was identified almost from +his cradle with great engineering works. His father died in 1818, +and in 1820, when seventeen, he entered the Swedish army as an +ensign and was rapidly promoted to a lieutenancy. + +The skill of young Ericsson in topographical drawing was so marked +that he was soon summoned to the royal palace to draw maps to +illustrate the campaigns of the marshal of the empire. He also +passed with distinction a competitive examination for an appointment +on the survey of Northern Sweden. This new employment was exacting, +and the pay determined by the amount of work accomplished. Mr. +Church says: "The young surveyor from the Goeta Canal was so +indefatigable in his industry and so rapid in execution, that he +performed double duty and was carried on the pay-roll as two persons +in order to avoid criticism and charges of favoritism. The results +of his labors were maps of fifty square miles of territory, still +preserved in the archives of Stockholm." + +At the age of twenty-one John Ericsson is described as "a handsome, +dashing youth, with a cluster of thick, brown, glossy curls +encircling his white, massive forehead. His mouth was delicate but +firm, nose straight, eyes light blue, clear and bright, with a +slight expression of sadness, his complexion brilliant with the +freshness and glow of healthy youth. The broad shoulders carried +most splendidly the proud, erect head. He presented, in short, the +very picture of vigorous manhood. A portrait of him at this age, +painted upon ivory for his mother by an English artist named Way, +has been preserved." + +Fifteen years later he was in New York, and is thus described by +Samuel Risley: "Captain Ericsson all his life was careful of his +personal appearance; at the time I refer to (1839) he was +exceptional in dress, not dandified, but more in keeping with the +present morning-call attire than an ordinary day habit. A +close-fitting black frock surtout coat, well open at the front, with +rolling collar, showing velvet vest and a good display of +shirt-front; a fine gold chain hung about his neck, looped at the +first button-hole of the vest and attached to a watch carried in the +fob of the vest. Usually light-colored, well-fitting trousers, +light-colored kid gloves, and a beaver hat completed the dress. To +this add a well-built military figure, about five feet ten and +one-half inches in height and well set-up, with broad shoulders and +rather large hands and feet; the head well placed and supported by a +military stock round the neck. Expressive features, blue eyes, and +brown curly hair, fair complexion. His head was of medium size, his +mouth well cut, upper lip a little drawn, the jaws large and firm +set, conveying an expression of firmness and individual character. +Up to the summer of 1842 I was in constant attendance upon the +captain, being a sort of factotum to him in preparing his models. At +that time he boarded at the Astor House, where I first met his wife. +His manner with strangers was courteous and extremely taking. He +invariably made friends of high and low alike. With those in +immediate contact in carrying out his work he was very popular." + +Mr. Church, in his biography, devotes three chapters to a +delightfully condensed account of Ericsson's career in England, +whither he went in 1826 to exhibit his flame-engine. He quickly +formed a partnership with John Braithwaite, a working engineer, and +in his new field of activity produced invention after invention in +such rapid succession that the truth reads like a fairy tale. An +instrument for taking sea-soundings, a hydrostatic weighing-machine, +his improvements in the steam-engine--dispensing with huge +smoke-stacks, economizing fuel, using compressed air and the +artificial draught--and in surface condensation, were the work of +this period, during which he also invented the steam fire-engine, +which excited great interest in London. The famous battle of the +locomotives in 1829 brought the young man of twenty-six before the +English public in a manner never to be forgotten. At that date +Stephenson himself dared not say very much about the speed of the +locomotive. Had he ventured to predict that it would reach twenty +miles an hour on the railway, he would have been laughed out of +court. He cautiously expressed his faith in the possibility of +running it ten miles an hour, and multitudes regarded the experiment +with consternation. There was great prejudice then existing in +England against railroads. It was a mode of conveyance that would +bring noble and peasant to a common level, and fashion clung +tenaciously to its earlier inconveniences, which had at least the +merit of being exclusive. + +But in spite of the baleful prophecies concerning the locomotive +engine, the officials of the projected railroad between Liverpool +and Manchester, where the cars were expected to be drawn by horses, +offered a premium of L500 for the best locomotive capable of drawing +a gross weight of twenty tons at the rate of ten miles an hour. The +conditions required a run of seventy miles. Five months were allowed +for building the engines. Ericsson heard of the project only seven +weeks before the appointed time of trial, and at once determined to +compete. He hastily built the "Novelty," assisted by Braithwaite, +and when the exhibition came off his was practically the only +locomotive which disputed for the supremacy with Stephenson's +"Rocket." But a portion of the railroad had yet been finished; thus +the competing locomotives were compelled to cover their distance by +making twenty trips back and forth over one and three-quarter miles +of track. The excitement was intense. The London _Times_ next +morning said: "The 'Novelty' was the lightest and most elegant +carriage on the road yesterday, and the velocity with which it moved +surprised and amazed every beholder. It shot along the line at the +amazing rate of thirty miles an hour! It seemed, indeed, to fly; +presenting one of the most sublime spectacles of human ingenuity and +human daring the world ever beheld." + +Ericsson had really built a much faster locomotive than Stephenson's +"Rocket;" and although it had been constructed with such celerity +that it broke down before the final point was reached, and he +thereby lost the prize, yet the superiority of the principle +involved in it was universally recognized. John Bourn said: "To most +men the production of such an engine would have constituted an +adequate claim to celebrity. In the case of Ericsson, it is only a +single star of the brilliant galaxy with which his shield is +spangled." "We may imagine," writes Mr. Church, "the excitement +following the announcement in the _Times_ concerning the performance +of the 'Novelty,' for to this engine England's great daily devoted +chief attention." Railroad shares leaped at once to a premium, and +excited groups gathered on 'change to discuss the wonderful event. +The pessimists were silenced, and the art of modern railway travel +inaugurated. A grand banquet was given in Liverpool to the directors +and officers of the railway and to the competing locomotive +builders. Toasts and speeches followed; and if Ericsson did not +carry home with him the L500 offered as a prize, he at least made +himself known to all England as one of the rising men of his +profession. + +Ericsson's long-cherished plan of a caloric engine was realized in +1833, and was hailed with astonishment by the scientific world of +London. Lectures were delivered on it by Dr. Dionysius Lardner and +Michael Faraday, and it was much praised by Dr. Alexander Ure and +Sir Richard Phillips. In 1836 Ericsson invented and patented the +screw propeller, which revolutionized navigation, and in 1837 built +a steam vessel having twin screw propellers, which on trial towed +the American packet-ship Toronto at the rate of five miles an hour +on the river Thames. In 1838 he constructed the iron screw steamer +Robert F. Stockton, which crossed the Atlantic under canvas in 1839, +and was afterward employed as a tug-boat on the Delaware River for a +quarter of a century. Within ten years Ericsson patented thirty +inventions considered by him of sufficient importance to claim a +place in the list that in 1863 numbered one hundred. + +A notable feature of the admirable work of Mr. Church is the +elucidation of the truth, so often overlooked, that events never +spring into being disjoined from antecedents leading to them. He +explains how the varied achievements of John Ericsson were +developed, showing with great force and in imperishable colors the +steps to his successes, and the help the famous engineer derived in +later life from the studies and experiments of his earlier career. +Mr. Church, as the literary executor of Ericsson, has had unrivalled +opportunities for examining the accumulation of data which throw +light all along the way, and while dealing with the masterly +engineering exploits of his subject, does not forget that he had a +human side, and presents him with all his hopes and fears and +failures, his aims, his obstacles, his courage, and his habits and +eccentricities. Ericsson certainly cherished a very high ideal, and +was free to an unusual extent from mercenary motives. His inventions +did not always pay; he found this a weary world for those who see +beyond their fellows. Some of his mechanical contrivances in common +use to-day dated so far back of the memory of any one living that +before he died he often learned that he was supposed to have copied +from others what he, in fact, originated himself or first brought +into use. + +The barriers of tradition and prejudice had to be overcome with his +every new invention. The introduction of steam in any shape to the +English navy was sharply opposed. It is interesting to trace the +incidents, apparently without connection, which stand in orderly +relations one to another as essential parts of an intelligent +design. Ericsson was in America at the critical moment when all the +experiences of his previous life were to be brought into full play; +when he was to take part in an enterprise involving the existence of +a nation, the hopes of humanity. He was ready to meet the strain of +a demand to which no other living man was adequate. He was then +fifty-eight years of age, with the constitution and the vital forces +of a man of forty, and such experience in actual accomplishment as +few acquire in the longest span of a lifetime. + +When he received the order of our Government for the Monitor his +plans were already drawn. He had been at work for years perfecting +his system of aquatic attack, originally designed for the protection +of Sweden against foreign aggression, and had in 1854 submitted his +drawings to the Emperor of France. The story of his proceedings in +Washington is familiar to our readers, but in these notable volumes +of Mr. Church it is told with a fulness of detail never before +attempted. The Monitor in all its parts was designed by Ericsson, +and, fortunately for the country, he was allowed to superintend its +construction. His former plans, however, had to be carefully revised +to meet the novel conditions of life in a submerged structure. It +was estimated that this iron-clad vessel contained at least forty +patentable contrivances. The entire resources of modern engineering +knowledge were brought to bear upon the solution of the problem of +an impregnable battery, armed with guns of the heaviest calibre then +known, hull shot-proof from stern to stern, rudder and propeller +protected against the enemy's fire, and above all, having the +advantage of light draught. Ericsson was made responsible for the +successful working of his vessel in every respect. The anxiety of +the Government was such that every stage in the progress of the work +toward completion was watched with restless interest. Ericsson's +nerves and sinews seemed to be made of steel. He scarcely took time +to eat or sleep, and he was deluged with a continuous tempest of +criticism, warning, and advice, from those who knew nothing about +the intricacies of science involved in the undertaking. The least +halting, even trifling delay, confusion of mind, or weakness of +body, and the story of Hampton Roads might not have been written. + +The Monitor was finished and left the harbor of New York for +Washington on the afternoon of March 6, 1862, in tow of a tug, and +accompanied by two naval steamers. Chief Engineer Alban S. Stimers, +U. S. N., who was on the vessel as a passenger, described in a +letter, dated March 9, 1862, to Ericsson, the dramatic incidents +attending its arrival at Hampton Roads. "After a stormy passage we +fought the Merrimac for more than three hours this forenoon, and +sent her back to Norfolk in a sinking condition. Iron-clad against +iron-clad, we manoeuvred about the bay here, and went at each other +with mutual fairness. I consider that both ships were well fought. +We were struck twenty-two times--pilot-house twice, turret nine +times, deck three times, sides eight times. The only vulnerable +point was the pilot-house. One of your great logs (nine by twelve +inches thick) is broken in two. The shot struck just outside of +where the captain had his eye, and disabled him by destroying his +left eye and temporarily blinding the other. She tried to run us +down and sink us as she did the Cumberland yesterday, but she got +the worst of it. Her horn passed over our deck, and our sharp, +upper-edged rail cut through the light iron shoe upon her stern and +well into her oak. She will not try that again. She gave us a +tremendous thump, but did not injure us in the least; we were just +able to find the point of contact. The turret is a splendid +structure. You were very correct in your estimate of the effect of +shot upon the man on the inside of the turret, when it struck near +him. Three men were knocked down, of whom I was one. The other two +had to be carried below, but I was not disabled at all, and the +others recovered before the battle was over. Captain Worden +(afterward admiral) stationed himself at the pilot-house. Greene +fired the guns, and I turned the turret until the captain was +disabled and was relieved by Greene, when I managed the turret +myself, Master Stoddard having been one of the two stunned men. + +"Captain Ericsson, I congratulate you upon your great success; +thousands here this day bless you. I have heard whole crews cheer +you; every man feels that you have saved the nation by furnishing us +with the means to whip an iron-clad frigate that was, until our +arrival, having it all her own way with our most powerful vessels." + +If space permitted, it would be interesting to trace the career of +Ericsson in detail after the success of the Monitor. There was an +imperative demand for armor-clads, and ere long several were built +by the inventor and his associates. Ericsson was never idle. In +connection with his labors upon war vessels he expended no small +amount of ingenuity on the improvement of heavy guns, his efforts in +this field being directed by a most exhaustive study into the +strength of materials, the operation of explosive forces, and the +laws governing the flight of projectiles. In 1869 he constructed for +the Spanish Government a fleet of thirty steam gunboats, intended to +guard Cuba against filibustering parties. In 1881 he devised his +latest war vessel, the Destroyer, the object of which he said was +"simply to demonstrate the practicability of submarine artillery, +unquestionably the most effective, as well as the cheapest, device +for protecting the sea-ports of the Union against iron-clad ships. I +do not," he continued, "seek emoluments, as I am financially +independent; but I am anxious to benefit the great and liberal +country which has enabled me to carry out important works which I +should not have carried out on a monarchical soil." His +investigations included computations of the influences which retard +the earth's rotary motion; he erected a "sun motor" in 1883, to +develop the power obtained from the supply of mechanical energy in +the sun, and he contributed numerous valuable papers to various +journals in America and Europe on scientific, naval, and mechanical +themes. + +The year in which John Ericsson reached the culmination of his fame, +1862, was the same in which his brother Nils retired from active +life in Sweden. The latter had retained his position on the Goeta +Canal when his brother left it in 1820, and gradually won his way to +fame and fortune. "He was a man of industry and energy, of sterling +integrity and public spirit, and an excellent organizer; while his +conservative and cautious temperament and his skill in bending +others to his purposes enabled him to make the most of his +opportunities." After he received his title he altered the spelling +of his name and became Baron Ericson. This change gave great offence +to John, who wrote to Nils: "I can never forget the unpleasantness +caused me by this annulling of relationship. Possibly your wife has +had her share in it. If so, she will find some day that the +blotted-out letter will cost her children half a million." + +Some of the most interesting chapters in the work of Mr. Church +relate to the personal characteristics of John Ericsson. He was +generous to his friends, and his benefactions to Sweden were +considerable. The financial side of his affairs from year to year +appears, as well as the record of his failures and successes. It is +difficult to grasp the whole man and present him to the reader in +all his many-sided aspects, or to touch upon the variety of his +studies, endeavors, schemes, and achievements, without danger of +bewilderment. His biographer has done all this, however, in the most +skilful and acceptable manner. + +A list of the honors conferred upon Ericsson would fill one of our +pages, and some of the medals received were very beautiful. He was +decorated as Knight of the Order of Vasa, which was founded by +Gustavus III. to reward important service to the nation; he was made +Knight Commander of the Order of the North Star, for promoting the +public good and useful institutions; a Commander of the Order of St. +Olaf, to reward distinction in the arts and sciences; received the +Grand Cross of the Order of Naval Merit, with the white badge and +star, from King Alfonso of Spain, which confers personal nobility +and bestowed upon Ericsson the title of "Excellency;" a special gold +medal from the Emperor of Austria, in behalf of science; a gold +medal from the Society of Iron-Masters in Sweden; thanks under the +royal seal and signature from Sweden; joint resolutions of thanks +from the United States Congress; thanks from the Legislatures of New +York and of other States; from the Chamber of Commerce; from boards +of trade in many cities; and he was elected to honorary membership +in scientific, historical, literary, religious, and agricultural +institutions innumerable. Among them all he took the most pride in +his simple title of captain, and in the diploma of LL. D. received +from the Wesleyan University in 1862. + + + + +WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON[14] + + [Footnote 14: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON + +(1805-1879) + + +William Lloyd Garrison, whose name is indissolubly connected with the +abolition of American slavery, was born in the seaport town of +Newburyport, Mass., on December 10, 1805. His father, Abijah Garrison, +was a sea-captain who came from New Brunswick to settle in +Newburyport. Deserting his wife and children while the subject of this +sketch was in infancy, his subsequent career is shrouded in mystery. +Fanny Lloyd, the mother of William Lloyd Garrison, was a woman of +remarkable character and personal attraction, with an intense +religious nature. Dependent upon her own efforts for the support of +the family, she cheerfully took up the calling of monthly nurse, and +endeavored to rear her children with care and forethought, and with +especial attention to their religious training. Upon her removal to +Lynn, in 1812, Lloyd was left to the care of Deacon Ezekiel Bartlett +and was sent to the Grammar School until, at the age of nine, he +joined his mother in Lynn and was taught shoemaking in the shop of +Gamaliel W. Oliver, a kind and excellent member of the Society of +Friends, where his elder brother James was already an apprentice. In +1815, Mr. Paul Newhall, a shoe manufacturer of the same town, deciding +to establish business in Baltimore, invited Mrs. Garrison and her two +boys to accompany him. There Lloyd was employed as an errand-boy and +James was again apprenticed at shoemaking. Mr. Newhall's venture +proving unsuccessful, Mrs. Garrison was constrained to resume nursing +and Lloyd was sent back to Newburyport, his brother betaking himself +to the sea. From Newburyport he was sent to Haverhill to learn +cabinet-making; but, in spite of kind treatment, he disliked the +occupation and ran away from his master, returning to Newburyport to +live again with his mother's old friend, Deacon Bartlett. In 1818, +Ephraim W. Allen, proprietor of the Newburyport _Herald_, accepted +Lloyd, then thirteen years of age, as an apprentice and taught him the +printer's trade. Here at once he found a vocation suited to his tastes +and became a rapid and accurate compositor. The printing-office proved +an excellent school for the young man, developing his literary taste +and ambition. He was fond of reading, and delighted in poetry and +fiction. Politics especially attracted him, and at the age of sixteen +he wrote anonymous articles for the columns of the _Herald_. His first +contribution was over the signature of "An Old Bachelor." He was an +ardent Federalist and his political articles attracted attention by +their forcible reasoning and direct style. Caleb Cushing, then editor +of the _Herald_, discovering the lad's abilities, encouraged and +befriended him. In 1826, Mr. Garrison, closing his apprenticeship with +the _Herald_, became editor and publisher of the _Free Press_ +(Newburyport), within a few months of his majority. + +[Illustration: William Lloyd Garrison.] + +It was to this paper that Whittier made his first poetical +contributions anonymously, and, upon the discovery of his true name, +Mr. Garrison sought him out and encouraged him in his youthful +efforts. + +After a brief existence of six months, the _Free Press_ was sold and +Mr. Garrison again became a journeyman printer, soon seeking +employment in Boston, where, after various vicissitudes, he was +employed by Rev. William Collier, a Baptist city missionary, upon +_The National Philanthropist_, devoted to the "suppression of +intemperance and kindred vices," becoming its editor in 1828. The +paper had the distinction of being the first temperance journal ever +printed, and among the earliest evidences of Mr. Garrison's interest +in the slavery question was an editorial article by him commenting +severely on the bill passed by the House of Assembly of South +Carolina to forbid the teaching of reading and writing to the +colored people. + +To Benjamin Lundy, a Quaker, and at that time editor of the _Genius +of Universal Emancipation_, in Baltimore--a paper devoted to the +gradual abolition of slavery--belongs the honor of first attempting +to awaken public sentiment on the subject. Upon his visit to Boston, +August 7, 1828, he made the acquaintance of Garrison, whose eyes he +opened to the iniquity of the slave system. During the same year Mr. +Garrison accepted the invitation of a committee of prominent +citizens of Bennington, Vt., to edit the _Journal of the Times_, a +weekly newspaper devoted to the re-election of John Quincy Adams +against Andrew Jackson. While started for campaign purposes, the +_Journal of the Times_ declared for independence of party and +advocated the suppression of intemperance, the gradual emancipation +of the slave, the doctrines of peace, and the so-called American +system of protection for fostering native industry. + +Attracted by the anti-slavery utterances of Mr. Garrison, Lundy +resolved to invite him to share in the editorship of his paper, +walking from Baltimore to Bennington for the purpose. His +earnestness had the desired effect upon Mr. Garrison, who accepted +his proffer and relinquished the _Journal of the Times_. Before +going to Baltimore Mr. Garrison was invited to address the +Congregational societies of Boston on July 4th, at the Park Street +Church, and took for his theme "Dangers to the Nation." The poet +John Pierpont was present and wrote a hymn for the occasion. The +address was a stirring denunciation of slavery and a rebuke to the +nation for its pretentious devotion to liberty. The speaker was +accused by a Boston paper of slandering his country and blaspheming +the Declaration of Independence. + +Upon his arrival at Baltimore, Garrison, having convinced himself of +the necessity of immediate and unconditional emancipation, it was +agreed, inasmuch as Lundy adhered to the methods of gradual +emancipation, that each should sign his own editorials. + +Mr. Todd, a Newburyport merchant, having allowed his ship to be used +in the inter-state slave trade between Baltimore and New Orleans, +Mr. Garrison faithfully denounced in unmeasured terms his +fellow-townsman, and asserted the equal wickedness of the domestic +slave trade with that of the foreign traffic, which, at that time, +was in the law considered piracy. Arrested, tried, and convicted of +libel, although the facts were proven, Garrison was incarcerated in +the Baltimore jail, April 17, 1830, in default of a fine of $50 with +$50 costs. Undaunted in his captivity, he continued to write his +protest against slavery and to record in verse his feelings. His +famous sonnet, "The Immortal Mind," was written with pencil upon the +walls of his cell. Liberated at the expiration of forty-nine days, +through the generosity of Arthur Tappan, of New York, who paid his +fine, Garrison visited Boston and Newburyport, endeavoring to speak +in both places, but the doors of halls and churches were closed +against him. At last the hall used by a society of avowed infidels, +in Boston, to whom Abner Kneeland preached, was opened to Mr. +Garrison for three anti-slavery lectures, and among the audience at +his first lecture were Samuel J. May, Samuel E. Sewall, and A. +Bronson Alcott, who then gave in their adhesion to the cause. Dr. +Lyman Beecher was also present but made no sign. + +On January 1, 1831, appeared the first number of _The Liberator_, in +Boston, bearing for its motto, "Our Country is the World--Our +Countrymen are Mankind." Mr. Garrison, as editor, was assisted by +Isaac Knapp, a fellow-printer from Newburyport, as publisher. The +paper was issued at No. 6 Merchants' Hall, at the corner of Congress +and Water Streets, in the third story, the partners making their +home in the printing-office. It was this office that Harrison Gray +Otis, the mayor, at the request of ex-Senator Hayne, ferreted out +through his police, describing it as "an obscure hole," containing +the editor and a negro boy, "his only visible auxiliary," while his +supporters were "a very few insignificant persons of all colors." +Lowell has thus described it in a different spirit: + + "In a small chamber, friendless and unseen, + Toiled o'er his types, one poor, unlearned young man; + The place was dark, unfurnitured, and mean, + Yet there the freedom of a race began." + +In the initial editorial appeared the famous declaration of Mr. +Garrison, "I am in earnest--I will not equivocate--I will not +excuse--I will not retreat a single inch--and I will be heard." +Although its circulation was meagre, the publication of _The +Liberator_ made a tremendous sensation throughout the South, +bringing upon its editor abusive and threatening language, and, at +the North, unpopularity and persecution. The Legislature of Georgia +offered a reward of $5,000 for his arrest and conviction. + +In 1832, the New England Anti-Slavery Society was organized in +Boston, and the campaign for "immediate and unconditional +emancipation" begun. The Colonization Society, which Mr. Garrison +formerly supported but later denounced, became the object of special +attack as an ally of the slave power, and, to counteract its +designs, he sailed for England, May 2, 1833, to expose its +proslavery purposes to the English abolitionists. He was cordially +received by Wilberforce, Buxton, Zachary, Macaulay, Daniel +O'Connell, and their associates in the struggle for West India +emancipation, and before he left the kingdom he witnessed the +passage of the Emancipation Act, and was present at the funeral of +Wilberforce, in Westminster Abbey. Returning from his successful +mission abroad he narrowly escaped the hands of a New York mob on +landing upon his native soil. + +In December, 1833, the American Anti-Slavery Society was formed, in +Philadelphia, and Mr. Garrison drew up its famous Declaration of +Sentiments, which numbered among its signers many of the men and +women destined to be distinguished in the anti-slavery cause, among +whom was the poet Whittier. + +On September 4, 1834, Mr. Garrison was married to Miss Helen Eliza +Benson, of Brooklyn, Conn.; a fortunate and happy union. + +In 1835, the eminent English orator, George Thompson, came by +invitation to the United States to assist in the emancipation of the +American, as he had of the West Indian, slave. The announcement +that he would speak at a meeting of the Ladies' Anti-Slavery +Society, held in Boston, October 21st, of the same year, was the +occasion of a mob composed of wealthy and respectable citizens of +Boston who aimed to suppress free speech and tar and feather Mr. +Thompson. He was, however, prevented from attending by his friends, +but the fury of the mob fell upon Mr. Garrison, who was seized and +led through the streets with a rope around his body, from which +position he was rescued through the efforts of Mayor Lyman and +imprisoned for safety in the Leverett Street jail. This outrage +created new friends and gave fresh impetus to the abolition +movement. + +In 1840 Mr. Garrison again visited England as a delegate of the +World's Anti-Slavery Convention in London, in which body, however, +he declined to sit, because the women who were his fellow-delegates +from America were excluded. + +Occupied continuously with the care of _The Liberator_ and in +lecturing, Mr. Garrison led an intensely active life, not confining +himself alone to the anti-slavery reform but embracing among other +reforms those of temperance, non-resistance, women's rights, and +religious freedom. For, while educated by his mother in the strict +tenets of the Baptist faith, he early experienced a change of +theological views and cast off sectarian bonds. _The Liberator_ was +used for the expression of his individual beliefs and was not the +organ of any society. + +In 1846, the Free Church of Scotland having sent emissaries to the +United States to collect funds from the slaveholders, Mr. Garrison +again went to England to urge the Church to return the money thus +contributed, and, in company with George Thompson, Frederick +Douglass, Henry C. Wright and others, agitated the question +throughout Scotland. + +Convinced that the constitutional compact of the North with the +South to guard and protect slavery was immoral and unjust, in 1843 +Mr. Garrison raised the banner of No Union with Slave-Holders, and +advocated the dissolution of the Union for the sake of freedom, a +step which added fresh fuel to the flames of persecution and +incurred the loss of many lukewarm adherents. + +In 1850, the apostasy of Daniel Webster and the passage of the +Fugitive Slave Law increased the national ferment. The same year +witnessed the famous Rynder's mob, in New York, and the anti-slavery +meeting at the Tabernacle, at which Mr. Garrison spoke, was +violently broken up. + +The abolition movement had now assumed formidable proportions, +dominating the national parties and dictating issues. The Whig party +fell to pieces in consequence, and to it succeeded the Republican +party, with Sumner, Seward, Wilson, Giddings, and other earnest men +as leaders. Meanwhile Harriet Beecher Stowe, by her famous novel, +"Uncle Tom's Cabin," had given a vivid picture of the wrongs of +American slavery to the world. The "irrepressible conflict" was now +rapidly tending to its crisis, and, on the election of Abraham +Lincoln to the Presidency by the Republican party, in 1860, the +signal for civil war was given, and, in 1861, the struggle of arms +inaugurated by the attack on Fort Sumter replaced the peaceful +crusade of the abolitionists. + +The moral agitation of thirty years had produced its legitimate +results, and when, in 1863, the President promulgated the +emancipation proclamation the anti-slavery chapter was closed. The +Union, which heretofore had been paramount to liberty, was now +subordinated to it, and Mr. Garrison's antagonism necessarily ceased +with the new amendment to the Constitution. He had been accustomed +to denounce that instrument as a "covenant with death and an +agreement with hell," but, as he expressed it, he had "never +expected to see Death and Hell secede." Foreseeing the inevitable +consequence of the war, he gave heartily his moral support to the +Government in the struggle between it and the slave power. His +non-resistance principles and abhorrence of war in no way diminished +his interest in the great conflict, and his sympathies of necessity +were with the soldiers of freedom. His eldest son, George Thompson +Garrison, not sharing his father's scruples, enlisted in the +Fifty-fifth Colored Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, attaining +the rank of captain. + +The renomination of Lincoln for a second term, in 1864, developed a +breach in the ranks of the old abolitionists, Mr. Garrison and his +adherents supporting Lincoln, and others, under the lead of Wendell +Phillips, advocating the choice of General Fremont. The latter +candidate, however, withdrew from the field before the election. + +In April, 1865, Mr. Garrison, with his English friend George +Thompson, was invited by the Government to be present as its guest +at the ceremony of raising the Stars and Stripes above the +surrendered Fort Sumter, and was received at Charleston with great +enthusiasm by the emancipated slaves. The news of President +Lincoln's assassination hastened the return of the party to the +North. + +The practical extermination of the slave system by the adoption of +the 13th Amendment convinced Mr. Garrison that the purpose of the +Anti-Slavery Society and of _The Liberator_ had been accomplished. +He therefore withdrew from one and discontinued the other. After +thirty-five years of a stormy and precarious existence the last +number of _The Liberator_ was issued December 29, 1865. "Nothing +could have been more in keeping with the uniform wisdom of your +anti-slavery leadership than the time you chose for resigning it," +wrote Lowell to Mr. Garrison a year later. + +The recognition of the pioneer's unselfish service thereupon took +shape in a national testimonial reaching a sum exceeding thirty +thousand dollars, thenceforth lifting his life above the pecuniary +cares which had so long weighed upon it. A domestic grief in the +shape of a paralytic shock to his faithful wife occurred in +December, 1863, compelling a change of home from the city to an +attractive suburban house in Roxbury, known as Rockledge. + +Although his great life-work was finished, Mr. Garrison abated no +activity in the various reforms in which he had enlisted. Both with +voice and pen he reached a wider and more attentive public, pleading +for justice to the freedman, for the legal emancipation of women, +the right of the Chinese to free immigration and Christian +treatment, freedom of trade (for he early eschewed his youthful +belief in the protective system), and for kindred causes. + +Visiting England for the fourth time in 1867, a public breakfast was +given in Mr. Garrison's honor at St. James's Hall, June 29th. John +Bright presided, and among the addresses of welcome were those of +Earl Russell, the Duke of Argyll, John Stuart Mill, George Thompson, +and W. Vernon Harcourt. Later the freedom of the city of Edinburgh +was conferred upon the American abolitionist, and in August he +attended the International Anti-Slavery Conference at Paris, +representing the American Freedman's Union Commission, and meeting +Laboulaye, Cochin, and other eminent Frenchmen. + +The troubled period of reconstruction, involving the defence of the +freedmen's rights, found no more interested observer and participant +than Mr. Garrison. The former hostile treatment which had been meted +out to him by press and party was of the past, and, like Lincoln, + + "He heard the hisses change to cheers, + The taunts to tribute, the abuse to praise, + And took both in the same unwavering mood." + +Unique among reformers, he received in life the reverence that +usually reveals itself in post-mortem honors which indicate the late +awakening of public consciousness and suggest the pathos of their +delay. + +The felicities of domestic life were his in more than ordinary +measure, and "honor, love, obedience, troops of friends," made his +closing years as serene as his opening career had been stormy. +Occasional ailments reminded him of advancing age, but his +temperamental cheerfulness and faith in human progress never forsook +him. + +The death of his dear wife, in 1876, was a visible blow to him, and +in the next year, for physical and mental recuperation, he visited +England again for the last time, with his son Francis, enjoying a +delightful reunion with old friends and making new ones, as was his +wont. + +In May, 1879, during a visit to his daughter in New York, he +breathed his last on the 24th of the month, with all his children +about him. He left four sons, named respectively, George Thompson, +William Lloyd, Wendell Phillips, and Francis Jackson, and an only +daughter, Helen Francis, the wife of Henry Villard. Two others, a +daughter and a son, died at an early age. + +In 1885, Mr. Garrison's biography, written by his sons Wendell +Phillips and Francis Jackson, was published by the Century Company, +in four volumes, octavo. They contain not only the personal details +of a famous career, but a careful history of the abolition struggle. +To them the future historian must look for the most faithful picture +of the anti-slavery times and their leader. + +A bronze statue of heroic size, executed by Olin L. Warner, of New +York, representing Mr. Garrison in a sitting posture, was presented +to the city of Boston by several eminent citizens, in 1886, and is +placed on Commonwealth Avenue, opposite the Hotel Vendome. + +Mr. Garrison's calm estimate of himself has been preserved and may +fitly conclude this sketch: + +"The truth is, he who commences any reform which at last becomes one +of transcendent importance and is crowned with victory, is always +ill-judged and unfairly estimated. At the outset he is looked upon +with contempt, and treated in the most opprobrious manner, as a wild +fanatic or a dangerous disorganizer. In due time the cause grows and +advances to its sure triumph; and in proportion as it nears the +goal, the popular estimate of his character changes, till finally +excessive panegyric is substituted for outrageous abuse. The praise, +on the one hand, and the defamation on the other, are equally +unmerited. In the clear light of reason, it will be seen that he +simply stood up to discharge a duty which he owed to his God, to his +fellow-men, to the land of his nativity." + +[Signature: William Lloyd Garrison.] + + + + +ELISHA KENT KANE[15] + + [Footnote 15: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By General A. W. GREELY + +(1820-1857) + +[Illustration: Elisha Kent Kane.] + + +Elisha Kent Kane, son of Judge John K. Kane, was born in +Philadelphia, February 3, 1820. In his youth he displayed those +qualifications of ceaseless activity, daring adventure, and strong +personal courage which characterized his mature manhood. Inclined to +all efforts involving physical hardships and contact with nature, +his early education was devoted to civil engineering and such +natural sciences as chemistry, geography, geology, and mineralogy. +Unfortunately, in his sixteenth year, chronic and functional heart +disease developed, which intermittently affected him through life +and deterred him from the profession of an engineer. Applying +himself to medicine, he graduated therein in 1842 at the University +of Pennsylvania, in the meantime having served as a resident +physician of the Pennsylvania Hospital. His inaugural medical +thesis, based on personal experiments and observations, gave him a +reputation which augured professional prominence. In 1843 he was +appointed physician to the United States embassy to China, under +Caleb Cushing, who was charged with the negotiation of a treaty with +that country. At the way ports and during the tedious intervals of +the treaty negotiations, Kane lost no opportunity of travel and +adventure. With Baron Loee he visited the Philippine Islands and the +volcano of Tael. Not content with the usual point of view, and +despite the protestations of the native guides, he was lowered two +hundred feet in the crater, whence he scrambled downward to the +smoking sulphur lake and dipped his specimen bottles into its +steaming waters. In his ascent the loose, heated ashes charred his +boots and gave way under his feet, the sulphur vapors nearly +asphyxiated him, he fell repeatedly, and was barely able to tie the +bamboo rope around him. Drawn up in an exhausted condition, and +carried to a neighboring hermitage, he barely escaped violence at +the hands of the offended natives, who considered his rash feat a +sacrilege. + +Resigning his appointment with the legation, Kane established +himself as a physician at Whampoa, on the Canton River, where +illness shortly broke up his professional practice. Fortunately for +his future fame he was unsuccessful in his application to the +Spanish Government for permission to practise medicine at Manilla, +and Kane returned to the United States by the way of Singapore, +India, Egypt, and Europe, his journey marked by adventure and +danger. In these, as in all other sea voyages, he suffered +excessively from sea-sickness, which required all of his indomitable +will to endure with equanimity. + +In 1846 he was commissioned assistant surgeon in the United States +Navy; his first sea duty took him to the west coast of Africa, where +coast fever invalided him within ten months. His desire for active +service was so great that before his health was re-established he +obtained orders from the Secretary of the Navy to proceed to +head-quarters of the army, then in the City of Mexico, for duty in +connection with the collection of data relative to field hospitals +and surgical statistics. Here his activity and daring resulted in +his being wounded in a guerilla skirmish. + +Assigned temporarily to a surveying vessel, circumstances soon +determined Kane's career and gave full scope to his enthusiastic +energies, and insured his future fame. The appeals of Lady Franklin, +the recommendations of President Taylor, and the generosity of Henry +Grinnell, had culminated in the organization of a search expedition +for Franklin in the Arctic regions. It was provided that the vessels +should be manned by volunteers from the Navy, and among those +offering their services for this mission of humanity none was more +importunate than Kane. Persistent efforts brought him orders for +this fateful voyage while bathing in the tepid waters of the Gulf of +Mexico, and ten days later he sailed from New York for the icy +wastes of the North as surgeon of De Haven's flag-ship, the Advance. +This search, known in Arctic history as the First Grinnell +Expedition, was made under a joint resolution of the Congress of the +United States, dated May 2, 1850, "to accept and attach to the Navy +two vessels offered by Henry Grinnell, Esq., to be sent to the +Arctic seas in search of Sir John Franklin and his companions." Two +very small sailing brigs constituted the fleet, the flag-ship +Advance, commanded by De Haven, an officer of Antarctic experience +under Wilkes, and the Rescue, under Master Griffin; the entire party +numbered thirty-three officers and men. + +Their objective point was Lancaster Sound and its westward +extension, Barrow Strait, whence either or both Wellington Channel +and Cape Walker were to be visited. The squadron passed safely +through Davis Strait, and skirting the dreaded land-ice of Melville +Bay, reached Cape York after three weeks of constant and dangerous +struggle with the heavy ice, which nearly destroyed the Rescue, +borne almost on her beam-ends by the enormous pressure from a moving +ice-pack. De Haven fell in with the English squadrons on the same +errand, August 19, 1850, and, entering Lancaster Sound with his +British consorts, devoted his energies to the search in hand. +Griffin, of the Rescue, shared with Captain Ommaney, R. N., the +honors of the discovery, at Beechy island, of the wintering-place of +Franklin's squadron in 1845-46. Later three graves of members of +Franklin's party were found, and numerous evidences of the good +condition and activity of the expedition during that winter. About +three weeks later, on September 10, 1850, De Haven concluded that +the position attained was not sufficiently advantageous to justify +his wintering, and so decided to return to the United States. +Unfortunately, strong gales and very cold weather prevented +immediate action, and in a few days both brigs were frozen immovably +in an enormous ice-pack, where they were destined to drift +helplessly to and fro at the mercy of the winds and currents for +many months. + +Beset in Wellington Channel, to the north of Beechy Island, the +American squadron first found itself drifting slowly, but with +alarming steadiness, to the north, into waters and along coasts that +had, as far as they then knew, never been visited. The drift carried +the Advance to latitude 75 deg. 25' north, longitude 91 deg. 31' west, and +on September 22d they discovered new land, to which De Haven gave +the merited name of Grinnell. It proved to be an integral part of +North Devon, of which it was the northwestern extension. Every few +days there was a partial breaking up of the pack and consequent +danger of destruction. On one occasion, says Kane: "We are lifted +bodily eighteen inches out of water. The hummocks are reared up +around the ship, so as to rise a couple of feet above our bulwarks, +five feet above our deck. They are very often ten and twelve feet +high, and threaten to overwhelm us. Add to this, darkness, snow, +cold, and the absolute destitution of surrounding shores." The +temperature fell below zero and the ships seemed destined to winter +in Wellington Channel, but fortunately a strong northwest gale, in +conjunction with heavy tides, disintegrated the main pack and set +ships, ice and all, southward into Barrow Strait. Here they fell +under the action of a southeasterly current and, drifting all +winter, passed slowly through Lancaster Sound into Baffin Bay, where +the opening polar summer found them yet fast in the ice, from which +the two brigs were freed off Cape Walsingham, June 5, 1851, after +drifting in eight and a half months a distance of ten hundred and +fifty miles. It is impossible to adequately describe their physical +discomforts and dangers, the mental depression of the sunless +midwinter of eight weeks, and the even harder experiences of the +Arctic spring-tide, when excessive cold and increasing lassitude +made steady inroads on their impaired constitutions. Kane tells us +they were continually harassed by uncertainties as to their ultimate +fate. Yesterday the unbroken floe, stretching as far as the eye +could reach, seemed so firm and stable as to insure months of quiet, +uninterrupted life. Today, the groaning, uneasy pack, yielding to an +unseen power, split and cracked in all directions, throwing up huge +masses of solid ice, that threatened to destroy instantly the ship, +and occasionally opened in wide cracks through which rushed the open +sea. Indeed, the conditions were so critical and the ice-movements +so rapid, that the entire party, within the brief space of +twenty-four hours, had four times made ready to abandon their +vessels. + +In March the cold became intense, and for a week it averaged +fifty-three degrees below the freezing-point. Scurvy assailed all +but five of the crew, and De Haven was so ill that all his duties +devolved on Griffin, who heroically bore up under disease and the +mental and moral responsibilities that the situation forced on him. +In all his efforts Griffin had no more effective coadjutor than the +fleet-surgeon, Kane. Whether acting as a medical officer, treating +skilfully the diseased crew; as a hunter, supplementing their scanty +stock of anti-scorbutic food with the fresh meat of the seal; or as +a man, devising means of amusement and stimulating them to mental +and physical exertions, Kane incessantly displayed such qualities of +cheerfulness, activity, and ingenuity as tended to dispel the pall +of despair that sometimes enveloped the whole expedition. + +When release from the ice permitted the voyage to be renewed, De +Haven decided to refit in the Greenland ports and again return to +Lancaster Sound; fortunately, as the squadron was not fitted for a +second year's work, the ice in Melville Bay was such as to prevent +immediate passage, and so they turned southward, reaching the United +States on September 30, 1851. + +Such desperate experiences as those involved in the midwinter drift +of the Advance, would have deterred most men for a time from a +second voyage, but with Kane the stimulus to future work apparently +increased with every league that he sailed southward. The ship was +hardly in port before he initiated a plan for another expedition in +the spring of 1852. This failing he wrote Lady Franklin in May, +offering to go with Captain Penny, or any good sailing-master, to +give his services without pay, and pledging himself to go to work +and raise funds. + +Finding it impossible to go with any British expedition, he turned +his entire efforts to organizing another from America. His chivalric +enthusiasm enlisted the sympathies and active support of Henry +Grinnell and George Peabody, the first loaning the ship and the +latter contributing $10,000 for general expenses. The United States +again aided, not only putting Kane on sea-pay, but also attached ten +men of the Navy, under government pay. Instruments, provisions, +etc., were likewise supplied by the Secretary of the Navy, and aid +in other directions was afforded by the Smithsonian Institution, the +Naval Observatory, and other scientific associations. At this +juncture the discoveries of Captain Inglefield, R. N., in Smith +Sound, afforded to Kane a new route for his activities. The scheme, +as far as the search for Franklin was concerned, was well-meaning, +but none the less fallacious and illogical. Kane was personally +cognizant of the fact that Franklin had gone into Lancaster Sound, +and had wintered in 1845-46 at Beechy Island, plainly following the +direct and positive orders of the Admiralty, that he should push +southward from Cape Walker to the neighborhood of Behring Strait. +Moreover, the last mail ever received from the Franklin expedition +contained a letter from Captain Fitz-James, in which he stated that +Franklin had shown him the orders, expressed his disbelief in an +open sea to the north, and had given "a pleasant account of his +expectations of being able to get through the ice on the north coast +of America." + +A search for Franklin by the way of Smith Sound, seventeen degrees +of longitude and four degrees of latitude to the north and east of +his last known position, was to assume not only that Franklin had +disobeyed the strict letter of his instructions, but had also +abandoned his voyage after having accomplished one-third of the +distance from Greenland to Behring Strait. + +As the initiator and inspirer of the expedition, Kane was the +natural head of it, but there were difficulties in the way. + +The assignment of a surgeon to the command of a naval expedition was +unprecedented; but somehow Kane succeeded in overcoming even the +time-honored observances of the Navy, and was placed in command by a +formal order of the Secretary of the Navy in November, 1852. + +Kane repeatedly set forth his belief in an open Polar sea, and +announced his expectation of reaching it. The expedition was not +alone a proposed search for Franklin, but especially contemplated +the continuation to the northward of the discoveries made in 1851 by +Captain Inglefield, on the west coast of Greenland. Kane declared +his intention of reaching "its most northern attainable point, and +thence pressing on toward the Pole as far as boats or sleds could +carry us, examine the coast lines for vestiges of the lost party," +and "seeking the _open sea_ ... launch our little boats, and embark +upon its waters." + +On May 30, 1853, the expedition left New York in the sailing brig +Advance, there being seventeen members all told. The vessel was +stanch, well-fitted, and suitable, the scientific instruments +satisfactory, but the provisions were illy chosen for Arctic +service, and the equipment in many respects inadequate or deficient. +The Greenland ports supplied skin-clothing, dogs, and Eskimo +dog-drivers; the latter being destined to play an important part in +establishing harmonious relations with the Etah natives. On reaching +Melville Bay, Kane decided to take the middle passage, direct +through the dreaded pack--a most venturesome route for a +sailing-vessel. Favored by an off-shore gale, the Advance escaped +with the loss of a whaleboat, and emerged into the open sea near +Cape York, known as the North Water. Stopped by the ice, Kane wisely +decided to cache his metallic life-boat, filled with boat-stores, on +Littleton Island, so as to secure his retreat, since, as he says: +"My mind was made up from the first that we are to force our way to +the north as far as the elements will let us." The ice opening with +the tide, Kane rounded Cape Hatherton and was now in Kane Sea; but +the Advance was immediately driven into a cove for shelter. At the +first opportunity sail was again made and a short distance gained to +the east-northeast, when a violent gale nearly wrecked her. Repeated +efforts to work the vessel to the eastward, along a lee coast, +destroyed fittings and boat, and were so fruitful in danger that on +August 26th seven out of his eight officers addressed Kane in +writing, to the effect "that a further progress to the North was +impossible, and [they] were in favor of returning southward to +winter." Unfortunately, Kane was not "able conscientiously to take +the same view," as such retreat would have left him in a less +favorable situation to pursue his explorations. Two weeks longer the +brig was warped to the east during high water, whenever she was not +jammed by huge floes against the rugged coast; but at low water the +brig grounded and was daily in danger of total destruction. Finally, +on September 9th, she was put in winter-quarters in 78 deg. 37' N., 71 deg. +14' W., in Rensselaer Harbor, which, says Kane, "we were fated never +to leave together--a long resting-place to her, for the same ice is +round her still." Winter now advanced with startling rapidity and +excessive severity; freezing temperatures now permanently obtained, +the water-fowl were gone, and the scanty vegetation blighted. All +were busy, some constructing a building for magnetic and +meteorological observations, others making journeys along the +eastern coast. Kane visited the high land adjoining Mary Minturn +River, some fifty miles away, whence he could see Washington Land in +the vicinity of Cape Constitution. Hayes and Wilson journeyed on the +inland ice, while McGary with six others made three caches on the +coast, the farthest being under the face of the largest of all +Arctic glaciers, now known by the name of Humboldt. The winter +proved to be unusually cold, the temperature, from December to March +inclusive, averaging fifty-four degrees below the freezing-point of +water. Most fortunately the men remained in health, but Kane grieved +over the loss of his dogs, only a dozen surviving out of the +original eighty. + +In this contingency Kane decided to put his men in the field, and +after two weeks of excessive cold, the temperature averaging +seventy-seven degrees below freezing, a party was sent out while the +mercury was yet frozen. Their orders were to reach Washington Land, +about one hundred miles distant across the sea-ice. It soon became +evident to Brooks, the commander of the party, that the journey was +impossible of execution, and after eight marches, in which less than +forty miles were traversed, he turned back on March 29, 1854. The +cold that day was intense, about ninety degrees below freezing, and +the next morning four men were frozen so badly that they could not +walk. Only four men were left for work. The distance to the brig was +thirty miles, while the intervening ice was so rough that they could +not drag their disabled comrades. Hickey volunteered to remain, +while Sontag, Ohlsen, and Petersen should go to the brig for help. +The three men finally reached the Advance, but they were so +physically exhausted and in such mental condition that they could +not even indicate in what direction they had left their comrades. + +Kane appreciated the gravity of the situation and the necessity of +prompt measures. A relief party was at once started, which Kane led +himself, despite his impaired health, physical weakness, and general +unfitness for such a desperate journey; as always, he spared not +himself when danger threatened. Ohlsen, being the clearest-headed of +the sledgemen, was put in a sleeping-bag and dragged on a sledge as +a guide. + +Eighteen hours' travel were without tangible result; Kane fainted +twice on the snow; his stoutest men were seized with trembling fits, +and as yet no signs of the missing party. Fortunately Kane had taken +the Eskimo, Hans Hendrik, whose keen eye discovered the track that +led to the tent of the frozen men. They were alive, but crippled +beyond the possibility of marching. The weather remained fine or all +would have perished, and as it was, Hayes, the surgeon, in his +report of their condition on reaching the brig, said: "I was +startled by their ghastly appearance. When I hailed them they met me +only with a vacant, wild stare. They were to a man delirious." Of +the eight men only one returned sound; two shortly died, two others +suffered amputations, and three escaped with temporary disabilities. + +Three weeks later, on April 26th, Kane set out on what, to use his +own words, "was to be the crowning expedition of the campaign, to +attain the Ultima Thule of the Greenland shore." Impressed with the +impracticability of a direct journey across the main ice-pack, he +decided to follow the shore-line, five men dragging a sledge, while +Kane and Godfrey travelled by dog-team. He had been led by his +resolute spirit to overestimate the physical strength of his men and +himself, and the party broke down before it had even approached the +Humboldt Glacier. Their enthusiastic leader was stricken with +fainting spells and rigidity of limbs, but Kane would not admit his +illness to be more than temporary, and bidding the men strap him on +the sledge, proceeded onward. His diminished physical powers now +became evident through the freezing of his rigid and swollen limbs. +Delirious and fainting at the end of the march, he was carried in an +almost insensible condition to his tent, when his men wisely took +the matter in their own hands and started back for the brig. Nine +days later, through forced marches and heroic efforts of his +sledge-mates, themselves partially disabled, Kane was carried on +board the Advance fluctuating between life and death. Hardly +conscious, his mind clouded, and his swollen features barely +recognizable, his general condition was such that the surgeon +regarded his ultimate recovery as nearly hopeless. + +While Kane's recuperative powers were simply marvellous, yet he did +not recover sufficiently to make another journey that spring. In +this extremity he turned to his surgeon, Israel I. Hayes, who +volunteered to explore the unknown shores of Grinnell Land, which +lay in sight to the west of Smith Sound. With the seaman Godfrey as +a companion and a dog-team as the means of transportation, Hayes +struggled through the almost impassable floes and bergs of the main +strait and finally attained Cape Hayes, on the western coast, in +about 79 deg. 45' N. latitude. The return journey to the Advance was +possible only by abandoning everything that in the slightest degree +impeded the progress of the exhausted men and famishing dogs. + +This success caused Kane to make one more effort to reach the +hitherto inaccessible Washington Land, and for this purpose he +placed all his means at the disposal of one of his seamen, William +Morton. A supporting party accompanied Morton to Humboldt Glacier, +whence he proceeded with Eskimo Hans Hendrik and a dog-team on the +advance journey. Their track lay over the sea-ice, about five miles +from, and parallel with, the face of the glacier. Five days took +them to the new land to the north, and three days later, June 24, +1854, Morton reached alone an impassable headland, Cape +Constitution. From the highest attainable elevation Morton found his +view completely cut off to the northeast, but between the west and +north he could see the southeastern half of Kennedy's Channel as far +north as Mount Ross, 80 deg. 58' N. He says "Not a speck of ice was to +be seen as far as I could observe; the sea was open, the swell came +from the northward ... and the surf broke in on the rocks below in +regular breakers." Morton described accurately the general +landscape, but he was an incompetent astronomical observer, and his +estimates of distances were excessive. The farthest point was +charted nearly a hundred miles north of its true position, while +Cape Constitution was placed 31 miles too far north by Morton and 52 +geographic miles by Kane, who "corrected" Morton's observations by a +series of erroneous bearings. Morton's general account of his +explorations has been confirmed by Hans Hendrik in his Memoir +written some years since in Eskimo. + +In the meantime the Etah Eskimo, natives of Prudhoe land, had +discovered the brig, and through the interpreter, Hans Hendrik, +promptly established friendly relations with Kane. It may be said +that the expedition owed its final safety to these natives; their +supplies of fresh meat checked scurvy, and later their dog teams +rendered retreat possible. Slight misunderstandings, not always the +fault of the natives, naturally occurred, but the Eskimo were +honest, humane, and willing, and never committed a hostile act. + +The summer of 1854 justified the expressed fears of Kane's officers, +for it passed with the ice yet unbroken in Rensselaer Harbor. It was +evident in July that the brig would never be freed from the ice, and +in this critical situation, Kane, taking five men in a whaleboat, +attempted to reach Beechy Island, several hundred miles to the +southwest, whence he expected to obtain succor from the English +searching squadron. The unfavorable condition of the ice in Smith +Sound caused the failure of this attempt, and, yet worse, encouraged +the idea of dividing the party; an idea that culminated in the +well-known "Arctic Boat Journey," as Dr. Hayes termed it. Despite +Kane's futile experiences in July, the majority of the party +maintained that a boat journey to Upernavik was both practicable and +advisable. Confronted by this attitude of the expeditionary force, +Kane assembled them, set forth the dangers of such an attempt, and +vehemently urged them to abandon the project, which the lateness of +the season and the unfavorable ice conditions rendered most +improbable of success. Finally he granted the privilege of +unfettered action to such as believed the journey practicable, +stipulating only that those leaving the vessel should renounce, in +writing, all claims upon the expedition and should elect a leader. +Nine elected to go, eight to remain. Kane displayed a magnanimous +spirit, equipping them most liberally, and assuring them, in +writing, that the brig should be ever open should disaster overtake +them. The boat journey was a failure, and Kane bade them welcome +when, early in December, he learned that the party, some two hundred +miles distant and in imminent danger of perishing by starvation, was +desirous of returning to the Advance. Kane promptly sent supplies to +the suffering men, and, on December 12th, the entire crew was once +again upon the brig. + +The winter of 1854-5 passed wretchedly; the physical condition of +the party steadily deteriorated; failing fuel necessitated the +burning of the upper woodwork of the brig; their food was reduced to +ordinary marine stores, and game failed equally to the hunters of +the Advance and the persistent efforts of the Etah natives on the +ice-clad land and in the frozen sea. In addition scurvy attacked the +crew; Hayes lost a portion of his frozen foot, and hardly a man of +the crew remained fit for duty. The necessity of abandoning the brig +and retreating by boat to Upernavik, Danish Greenland, was now +forced upon Kane's mind. The co-operation of the natives greatly +facilitated, if it did not alone render possible, the transportation +of their provisions, boats, and stores to Cape Alexander. Kane says +the Eskimo "brought daily supplies of birds, assisted in carrying +boat stores, and invariably exhibited the kindest feelings and +strictest honesty." + +Bidding farewell to the natives at Cape Alexander on June 15, 1855, +Cape York was passed, the land ice of Melville Bay followed, and the +northern coast of Danish Greenland reached in forty-seven days. In +the meantime a relief squadron under command of Lieutenant +Hartstene, United States Navy, had visited Smith Sound, where the +natives informed him of Kane's journey southward. Taken on board the +returning flag-ship at Disco, Kane and his men reached New York, +October 11, 1855. + +Kane had hardly reached home when it became evident that his +undermined constitution could not longer withstand the inroads of a +disease which for twenty years had afflicted him. Change of climate +was tried without avail, and he died at Havana, Cuba, February 16, +1857, at the early age of thirty-seven. + +Between his first and second voyages Kane had become deeply +interested in Margaretta Fox, one of the well-known spiritualists, +who later published their correspondence under the title of "The +Love Life of Dr. Kane." Their relations, it is believed, resulted in +a secret marriage shortly before Kane's death. + +The rare literary skill shown in the account of Kane's expedition +has charmed millions of readers with its graphic account of the +labors, hardships, and privations of Kane and his men. It should +not, however, be considered that this expedition merits attention +alone from its tales of suffering and bravery, for none other of +that generation contributed so materially to a correct knowledge of +the Arctic regions. In ethnology it gave the first full account of +the Etah Eskimo, the northernmost inhabitants of the world; in +natural history its data as to the flora and fauna of the isolated +and ice-surrounded extremity of western Greenland were original, +and have been to this day but scantily supplemented; in physical +sciences, the magnetic, tidal, and climatic observations remained +for twenty years the most important series pertaining to the Arctic +regions. Kane's voyage not only extended geographically Inglefield's +discoveries a hundred miles to the northward, but it also opened up +a practical and safe route for Arctic exploration, which has been +more fruitful of successful results than any other. + +Kane was a man of generous impulses, enthusiastic ideals, and kindly +heart. His chivalric nature, indomitable will, and great courage +often impelled him to hazardous enterprises; but he stands out in +this modern age as an unselfish character, willing to brave +hardships and risk his own life on a vague possibility of rescuing +Franklin and his companions. + +[Signature: A. W. Greely.] + + + + +FERDINAND DE LESSEPS[16] + + [Footnote 16: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By CLARENCE COOK + +(1805-1894) + +[Illustration: Ferdinand de Lesseps.] + + +If, as Dante sings: "There is no greater grief than in a time of +misery to remember happier days," there are few persons in our time +who can testify more feelingly to the truth of the poet's words than +Ferdinand de Lesseps. For many years he was a bright-shining, +sympathetic figure among those who lead in the van of our material +progress; and the accomplishment, by his initiative and energy, of +the long dream of the Suez Canal, made him the hero, not of his own +nation alone, but of all the civilized world; honors were heaped +upon him, and acclamations greeted him on every side. His name +became a household word. + +A few years later, and all is changed. At the advanced age of +eighty-eight, Ferdinand de Lesseps is in deep disgrace. Charged with +the chief responsibility for the ruin brought about by the failure +of another of his great enterprises--the Panama Canal--he has been +condemned by the tribunal to pay a huge fine, and has only been +saved from the shame of actual imprisonment by the knowledge of his +judges that, in his feeble state of health, imprisonment would +speedily be fatal. As at the ceremonies on the occasion of the +opening of the Suez Canal, De Lesseps was compared to Columbus, the +opener of a way to the new world, so we may see the close of the +great discoverer's career reflected in the tragic ending of the +splendid fortunes of De Lesseps. + +Ferdinand de Lesseps was the son of a French gentleman who, fifty +years since, was in the Consular service of France in Egypt. He was +born at Versailles in 1805, and after receiving the usual education +given to youth of his class, he was early inducted into the +mysteries of diplomatic life, where his father's services and +influence naturally opened a way for him. In 1833, when +twenty-eight, he was made consul at Cairo, and remained at that post +for over ten years, during which time he laid the foundations for +that knowledge of all matters connected with Egyptian affairs which +was to prove so valuable to him and to the world a few years later. + +In 1842, De Lesseps was transferred from Cairo to Spain, and was +made consul at Barcelona. Spain was at this time much disturbed by +factional quarrels and jealousies, partly due to disputed claims to +the succession to the throne, and partly to the angry rivalries of +political leaders, each eager to save the country by his particular +nostrum. In the dynastic struggle, Queen Christina, made regent +after the death of her husband, Ferdinand VII., had been exiled to +France, and General Espartero, who at first had stood for her cause, +now ruled as regent in her place. In 1843, the year after the +arrival of De Lesseps, the city of Barcelona, which in common with +many other places had refused to support Espartero, openly revolted, +and was besieged and bombarded by his forces; and in the course of +the siege, which brought great misery upon the inhabitants, De +Lesseps did so many humane and generous acts at great personal risk, +that he was rewarded by honors from the governments of several +nations whose subjects had been protected by him in his official +capacity. + +It was natural that after this proof of his abilities, De Lesseps +should be advanced to a still higher position, and in the spring of +1848 he was made minister to Madrid. This place he held, however, +only until February, 1849, for in May of that year he was sent to +Rome to patch up a peace between the popular party and the French +army of occupation. This proved an unfortunate venture. De Lesseps +was recalled to France in disgrace, in June of the same year, for +having shown too great a sympathy for the party of Mazzini, which +aimed to establish a Roman Republic. + +It may be conjectured that the disappointment of De Lesseps at this +abrupt ending of his diplomatic career was not very great. He had +not been drawn to the profession by natural inclination, but had +inherited it, so to speak, from his father, as another man might +inherit the profession of law or medicine, or as the son of a +mechanic might inherit his father's trade. His ambition and tastes +both led him in a different direction; he would play a more active, +a more striking part in the affairs of his time. + +During the period of his residence in Egypt, as consul for France, +he must often have heard the project of a canal across the Isthmus +of Suez discussed, since the course of events was every year making +the necessity of the undertaking more evident. As is well known, the +idea of such a canal was not a new one: Herodotus speaks of a canal +designed and partly excavated by Pharaoh Necho in the seventh +century before Christ, to connect the city of Bubastis, in the Delta +of the Nile, with the Red Sea. As planned, the canal was to be ten +feet deep with a width sufficient for two triremes to pass abreast, +and it was expected that the voyage would be accomplished in four +days. After the lives of 126,000 Egyptian workmen had been +sacrificed to the hardships of the undertaking, Herodotus says that +Necho, alarmed at the difficulties and expense, consulted the Oracle +as to what was best for him to do, and received the answer: "Thou +art working for barbarians." The Egyptians, like the Greeks, +considered all foreigners as barbarians, and the answer simply +reflected the sentiment of the people, or of their leaders, that +this vast expenditure of labor, time, and money would prove to be, +after all, as much for the benefit of foreigners as for themselves. +The Oracle gave a voice to national and political prejudices, such +as even in our own time are continually evoked to block the wheels +of great enterprises. Necho, we are told, heeded the warning of the +Oracle and abandoned the enterprise, but about one hundred years +later, in the time of Darius Hystaspes, work on the canal was +resumed and the undertaking was completed. From time to time we find +mention made of the canal by later authors, but about the end of the +eighth century of our era it was finally abandoned and left to be +blocked up by the sand. + +The project was revived by Napoleon I. at the time of his Egyptian +expedition; but, on the report of his engineer, M. Lepere, now known +to be mistaken, that the Red Sea level was thirty feet higher than +that of the Mediterranean, nothing further was done; nor was it +until so late as 1847 that it was again taken up and an attempt made +to interest the maritime powers of Europe in the scheme; but nothing +serious was accomplished. + +In truth, the idea of a canal uniting the two seas, had up to this +time been largely sentimental, if we may so express it; rather +connected with vast schemes of conquest than founded on the vital +needs of commercial development and the material good of the people. +The commerce of the Mediterranean countries with India and the +remoter East had not in those earlier times reached a point where +such a costly undertaking as the Suez Canal could prove +remunerative; what trade there was could be sufficiently and more +cheaply accommodated by the Overland machinery of caravans, while +France, Spain, and England still found the route by the Cape to +answer all their purposes. In fact it was more than doubtful whether +sailing-vessels, by means of which trade was then chiefly carried +on, or even steamers of the build then employed, could use the canal +to profit. It was believed that the advantages promised by a shorter +route would be counterbalanced by the delays and dangers reckoned +inseparable from the navigation of so narrow a water-way. + +These objections, really of a serious nature, made it difficult to +win over the business world to a practical interest in the scheme. +De Lesseps had been from the start the chief mover in the +enterprise, to which he had given many years of his time, and he was +not a man to be discouraged by repeated failures to bring others to +his own way of thinking. His long experience, besides, in the ways +of diplomacy had prepared him for delays and obstructions; but the +time came, at last, when his enthusiasm, his confidence in himself, +and his skill in dealing with men were to bring about the +realization of his hopes. + +Five years, from 1849 to 1854, had been occupied by De Lesseps in +negotiations with governments and bankers, but it was not until 1854 +that the event occurred which insured the success of his great +undertaking. In that year, Mahomet Said Pasha became Viceroy of +Egypt, and no sooner was he seated than he sent for De Lesseps to +consult with him as to the possibility of carrying out the project +of the canal. In November of the same year, a commission was signed +at Cairo by the Viceroy charging De Lesseps with the formation of a +company to be named the United Suez Canal Company, with a capital of +two hundred million francs, afterward raised to three hundred +million. From this time the affairs of the canal went on with +comparative smoothness, and by 1858 the money necessary for the work +had been pledged; one-half the loan was placed on the continent, +chiefly in Paris, the other half was taken by the Viceroy. + +Actual work on the canal was begun in 1858 and such rapid progress was +made that it was completed in the autumn of 1869, and opened to the +commerce of the world with magnificent ceremonies, lasting for several +days. Religious ceremonies, in which priests of the Catholic Church, +the Greek Church, and the Moslem faith united, were followed by a +naval parade representing the European powers and the United States, +and the whole concluded with a brilliant series of fetes and +entertainments at Cairo. As the originator of the canal, De Lesseps, +was a Frenchman, and as France had been the chief promoter of the +enterprise, the place of honor at these ceremonies was naturally given +to the Empress Eugenie, who went to Cairo as the representative of the +French nation; while to De Lesseps, as naturally, was given the next +place, a position which he filled with equal dignity and modesty, +winning "golden opinions from all sorts of people." + +The Suez Canal, though a vast and important undertaking, presented +almost no engineering difficulties to be overcome. At Port Said, the +Mediterranean entrance to the canal, two great piers, to serve as +breakwaters, were built of artificial stone, projecting into the +sea; the western, a distance of 6,940 feet, the eastern 6,020 feet, +and enclosing an area of 450 acres; thus providing a safe and +commodious harbor. At Suez, the Red Sea terminus of the canal, a +less formidable defense was needed; but the necessary docks and +buildings called for a considerable outlay. + +From Port Said to Suez the land is almost a dead level; the few +sand-dunes that break the monotonous uniformity of the isthmus +nowhere reach a greater height than fifty or sixty feet. Along the +middle line of the isthmus there was a series of depressions; some +shallow, and others, the bottoms of which were lower than the level +of the sea. Although these depressions were at all times dry, yet +they were called "lakes," and as such figure on the maps, where we +read the names "Lake Timsah," "The Bitter Lakes" and others. They +were found to be thickly incrusted with salt on the bottom and +sides, indicating that at one time they had been filled with +sea-water; it is indeed must probable that the whole isthmus was at +a very remote period entirely submerged. In the construction of the +canal these depressions were made to play a very important part. The +line of the canal was carried directly through them; the shallower +were brought to a sufficient depth by dredging; the deeper were +simply filled with water and required nothing more for safe +navigation than an indication of the channel by buoys. Thus, in the +whole length of the canal, reckoned at 88 geographical miles, there +are 66 miles of actual digging; 14 miles of dredging through the +lakes; and 8 miles, where neither digging nor dredging was required. + +Water began to flow from the Mediterranean into the canal in +February, 1869, and from the Red Sea in July of the same year; and +by October, the lakes, and the canal in its whole length, were +filled with water navigable by vessels of the highest class. The +water-way thus obtained has a width at the surface varying from 197 +feet at deep cuttings, to 225 feet at lower ground. The sides slope +to a width at the bottom of 72 feet, and an average depth of 26 feet +is secured along the whole course. As the water is at one level from +sea to sea, the canal is without obstruction of any kind. No locks, +dams, or water-gates are required, and vessels enter the canal from +either end and pursue their journey without interruption or +detention. + +So great, however, was the eagerness of trade to take advantage of +the new route, that the volume of traffic increased within a very +short time after the opening of the canal to such an extent as to +cause serious delays in the transit, and a number of schemes were +brought forward for building other canals by which the two seas +might be united. In the end, all these plans were abandoned, and it +was decided to widen the canal sufficiently to enable it to meet the +increased demand upon its carrying capacity. It may not be without +interest to note the growth of traffic in the canal by a few +figures. From 486 ships which passed through in 1870, the number +rose to 3,100 in 1886; while the receipts increased from $1,031,875 +in 1870, to $11,541,090 in 1886. The canal, when completed, was +found to have cost twenty million pounds sterling, a sum far in +advance of the original estimate, but made necessary by the addition +of several important items of expenditure that were not foreseen. +One of these was the substitution of paid labor for the forced labor +promised by the Pasha, but which was made impossible by public +clamor. The Egyptian ruler discovered that he was not living in the +times of the pyramid-building Pharaohs, when men were made +beasts-of-burden. Another item not provided for was the necessity of +supplying the 30,000 workmen employed on the canal with fresh water. +For this purpose, a branch canal had to be dug, by which water could +be brought from the Nile. + +[Illustration: Cutting the Canal at Panama.] + +The enterprise thus brought to a happy ending, has already proved of +great service to the world. It must be looked upon not merely as a +benefit to commerce, but as one of the many powerful agents now +at work binding the nations closer together. It is indissolubly +connected with the name of De Lesseps, and had he been contented +with the fortune and the reputation gained by his work in forwarding +the canal, few names would have shone brighter in the list of those +who have helped on man's material well-being. But in an evil hour he +was persuaded to lend his support to the Panama Canal scheme, and +along with the ruined fortunes and ruined reputations sunk in that +abyss, the name and fortune of De Lesseps and his family have +suffered irretrievable blight. + +The Panama Canal was not first proposed in our day; the scheme is as +old as the discovery of the isthmus. "The early navigators," says J. +C. Rodrigues, "could not help noticing how near to each other were +the two oceans, and how comparatively easy would be (they thought) +the cutting of a canal through that narrow strip of land between +them. The celebrated Portuguese navigator Antonio Galvaeo, as early +as 1550, wrote an essay on the subject wherein he suggested four +different lines, one of which was through the Lake of Nicaragua, and +another by the Isthmus of Panama." England, in 1779, was the first +to make an attempt to control the river and lake communications, but +her forces sent under Nelson to begin the work were driven away by +the terrible fever that has thus far been the best defence of the +isthmus from attack. Various schemes were entertained by other +nations, but, although the United States kept a jealous eye upon its +own interests in the enterprise, it was not until the discovery of +gold in California that it saw a vital reason for insisting upon its +paramount claims, and the outbreak of the Civil War, with its +threats of European intervention, made an easier communication with +the rising States of the Pacific Coast seem an absolute necessity. +But we moved slowly and with vacillating steps. We were divided in +opinion as to the best route to take, as to the sort of canal that +was desirable, as to the advisability of building any canal. When +the war was over, the rapid increase of railroad communication with +the Pacific Coast made public opinion still more indifferent to the +enterprise. Meanwhile the French had started with great energy a +scheme for a canal at Panama, and De Lesseps had been induced to +lend his name to the scheme, and to take an active part in carrying +it out. For this purpose he visited the United States and used his +best diplomatic arts to induce our Government to unite with him in +his plans. But he could do nothing on this side the water and +returned to France to fight the battle alone. There the interest in +the scheme, artificially excited by speculators and still further +aided by the efforts of De Lesseps and his friends, increased to +such an extent as to swamp all considerations of prudence. The name +of De Lesseps, consecrated by the brilliant success of Suez, proved +to be a powerful charm. Thousands and tens of thousands of people in +the cities and in the country put the hard-earned savings of years +into the venture; senators, deputies, men of high social rank in +public life, shamelessly sold their votes and their voices to secure +the moral aid and the money of the state to aid their gambling +enterprise, and the newspaper press of Paris, at all times venal, +betrayed for bribes the trust that was reposed in it. + +Such a state of things could not last forever. The end, long +prophesied, came at last; the exposure was complete, and the whole +stupendous scheme of fraud was unmasked. Something might have been +saved from the wreck had the canal itself been a real thing so far +as it had gone, a practical enterprise, sure in time to pay its +investors and serve the public. But it was found that everything +connected with the construction of the canal had been grossly +misrepresented; the estimates of expense; the reports of the +engineering difficulties to be overcome; the dangers from the +climate; the bills of mortality; everything, in short, was enveloped +in a cloud of lies. So great was the shock to public confidence that +followed this exposure, that for a time the Republic itself seemed +in danger of overthrow. The eyes of the world were fixed upon De +Lesseps and his son Charles as the chief authors of the mischief, +and when the crisis was passed, and the smoke of the upheaval had +passed away, the Panama Canal was seen to be a ruined enterprise, +and buried deep underneath it was the once-honored name of Ferdinand +De Lesseps. + +[Signature: Clarence Cook.] + + + + +GENERAL JOHN C. FREMONT[17] + + [Footnote 17: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By JANE MARSH PARKER + +(1813-1890) + + +In these days of rapid transit between New York and San Francisco, +of luxurious travel across desert and mountain, the story of John +Charles Fremont, the Pathfinder of the great West, is of peculiar +interest, a striking illustration that the history of the world is +in the biography of its leaders, in the pathfinders of the +unexplored. + +The stormy tide of the French Revolution sent the father of John +Charles Fremont to the New World about the time, presumably, when +Napoleon Bonaparte was in the height of power. This M. Fremont came +of a good family living near Lyons, France. A British man-of-war +made prize of the ship in which he sailed for San Domingo, and he +was carried prisoner to one of the British West India islands, his +captivity lasting several years. Upon gaining his liberty he stopped +at Norfolk, Va., to refill an empty purse as a teacher of French, +and there met Anne Beverly Whiting, a leading belle of an old +Virginia family, who became his wife. One of the illustrious +connections of the Whitings was that with the family of George +Washington. M. Fremont's marked fondness for travel and adventure +was shared by his wife. They took long journeys through the wild +southern country, stopping at Indian villages, often sleeping by +camp-fires. On one of these expeditions, when making a halt at +Savannah, Ga., John Charles, their first child, was born, January +21, 1813. M. Fremont died a few years after. + +The boyhood of John Charles was spent in Charleston. It is well to +remember, in a study of his life, his French blood and early +southern environment. His first choice of a profession was the law. +At the age of fourteen he became a student in the office of John W. +Mitchell, who placed him under a private tutor, Dr. Roberton, who +understood the lad thoroughly and developed his character in the +right direction. Dr. Roberton seems to have first discovered what +was made plain in Fremont's after-life--the makings of a poet, and +the foresight of a prophet. Translating the story of the battle of +Marathon in the Greek class, young Fremont catches the spirit with +which it was told by Herodotus, and writes verses in protest of +tyranny which are published in one of the Charleston papers. "In one +year," wrote his tutor, "he had read four books of Caesar; Cornelius +Nepos; Sallust; six books of Virgil; nearly all of Horace, and two +books of Livy. In Greek--all of Graeca Minora, about half of the +first volume of Graeca Majora, and four books of the Iliad." At +fifteen he enters the junior class of Charleston College. At sixteen +he is confirmed in the Episcopal Church, entertaining at that time +thoughts of entering the ministry. His steady progress is +interrupted by his first love affair; his absorbing passion so gets +the better of his common sense, that he neglects his books and +classes and is expelled from college. We next find him teaching +higher mathematics, acting as private tutor, and devoting his +evenings to the charge of the _Apprentice's Library_, a school in +Charleston. At twenty years of age he received the appointment of +teacher of mathematics, and his long connection with the United +States Army had its beginning; his post the sloop of war Natchez. He +was to go on a cruise of two years and more along the coast of South +America. Here was a chance for him to unfit himself for further +advancement, but he improved his time upon the cruise to the utmost, +and his diligent scholarship won for him the double degree of +bachelor and master of arts from the college from which he had been +expelled. His application for a mathematical professorship in the +Navy resulted in his passing the severe examination, and in an +appointment to the frigate Independence. He declined the office, +however, having decided to become an engineer, to join Captain +Williams's survey of the mountain passes between South Carolina and +Tennessee. There was talk of a railroad between Charleston and +Cincinnati in those days. + +That was Fremont's first experience in exploring expeditions. The +corps lived chiefly in camp. The survey was in wild mountainous +regions of the unexplored South, among Indians sullen against the +Government. Fremont liked this kind of a life. He enlisted under +Captain Williams the second time in 1837, as assistant engineer, +going with him upon a military reconnoissance of the Cherokee +country in Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. A war cloud was +rising; the peril of the expedition was its charm to Fremont. "St. +Louis was then on the border of an immense and almost unexplored +Indian country. The caravans of merchandise going through it to +Santa Fe, ran all the risks you can read of among Bedouins in the +desert; the hunters and trappers, as well as the merchants, started +off into the unknown with only one certainty, that danger was there; +and when they came back--if they ever did--it was as from +underworld."[18] + + [Footnote 18: Souvenirs of my Time. Jessie Benton Fremont.] + +About this time a distinguished French geographer, M. Nicollet, was +sent to this country by France to explore the sources of the +Mississippi, "in the interests of geography." The United States were +also interested in the geography of the almost unknown Northwest. M. +Nicollet was appointed to make explorations for the United States, +and Fremont was honored with the position of principal assistant. It +was high time that something should be done in the interests of a +geography made up largely from travellers' tales. That there was a +great river, the Buena Ventura, running from the base of the Rocky +Mountains to the Bay of San Francisco, nobody doubted, for there it +was upon the map. The exploration of M. Nicollet, assisted by +Fremont, awakened great interest. They were absent two years; their +field, the territory between the Missouri and the upper rivers, as +far north as the British line. Their report was awaited with +impatience. Fremont came home to find that he had been appointed +second lieutenant of the United States Topographical Engineers. As a +scientific explorer his fame was established. The year following his +return he spent in Washington with M. Nicollet, preparing his report +for publication. Among those most deeply interested was Senator +Benton, of Missouri, "Tom Benton," as he was popularly called, and +"Old Bullion." Benton's hobby was the opening of a road for +immigrants to the Pacific coast, as a necessary step to the +acquisition of the territory held by Mexico--the California of +to-day. Senator Benton's interest in the report of the young +engineer, then about twenty-seven years of age, was surpassed by the +young engineer's interest in the senator's daughter, Jessie, then +only fifteen, an interest which ended in a betrothal contrary to the +wishes of older heads, owing to Miss Benton's youth and young +Fremont's connection with the army. The young engineer received an +unexpected and unwelcome order, sending him to the wild frontier of +Iowa at once, where the Sacs and Foxes, it was thought by Senator +Benton (who had a hand in his exile), might be made to help postpone +the marriage, at least. But banishment and red-skins were of no +avail in breaking the engagement. + +Fremont performed his duty to the letter, returned to Washington, +and married Miss Benton, October 19, 1841--a "runaway match" which +happily brought life-long happiness to both parties--Mrs. Fremont +becoming the connecting link, to use her own words, between her +father's "fixed idea of the importance of the speedy acquisition of +the Pacific coast, and its actualization through the man best fitted +to be the pioneer of the undertaking." + +Less than a year after his marriage, in the summer of 1842, Fremont +was sent by the War Department on the _first_ of the _five_ +expeditions which gave him the name of Pathfinder. + +The Mexican War was ripening fast. England had at that time +financial claims upon Mexico, and Mexico was bankrupt. + +How to get California was a serious question, reminding United +States diplomatists of the old Quaker's advice to his son--"Get +money, Joseph, get money. Get it honestly if you can--_but get it_." +Acquisition of California by settlement was vigorously encouraged. +The best routes across the mountains must be discovered and +surveyed. Partial explorations of routes to Oregon and California +had been made. Emigrants had crossed the Rockies and were settled in +the Sacramento Valley. But the geography of the Great Basin was +inaccessible to science; the best and safest routes were only +guessed at. Emigration was checked by rumors of perils, alas! too +true. Fremont's order to go to the frontier beyond the Mississippi, +was changed at his request for something more definite--the +exploration of _the South Pass_ of the Rocky Mountains. + +August 8, 1842, he reached the South Pass, and then the unexplored +was before him--untrodden ground. Kit Carson was his guide; +twenty-eight men made up his party--Canadian voyageurs, picked men, +well mounted and armed--only eight of the expedition driving wagons. +Randolph Benton, a lad of twelve, Fremont's brother-in-law, was one +of the number. The great event of this expedition, so full of +thrilling adventure, was the first ascent of that highest peak of +the Wind River Mountains, now called Fremont's Peak, 13,570 feet in +height. "We mounted the barometer in the snow of the summit," +Fremont wrote, "and fixing a ramrod in the crevice, unfurled the +national flag where never flag waved before.... While we were +sitting on the rock a solitary bumble-bee came winging its flight +from the eastern valley, and lit on the knee of one of the men." +They run a canon in the Platte, singing a Canadian boat-song for all +the peril.... Their boat is whirled over, food, ammunition, and +valuable records lost. Climbing up and out of the canon, they admire +the scenery in spite of their forlornity ... cacti and bare feet, +hunger and thirst ... but astronomical and barometrical observations +and drawings are made, botanical specimens collected, and a mass of +information, making the report of this expedition[19] what has been +called the most enduring monument of Fremont's fame. The report was +hailed in England as well as the United States, and was followed by +an increase of the wagon-trains across the mountains via the South +Pass. + + [Footnote 19: Fremont's Oregon and California. (1849.)] + +The first expedition was absent some six months. Fremont's Peak +marks the western point of that journey. + +The next order from the Government sent Fremont, in the spring of +1843, to begin exploring where he had left off in 1842; to connect +his survey with that of Commodore Wilkes on the Pacific coast. Kit +Carson was again his guide; many of the previous expedition +enlisted, 32 men in all. Across the forks of the Kansas the route +lay west of Fort Laramie, through the Medicine Butte Pass and the +South Pass to the northern end of Great Salt Lake. Fremont's report +of this region led the Mormons to settle at Salt Lake afterward, +believing they would be in Mexican territory. The record of this +expedition, like the preceding one, is a story of fearful suffering +and heroic endurance. It is given in detail in Fremont's "Memoirs," +and Benton's "Thirty Years in the Senate." Deep snows on the +mountains, no sign of the Buena Ventura River, Indians refusing to +guide such a foolhardy venture; "skeleton men leading skeleton +horses;" the descent into the Sacramento Valley at last, and the +arrival at Fort Vancouver, November 1843, gives but a glimpse of the +heroism of this second expedition. The suffering endured in reaching +the coast was as nothing to that of the return through the great +valley between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada, looking for the +river they were the first to prove did not exist at all. From San +Francisco back to Salt Lake, three thousand five hundred miles in +eight months, not once out of the sight of snow. Geography had +gained an important fact--the Colorado was the only river flowing +from the Rocky Mountains on that part of the continent. For eight +months not a word had been heard from the party, at the East, and +then Fremont came home "thin as a shadow," and Mrs. Fremont could +tell him that she might have prevented his going at all had she +chosen, for an order from Washington, countermanding the expedition, +had been received by her addressed to her husband, soon after his +departure from St. Louis. The expedition was not too far away when +the despatch came for her to get it to him, but she decided to +withhold it. Because he had taken a mountain howitzer in his outfit +he was ordered to stay at home. What a scientific expedition could +want of a howitzer was not plain to the authorities, who seemed to +think that hostile Indians knew at sight the difference between a +military and a scientific party and would respect it. Mrs. Fremont +tells the story in _The Century_ for March, 1891, how she not only +did not send on the despatch, but a messenger instead, bidding +Fremont "Go on at once without asking why," so fearful was she a +duplicate order might defeat his going at all. + +General Scott was Commander in Chief of our Army in 1845. At his +instance Lieutenant Fremont was made captain in the United States +Army, and in the fall of that year was sent by the Government on +another expedition ... this time to find the best road to the +Pacific coast. Trouble with Mexico was growing fast. Our +southwestern territory needed looking after; the northwestern of +Mexico as well. Fremont was to follow the Arkansas River to its +source in the Rocky Mountains, explore the Great Basin, the +Cascades, and the Sierra Nevada, and define a route in a southern +latitude for emigrants. Kit Carson was among the sixty men of this +party, and several veterans of the two former expeditions. They +struck out for the Sierra by the way of the Humboldt River. The war +with Mexico broke out soon after their departure. + +It was another story of fearful hardship--the Sacramento Valley was +reached at last, and Fremont hastened to Monterey to get permission +from the Mexican authorities to make a scientific exploration of the +region. His request was granted, and permission given to replenish +his exhausted supplies. Why the Government revoked this permission +almost as soon as granted, ordering him and his men to quit the +country at once or they would be sent as prisoners to Mexico, is a +source of much controversy between historians of that day and this. +Fremont could not retreat into the desert with his scanty outfit. A +rude fort was built at once on Hawk's Peak, some thirty miles from +Monterey, and the Stars and Stripes flung out, Fremont and his men +ready to take the consequences of such defiance. When they withdrew, +as they did in a few days, overtures from the Mexicans followed +them, even a proposition from the Spanish officer that Fremont +should join with him and declare the country independent of Mexico. +Fremont moved northward. He had reached Tlamath Lake when overtaken +by a special messenger from Washington, the bearer of a despatch +which had been memorized by the messenger to prevent its falling +into the hands of the Mexicans, and which Fremont interpreted to +mean that it was the wish of the Cabinet that he should aid in +taking and holding California, in the event of any occurrence which +he thought justification for so doing. The English must not +strengthen their foothold on the coast. Someone must look after the +interest of the United States; he was on the ground. If a crisis +came he must act without written authority, promptly and +discreetly--"Get it honestly if you can--_but get it_." He returned +at once to California, and found it in a revolutionary state. The +American settlers had hoisted what was called the Bear Flag, and +were eager to fight for the overthrow of the Mexican authority in +California. + +It is a long story, that of the conquest of California. Fremont's +right to be called the Conqueror or the Emancipator is bitterly +disputed by some, who claim that he attacked the Californians by +irregular warfare, and so thwarted the conciliatory designs of the +Government. Be that as it may, by July 5, 1846, the Bear Flag +insurgents under Fremont had declared their independence of Mexico, +and Fremont had been appointed Governor of California, and had +hauled down the Bear Flag and raised the Stars and Stripes. A +constitution had been drawn up and the territory declared to be in +the possession of the United States. January, 1847, "the enemy" +capitulated to Fremont. "The celerity and boldness of his movements +in the conduct of the affair were only surpassed," says a +contemporary, "by the moderation and clemency of his policy." "The +decisive point," wrote George Bancroft, "in the establishment of the +Union on a firm basis had been gained." + +The seizure of California in 1846 has been called, from another +outlook, "one of the least creditable affairs in the highly +discreditable Mexican War," and Fremont nothing more than a +filibuster seeking private ends. California had been made ours, +nevertheless, and Fremont had secured the prize. + +In the meantime the Mexican War had begun, and Commodore Stockton, +of the U. S. Navy, was hastening to California _by sea_ under orders +to subjugate the country. General Kearney was marching westward _by +land_ under like orders. Of course there was a dispute about +precedence when both were upon the ground, each asserting his right +to command the other, both issuing orders and insisting upon the +right to precedence. The difficulty of serving under two masters was +experienced by Fremont. General Vallejo testified that he received +in one day, letters from Commodore Stockton, General Kearney, and +Colonel Fremont, each signing himself "Commander-in-Chief." Fremont +believed he had sufficient reason for choosing to serve under +Stockton, which he did. Upon Stockton's return to his squadron and +Kearney's assignment to full command, Kearney brought charges +against Fremont for mutiny and fraud, defeating his re-appointment +as governor of the State besides. Fremont was ordered home, and it +was said "that, like Columbus, he returned from the discovery and +conquest of a new world, a prisoner and in disgrace." He went back +to Washington under arrest. Great honors awaited him, nevertheless, +his troubles only adding to his laurels. The citizens of Charleston +gave him a sword, the ladies the gold-mounted belt of the same. He +demanded immediate trial, which was granted, the court-martial +lasting three months, his defence filling three sessions. He was +pronounced guilty of mutiny, disobedience of the lawful command of a +superior officer, and conduct to the prejudice of good order and +military discipline--a conviction based, some said, upon technical +grounds. President Polk remitted the penalty--dismissal from the +army--but Fremont resigned at once, the President reluctantly +accepting his resignation. + +Fremont was then thirty-four years old. As the leader of three great +exploring expeditions he had become not only famous, but a popular +hero. He had done much for science. He had made the most accurate +map of the region between the one hundred and fourth meridian and +the Pacific. He had added a large collection of botanical, +geological, and other specimens to the national museums. He was +eager to resume explorations of routes to the Pacific, having +decided to settle his family in California--upon the Mariposa +estate, in the Sacramento Valley, which he had bought in 1847, +before the discovery of gold, seventy square miles, for $3,000, "the +only Mexican grant that covered any part of the gold regions." + +Fremont's claims against the Government for expenses incurred in the +conquest and defence of California, amounted to some $700,000, which +was paid to him. Among those advocating the payment were Senators +Benton, and Dix of New York. Twenty thousand copies of Fremont's map +of Oregon and California were ordered by the Senate. + +It was by no means in the role of a defeated man that he started out +upon his fourth expedition, in the fall of 1848--when the gold fever +was at its height--a venture of his own and Colonel Benton's; its +object, a route to the Pacific by way of the Rio Grande. Thirty-two +men were enlisted, picked men as before. It was a superb and costly +outfit, no less than one hundred and twenty mules. Lacking Kit +Carson for a guide, they were lost in crossing the Rocky Mountains, +every mule and horse and one-third of the men perishing from cold or +starvation. At last, as he wrote home, "the mules, huddled together +in the deep snow, froze stiff as they stood and fell over like +blocks." The freezing men recrossed the summit in retreat, some of +them driven to cannibalism. Wading through the snow to the waist, +the remnant reached the home of Kit Carson at Taos, N. M., where +Fremont reorganized the expedition, reaching the Sacramento in the +spring of 1849. + +Litigation concerning his title to the Mariposa estate did not +prevent Fremont from developing its mineral and agricultural +resources. He engaged some twenty-eight Spaniards to work its gold +mines upon shares. His prospects of boundless wealth were most +flattering. The Pathfinder was now a millionaire, and in 1855 his +title to Mariposa was established by the Supreme Court. Following +his appointment in 1849 to run the boundary line between the United +States and Mexico, the political party of the Territory seeking its +admission as a free State, elected him to the United States Senate. +Many honors were bestowed upon him at this time--the medal of the +Royal Geographical Society of London, the Founders medal from the +King of Prussia, an honorary membership of the Geographical Society +of Berlin, etc. + +In the California State election of 1851, Fremont stood with the +Anti-Slavery party, opposed to the extension of slavery in free +territories. He was defeated, and went to Europe with his family in +1852, where he was feted by royalty generally. Mrs. Fremont, in her +"Souvenirs of My Time," has given charming glimpses of this part of +their life. Hearing that Congress had made appropriation for further +surveys of great Western routes, Fremont hastened home in 1853, to +explore by a fifth expedition, what he believed to be the most +central and practicable route. This was his second private venture. +He would follow the path he had lost when the guide led him astray +on his fourth expedition. He would cross the Rockies at Cochetopa +Pass, and that in winter. + +He made the passage, but it was at the cost of frightful suffering; +fifty days on frozen horse-flesh, days without even that; +forty-eight hours without a morsel of food; the entire party +barefooted in the snow; Fremont, in the hour of extreme peril on the +storm-swept mountain-side, making his men take oath that, come what +might, nothing should tempt them to cannibalism. Benton tells us how +Fremont went straight to the spot where the guide had gone astray in +1848, and found safe and easy passes all the way to California, upon +the straight line of 38 deg. and 39 deg.. Great railroads of to-day follow +the line it took those starving and half-frozen men fifty days to +pass in that winter of 1854. For three months nothing was heard from +the party. Fremont's arrival in San Francisco was an ovation. +"Europe lies between Asia and America," we read in his report; +"build the road, and America lies between Europe and Asia.... The +iron track to San Francisco will be the thoroughfare of the world." + +The issues at stake in the presidential campaign of 1856 make that +campaign the most important of any in the history of our country. +"The question now to be decided," said Seward, "is whether a +slave-holding class shall govern America or not." The nomination of +John Charles Fremont as the candidate of the Republican party was +hailed with enthusiasm at the North. The Civil War was impending. +The lines between the defenders of slavery and its opponents were +sharply defined. Fremont was the first nominee of the Republican +party. The romance and adventure of his career, his upright life, +the hero-worship of the Pacific coast, the antagonism of the South, +gave the canvass a vitalizing force that his defeat by James +Buchanan did not lessen, but simply changed into a new phase of +strength. Fremont's popular vote was 1,341,000 against 1,838,000 for +Buchanan and 874,000 for Fillmore (Know-Nothing). Fremont received +114 electoral votes, and Buchanan 174. + +When the Civil War broke out, in 1861, Fremont was in Europe. He +offered his services to the Government at once, and was appointed +one of the four major-generals of the regular army, and given his +choice of a command at the East or the West. He chose the West. "Who +holds the Mississippi will hold the country by the heart," he said. +His head-quarters were at St. Louis, where secession was rampant. +"You must use your own judgment," wrote President Lincoln, "and do +the best you can. I doubt if the States will ever come back." +Fremont's policy differed from Lincoln's essentially; it lacked that +patient, conciliatory spirit with the South which made it hard for +many at the North to approve of the compromising policy of the Chief +Executive, seeking to hold the neutral States from seceding. +Fremont's hatred of the rebellion led him to deal with it just as he +would have done with a mutiny on a perilous expedition. He +proclaimed martial law. Rebels were to pay some penalty for +rebellion--rebel newspapers were silenced--and what was the notable +feature of Fremont's administration--the slaves of those in arms +against the Government were declared emancipated; his emancipation +proclamation antedating Lincoln's of September 22, 1862, by a little +more than a year. But Fremont's policy was censured rather than +approved by the country at large. Petty intrigues of officers in +close relation with the Cabinet did much to defeat his plans. His +fleet of gunboats was called a useless extravagance--his staff "the +California Gang." His emancipation proclamation was pronounced +premature and unwise by Lincoln, and revoked. Fremont again was the +cause of an intense public partisanship, "Fremont's career at the +West was brief," says "Patton's Concise History of the United +States," "only one hundred days; but, being a man of military +instincts and training, he showed in that time a sagacity which was +not allowed fair practical development. In that brief time he was +the first to suggest and inaugurate the following practices, then +widely decried, but without which the war would not have been +successfully concluded: the free use of cavalry (strongly opposed by +General Scott and others); exchange of prisoners with the enemy; +fortification of large cities, to allow armies to take the field; +building of river gunboats for the interior operations at the West; +and the emancipation of the slaves. In short, he contributed more +than is generally credited to him." "To get rid of Fremont," says +Major-General Sigel, "the good prospects and honor of the army were +sacrificed to the jealousy of successful rivals." Fremont was +relieved of his command in 1861, and shortly after appointed +commander of the Mountain District of Virginia, Kentucky, and +Tennessee, where he did most honorable service, Stonewall Jackson +retreating before him after eight days' sharp skirmishing, ending in +the battle of Cross Keys. + +Upon the appointment of General Pope as Commander of the Army of +Virginia, making him Fremont's superior officer, Fremont asked to be +relieved; his request was granted. + +A minority of the Republican party, the radical wing, opposed to the +renomination of Lincoln in 1864, nominated Fremont as their +candidate. He accepted, but finally withdrew. "Not to aid in the +triumph of Lincoln," he said, "but to do my part toward preventing +the election of the Democratic candidate." One of the Republican +candidates would have to retire to save the party. Here is a subject +for debating clubs: Was the interest of the country best served by +Fremont's withdrawal from the canvass of 1864? + +After 1864 Fremont took little part in public life. He became +absorbed in his great trans-continental railroad scheme of a line +from Norfolk to San Diego and San Francisco, in which he ultimately +lost his large fortune. French agents, in disposing of his bonds in +France, made false representations. He was prosecuted by the French +Government in 1873, and sentenced by default to fine and +imprisonment, although no judgment was given on the merits of the +case. + +The sale of his Mariposa grant brought him several millions, which +he invested in railroads soon after the war, buying the properties +that now constitute a large part of the Texas Pacific and other +roads belonging to the Atchison and Santa Fe. In the great +consolidation entailed by the foreign litigation, his confidence was +abused, and he met with heavy and irreparable loss. + +From 1878 to 1881 he was Governor of Arizona. His "Memoirs" appeared +in 1886. The closing years of his life were spent in comparative +retirement. + +Not long before his sudden death in New York City July 14, 1890, at +the age of seventy-seven years, he had been placed on the retired +list of the United States Army with the rank of Major-General. When +he passed away the Pathfinder of Africa was filling the public +ear--the wedding of Stanley in Westminster Abbey was the theme of +the hour. + +He was buried in Kensico Cemetery, Piermont-on-the-Hudson, about +thirty miles from New York City, near the country home of his +prosperous days. His widow, Jessie Benton Fremont, is at this +writing (1893), a resident of Los Angeles, Cal. Three children +survive their father, an unmarried daughter, Elizabeth McDowell +Benton, Lieutenant Frank Preston Fremont, U. S. A.; and Lieutenant +John Charles Fremont, U. S. N. After his death Mrs. Fremont demanded +compensation for, or restitution of the property appropriated by the +United States Government for military purposes in San Francisco +harbor, in 1863, and for which she has never received a dollar +(1893). The settlement of this claim in her favor is anticipated by +the bench generally, long as justice to her has been delayed. At +present she has a pension from the Government. + +Some profess to find it hard reading the character of John Charles +Fremont, calling it enigmatical and baffling. Not so with those who +knew him best. "His unwritten history," writes one of these, "gives +the clew to his life." + +That he was a man of indomitable courage none can deny; a man of +lofty principle and unblemished character. An atmosphere of romance +makes him the American Chevalier. + +He did more than any other man to open the pathways to the Pacific +coast. The bitter feeling engendered by the California conquest, and +his policy in the Civil War, is not yet extinct. Partisanship has +biassed the most of his biographers. The intense feeling underlying +the presidential campaign of 1856 did not conduce to a fair estimate +of the man, who has suffered hardly less from the intense admiration +of his friends than from jealousies of rivals and foes. "I tried to +do my duty," he would say in his old age, when asked to explain +knotty points about the conquest. + +"All that he ever did for the Government," says one who knew him +well, "was uniformly repaid with injury." That is the verdict of one +side of the controversy. The sifting and weighing of a mass of +conflicting evidence, preceding the final verdict of permanent +history, is not yet ended in Fremont's case. That the outcome will +be illumination of his fame rather than obscuration, his unswerving +defenders do not doubt. + +"Though the Pathfinders die, the paths remain open." + +[Signature: Jane Marsh Parker.] + + + + +DAVID LIVINGSTONE + +By Professor W. G. BLAIKIE, LL.D. + +(1813-1873) + +[Illustration: David Livingstone.] + + +David Livingstone, missionary and traveller, was born at Blantyre, +in Lanarkshire, March 19, 1813. His parents, who were in humble +life, were of devout and exemplary character; his father in +particular being a great reader, especially of travels and +missionary intelligence, and much interested in the enterprise of +the nineteenth century. At the age of ten David became a worker in a +cotton-factory at Blantyre, and continued in that laborious +occupation for fourteen years. His thirst for knowledge led him to +read all that he could lay his hands on; he used also to attend a +night-class, after the long hours of the factory, for the study of +Latin. The reading of Dick's "Philosophy of a Future State" was not +only the means of a profound impression on his mind, but kindled the +desire to devote his life as a missionary to the service of Christ. + +Deeply impressed with the advantages of medical training to a +missionary, he resolved to qualify himself in medicine, as well as +the other attainments looked for in a missionary. The London +Missionary Society having accepted the offer of his services, he +went to London to complete his studies. His first desire was to +labor in China, but, war having broken out between that country and +Great Britain, this wish could not be fulfilled. The Rev. Robert +Moffat's visit at this time to England turned many hearts to +Africa--Livingstone's among the rest; ultimately he was appointed to +that field, and, having been ordained on November 20, 1840, he set +sail for Africa, reaching Lattakoo or Kuruman, Moffat's settlement, +on July 31, 1841. + +For several years Livingstone labored as a missionary in the +Bechuana country, at Mabotse, Chonuana, and Kolobeng, places that +were chosen by him just because they were in the heart of +heathenism. The conversion of Sechele, chief of the Bakwains, and +several of his tribe, was a great encouragement. Repulsed by the +Boers in an effort to plant native missionaries in the Transvaal, he +directed his steps northward, discovered Lake 'Ngami and found the +country there traversed by fine rivers and inhabited by a dense +population. His anxiety to benefit this region led finally to his +undertaking to explore the whole country westward to the Atlantic at +St. Paul de Loanda, and eastward to the Indian Ocean at Quilimane. + +Livingstone had married at Mabotse, Mary, eldest daughter of the +Rev. R. Moffat, and now he found it necessary to send her, with +their children, to England, that he might be free for this vast and +perilous undertaking. To accomplish it occupied from June 8, 1852, +when he left Cape Town, to May 26, 1856, when he arrived at +Quilimane. This journey was accomplished with a mere handful of +followers, and a mere pittance of stores, amid sicknesses and other +bodily troubles, perils, and difficulties without number. But a vast +amount of valuable information was gathered respecting the country +and its products, its geography and natural history, the native +tribes, the regions that were favorable to health, and some great +natural wonders, such as the Zambesi Falls. + +Livingstone, however, found that the London Missionary Society were +not willing that he should be to so large an extent an explorer, and +some time after returning to Britain he resigned his office as one +of their missionaries. + +At home Livingstone was welcomed with extraordinary enthusiasm, +receiving the acknowledgments and honors of scientific societies, +universities, town councils, and other public bodies in every +quarter of the country. In addition to these tokens of honor, the +fifteen months spent at home were signalized by three things: the +writing of his book, "Missionary Travels" (1857), which was received +with the liveliest interest; his visit to Cambridge, awakening the +enthusiasm of many of the students, and leading to the formation +afterward of the "Universities Mission;" and his appointment by Her +Majesty's Government as chief of an expedition for exploring the +Zambesi and its tributaries, and the regions adjacent. + +On this expedition Livingstone set out on March 10, 1858. While +successful in many ways, it led to not a little disappointment. +Livingstone explored the Zambesi, the Shire, and the Rovuma; +discovered Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, and came to a decided conclusion +that Lake Nyassa and its neighborhood was the best field for both +commercial and missionary operations. His disappointments arose from +the grievous defects of a steamer sent out to him by Government, +from the death of comrades and helpers, including his wife and +Bishop Mackenzie; from the abandonment of the Universities Mission; +from the opposition of the Portuguese authorities; but mainly from +the distressing discovery that, encouraged by Portuguese traders, +the slave-trade was extending in the district, and the slave-traders +using his very discoveries to facilitate their infamous traffic. At +length a despatch recalling the expedition was received, July 2, +1863. Livingstone, at his own cost, had brought out a new steamer, +but she could not be put on the lake. Depressed though he was, he +explored the northern banks of Lake Nyassa on foot; then in his own +vessel, and under his own seamanship, crossed the Indian Ocean to +Bombay; and after a brief stay there, returned to Britain, reaching +London on July 23, 1864. + +At home Livingstone had two objects--to expose the atrocious deeds +of the Portuguese slave-traders, and to find means of establishing a +settlement for missions and commerce somewhere near the head of the +Rovuma, or wherever a suitable locality could be found. His second +book, "The Zambesi and its Tributaries" (1865), was designed to +further these objects. He was again received with every +demonstration of honor and regard. A proposal was made to him, on +the part of the Royal Geographical Society, to return to Africa and +settle a disputed question regarding the water-shed of Central +Africa and the sources of the Nile. He said he would go only as a +missionary, but was willing to help to solve the geographical +problem. + +He set out in August, 1865, _via_ Bombay and Zanzibar. On March 19, +1866, he started from the latter place, first of all trying to find +a suitable settlement, then striking westward in order to solve the +geographical problem. Through the ill-behavior of some of his +attendants a report of his death was circulated, but an expedition, +headed by Mr. E. D. Young, R. N., ascertained that the report was +false. Livingstone pressed westward amid innumerable hardships, and +in 1869 discovered Lakes Meoro and Bangweolo. All the while he was +doing what he could for the religious enlightenment of the natives. +Obliged to return for rest to Ujiji, where he found his goods +squandered, he struck westward again as far as the river Lualaba, +thinking it might possibly be the Nile, but far from certain that it +was not, what it proved afterward to be, the Congo. Returning after +severe illness once more to Ujiji, Livingstone found there, Mr. H. +M. Stanley, who had been sent to look for him by the proprietor of +the _New York Herald_. But no consideration would induce him to +return home till he had made one more effort to solve the +geographical problem. + +He returned to Lake Bangweolo, but fell into wretched health. His +sufferings always increasing, when he reached Chitambo's village in +Ilala, he was obliged to give in. On the morning of May 1, 1873, he +was found by his attendants on his knees, dead. His faithful people +embalmed his body as best they could, carried it amid the greatest +perils to the shore, where it was put on board a British cruiser, +and on April 18, 1874, it was buried in Westminster Abbey. + +Among the remains brought home were his "Last Journals," brought +down to within a few days of his death; these were published in +1874. Stanley suggested the name of Livingstone for the main stream +of the Congo (hence the Baptist Mission on the Lower Congo was +called the "Livingstone Inland Mission"), and Mr. H. H. Johnston +proposed that part of the East African territory acquired by Britain +in 1890--the lower drainage area of the Zambesi--should be called +Livingstone Land. + + * * * * * + +The following letter, written by him to his children in 1853, during +his first exploring tour, gives the character of the man, and shows +his deep religious feeling: + +"_Sekeletu's Town, Linyanti, 2d October._--My dear Robert, Agnes, +and Thomas and Oswell.--Here is another little letter for you all. I +should like to see you much more than write to you, and speak with +my tongue rather than with my pen, but we are far from each +other--very, very far. Here are Scipone, and Meriye, and others who +saw you as the first white children they ever looked at. Meriye came +the other day and brought a round basket for Nannie. She made it of +the leaves of the palmyra. Others put me in mind of you all by +calling me Rananee, Rarobert, and there is a little Thomas in the +town, and when I think of you I remember, though I am far off, +Jesus, our good and gracious Jesus, is ever near both you and me, +and then I pray to Him to bless you and make you good. + +"He is ever near. Remember this if you feel angry or naughty. Jesus +is near you, and sees you, and He is so good and kind. When He was +among men, those who heard him speak said, 'Never man spake like +this man,' and we now say, 'Never did man love like Him.' You see +little Zouga is carried on mamma's bosom. You are taken care of by +Jesus with as much care as mamma takes care of Zouga. He is always +watching you and keeping you in safety. It is very bad to sin, to do +any naughty things, or speak angry or naughty words before Him. + +"My dear children, take Him as your Guide, your Helper, your Friend, +and Saviour through life. Whatever you are troubled about, ask Him +to keep you. Our God is good. We thank Him that we have such a +Saviour and Friend as He is. Now you are little, but you will not +always be so, hence you must learn to read, and write, and work. All +clever men can both read and write, and Jesus needs clever men to do +His work. Would you not like to work for Him among men? Jesus is +wishing to send His gospel to all nations, and He needs clever men +to do this. Would you like to serve Him? Well, you must learn now, +and not get tired learning. After some time you will like learning +better than playing, but you must play too in order to make your +bodies strong and be able to serve Jesus. + +"I am glad to hear that you go to the academy. I hope you are +learning fast. Don't speak Scotch. It is not so pretty as English. +Is the Tau learning to read with mamma? I hope you are all kind to +mamma. I saw a poor woman in a chain with many others, up at the +Barotse. She had a little child, and both she and her child were +very thin. See how kind Jesus was to you. No one can put you in +chains unless you become bad. If, however, you learn bad ways, +beginning only by saying bad words or doing little bad things, Satan +will have you in chains for sin, and you will be hurried on in his +bad ways till you are put into the dreadful place which God hath +prepared for him and all who are like him. Pray to Jesus to deliver +you from sin, give you new hearts, and make you His children. Kiss +Zouga, mamma, and each other for me. + + "Your ever affectionate father." + + + + +CYRUS W. FIELD[20] + + [Footnote 20: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By MURAT HALSTEAD + +(1819-1892) + +[Illustration: Cyrus W. Field.] + + +We, the people of the United States, have been celebrating with +memorable pomp the discovery of our hemisphere by Christopher +Columbus, and the elder nations and far-off islands have joined us +in an immense festivity, honoring beyond all example of approbation +an adventure that was a marvel, and an achievement that is immortal. + +All the world remembers the voyage of Columbus, that, persevered in +through trials and perils, ended in triumph--how he studied the +stars and the charts, and out of the dreams of ages wove the fabric +of fancy that grew to theory, and prophecy, and history, that there +was land beyond the Atlantic; and there is no moment in human life +supreme above, or of more fascinating interest than, that when, from +the deck of his caravel he saw the light on the shore of the new +world. + +An incident worthy to be associated for ever with this, is that of +Cyrus West Field, in his library, turning over a globe, after a +conversation relative to extending a line of telegraph to +Newfoundland, to reduce the time of the transmission of news between +Europe and America; when the idea flashed into his mind that the +telegraph might span the Atlantic. The next day Mr. Field wrote to +Lieutenant Maury, of the National Observatory at Washington, and to +Professor Morse, who invented the telegraph. + +The Atlantic telegraph was as truly the conception and the +accomplishment of Mr. Field, as the discovery of America was the +ambition and the act of Columbus; and Chief Justice Chase was not +extravagant when he said the telegraph across the ocean was "the +most wonderful achievement of civilization," and entitled "its +author to a distinguished rank among benefactors;" or when he added: +"High upon that illustrious roll will his name be placed, and there +will it remain while oceans divide and telegraphs unite mankind." +John Bright said: "My friend Field, the Columbus of modern times, by +his cable has moored the New World alongside the Old." + +Equally lofty testimony to the splendor of his fame is that of the +London _Times_ of August 6, 1858, saying: "Since the discovery of +Columbus, nothing has been done in any degree comparable to the vast +enlargement which has thus been given to the sphere of human +activity." + +From the first vital spark that at last glows into the bloom of +life, each human being is endowed with certain qualities and +capacities, aptitudes, inspirations, possibilities, limitations; and +if one trace the stream of blood to its remotest sources, there is +no inconsistency in ancestry, and the science of humanity may be as +strict within its boundaries as that of geology, or the story of +fruitful trees, or the magnetic constellations. + +The four famous brothers have given the Field family an almost +unique celebrity in this country. They were the sons of the Rev. +David Dudley Field, of Western Massachusetts, the room-mate at Yale +College of Jeremiah Evarts, father of William M. Evarts. Field and +Evarts entered college together in 1798, and graduated in 1802. The +American Fields are the descendants of John Field, the astronomer of +Ardsley, in Yorkshire, who gained a great reputation by publishing +astronomical tables, and died in 1587. Ardsley, it has not passed +from the general recollection, was the name of the estate on the +Hudson where for so many years Mr. Cyrus W. Field made his summer +home. + +The family name was in the fifteenth century changed from Feld, +Feild, Felde, and Fielde, into its present form; and John Field, the +astronomer, was the first to introduce the Copernican system in +England, and he received a patent in 1558, authorizing him to bear +as a crest over his family arms, an arm issuing from clouds and +supporting a globe. Dr. Richard Field, chaplain of Queen Elizabeth, +was of the same family, and author of the "Book of the Church," +republished in four volumes at Oxford in 1843. + +It was the last day of autumn, November 30, 1819, at the Morgan Place, +on a hill that sloped to the river, near Stockbridge, Mass., that +Cyrus West Field was born. There were three older brothers--David +Dudley, Timothy Beale, and Matthew Dickinson. The Cyrus came from a +man of note in the town, named Cyrus Williams, and the West from Dr. +Stephen West, the predecessor of Dr. David Dudley Field in the pulpit +at Stockbridge. It is said of the child that he was of very delicate +organization, so weak and frail that his body "had to be supported by +a frame in which he could roll around the room till his limbs could +get strength to bear him." There was, however (as his younger brother, +Dr. Henry M. Field, the historian of the family, says in his vigorous +English), "a nervous energy and elasticity derived from his mother," +that brought him up, and "once set upon his little feet, he developed +by incessant motion," and he was noted for "restless activity," a +characteristic of his whole life. His frame, always slight, "became +tough and wiry, capable of great effort and great endurance." Cyrus +was the one of the Field boys who did not go to college. When fifteen +years of age, his brother, David Dudley, who was nearly fifteen years +his senior, and lived until his ninetieth year, secured a place for +him in the store of A. T. Stewart. Cyrus was a thorough country boy, +and his mother's boy, and did not take kindly to the city at first. +Dr. Field says: "I well remember hearing my brother Matthew tell +mother how Cyrus had come down to the boat on which he left the city, +and wept bitterly; and mother telling him, the next time he went to +New York, if his little brother felt so still, to bring him home." Mr. +Field soon grew tired of being a clerk, and launched out in the +manufacture and sale of paper. His capital was his brains--and in +twelve years, when he was but thirty-three years old, he was in +possession of a handsome fortune, and thought of retiring. This, +however, was only a phase of restlessness, and he had before him +nearly forty years of extraordinary activity. His great works and +trials, his counting his gains and losses by millions, his glory and +his sorrows, were all before him. The first of his many long journeys +was to South America, with the artist Church, who painted for him the +"Heart of the Andes." He ascended the Magdalena River, climbed the +Andes to Bogota, crossed to Quito, and by way of Guayaquil, in +Ecuador, reached the western coast, and returned home October, 1853, +in time for the golden wedding of his parents. Then he set about the +task of retirement from business, and was in a feverish state of +energy upon that subject, and drifted into the twelve years harassing +struggle, from the time when, in his house in Gramercy Park, he sat +alone and turned over the globe, and thought of a telegraphic cable +through the Atlantic, until the tremendous task was gloriously +finished. After writing to Maury and Morse, Mr. Field called in his +next-door neighbor, Peter Cooper; and next called Moses Taylor, who +listened for an hour without saying a word; and brought in his most +intimate friend, Marshall O. Roberts; and then Mr. Chandler White (who +died the next year and was succeeded by Wilson G. Hunt). They +organized "The New York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph Company," +Field, Cooper, Taylor, and Roberts putting in $20,000 each, and White +a smaller sum. Field and White, with David Dudley Field as legal +adviser, set forth for Newfoundland to get a charter, and called it a +fishing excursion. They got a land donation, and an exclusive right to +land cable for fifty years. There was first to build a line of +telegraph four hundred miles through the wilderness, across the huge +island. The land-line work lasted three years, and each of the +parties who started by putting in $20,000, put in ten times that +amount, and Field much more. The first cable across the Gulf of St. +Lawrence was a failure. The second one held; and at last there rolled +two thousand miles of tempestuous ocean, with a bottom that was a +mystery, between the verge of the American soil and the Irish coast. + +Mr. Cyrus W. Field visited England as an Atlantic cable missionary, +and addressed the Chambers of Commerce in the principal cities, and +the members of the Government. His intense convictions and incessant +enthusiasm made way. The scientific men of England were cautious but +hopeful. There had been, as it happened, the year before a survey of +the North Atlantic, disclosing conditions of the bottom of the sea, +and they were reassuring. The Government was so far interested as to +engage to furnish ships to lay the cable, and to guarantee L14,000 a +year for messages sent if it proved a success--four per cent. of the +expected cost; but the capital had to be raised by private +enterprise, and Mr. Field visited Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, +and Liverpool, and subscribed one-fourth of the whole sum. His +persistence was continued until the money was raised; but his +friends in America were not eager for the stock, and he had to pay +into the treasury of the company L88,000 in gold. The complete +responsibility of Mr. Field appears at every point. He was the +inspiration and the moving force from first to last. The work was +strange, and there were delays and details of difficulty arising at +every step, that a thousand times would have been insurmountable, if +it had not been for the indomitable Field, whose tenacity even +exceeded his impetuosity. There were two governments to be +negotiated with to furnish ships. The cable was at last ready and on +board--and three hundred and sixty-five years after Columbus sailed +from the shores of Spain, Field sailed from Ireland, the +Lord-Lieutenant, the Earl of Carlisle, making the speech of the +occasion. The first effort was to lay the cable straight from +Ireland to Newfoundland, and the start was made Wednesday, August 5, +1857. Three hundred and fifty miles out the cable broke. That was +failure; and Field's private fortune had suffered severely from his +absence. But the next year he was again in England and another start +was made--the ships going half-way and joining the cable and running +both ways. The cable parted again and again, and the ships returned +to England. All were in despair but Field, and he rallied once more, +and another trial was made--and succeeded. The cable lasted for a +few weeks and gave out. The people were wild with delight at the +success, and utterly cast down and disgusted by the failure. But the +proof was out; the thing could be done. Cables had been laid in the +Mediterranean, and final success was in sight. A new cable was made +and coiled on the Great Eastern--and when starting from Ireland and +one thousand two hundred and fifty miles were out, there was a break +where the ocean was two miles deep, and a year was lost. Then +another cable on the Great Eastern, and in 1866 it held out all the +way over. This was the year of the war between Prussia and Austria, +just after the battle of Sadowa. The next thing was to find and +splice the lost cable of the year before, and that was done, one of +the most wonderful things that ever happened. Mr. Field told the +story before the Chamber of Commerce of New York in November, 1866, +saying, after the lost cable was found and spliced: "A few minutes +of suspense and a flash told of the lightning current again set +free--some turned their heads away and wept, others broke into +cheers. Soon the wind arose and we were for thirty-six hours exposed +to all the dangers of a storm on the Atlantic; yet in the fury of +the gale, as I sat in the electrician's room, a flash of light came +up from the deep, which, having passed to Ireland, came back to me +in mid-ocean, telling that those so dear to me, whom I had left on +the banks of the Hudson, were well, and following us with their +prayers. This was like a whisper of God from the sea, bidding me +keep heart and hope." + +The Great Eastern safely landed the second cable, and the two worlds +were safely forever joined. Mr. Field said he had often, in the long +struggle--nearly thirteen years in the forests of Newfoundland, on +ships in stormy seas--almost accused himself of madness, sacrificing +everything for what might prove, after all, but a dream. He received +the thanks of Congress, with a gold medal--the grand medal of the +French Exposition of 1867. Honors were heaped upon him. If he had +been a British subject, he would have been made a baronet. He had +given twelve years without accepting remuneration for time or toil, +and his hopeful, at last haggard dream, was a marvellous golden +reality. + +He was forty-seven years of age. He visited Egypt at the opening of +the Suez Canal in 1864. He attended the millennial celebration of +the settlement of Iceland in August, 1874. He made with his wife a +trip around the world in 1880. He was known in all civilized lands +as one of the foremost men of his time. All the people of the +highest distinction in England knew and admired him as the most +typical and celebrated of Americans. Mr. Gladstone, Mr. John Bright, +the Duke of Argyle, Dean Stanley were his intimate friends. His +house at Gramercy Park was the scene of a splendid hospitality. +There gathered in his ample parlors, stored with souvenirs from +every land, and in his dining-room, men and women of the highest +consideration at home and abroad. + +The keenness of his intelligence had increased with his +unprecedented experience. His triumphs had given him confidence in +his executive ability, and there was nothing too daring for him to +contemplate. His bitter lessons in going to the verge of ruin, when +he gave the fortune of his youth to the enterprise that he carried +to success, were amply pondered, and he resolved never again to +allow those near and dear to him to take the chances of cruel +fortune and the anxieties of impending want. + +When his years were numbered in the thirties, he was meditating +retirement from business; and when he was in the sixties, his +irrepressible activities carried him into the development of the +elevated railway system on Manhattan Island, with the same ardor and +fixed purpose with which, thirty years before, he had invaded the +wilderness of Newfoundland to find a basis of operations for the +conquest of the Atlantic. His faith was undaunted and without limit. +His touch revealed new fortunes. He saw that the elevated lines that +developed Harlem, would also improve lower New York; and the +Washington Building, No. 1 Broadway, was the materialization of the +thought. The intensity that was remarked in his childhood, and that +commanded the confidence of the capitalists of England, knew no +abatement. He had been very cautious in advising Englishmen about +investments, but had imparted to some of them the assurance that +United States Bonds were as sound as the English investment of +national debt, and they profited by accepting his judgment. He +insisted upon popularizing the elevated roads by a uniform fare of +five cents, and had it done against strong opposition, and was more +confident than ever in the stock, of which he had an enormous +holding. But it took years longer than he had calculated to make +good his plans, and in the interval came a financial storm that +compelled him to submit to a heavy loss. He bore his misfortune with +fortitude, and still had a competency ample for him, when there came +a torrent of ill-fortune--the loss of his beloved wife, and the +failure of his sons, under circumstances that bore the distressing +stamp of insanity in one of them, a taint of madness that was in the +blood which had been so prolific of genius. He suffered where he was +strongest and weakest--in his love and his pride. + +His spirit would have been invincible if his heart had not been +broken. No husband and father was ever more solicitous for the +welfare of wife and children. The death of his wife, followed by the +disasters that overtook his sons, wounded him as mortally as if a +flight of arrows had pierced him. The very contingencies of fortune +against which he thought he had provided with infinite painstaking, +fell upon him as if from clouds in a sky he thought clear. His +deepest resolution was that, after the long strain of facing the +total loss of fortune during the dark years of the cable enterprise, +he never again would consent to take the chances of the catastrophe +that had haunted him, and from which he had escaped at such hazard +that the fortunate interposition seemed miraculous; and he did not +consciously do the wrong to himself and dear ones he had with such +anxiety sought to avoid. His misfortunes were as incalculable as +incurable. + +The family affection of the Fields is one of their distinctions, and +the love the four brothers, known to all the world, bore each other, +was as gentle and full of all happiness as that of children. The +"little acts of kindness, little deeds of love," that, as the old +hymn says, would make the world an Eden, were never wanting. The +festivals in which they delighted were those of the family--the +eightieth birthday of the oldest brother--the golden wedding. In his +long travels, Mr. Field was ever thoughtful of home, and it was like +him, giving a dinner to a company of Americans in Edinburgh, to +telegraph to their families so that each guest found the news of +that day, from his own fireside, in a cablegram on his plate. + +Mr. Field was no doubt attracted to Iceland, in 1874, by his studies +of the northern waters; the way the world tapers off in the high +latitudes, and the fact that Iceland must have been often in his +mind as he studied Newfoundland and Ireland, and knew that Iceland +was so near Greenland as to belong to the American continent, and to +have been a stepping-stone from Norway to Labrador. He was regarded +by the Icelanders as almost as great a man as the King of Denmark, +who visited his remote possession at the same time; and they thought +Field even a greater discoverer than Columbus, for they said the +Genoese navigator got his knowledge of the land in the west from +their ancestors, and sailed on a certainty. + +On the day President Garfield was shot down, he was on his way to +Williams College, and was to dine that night with Mr. Cyrus Field at +Ardsley, and go to the old place he called "the sweetest in the +world" next day. A yacht was waiting to convey the President from +Jersey City, when the news of the assassination became known. The +President suffered mentally because he had not made adequate +provision for his family, and Mr. Field headed a subscription list +with a liberal sum, and in a few days had a quarter of a million +dollars safely invested for Mrs. Garfield and her children. The +motive of this timely and apt generosity was, first, to afford +consolation to the dying chief magistrate. + +It was within the scope of the ambition of Mr. Field to span the +Pacific as well as the Atlantic Ocean with a cable; but having +triumphantly overcome one ocean, he failed to put a girdle round the +earth, as De Lesseps, having succeeded with the Suez Canal--the only +work of the age to be named with the Atlantic telegraph--failed at +Darien. + +If the prosperity of Mr. Field had continued, and the light had not +gone out in his home, he would not have been content until he had +ransacked the globe for ways and means to have followed the sun to +Asia with the telegraph. His footsteps point the way, and the road +to India is westward. + +The golden wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus W. Field was attended by +hundreds of those who knew and loved them, and the great double +house of the Fields, fronting on Gramercy Park, was full of bright +faces and glittering with lights. The historic home was soon +darkened and made desolate. The master, the renowned victor--no name +more certain of an honorable immortality than his--was one whom +"unmerciful disaster followed fast and followed faster." His wife +passed away at Ardsley before the deeper gloom of the storm, and he +died there July 12, 1892. In his delirium on the morning of his +death, he was again on the stormy coast with the cable fleet; and he +said: "Hold those ships--do not let them sail yet." Through the +centuries there had descended to him from the old astronomer, his +ancestor, the far-flashing conception of enterprise and +understanding of the splendor of destiny that was his star, and +mingled with its light were the gentle influences of the religion of +his fathers, always to him real and radiant. He sleeps well, amid +the scenes where he passed his boyhood, and for which his heart +yearned always--beside his beloved wife; and carved in the marble of +their tomb as the last testimony to the loving heart of his +companion, are the words: "Love is eternal." The recollection of his +sorrows will not, as the centuries come and go, dim the beautiful +light of his illustrious name. + +[Signature: Murat Halstead.] + + + + +QUEEN VICTORIA + +By DONALD MACLEOD, D.D. + +(Born 1819-1901) + +[Illustration: Queen Victoria.] + + +Well do I remember the effect produced on the audience of students, +of which I was then one, when Lord Macaulay delivered his Rectorial +address in the University of Glasgow, and when, after giving such +pictures as he alone could paint, of the character of the four +centuries that had closed since the university had been +founded--each epoch presenting a scene of bloodshed and +misgovernment--he sketched the possible future of the college, and +anticipated the time when coming generations would tell how certain +contemplated changes had been accomplished during the reign of "the +Good Queen Victoria." The phrase was accentuated by an oratorical +swing; and when it was given, the tremendous burst of enthusiasm +showed that they who listened felt the great historian had chosen +the right epithet, and that he intended it in the sense that, as +some monarchs are called "Great" and some "Little," so for all time +Victoria would be named "the Good Queen." This was said more than +forty years ago, before Tennyson had fixed the "Household name," +"Albert the Good," for + + "That star + Which shone so close beside Thee, that ye made + One light together." + +The epoch in our history which is embraced between the years 1837 +and 1887, is unparalleled. At no time in the history of the nation, +or of the world, has there been such rapid and beneficent progress. +We, who are citizens of "the old country," scarcely realize the +extent of our dominion. The Roman Empire was one-fourth its size; +all the Russias contain an eighth less; it is sixteen times as large +as France, and three times as large as the United States. The United +Kingdom, with its colonies and dependencies, includes about +one-fifth of the entire globe. The rapidity with which population +has grown in some parts of our dominion may be measured by +Australasia, which in 1837 had 134,059, and in 1885, 3,278,934, or +twenty-three times as many more. When we turn from these figures to +consider other fields of progress, we are still more amazed. It goes +without saying that these last fifty years have seen the growth of +railways and steamships from their infancy to their present +world-embracing influence. The mileage of railways open in the +United Kingdom in 1837 was about 294 miles, but a great proportion +was worked by horses. In 1885 the mileage was 19,169, the gross +receipts, L69,555,774; they carried about 1,275,000,000 passengers, +and employed 367,793 men. Not a steamer had crossed the Atlantic by +steam alone when the queen came to the throne, and her accession was +in the year previous to that during which Wheatstone in this +country, and Morse in America, introduced electric telegraphy. We, +who enjoy express trains, six-penny telegrams, half-penny +post-cards, and the parcel post, can scarcely realize that we are so +near the time when mail-coaches and sailing-packets were almost the +only means of conveyance, and when postage was a serious burden. The +greatness of the changes in social life may be realized when we +remember that, so recently as 1844, duelling was banished from the +code of honor; that crime has diminished seventy-one per cent. since +1837; and that while fifty years ago Government did nothing for +education, there are now 30,000 public schools under the Privy +Council. These facts are suggestive of the extent of the advance. Or +if, without touching on the marvellous victories of science, we try +to form an estimate of religious progress, and take the tables for +Protestant missions as giving a fair indication of the zeal and +self-sacrifice of the churches, we find that while British +contributions in 1837 amounted to L316,610, in 1885 they reached +L1,222,261. + +It may be said with truth that the progress thus indicated must have +gone on, no matter who sat on the throne; but it would be unjust not +to recognize the close influence which the Crown has directly and +indirectly exercised on its advance. There has been no movement +tending to the development of the arts and the industries of the +country which has not enlisted the active sympathy of the royal +family. From the first the Prince Consort recognized the important +part which the sovereign could fulfil in reference to the peaceful +victories of science and art. Beginning with agriculture--the +improvement of stock and the better housing of agricultural +laborers, we trace the effect of his constant toil in the series of +industrial triumphs, of which the great exhibition of 1851 was the +magnificent precursor; and, in recent years, the same kind of +objects have always enlisted the best energies of the queen and her +children. + +[Illustration: Victoria greeted as Queen.] + +The contrast is great and touching between the scene in Westminster +Abbey, when, amid the pomp of a gorgeous ceremonial and the +acclamation of her subjects, the fair girl-queen received the crown +of Britain, and that other scene, when, after fifty years of a +government that has been unblemished, she once more kneels in the +same spot--a widow surrounded by her children and her children's +children, bearing the burden of many sad as well as blessed +memories, and encompassed with the thanksgivings of the three +hundred millions of her subjects. We can imagine how oppressive, for +one so loving, must then be the vision of the past, as she recalls, +one after another, the once familiar and dear faces which greeted +her coronation, those relatives, great ministers of state, and +warriors of whom so few survive; and when all her happy married +years and the years of parting and desolation appear in vivid +retrospect. But if ever monarch had cause to bless God for His +tender mercies, it must be she who can combine with the memory of +her own life's hopes and trials the consciousness that, in the great +work given her as a sovereign, she has been enabled to fulfil the +beautiful desire of her innocent childhood, when, on her first being +informed of her royal destiny, she indulged in no vain dream of +power, but uttered the simple longing "to be good." That goodness +has been her real greatness. + +The life of her majesty is marked by three great stages--her youth, +her married life, and her widowhood. Each is bound to each by the +tie of a consistent growth, passing through those experiences which +are typical of God's education of His children, whether high or low, +rich or poor. + +Her childhood, with its wise education, is very much the key to her +after-life. Possessed naturally of a quick intellectual capacity, +and an unusually accurate memory, a taste for music and the arts, +and a deeply affectionate heart, she was admirably brought up by her +mother, the Duchess of Kent, on whom the training of the future +queen devolved from her infancy. If the education was as high as it +was possible to afford a young and intelligent spirit, the moral +influences were equally beneficial. The young princess, instead of +being isolated within the formalities of a court, was allowed to +become acquainted with the wants and sufferings of the poor, and to +indulge her sympathies by giving them personal help. The contrast +was a great one between the court of George IV., or even that of +William, and the truly English home where the Duchess of Kent +nurtured this sweet life in all that was simple, loving, and pure. +There could scarcely have been a better school for an affectionate +nature. All that we learn of her majesty at that time gives a +consistent picture of great vivacity, thorough directness in her +search after truth, warmth of heart, and considerateness for others, +with a genuine love for all that is morally good. These were the +characteristics which impressed those who saw her on the trying +occasion when she was suddenly ushered into the foremost place in +the greatest empire in the world. It was these characteristics which +touched the hearts of the good archbishop and of the Chancellor of +England when they announced her great destiny to the girl suddenly +summoned from slumber. That first request, "My Lord Archbishop, pray +for me!" revealed the depth of her character. It was the same when +she had next day to pass through the ordeal of meeting the great +councillors of state for the first time. Lord Melbourne, the Duke of +Wellington, Peel, and the keen-eyed Secretary Greville, all felt the +beautiful combination of dignity with unaffected simplicity, and of +quick intelligence with royal courtesy. But they did not see the +episode which followed the fatigue and excitement of the long +formalities of the council, when the young queen rushed first of all +to her mother's arms, there to indulge her feelings in a burst of +tears, and then, with girlish naivete, claiming the exercise of her +royal prerogative to procure for herself two hours of absolute +solitude. + +The earlier years of her reign were happily blessed with the wise +and beneficent influence of Lord Melbourne. His relationship to the +youthful sovereign was more that of a father and able political +instructor than of a formal first minister of the crown. He was too +experienced not heartily to appreciate the beautiful character of +his young mistress, and the interest he took in her political +education, and in everything likely to further her prosperity and +happiness, was evidently kindled by warm affection. She was equally +favored in having as adviser so sagacious a relative as her uncle +Leopold, the late King of the Belgians. The Duke of Wellington +regarded her almost as a daughter; and there was also, ever at hand, +another, whose trained intellect and loyal heart exercised no little +influence on her career--Baron Stockmar--to whose lofty ideal of the +functions of royalty, calmly balanced treatment of all questions of +state policy, and high-toned moral sympathies, both the queen and +the prince consort have amply expressed their indebtedness. + +Without touching further on the earlier period of her reign, which +was not without many incidents of interest, we turn to the married +years of the queen as to a bright and sunny memory. + +The position of an unmarried or widowed queen necessarily entails a +peculiar loneliness. She is surrounded by the rigorous demands of +state necessity. If she has to form a judgment upon documents +submitted to her, there is no one so close to her and so independent +of all other influences as to be truly an _alter ego_. Faithful +servants of the crown may do their best to be of use, but no one of +them can be so near as to receive such unguarded confidences as can +be given to the husband who shares every joy and sorrow. The queen's +married life was ideally perfect. She married the man she loved, and +each year deepened her early affection into an admiration, a +reverence, and a pride which elevated her love into consecration. + +There was no home in England made more beautiful by all that was +tender, cultured, and noble than that in which "the blameless +prince" fulfilled his heroic career of duty, and shed the bright +light of his joyous, affectionate, and keenly intellectual life. +There were few homes in which a greater amount of trying and anxious +work was more systematically accomplished, or in which there was a +more exquisite blending of hard thinking with the enjoyment of the +fine arts and the fulness of loving family happiness. We have +picture after picture given us in the life of the Prince Consort +which puts us in touch with these brilliant years, when the queen +and he were never parted but for one or two brief intervals. Early +hours of close labor were followed by a genial and hearty +relaxation, and at every turn the wife and sovereign felt the +blessedness of that presence which ministered to her in sickness +with the gentleness of a woman, and which she leaned upon in hours +of difficulty with complete trust in the strength and trueness of +his wise intellect. There was no decrease on either side in those +feelings and utterances of feeling which are so beautiful when they +carry into after years the warmth of the first attachment, only +hallowed and deepened by experience. + +[Illustration: Windsor Castle.] + +There were many fresh features in the kind of life which was +introduced by the queen and the consort into the habits of the +court. Among these none were more marked than the breaking up of +that monotony which the restrictions that hitherto prevailed as to +the residence of the royal family in one or two state palaces +entailed. We can well understand how the Empress Eugenie should have +found the Tuileries, in spite of its grandeur, no better than "_une +belle prison_," and her delight at the comparative freedom she +enjoyed at Windsor. The queen and Prince Consort inaugurated a new +era in the customs of the court by taking advantage of the +facilities afforded by modern methods of conveyance. Scarcely any +part of the country celebrated for scenery, or any town famous for +its industries, remained unvisited by them. + +The beneficial effects of these journeys were great. Loyalty is to a +large extent a personal matter, and is necessarily deepened when the +representative of the state not only possesses moral dignity of +character but comes frequently into contact with the people. It is +also of use to the crown that its wearer should know, from actual +observation, the conditions of life in the country. It is in the +light of this mutual action of acquaintance between prince and +people that we estimate the value of that knowledge which the Prince +of Wales, his brothers, and his sons have gained of so many parts of +the empire. The Prince Consort felt keenly the use of these +influences. "How important and beneficent," he once said, "is the +part given to the royal family of England to act in the development +of those distant and rising countries, who recognize in the British +crown and their allegiance to it, their supreme bond of union with +the mother country and to each other!" + +During each year of their married life the queen and Prince Consort +went on some interesting tour. In England, Oxford and Cambridge, +Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, received royal visits, +while such historical houses as Chatsworth, Hatfield, Stowe, and +Strathfieldsay were honored by their presence. Ireland was thrice +visited. Wales more than once. The first visit to Scotland was made +in 1842, another in 1844, and from 1847 only one year passed without +a long residence in the north--first at Ardverachie, on Loch Laggan, +and then at what was to be their Highland home on Deeside. Repeated +visits were also made to the Continent, sometimes in state and +sometimes in as much privacy as could be commanded. + +It is when we come to this bright time, so full of fresh interest +and of a delightful freedom, that we have the advantage of the +queen's own "Leaves from the Journal of our Life in the Highlands." +Her visit to Edinburgh in 1842, and the drive by Birnam and +Aberfeldy to Taymouth, and the splendor of the reception, when, amid +the cheers of a thousand Highlanders and the wild notes of the +bagpipes, she was welcomed by Lord Breadalbane, evidently stirred +every feeling of romance. "It seemed," she wrote, "as if a great +chieftain of olden feudal times was receiving his sovereign." It +appeared like a new world, when, throwing off for a time the +restrictions of state, she found herself at Blair two years +afterward, climbing the great hills of Atholl, and from the top of +Tulloch looking forth on the panorama of mountain and glen. "It was +quite romantic; here we were with only this Highlander behind us +holding the ponies, not a house, not a creature near us but the +pretty Highland sheep, with their horns and black faces. It was the +most delightful, most romantic, ride and walk I ever had." These +early visits to Scotland inspired her with her love for the +Highlands and the Highlanders. She found there quite a world of +poetry. The majestic scenery, the fresh, bracing air, the +picturesqueness of the kilted gillies, the piping and the dancing, +and the long days among the heather, recalled scenes which Sir +Walter Scott has glorified for all time, and which are especially +identified with the fortunes of the unhappy Stuarts, of whom she is +now the nearest representative. + +It was in 1848 that the court proceeded for the first time to +Balmoral, then a picturesque but small castle. The air of Deeside +had been recommended by Sir James Clark, the queen's physician, and +his anticipation of the benefits to be derived from residence there +was so completely realized that although four years passed before +the property was actually purchased, yet preparations were made for +establishing there a royal home. Plans for the future castle and for +laying out the grounds were gone into by the prince with keen +delight. "All has become my dear Albert's own creation, own work, +own building, own laying out, as at Osborne; and his great taste and +the impress of his dear hand have been stamped everywhere." + +It was here that the queen and the Prince Consort enjoyed for more +than twelve years a delightful freedom, mingling with their people, +devising the wisest methods for insuring their well-being, going +with them to worship in their plain (very plain!) parish church, and +being to each and all unaffectedly sincere friends. Every spot +around soon became consecrated by some sweet association. Every +great family event had its commemoration amid the scenery around the +castle; though many a cairn, once raised in joy, is now, alas! a +monument of sorrow. The life at Balmoral was in every sense +beneficial. There never has been there the kind of relaxation that +comes from idleness. Systematic work has been always maintained at +Balmoral as at Windsor. Early hours in the fresh morning and a +regular arrangement of time during the day have given room for the +constant business of the crown; but every now and then there were +glorious "outings," whether for sport or for some far-reaching +expedition, which gave fresh zest to happy and united toil. + +There is more than one characteristic of the queen which may recall +to Scotchmen the history of their own Stuarts, and among these is +her enjoyment of expeditions _incognita_. The Prince Consort, with +his simple German heart, entered fully into the "fun" of such +journeys, as, starting off on long rides across mountain-passes and +through swollen burns and streams, lunching on heights from which +they could gaze far and wide over mountain and strath, they would +reach some little roadside inn, and there, assuming a feigned name, +had the delight of feeling themselves "private people," while the +simple fare and the ridiculous _contretemps_ which frequently +occurred were enjoyed the more keenly because of their contrast to +accustomed state. And during all these years their domestic life was +unbroken by any great family sorrow. It was not till a year before +her great bereavement that the queen lost her mother, the Duchess of +Kent. Few can read the account of that sorrowful parting without +being drawn nearer to the sovereign by the tie of a common humanity, +so deep and tender is the affection that is revealed. + +But till 1861 the queen was surrounded by all those who were dearest +to her, and she and the prince shared the sweet task of +superintending their children's education. Few parents more +anxiously considered the best methods for securing a sound moral and +religious training. "The greatest maxim of all," writes the queen, +"is that the children shall be brought up as simply and in as +domestic a way as possible, that (without interfering with their +lessons) they should be as much as possible with their parents, and +learn to place their greatest confidence in them in all things." As +to religious training, the queen's conviction was that it is best +when given to a child "day by day at his mother's knee." It was only +the great pressure of public duty which rendered it impossible for +her to fulfil her part so completely as she desired. "It is a hard +case for me," her majesty writes, in reference to the princess +royal, "that my occupations prevent me being with her when she says +her prayers." + +The religious convictions of the queen and the Prince Consort were +deep. They both cared little for those mere accidents and +conventionalities of religion which so many magnify into essentials. +The prince, eminently devout, insisted on the realities of religion. +"We want not what is safe, but true," was his commentary on the +exaggerated outcry against "Essays and Reviews." "The Gospel, and +the unfettered right to its use," was his claim for Protestantism. +For his own spirit, like that of the queen, was truly religious. The +quiet evenings spent together before communion, and the directness +and reverence with which both served God were combined with an utter +abhorrence of all intolerance. Such qualities are generally +misunderstood by the narrow-minded, who have only their own +"shibboleths" to test all faith, and the one Church--whatever it may +be--that they regard as "true." The queen and the prince rose above +such distinctions; they shared the Catholicism of St. Paul, "Grace +be with all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." + +But these bright and happy years were doomed to a sudden ending. It +is only when we have realized all that her husband was to her that +we can measure how fearful was the blow to her loving heart when he +who was her pride and her constant companion was laid low. We may +well feel what a shattering it brought to all that hitherto had +enriched her life, and how very desolate her position became when +she was left in loneliness on the throne, a widow separated by her +queendom from many of those supports which others find near them, +but from which she was deprived by her position. "Fourteen happy and +blessed years have passed," she wrote, in 1854, "and I confidently +trust many more will pass, and find us in old age as we now are, +happily and devotedly united. Trials we must have, but what are they +if we are together?" In God's wisdom that hope was not to be +realized, and in 1861 the stroke fell, and it fell with crushing +power. + +It is not for us to lift the curtain of sorrow that fell like a +funeral pall over the first years of her widowhood. For many a day +it seemed as if the grief was more than she could bear, and although +she was sustained through it all by God's grace, and supported by +the sympathy of the nation, yet it was naturally a long-continued +and absorbing sorrow. Other blows have fallen since then. The tender +and wise Princess Alice, and the thoughtful and cultured Duke of +Albany, have also been gathered to their rest; and the queen has had +to mourn over one after another of her most faithful servants taken +from her. But the hallowing hand of time, the soothing remembrance +of unspeakable mercies, and the call to noble duty, have done much +to restore the strength, if not the joy, of former days. Her people +rejoice, and the influence of the Crown is enormously strengthened, +when in these later years the queen has been able once more to +mingle with the nation. + +When we touch on the third period of her life--which may well be +termed that of sorrow, although brightened by many happy events in +the domestic life of her children--we reach times that are familiar +to every reader. These have been years in which the cares of state +have often been exceedingly burdensome. The days of anxiety during +the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny have more than once had their +counterpart. Afghanistan, Zululand with its Isandula, and the +Transvaal War with its Majuba Hill, Egypt, and the Soudan, brought +hours of sore anxiety to the sovereign; but they were probably not +more harassing to intellect and heart than the months of difficult +diplomacy which the threatening aspect of European politics +frequently laid upon Government. + +I may say in passing that no portrait of her appears to me to be +quite satisfactory. They usually have only one expression, that of +sadness and thoughtfulness, and so far they give a true +representation; for when there is nothing to rouse her interest and +when she is silent, that look of sadness is doubtless what chiefly +impresses one. Her face then bears the traces of weary thought and +of trying sorrow; but when she is engaged in conversation, and +especially if her keen sense of humor has been touched, her +countenance becomes lit with an exceedingly engaging brightness, or +beams with heartiest laughter. + +Her life at Balmoral since her great sorrow maintains, as far as may +be, the traditions of the happy past. She still makes expeditions, +_cognita_ or _incognita_, sometimes to the scenes of former +enjoyment or to new places of interest. She has in this way visited +Blair, Dunkeld, Invermark, Glenfiddich, Invertrossachs, Dunrobin, +Inverlochy, Inverary, Loch Marll, and Broxmouth. + +The queen, among her people at Balmoral, gives a splendid example to +every landlord. "The first lady in the land" is the most gracious +mistress possible. Her interest is no condescending "make-believe," +as we sometimes find it in the case of others, who seek a certain +popularity among their dependents by showing spasmodic attentions +which it is difficult to harmonize with a prevailing indifference. +With the queen it is the unaffected care of one who really loves her +people, and who is keenly touched by all that touches them. She +knows them all by name, and in the times of their sorrow they +experience from her a personal sympathy peculiarly soothing. There +is indeed no part of the volumes she has given us more surprising +than the minute knowledge she there shows of all the people who have +been in any way connected with her. The gillies, guides, and +gamekeepers, the maids who have served her, the attendants, +coachmen, and footmen, are seldom mentioned without some notice of +their lives being recorded as faithfully as is the case with peers +and peeresses. How few mistresses are there who, burdened as she is +with duty, would thus hold in kindest remembrance each faithful +servant, become acquainted with their circumstances, and provide for +them in age or in trial with generous solicitude. It is this rich +humanity of feeling that is her noblest characteristic. The public +are accustomed to see messages of sympathy sent by the queen in +cases of disaster and of accident, but they cannot know how truly +those calamities fall upon her own heart. As far as her life in the +Highlands is concerned, she is now perhaps the best specimen we have +of what the old Highland chieftain used to be, only that in her case +we find the benefits of paternal government without its harsh +severities. There is the same frank and hearty attachment to her +dependents, the same intimate knowledge of each one of them, the +same recognition of services. It is a queenly quality to recognize +what is worthy, no matter what the rank may be. It was from this she +placed so much confidence in her faithful attendant, John Brown. Her +great kindness to him was her own generous interpretation of the +long and loyal services of one who, for more than thirty years, had +been personal attendant on the Prince Consort and herself, leading +her pony during many a long day upon the hills, watching over her +safety in London as well as on Deeside, and who, on more than one +occasion, protected her from peril. "His attention, care and +faithfulness cannot be exceeded," she writes in the first volume of +the "Leaves," "and the state of my health, which of late years has +been sorely tried and weakened, renders such qualifications most +valuable." + + + + +FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE + +By LIZZIE ALLDRIDGE + +(Born 1820) + + +A very distinguished lady nurse, who has been in half the hospitals +in Europe, once said to me: "To Florence Nightingale, who was my own +first teacher and inspirer, we owe the wonderful change that has +taken place in the public mind with regard to nursing. When I first +began my hospital training, hospital nursing was thought to be a +profession which no decent woman of any rank could follow. If a +servant turned nurse, it was supposed she did so because she had +lost her character. We have changed all that now. Modern nursing +owes its first impulse to Florence Nightingale." + +[Illustration: Florence Nightingale.] + +I don't suppose that any of my young readers have ever seen a +hospital nurse of the now nearly extinct Gamp type; but I have. I +have seen her, coarse-faced, thick of limb, heavy of foot, brutal in +speech, crawling up and down the stairs or about the wards, in +dresses and aprons that made me feel (although quite well and with a +good healthy appetite) as if I would not have my good dinner just +then. These were the old-fashioned "Sairey Gamps." But Florence +Nightingale has been too strong for even the immortal "Sairey." Go +now through the corridors and wards of a modern hospital; every +nurse you meet will be neat and trim, with spotless dress and cap +and apron, moving quickly but quietly to and fro, doing her work +with kindness and intelligence. + +It was in 1820, the year George the Third's long life quite faded +out, that the younger of the two daughters of William Shore +Nightingale was born at Florence, and named after that lovely city. + +Mr. Nightingale, of Embley Park, Hampshire, and the Lea Hurst, +Derbyshire, was a wealthy land-owner. He was of the Shores of +Derbyshire, but inherited the fortune with the name of Nightingale +through his mother. Lea Hurst, where Miss Nightingale passed the +summer months of each year, is situated in the Matlock district, +among bold masses of limestone rock, gray walls, full of fossils, +covered with moss and lichen, with the changeful river Derwent now +dashing over its stony bed, now quietly winding between little dales +with clefts and dingles. Those who have travelled by the Derby and +Buxton Railway will remember the narrow valleys, the mountain +streams, the wide spans of high moorland, the distant ranges of +hills beyond the hills of the district. Lea Hurst, a gable-ended +house, standing among its own woods and commanding wonderful views +of the Peak country, is about two miles from Cromford station. + +At Lea Hurst much of Florence Nightingale's childhood was passed. +There she early developed that intense love for every living +suffering thing, that grew with her growth, until it became the +master-passion of her life. + +Florence Nightingale always retained her belief in animals. Many +years after her name was known all over the world, she wrote: "A +small pet animal is often an excellent companion for the sick, for +long chronic cases especially." An invalid, in giving an account of +his nursing by a nurse and a dog, infinitely preferred that of the +dog. "Above all," he said, "it did not talk." Even Florence +Nightingale's maimed dolls were tenderly nursed and bandaged. + +Mr. Nightingale was a man singularly in advance of his time as +regards the training of girls. The "higher education of women" was +unknown to the general public in those days, but not to Mr. +Nightingale. His daughter was taught mathematics, and studied the +classics, history, and modern languages under her father's +guidance. These last were afterward of the greatest use to her in +the Crimea. But she was no "learned lady;" only a well-educated +Englishwoman all round. She was an excellent musician, and skilful +in work with the needle; and the delicate trained touch thus +acquired stood her in good stead, for the soldiers used to say that +a wound which Miss Nightingale dressed "was sure to get well." + +She felt a strong craving for work, more even than the schools and +cottages, the care of the young, the sick, and the aged (in which +she followed her mother's example) could afford her at her father's +home. Mrs. Browning tells us to + + "Get leave to work + In this world; 'tis the best you get at all." + +Florence Nightingale not only got leave to work, but did so, very +quietly but very persistently. And so she became a pioneer for less +courageous souls, and won for them also "leave to work." Taught by +her father, she soon learned to distinguish between what was really +good work and which mere make-believe. She had many opportunities, +even as a child, of seeing really fine, artistic work both in +science and art. She set up a high standard, and was never satisfied +with anything short of the best, either in herself or others. It is +a grand thing to know good work when you see it. + +The love of work, however, with Florence Nightingale, always went +hand in hand with that love for every living thing in God's world +which was born with her and which was never crowded out by all this +education. As she grew up she more and more felt that helpfulness +was the first law of her being; but her reason and intellect having +been so carefully trained, she was thoroughly persuaded that, in +order to help effectually, one must know thoroughly both the cause +of suffering and its radical cure. + +The study of nursing had an irresistible attraction for her. Few +people in England at that time valued nursing. Florence Nightingale +was convinced that indifference arose from the all but absolute +ignorance of what nursing should be, and she set herself to acquire +the necessary knowledge to enable her to carry it out in the very +best and most scientific way. She never lost an opportunity of +visiting a hospital, either at home or abroad. She gave up the life +of so-called "pleasure," which it was then considered a young woman +of her position ought to lead, and after having very carefully +examined innumerable nursing institutions at home and abroad, at +length went to the well-known Pastor Fliedner's Deaconesses, at +Kaiserswerth, where she remained for several months. + +After leaving Kaiserswerth, Miss Nightingale was for a while with +the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul, in Paris, so anxious was she to +see how nursing was carried on under many different systems. It was +during 1851, the year of the first Great Exhibition, that she was +thus fitting herself practically for the great task that lay before +her in the not very distant future. + +On her return to England, Miss Nightingale found a patient that +required all her time and help of every kind. This patient was none +other than the Sanatorium in Harley Street for gentlewomen of +limited means. Into the saving of this valuable institution Miss +Nightingale threw all her energy, and for two or three years, hidden +away from the outside world, she was working day and night for her +poor suffering ladies, until at length she was able to feel that the +Sanatorium was not only in good health, but on the high road to +permanent success. + +Florence Nightingale's own health, however, gave way under the +long-continued strain of anxiety and fatigue; she was obliged to +leave the invalids for whom she had done so much, and go home for +the rest and change she so sorely needed. + +Now, while Miss Nightingale had been quietly getting "Harley Street" +into working order, the gravest and most terrible changes had taken +place in the affairs of the nation, and not only in those of +England, but in those of the whole of Europe. In 1851, when the +first Great Exhibition was opened, all was peace--the long peace of +forty years was still unbroken--people said it never was to be +broken again, and that wars and rumors of wars had come to an end. +So much for human foreknowledge. By the autumn of 1854, the horrors +of the Crimean war had reached their climax. The _Times_ was full, +day by day, of the most thrilling and appalling descriptions of the +hideous sufferings of our brave men--sufferings caused quite as much +by the utter breakdown of the sanitary administration as by even the +deadly battles and trenchwork; while every post was bringing +agonizing private letters appealing for help. + +Men were wounded in the Crimea, the hospitals were far off at +Scutari, the wide and stormy Black Sea had to be crossed to reach +them; the stores of food, clothing, and medicine that might have +saved many a life were at Varna, or lost in the Black Prince; the +state of the great Barrack Hospital at Scutari was indescribably +horrible; everybody was frantic to rush to the relief; no one knew +what best to do; public feeling was at fever-heat. How could it be +otherwise when William Howard Russell, the _Times_ correspondent, +was constantly writing such true but heartrending letters as this: + +"The commonest accessories of a hospital are wanting; there is not +the least attention paid to decency or cleanliness; the stench is +appalling; the fetid air can barely struggle out to taint the +atmosphere, save through the chinks in the walls and roofs; and for +all I can observe, these men die without the least effort being made +to save them. Here they lie, just as they were let gently down on +the ground by the poor fellows, their comrades, who brought them on +their backs from the camp with the greatest tenderness, but who are +not allowed to remain with them. The sick appear to be tended by the +sick, and the dying by the dying." + +Miss Nightingale, who was then recovering from her Harley Street +nursing, deeply felt the intensity of the crisis that was moving the +whole nation; but, whereas the panic had driven most of the kind +people who were so eager to help the army, nearly "off their heads," +it only made hers the cooler and clearer. She wrote, offering her +services to Mr. Sidney Herbert, afterward Lord Herbert, the minister +for war, who, together with his wife, had long known her, and had +recognized her wonderful organizing faculties, and her great +practical experience. + +It was on October 15th that she wrote to Mr. Herbert. On the very +same day the minister had written to her. Their letters crossed. Mr. +Herbert, who had himself given much attention to military hospitals, +laid before Miss Nightingale, in his now historical letter, a plan +for nursing the sick and wounded at Scutari. + +"There is, as far as I know," he wrote, "only one person in England +capable of organizing and directing such a plan, and I have been +several times on the point of asking you if you would be disposed to +make the attempt. That it will be difficult to form a corps of +nurses, no one knows better than yourself." + +After specifying the difficulty in finding not only good nurses, but +good nurses who would be willing to submit to authority, he goes on: +"I have this simple question to put to you. Could you go out +yourself and take charge of everything? It is, of course, understood +that you will have absolute authority over all the nurses, unlimited +power to draw on the Government for all you judge necessary to the +success of your mission; and I think I may assure you of the +co-operation of the medical staff. Your personal qualities, your +knowledge, and your authority in administrative affairs, all fit you +for this position." + +Miss Nightingale at once concurred in Mr. Herbert's proposal. The +materials for a staff of good nurses did not exist, and she had to +put up with the best that could be gathered on such short notice. + +On the 21st, a letter by Mr. Herbert, from the War Office, told the +world that "Miss Nightingale, accompanied by thirty-four nurses, +will leave this evening. Miss Nightingale, who has, I believe, +greater practical experience of hospital administration and +treatment than any other lady in this country, has, with a +self-devotion for which I have no words to express my gratitude, +undertaken this noble but arduous work." + +A couple of days later there was a paragraph in the _Times_ from +Miss Nightingale herself, referring to the gifts for the soldiers +that had been offered so lavishly: "Miss Nightingale neither invites +nor refuses the generous offers. Her banking account is open at +Messrs. Coutts's." On October 30th, the _Times_ republished from the +_Examiner_ a letter, headed, "Who is Miss Nightingale?" and signed +"One who has known her." Then was made known to the British public +for the first time who the woman that had gone to the aid of the +sick and wounded really was; then it was shown that she was no +hospital matron, but a young and singularly graceful and +accomplished gentlewoman of wealth and position, who had, not in a +moment of national enthusiasm, but as the set purpose of her life +from girlhood up, devoted herself to the studying of God's great and +good laws of health, and to trying to apply them to the help of her +suffering fellow-creatures. + +From October 30, 1854, the heroine of the Crimean war was Florence +Nightingale, and the heroine of that war will she be while the +English tongue exists and English history is read. The national +enthusiasm for her was at once intense, and it grew deeper and more +intense as week by week revealed her powers. "Less talent and energy +of character, less singleness of purpose and devotion, could never +have combined the heterogeneous elements which she gathered together +in one common work and labor of love." + +I met the other day a lady who saw something of Miss Nightingale +just before she went out to the East. This lady tells me that Miss +Nightingale was then most graceful in appearance, tall and slight, +very quiet and still. At first sight her earnest face struck one as +cold; but when she began to speak she grew very animated, and her +dark eyes shone out with a peculiarly star-like brightness. + +This was the woman whose starting for the East was at once felt to +be the beginning of better things; but so prejudiced were many good +English people against women-nurses for soldiers, that Mrs. Jameson, +writing at the time, calls the scheme "an undertaking wholly new to +our English customs, much at variance with the usual education given +to women in this country." She, sensible woman, one in advance of +her day, hoped it would succeed, but hoped rather faintly. "If it +succeeds," she goes on, "it will be the true, the lasting glory of +Florence Nightingale and her band of devoted assistants, that they +have broken down a 'Chinese wall of prejudices,' religious, social, +professional, and have established a precedent which will, indeed, +multiply the good to all time." + +The little band of nurses crossed the Channel to Boulogne, where +they found the fisherwomen eager for the honor of carrying their +luggage to the railway. This display, however, seemed to Miss +Nightingale to be so out of keeping with the deep gravity of her +mission, that, at her wish, it was not repeated at any of the +stopping-places during the route. The Vectis took the nurses across +the Mediterranean, and a terribly rough passage they had. On +November 5th, the very day on which the battle of Inkermann was +fought, the ship arrived at Scutari. + +Miss Nightingale and her nurses landed during the afternoon, and it +was remarked at the time that their neat black dresses formed a +strong contrast to those of the usual hospital attendants. + +The great Barrack Hospital at Scutari, which had been lent to the +British by the Turkish Government, was an enormous quadrangular +building, a quarter of a mile each way, with square towers at each +angle. It stood on the Asiatic shore a hundred feet above the +Bosphorus. Another large hospital stood near; the whole, at times, +containing as many as four thousand men. The whole were placed under +Miss Nightingale's care. The nurses were lodged in the southeast +tower. + +The extent of corridors in the great hospital, story above story, in +which the sick and wounded were at first laid on wretched +palliasses, as close together as they could be placed, made her +inspection and care most difficult. There were two rows of +mattresses in the corridors, where two persons could hardly pass +abreast between foot and foot. The mortality, when the _Times_ first +took up the cause of the sick and wounded, was enormous. In the +Crimea itself there was not half the mortality in the tents, +horrible as were the sufferings and privations of the men there. + +"The whole of yesterday," writes one of the nurses a few days after +they had arrived, "one could only forget one's own existence, for it +was spent, first in sewing the men's mattresses together, and then +in washing them, and assisting the surgeons, when we could, in +dressing their ghastly wounds after their five days' confinement on +board ship, during which space their wounds had not been dressed. +Hundreds of men with fever, dysentery, and cholera (the wounded were +the smaller portion) filled the wards in succession, from the +overcrowded transports." + +Miss Nightingale's position was a most difficult one. Everything was +in disorder, and every official was extremely jealous of +interference. Miss Nightingale, however, at once impressed upon her +staff the duty of obeying the doctors' orders, as she did herself. +An invalids' kitchen was established immediately by her to +supplement the rations. A laundry was added; the nursing itself, +was, however, the most difficult and important part of the work. + +But it would take far too much space to give all the details of that +kind but strict administration which brought comparative comfort and +a low death-rate into the Scutari hospitals. During a year and a +half the labor of getting the hospitals into working order was +enormous, but before the peace arrived they were models of what such +institutions may be. + +Speaking of Miss Nightingale in the hospital at Scutari, the _Times_ +correspondent wrote: "Wherever there is disease in its most +dangerous form, and the hand of the spoiler distressingly nigh, +there is that incomparable woman sure to be seen; her benignant +presence is an influence of good comfort even amid the struggles of +expiring nature. She is a ministering angel, without any +exaggeration, in these hospitals, and as her slender form glides +quietly along each corridor, every poor fellow's face softens with +gratitude at the sight of her. When all the medical officers have +retired for the night, and silence and darkness have settled down +upon these miles of prostrate sick, she may be observed, alone, with +a little lamp in her hand, making her solitary rounds. With the +heart of a true woman and the manner of a lady, accomplished and +refined beyond most of her sex, she combines a surprising calmness +of judgment and promptitude and decision of character. The popular +instinct was not mistaken, which, when she set out from England on +her mission of mercy, hailed her as a heroine; I trust that she may +not earn her title to a higher, though sadder, appellation. No one +who has observed her fragile figure and delicate health can avoid +misgivings lest these should fail." + +Public feeling bubbled up into poetry. Even doggerel ballads sung +about the streets praised + + "The Nightingale of the East, + For her heart it means good." + +Among many others, Longfellow wrote the charming poem, "The Lady +with the Lamp," so beautifully illustrated by the statuette of +Florence Nightingale at St Thomas's Hospital, suggested by the +well-known incident recorded in a soldier's letter: "She would speak +to one and another, and nod and smile to many more; but she could +not do it to all, you know, for we lay there by hundreds; but we +could kiss her shadow as it fell, and lay our heads on our pillows +again, content." + + "Lo! in that house of misery + A lady with a lamp I see + Pass through the glimmering gloom. + And flit from room to room. + + "And slow, as in a dream of bliss, + The speechless sufferer turns to kiss + Her shadow as it falls + Upon the darkening walls. + + "On England's annals, through the long + Hereafter of her speech and song. + A light its rays shall cast + From portals of the past. + + "A lady with a lamp shall stand + In the great history of the land. + A noble type of good + Heroic womanhood." + +In the following spring Miss Nightingale crossed the Black Sea and +visited Balaclava, where the state of the hospitals in huts was +extremely distressing, as help of all kinds was even more difficult +to obtain there than at Scutari. Here Miss Nightingale spent some +weeks, until she was prostrated by a severe attack of the Crimean +fever, of which she very nearly died. + +But at length the Crimean war came to an end. The nation was +prepared to welcome its heroine with the most passionate enthusiasm. +But Florence Nightingale quietly slipped back unnoticed to her +Derbyshire home, without its being known that she had passed through +London. + +Worn out with ill-health and fatigue, and naturally shrinking from +publicity, the public at large has scarcely ever seen her; she has +been a great invalid ever since the war, and for many years hardly +ever left her house. + +But her energy has been untiring. She was one of the founders of the +Red Cross Society for the relief of the sick and wounded in war. +When the civil war broke out in America she was consulted as to all +the details of the military nursing there. "Her name is almost more +known among us than even in Europe," wrote an American. During the +Franco-German war she gave advice for the chief hospitals under the +Crown Princess, the Princess Alice, and others. The Children's +Hospital, at Lisbon, was erected from her plans. The hospitals in +Australia, India, and other places have received her care. A large +proportion of the plans for the building and organization of the +hospitals erected during the last twenty-five years in England, have +passed through her hands. + +The Queen, who had followed her work with constant interest, +presented her with a beautiful and costly decoration. The nation +gave L50,000 to found the Nightingale Home. In this home Miss +Nightingale takes the deepest interest, constantly having the nurses +and sisters to visit her, and learning from them the most minute +details of its working. Great is evidently her rejoicing when one of +her "Nightingales" proves to be a really fine nurse, such a one, for +instance, as Agnes Jones, the reformer of workhouse nursing. + +This was the high position Florence Nightingale conquered for her +fellow-women. Hundreds have occupied, and are still occupying, the +ground she won for them. "And I give a quarter of a century's +European experience," she goes on, "when I say that the happiest +people, the fondest of their occupation, the most thankful for their +lives, are, in my opinion, those engaged in sick nursing." + +Officials in high places, ever since the Crimean war, have sent Miss +Nightingale piles, mountains one might say, of reports and blue +books for her advice. She seems to be able to condense any number of +them into half a dozen telling sentences; for instance, the +mortality in Indian regiments, during times of peace, became +exceedingly alarming. Reports on the subject were poured in upon +her. "The men are simply treated like Strasbourg geese," she said in +effect. "They eat, sleep, frizzle in the sun, and eat and sleep +again. Treat them reasonably, and they will be well." She has +written much valuable advice on "How to live and not die in India." + +Children's hospitals have also engaged much of her attention. You +cannot open one of her books at hazard without being struck with +some shrewd remark, that tells how far-reaching is her observation; +as in this, on the playgrounds of children's hospitals: "A large +garden-ground, laid out in sward and grass hillocks, and such ways +as children like (not too pretty, or the children will be scolded +for spoiling it), must be provided." + +Here, I am sorry to find, my space comes to an end, but not, I hope, +before I have been able to sketch in some slight way what great +results will assuredly follow, when Faith and Science are united in +one person. In the days, which we may hope are now dawning, when +these gifts will be united, not in an individual here and there, but +in a large portion of our race, there will doubtless be many a +devoted woman whose knowledge may equal her practical skill, and her +love for God and her fellow-creatures, who will understand, even +more thoroughly than most of us now can (most of us being still so +ignorant), how deep a debt of gratitude is due to her who first +opened for women so many paths of duty, and raised nursing from a +menial employment to the dignity of an "Art of Charity"--to +England's first great nurse, the wise, beloved, and far-seeing +heroine of the Crimean war, the Lady of the Lamp, Florence +Nightingale. + + + + +DR. LOUIS PASTEUR[21] + + [Footnote 21: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By Dr. CYRUS EDSON + +(1822-1895) + +[Illustration: Dr. Louis Pasteur.] + + +Louis Pasteur, the Columbus of "the world of the infinitely +little"--to quote the phrase of Professor Dumas--was born in the +town of Dole, France, on December 27, 1822. His father was an old +soldier, decorated on the field of battle, who, after leaving the +array, earned his bread as a tanner. In 1825 M. Pasteur moved from +Dole to the town of Arbois, on the borders of the Cuisance, where +his son began his education in the communal college. The boy was +exceedingly fond of fishing and of sketching, and it was not until +he reached the age of fourteen that he began study in earnest. There +being no professor of philosophy at Arbois, Louis Pasteur moved to +Besancon, where he received the degree of _bachelier es lettres_ and +was at once appointed as one of the tutors. Here he studied the +course in mathematics necessary for admission into the Ecole +Normale, in Paris, which he entered in October, 1843. Already his +passion for chemistry had shown itself, and he took the lectures in +that science delivered by M. Dumas at the Sorbonne, and by M. Balard +at the Ecole Normale. It was but a short time before he became a +marked man in his class, especially for his intense devotion to +experiment. Thanks to M. Delafosse, one of the lecturers of the +Ecole Normale, his attention was turned to crystallography, and a +note from the German chemist, Mitscherlich, communicated to the +Academy of Sciences, set him on fire with curiosity. Mitscherlich +declared: "The paratartrate and the tartrate of soda and ammonia +have the same chemical composition, the same crystalline form, the +same angles, the same specific weight, the same double refraction, +and the same inclination of the optic axes. Dissolved in water, +their refraction is the same. But while the dissolved tartrate +causes the plane of polarized light to rotate, the paratartrate +exacts no such action." + +Pasteur at once instituted experiments resulting in the discovery of +minute facets in the tartrate which gave it the power noted. He +found in the paratartrate these facets existed, but that there was +an equal admixture of right-and left-handed crystals, and the one +neutralized the effect of the other. He also discovered the +left-handed tartrate. These discoveries at the opening of Pasteur's +career brought him at once to the front among the scientific men. He +followed them with a profound investigation into the symmetry and +dissymmetry of atoms, and reached the conclusion that in these lay +the basic difference between inorganic and organic matter, between +the absence of life and life. + +Nominated at the age of thirty-two as Dean of the Faculte des +Sciences, at Lille, Pasteur determined to devote a portion of his +lectures to fermentation. At that time ferments were believed to be, +to quote Liebig, "Nitrogenous substances--albumin, fibrin, casein; +or the liquids which embrace them--milk, blood, urine--in a state of +alteration which they undergo in contact with air." Pasteur examined +the lactic ferment and found little rods, 1/25000 inch in length, +which nipped themselves in the centre, divided into two, grew to +full length and divided again, and these living things he declared +to be the active principles of the ferment. He made a mixture of +yeast, chalk, sugar, and water, added some of the rods, and got +fermentation. He then made a mixture of sugar, water, phosphate of +potash, and magnesia, and introducing fresh cells, fermentation +followed. Liebig's theory of the nitrogenous character of the +ferment disappeared when fermentation was caused in a mixture having +no nitrogenous elements. + +Pasteur had discovered that fermentation was a phenomenon of +nutrition; it followed the increase and growth of the little rods. +The next step was the discovery of the ferment of butyric acid, a +species of vibrio consisting of little rods united in chains of two +or three and possessed of movement. He found these vibrios lived +without air. Further experiments showed there were ferments to which +air was necessary, called by Pasteur the _aerobics_, and others to +whom oxygen was fatal, the _anaerobics_. He proved, also, by an +exhaustive series of experiments, that what is called putrefaction +of animal matter is the result of the combined work of the _aerobics_ +and the _anaerobics_, which reduce that part not taken up by oxygen +to dead organic matter, ready in its turn to form food for living +things. + +His attention having been turned to the needs of the vinegar makers +of Orleans, Pasteur began the examination of the ferment which +produces vinegar from wine. He found this in the mycoderm aceto, a +mould-like plant which has the power of developing acetic acid from +alcohol. As the result of his investigation, the manufacturers of +vinegar in France were able to do away with the cumbrous process +they had long followed, and to make vinegar, not only more cheaply, +but of very much better quality. But during these experiments +Pasteur found the temperature of 65 deg. C. was sufficient to kill the +mycoderm. When, then, the wine makers of France appealed to him to +investigate the "diseases" of wine, he was ready for the work. + +Before this, however, he had examined the claims of Pouchet and +others to their alleged discovery of spontaneous generation; in +other words, the production of life. Ranging himself against them, +Pasteur showed their experiments not to have been conclusive, simply +because they had not succeeded in excluding the dust which contained +germs of life in the shape of spores of microscopic plants. + +The "diseases" of wine produce sour wine, wine that "spirits," +"greasy" wine, and bitter wine. Pasteur found each to be due to a +different microscopic ferment, all of which could be killed by heat. +He placed bottles of wine in a bath heated to 60 deg. C., and invited +the most experienced wine tasters of Paris to try them afterward. +The result of the test was the unanimous verdict that the wines had +not been injured in the least, and to-day these "diseases" of wine +are a thing of the past. + +There are departments in France where the culture of the silk-worm +is the principal industry of the inhabitants. In 1849 a strange +disease, called pebrine, broke out among the worms; they were unable +to moult and died before the cocoons were spun. It spread in the +most alarming manner until, from a crop with an average of one +hundred and thirty million francs a year, the production of silk +went to less than fifty millions. The silk cultivators sent for +eggs--seed is the technical name--to Italy and Greece, and for one +season all went well. The next, the plague was as bad as ever. More +than that, it spread to Italy, Spain, Greece, and Turkey, until +Japan was the only silk-producing country where the worm was +healthy. Societies and governments, as well as individuals, were +aghast, for the silk industry of the world was on the verge of +annihilation, and every remedy the mind of man could conceive was +tried, only to be rejected. In France alone the loss in 1865 was +over one hundred million francs. + +At the suggestion of Professor Dumas, the Government induced Pasteur +to examine into the "disease." He had seen in a report on the +epidemic made by M. de Quatrefages, that there were found in the +diseased worms certain minute corpuscles only to be seen under the +microscope. When in June, 1865, Pasteur arrived in the town of +Alais, he found these corpuscles without difficulty. He traced them +from the worm to the chrysalid, in the cocoon, and thence to the +moth; he found worms hatched from the eggs laid by these moths +invariably developed the corpuscles. He crushed a corpuscular moth +in water, painted a mulberry leaf with it, fed it to a healthy worm, +and the corpuscles developed. He hatched eggs from moths free from +corpuscles and secured healthy worms. While working on the +"disease," Pasteur discovered in 1867 that the mortality among the +worms was in part due to another disease, the _flacherie_, and this +he found was the result of imperfect digestion. + +[Illustration: Pasteur in his Laboratory.] + +_Flacherie_ was contagious, and was caused by the fermentation of the +food eaten in the body of the worm. The causes of this fermentation, +the condition of the leaves, the temperature, and others were pointed +out. As the result of five years' work, Pasteur had restored the silk +industry to its former position, and had shown that the microscopic +examination of the moth laying the eggs to be hatched was a perfect +safeguard against _pebrine_ and _flacherie_. + +At the request of the emperor, Pasteur went to the Villa Vicentia, +in Austria, belonging to the prince imperial. For ten years the silk +harvest there had not paid the cost of the eggs. + +Although he was just recovering from an attack of paralysis brought +on by overwork, Pasteur travelled to Austria, introduced his methods +and the sale of the cocoons gave the villa a net profit of +26,000,000 francs. No wonder it was said of him that his discoveries +alone exceeded in money value to the French people the war indemnity +paid by them to the Germans. + +Splenic fever, called _charbon_ in France, had for years decimated +the flocks in France, Italy, Russia, Egypt, Hungary, and Brazil. It +attacked the horse and cow as well as the sheep, and human beings +died of it when they developed malignant pustule. Many scientific +men had studied it, but Dr. Davaine, in 1850, was the first to find +in the blood of a sheep that had died of the disease, "little +thread-like bodies about twice the length of a blood-corpuscle. +These little bodies exhibit no spontaneous motion." + +Pasteur began the examination of splenic fever by securing some of +the blood from an animal dying from it. In the work before him he +associated with himself M. Joubert, one of his former pupils. A drop +of the blood sown in the water of yeast--the medium used for +cultures by Pasteur at that time--produced myriads of the rods, the +bacilli or microbes. A drop of this taken at the end of twenty-four +hours, and placed in a fresh flask of the medium, again produced +thousands of the bacilli. Pasteur found that guinea-pigs inoculated +from the first flask developed the fever, and the same result +followed when the inoculation was from the twentieth. He had proved, +then, that splenic fever was produced by the bacilli, by living +organisms only to be seen with a powerful microscope. + +While working on the bacilli of splenic fever, Pasteur had isolated +the bacillus of chicken cholera, had cultivated it and had +inoculated chickens with it, developing the disease. He found that +so long as the cultures were made from flask to flask within +twenty-four hours, the virus of the disease, that is, the power of +the bacilli to produce cholera in the fowls inoculated, remained the +same and the fowl died. But he discovered that if a flask containing +the bacilli were left exposed to the air for two weeks, and the +fowls were then inoculated with bacilli from this flask, they became +sick, but did not die. Following this up, he inoculated a hen that +had recovered from a sickness so produced, with the bacilli in their +strongest and most virulent form, and the hen showed no effect +whatever. Then he took two hens, one fresh from the coop and the +other well again after the sickness produced by the inoculation with +the exposed bacilli, and inoculated both with the blood of a hen +that was dying of chicken cholera. The first died, the second was +affected. In other words, Pasteur had made the greatest discovery in +physiology of this century. He had found it is possible to attenuate +the virus of a virulent disease, and to use that virus so attenuated +as a vaccine matter which will guard the animal vaccinated against +the disease. He had taken Jenner's discovery, and proved it applied +to other diseases besides small-pox. + +Pasteur's theory of the reason why any vaccine matter will have its +prophylactic effect, is this: He believes there is in the blood of +any animal subject to a disease caused by bacilli some substance +which is necessary to the sustenance of those bacilli; and when the +bacilli, having an attenuated virus, are introduced, they slowly +consume all of this substance. + +The substance being one which nature creates very slowly, no +subsequent introduction of the bacilli, however virulent, can +produce the disease until such time shall have elapsed that a new +supply of the substance shall have been secreted. In this way he +accounts for the fact that vaccination will protect from small-pox +for a more or less defined period of time. + +Pasteur hastened to apply his discovery of the attenuation of the +virus of chicken cholera to the virus of splenic fever. Here, +however, he was met with a serious difficulty. The microbes of +splenic fever, if left in the flask for forty-eight hours, developed +bright spots, and gradually into these spots the bacilli themselves +seemed to be absorbed. Pasteur found these spots were the spores or +seeds of the microbes, and he also found that, while the bacilli +could be killed easily in various ways, the spores possessed a much +greater resistance. They could be dried, for example, and preserved +in that state indefinitely. It was apparent that the oxygenation +which attenuated the venom of the bacilli of chicken cholera was +impossible with those of splenic fever if the bacilli of the latter +disappeared within a week, leaving the spores behind. But Pasteur +had discovered before this that, unless the temperature of a fowl +were lowered artificially, inoculation with the microbes of splenic +fever would not produce the disease. From this he argued that, as +the heat of the fowl's body was sufficient to resist the contagion, +the bacilli themselves must be extremely sensitive to variations in +temperature. He tried the experiment and found, by lowering the +temperature of the flasks containing the cultures, he could prevent +the formation of the spores. He then attenuated the venom of the +splenic bacilli as he had that of the fowl cholera, tried it on +guinea-pigs, found they became sick and recovered; inoculated them +with the bacilli of full strength, but with no result. Pursuing his +experiments, he discovered that he could by using vaccine-attenuated +bacilli, of unequal strength, cause any degree of sickness he +pleased. + +In the early part of 1881 Pasteur agreed to hold a public exhibition +of his vaccine for splenic fever, the animals to be supplied by the +Society of Agriculture in Melun. The experiment was begun on May +5th. Pasteur inoculated twenty-four sheep, one goat, and six cows +with six drops each of attenuated virus, and twelve days afterward +he reinoculated them with a stronger virus. On May 31st he +reinoculated the thirty-one animals with the strongest virus of +splenic fever, and at the same time inoculated twenty-five sheep and +four cows which had not been vaccinated as were the others. On June +2d over two hundred people assembled at the farm to see the result. +The twenty-five sheep that had not been vaccinated all died before +that evening. The non-vaccinated cows had intense fever and great +swellings, and could scarcely stand up. On the other hand, the +vaccinated sheep and cows were in full health and were feeding +quietly. Pasteur had conquered splenic fever. + +Having attenuated the virus of these bacilli, Pasteur began a series +of experiments to determine whether the attenuated virus could be +intensified until its former venom was obtained. This he succeeded +in, and thus discovered what is probably the key to the solution of +the problem of the periodicity of epidemics of contagious diseases, +such as cholera. In 1882 Pasteur's attention was called to a new +disease, swine fever (_rouget_), which was ravaging the herds of +swine in France. He found the microbes, attenuated them, vaccinated +the pigs, and secured the most favorable results. He also discovered +that by passing the microbe of a disease through an animal not +subject to that disease, he attenuated it so far as its effects on +another were concerned. + +It was in 1880 that Pasteur first began his experiments in +hydrophobia. Securing the saliva of a child suffering from the +disease, he inoculated rabbits with it and they died in thirty-six +hours. He examined the saliva and the blood of the rabbits, and +found in both a new microbe (a minute disk having two points). He +established by repeated experiments that hydrophobia is a disease of +the nerves, that a portion of the medulla oblongata, or of the +spinal cord, is very much more certain to produce the disease, when +introduced into the blood or placed on the brain, than is the +saliva. He succeeded at last in isolating the microbe, in making +cultures of it, and then attenuating it, and in May, 1884, he +produced before a commission appointed by the Minister of Public +Instruction the following results: + +Of six dogs unprotected by vaccination, three died as the results of +bites of a dog violently mad. Of eight unvaccinated dogs, six died +after extra-venous inoculation of rabic matter. Of five unvaccinated +dogs, all died after inoculation, by trepanning, of the brain with +rabic matter. Of twenty-three vaccinated dogs, not one was attacked +with the disease after inoculation, in any fashion, with the most +virulent rabic matter procurable. + +During his long and busy life Louis Pasteur has been honored after +every fashion known to men. He has opened the gates of knowledge +wider than they were ever opened before, and in his discovery of the +germs of disease, and in his still more wonderful discovery of the +possibility of attenuating those germs and converting them into +vaccines, he has revolutionized all ideas of physiology. He is one +of the greatest pioneers in science that has ever lived, and his +work will make his name illustrious so long as men shall continue on +this earth. The lesson of his life is the supreme value of +experiment; for, as was once said of him by Professor Dumas, +"Pasteur is never mistaken, because he never asserts anything he +cannot show another man how to prove." + +[Signature: Cyrus Edson.] + + + + +GENERAL CHARLES GEORGE GORDON + +By Colonel R. H. VEITCH, R.E. + +1833-1885 + +[Illustration: General Charles George Gordon.] + + +Charles George Gordon, known as Chinese Gordon, major-general, C.B., +royal engineers, fourth son of Lieutenant-general Henry William +Gordon, royal artillery, and Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Enderby, +of Croom's Hill, Blackheath, was born at Woolwich on January 28, +1833. He was sent to school at Taunton in 1843, and entered the +Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in 1848. He obtained a commission +in the royal engineers on June 23, 1852, and, after the usual course +of study at Chatham was quartered for a short time at Pembroke Dock. +In December, 1854, he received his orders for the Crimea, and +reached Balaklava on January 1, 1855. As a young engineer subaltern +serving in the trenches, his daring was conspicuous, while his +special aptitude for obtaining a personal knowledge of the movements +of the enemy was a matter of common observation among his brother +officers. He was wounded on June 6, 1855, and was present at the +attack on the Redan on June 18th. On the surrender of Sebastopol +Gordon accompanied the expedition to Kinburn, and on his return was +employed on the demolition of the Sebastopol docks. For his services +in the Crimea Gordon received the British war medal and clasp, the +Turkish war medal, and the French Legion of Honor. + +In May, 1856, in company with lieutenant (now major-general) E. R. +James, R.E., he joined Colonel (now General Sir) E. Stanton, R.E., +in Bessarabia, as assistant commissioner for the delimitation of the +new frontier line. This duty was completed in April, 1857, and he +was then sent with Lieutenant James in a similar capacity to +Erzeroum, where Colonel (now General Sir) Lintorn Simmons was the +English commissioner for the Asiatic frontier boundary. The work was +accomplished by the following October, when Gordon returned to +England. In the spring of 1858 he and Lieutenant James were sent as +commissioners to the Armenian frontier to superintend the erection +of the boundary posts of the line they had previously surveyed. This +was finished in November, and Gordon returned home, having acquired +an intimate knowledge of the people of the districts visited. + +On April 1, 1859, Gordon was promoted captain, and about the same +time appointed second adjutant of the corps at Chatham, a post he +held for little more than a year, for, in the summer of 1860, he +joined the forces of Sir James Hope Grant, operating with the French +against China. He overtook the allied army at Tientsin, and was +present in October at the capture of Pekin and the pillage and +destruction of the emperor's summer palace. For his services in this +campaign he received the British war medal with clasp for Pekin and +a brevet majority in December, 1862. Gordon commanded the royal +engineers at Tientsin, when the British forces remained there under +Sir Charles Staveley, and while thus employed made several +expeditions into the interior, in one of which he explored a +considerable section of the great wall of China. In April, 1862, he +was summoned to Shanghai to assist in the operations consequent upon +the determination of Sir Charles Staveley to keep a radius of thirty +miles round the city clear of the rebel Taipings. Gordon took part +as commanding royal engineer, in the storming of Sing-poo and +several other fortified towns and in clearing the rebels out of +Kah-ding. He was afterward employed in surveying the country round +Shanghai. + +The Taiping rebellion was of so barbarous a nature that its suppression +had become necessary in the interest of civilization. A force raised at +the expense of the Shanghai merchants, and supported by the Chinese +Government, had been for some years struggling against its prowess. This +force, known as the "Ever Victorious Army," was defeated at Taitsan, +February 22, 1863. Li Hung Chang, governor-general of the Kiang +provinces, then applied to the British commander-in-chief for the +services of an English officer, and Gordon was authorized to accept the +command. He arrived at Sung Kiong and entered on his new duties as a +mandarin and lieutenant-colonel in the Chinese service on March 24, +1863. His force was composed of some three to four thousand Chinese, +officered by 150 Europeans of almost every nationality and often of +doubtful character. By the indomitable will of its commander this +heterogeneous body was moulded into a little army, whose high-sounding +title of "Ever Victorious" became a reality, and in less than two years, +after thirty-three engagements, the power of the Taipings was completely +broken and the rebellion stamped out. The maintenance of discipline was +a perpetual struggle, and at one time there was a mutiny which was only +quelled by shooting the ringleader on the spot. Before the summer of +1863 was over, Gordon captured Kahpoo, Wokong, and Patachiaow, on the +south of Soo-chow, the great rebel stronghold, and, sweeping round to +the north, secured Leeku, Wanti, and Fusaiqwan, so that by October +Soo-chow was completely invested. On November 29th the outworks were +captured by assault and the city surrendered on December 6th. Gordon was +always in front in all these storming parties, carrying no other weapon +than a little cane. His men called it his "magic wand," regarding it as +a charm that protected his life and led them on to victory. + +When Soo-chow fell, Gordon had stipulated with the governor-general, +Li, for the lives of the Wangs (rebel leaders). They were +treacherously murdered by Li's orders. Indignant at this perfidy, +Gordon refused to serve any longer with Governor Li, and when on +January 1, 1864, money and rewards were heaped upon him by the +emperor, declined them all, saying that he received the approbation +of the emperor with every gratification, but regretted most +sincerely that, "owing to the circumstances which occurred since the +capture of Soo-chow, he was unable to receive any mark of his +majesty the emperor's recognition." + +After some months of inaction it became evident that if Gordon did +not again take the field the Taipings would regain the rescued +country. On the urgent representations of the British envoy at +Pekin, Governor Li was compelled to issue a proclamation exonerating +Gordon from all complicity in the murder of the Wangs. Gordon then +reluctantly consented to continue his services, on the distinct +understanding that in any future capitulation he should not be +interfered with. In December, 1863, a fresh campaign was commenced, +and during the following months no fewer than seven towns were +captured or surrendered. In February, 1864, Yesing and Liyang were +taken, but at Kintang Gordon met with a reverse and was himself +wounded for the first time. He nevertheless continued to give his +orders until he had to be carried to his boat. After some other +mishaps he carried Chan-chu-fu by assault on April 27th. The +garrison consisted of 20,000 men, of whom 1,500 were killed. This +victory not only ended the campaign but completely destroyed the +rebellion, and the Chinese regular forces were enabled to occupy +Nankin in the July following. The large money present offered to +Gordon by the emperor was again declined, although he had spent his +pay promoting the efficiency of his force, so that he wrote home, "I +shall leave China as poor as when I entered it." The emperor, +however, bestowed upon him the yellow jacket, and peacock's feather +of a mandarin of the first class, with the title of Ti-Tu, the +highest military rank in China, and a gold medal of distinction of +the first class. The merchants of Shanghai presented him with an +address expressing their admiration of his conduct of the war. + +On his return home, in the beginning of 1865, he was made a C.B., +having previously received his brevet as lieutenant-colonel in +February, 1864. In September, 1865, he was appointed commanding +royal engineer at Gravesend, and for the next six years carried out +the ordinary duties of the corps, superintending the construction of +the forts for the defence of the Thames. During this quiet and +uneventful period of routine work he devoted his spare time to the +poor and sick of the neighborhood, stinting himself that he might +have larger means wherewith to relieve others. He took special +interest in the infirmary and the ragged schools. He took many of +the boys from the schools into his own house, starting them in life +by sending them to sea, and he continued to watch the future +progress of his kings, as he called them, with never-failing +sympathy. + +In October, 1871, Gordon was appointed British member of the +international commission at Galatz for the improvement of the +navigation of the Sulina mouth of the Danube, in accordance with +the Treaty of Paris. During his tenure of this office he accompanied +General Sir John Adye to the Crimea to report on the British +cemeteries there. On his way back to Galatz, in November, 1872, he +met Nubar Pasha at Constantinople, who sounded him as to his +succeeding Sir Samuel Baker in the Soudan. The following year Gordon +visited Cairo on his way home, and on the resignation of Sir Samuel +Baker was appointed governor of the equatorial provinces of Central +Africa, with a salary of L10,000 a year. He declined to receive more +than L2,000. + +Gordon went to Egypt in the beginning of 1874, and left Cairo in +February for Gondokoro, the seat of his government, travelling by +the Suez-Swakin-Berber route. He reached Khartoum on March 13th, +stopped only a few days to issue a proclamation and make +arrangements for men and supplies, then, continuing his journey, +arrived at Gondokoro on April 16th. The garrison of Gondokoro at +this time did not dare to move out of the place except in armed +bands; but in the course of a year the confidence of the natives had +been gained, the country made safe, eight stations formed and +garrisoned, the government monopoly of ivory enforced, and +sufficient money sent to Cairo to pay all the expenses of the +expedition. At the close of the year, having already lost by +sickness eight members of his small European staff, Gordon +transferred the seat of government from the unhealthy station, +Gondokoro, to Laido. By the end of 1875 Gondokoro and Duffh had been +joined by a chain of fortified posts, a day's journey apart, the +slave-dealers had been dispersed, and a letter post organized to +travel regularly between Cairo and the verge of the Albert Nyanza, +over two thousand miles as the crow flies. + +Gordon had also visited Magungo, Murchison Falls, and Chibero, with +a view to a further line of fortified posts, and he established for +the first time, by personal observation, the course of the Victoria +Nile into Lake Albert. Although he had accomplished a great work +since his arrival, his efforts to put down the slave trade were +thwarted by Ismail Pasha Yacoub, governor-general of the Soudan, and +were likely to prove abortive so long as the Soudan remained a +distinct government from that of the equatorial provinces. He, +therefore, at the end of 1876, resigned his appointment and returned +to England. Strong pressure was put upon him by the khedive to +return, and on January 31, 1877, he left for Cairo, where he +received the combined appointment of governor-general of the Soudan, +Darfour, the equatorial provinces, and the Red Sea littoral, on the +understanding that his efforts were to be directed to the +improvement of the means of communication and the absolute +suppression of the slave trade. Gordon first visited Abyssinia, +where Walad el Michael was giving a great deal of trouble on the +Egyptian frontier. He settled the difficulty for a time and +travelled across country to Khartoum, where he was installed as +governor-general, May 5th. After a short stay there he hastened to +Darfour, which was in revolt; with a small force and rapid movements +he quelled the rising, and, by the humane consideration he showed +for the suffering people, won their confidence and pacified the +province. Before this work was completely accomplished his attention +was called away by the slave-dealers, who, headed by Suleiman, son +of the notorious Zebehr, with 6,000 armed men, had moved on Dara +from their stronghold, Shaka. Gordon left Fischer on August 31, +1877, with a small escort, which he soon outstripped, and in a day +and a half, having covered eighty-five miles on a camel, entered +Dara alone, to the surprise of its small garrison. The following +morning, attended by a small escort, he rode into the rebel camp, +upbraided Suleiman with his disloyalty, and announced his intention +to disarm the band and break them up. Gordon's fearless bearing and +strong will secured his object, and Suleiman returned with his men +to Shaka. + +They rose again; and Gordon's Italian aide, Gessi, after a year's +marching and fighting, succeeded in capturing Suleiman, and some of +the chief slave-dealers with him. They were tried as rebels and +shot. The suppression of the slave trade had thus been practically +accomplished when on July 1st news arrived of the deposition of +Ismail and the succession of Tewfik, which determined Gordon to +resign his appointment. On arriving at Cairo, the khedive induced +him first to undertake a mission to Abyssinia to prevent, if +possible, an impending war with that country. Gordon went, saw King +John, at Debra Tabor, but could arrive at no satisfactory +understanding with him, and was abruptly dismissed. On his way to +Kassala he was made prisoner to King John's men and carried to +Garramudhiri, where he was left to find his way with his little +party over the snowy mountains to the Red Sea. He reached Massowah +on December 8, 1879, and on his return to Cairo, the khedive +accepted his resignation. He arrived in England early in January, +1880. During his service under the khedive, Gordon received both the +second-and first-class of the order of the Medjidieh. + +His constitution was so much impaired by his sojournings in so +deadly a climate that his medical advisers sent him to Switzerland +to recruit. He returned to England, in April, 1880, and in the +following month accompanied the Marquis of Ripon, the new Viceroy of +India, to that country as his private secretary. He resigned almost +immediately, and was invited to China to advise the Chinese +Government in connection with their then strained relations with +Russia. Gordon accepted at once, and although difficulties were +raised by the home authorities, he reached Hongkong on July 2d, and +went on by Shanghai and Chefoo to Tientsin to meet his old friend, +Li Hung Chang, who, with Prince Kung, headed the peace party. From +Tientsin, Gordon went to Pekin, and his wise and disinterested +counsels in favor of peace at length carried the day. + +In 1881 he went to Mauritius as commanding royal engineer, and while +there was promoted major-general. In 1882, he was at the Cape +Colony, endeavoring to arrange a peace with the natives of +Basutoland; but he failed, largely through the treachery of the Cape +officials. + +[Illustration: Gordon attacked by El Mahdi's Arabs.] + +The success of the Mahdi in the Soudan and the catastrophe to Hicks +Pasha, in November, 1883, had induced the British Government, not +only to decline any military assistance to enable the Egyptian +Government to hold the Soudan, but to insist upon its abandonment by +the khedive. To do this it was necessary to bring away the garrisons +scattered all over the country, and such of the Egyptian +population as might object to remain. To Gordon was intrusted the +withdrawal of the garrisons and the evacuation of the Soudan. At +Cairo his functions were considerably extended. He was appointed, +with the consent of the British Government, governor-general of the +Soudan, and was instructed, not only to effect the evacuation of the +country, but to take steps to leave behind an organized independent +government. + +By the month of March, having succeeded in sending some two thousand +five hundred people down the Nile into safety, Gordon found himself +getting hemmed in by the Mahdi and no assistance coming from +without. On April 16, 1884, his last telegram before the wires were +cut complained bitterly of the neglect of the Government. The attack +of Khartoum began on March 12th, and from that time to its fall +Gordon carried on the defence with consummate skill. His resources +were small, his troops few, and his European assistants could be +counted on the fingers of one hand; yet he managed to convert his +river steamers into iron-clads, to build new ones, to make and lay +down land mines, to place wire entanglements, and to execute +frequent sorties, while he kept up the spirits and courage of his +followers by striking medals in honor of their bravery, and baffled +a fanatic and determined foe for over ten months, during the latter +part of which the people who trusted him were perishing from disease +and famine, and the grip of the enemy was tightening. + +In April the necessity of a relief expedition was pressed upon the +Government at home, but without avail. In May popular feeling found +vent, not only in public meetings but in the House of Commons, when +a vote of censure on the Government was lost by only twenty-eight +votes. Eventually, proposals were made to send a relief expedition +from Cairo in the autumn, and on August 5th a vote of credit for +L300,000 was taken for "operations for the relief of General Gordon, +should it become necessary, and to make certain preparations in +respect thereof." Even when it was decided that Lord Wolseley should +take command of a relief expedition up the Nile, hesitation +continued to mark the proceedings of the Government, and time, so +valuable on account of the rising of the Nile, was lost. It was +September 1st before Lord Wolseley was able to leave England. Then +everything was done, but the delay had been fatal. + +In September, 1884, having driven the rebels out of Berber, Gordon +authorized his companions, Colonel Stewart and Frank Power (_Times_ +correspondent), to go down the river in the steamer Abbas to open +communication with Dongola. The steamer struck on a rock, and they +were both treacherously murdered. Gordon was now the only Englishman +in Khartoum. On December 20th, Lord Wolseley launched Sir Herbert +Stewart's expedition from Korti across the desert to Metemmeh, +where, after two severe engagements, it arrived on January 20, 1885, +under command of Sir Charles Wilson, Stewart having been mortally +wounded. In order to succor the advancing force, Gordon had deprived +himself for three months of five out of his seven steamers. These +five steamers, fully armed, equipped, and provisioned, were in +waiting, and in them were his diaries and letters up to December +14th. On that date he wrote to Major Watson, R.E., at Cairo, that +he thought the game was up, and a catastrophe might be expected in +ten days' time, and sent his adieux to all. On the same day he wrote +to his sister: "I am quite happy, thank God, and like Lawrence, I +have tried to do my duty." His diary ended on the same day with: "I +have done the best for the honor of my country. Good-by." It was +necessary for the safety of his troops that Wilson should first make +a reconnoissance down the river toward Berber before going to +Khartoum, and when he started up the river, on January 24th, the +difficulties of navigation were so great that it was midday on the +28th before the goal was reached, and then only to find it in the +hands of the Mahdi, Khartoum having fallen early on the 26th, after +a siege of 317 days. + +From the most accurate information since obtained, it appears that +the garrison, early in January, had been reduced to great straits +for want of food, and great numbers of the inhabitants had availed +themselves of Gordon's permission to join the Mahdi. Omdurman, +opposite to Khartoum, on the west bank of the river, fell about +January 13th, and about the 18th a sortie was made, in which some +serious fighting took place. The state of the garrison then grew +desperate. Gordon continually visited the posts by night as well as +day, and encouraged the famished garrison. The news of Sir Herbert +Stewart's expedition, and the successful engagements it had fought +on the way to Metemmeh, determined the Mahdi to storm Khartoum +before reinforcements could arrive for its relief. The attack was +made on the south front at 3.30 a.m., on Monday, January 26, 1885. +The defence was half-hearted, treachery was at work, and Gordon +received no tidings of the assault. The rebels made good their +entrance, and then a general massacre ensued. The accounts of +Gordon's death are confused and conflicting, but they all agree in +stating that he was killed near the gate of the palace, and his head +carried to the Mahdi's camp. + +Intelligence of the catastrophe reached England on Thursday, +February 5th. The outburst of popular grief, not only in this +country and her colonies, but also among foreign nations, has hardly +been paralleled. It was universally acknowledged that the world had +lost a hero. Friday, March 13th, was then observed as a day of +national mourning, and special services were held in the cathedrals +and in many churches of the land, those at Westminster Abbey and St. +Paul's being attended by the royal family, members of both houses of +parliament, and representatives of the naval and military services. +Parliament voted a national monument to be placed in Trafalgar +Square, and a sum of L20,000 to his relatives. More general +expression was given to the people's admiration of Gordon's +character by the institution of the "Gordon Boys' Home" for homeless +and destitute boys. Gordon's sister presented to the town of +Southampton her brother's library, in March, 1889. + +Gordon's character was unique. Simple-minded, modest, and almost +morbidly retiring, he was fearless and outspoken when occasion +required. Strong in will and prompt in action, with a naturally hot +temper, he was yet forgiving to a fault. Somewhat brusque in manner, +his disposition was singularly sympathetic and attractive, winning +all hearts. Weakness and suffering at once enlisted his interest. +Caring nothing for what was said of him, he was indifferent to +praise or reward, and had a supreme contempt for money. His whole +being was dominated by a Christian faith, at once so real and so +earnest that, although his religious views were tinged with +mysticism, the object of his life was the entire surrender of +himself to work out whatever he believed to be the will of God. + + + + +GENERAL GEORGE A. CUSTER[22] + + [Footnote 22: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By ELBRIDGE S. BROOKS + +(1839-1876) + +[Illustration: General George A. Custer.] + + +Daring is always popular. The dashing fighter outranks the tactician +and takes precedence over the engineer when the people's plaudits +for valor fill the air. To be the _beau sabreur_ of the army, as was +Murat, in Napoleon's day, and as Custer was in Grant's, is as +glorious as it is dramatic, as inspiring as it is picturesque. There +were, in fact, many points of resemblance between these two dashing +cavalry leaders--Murat, the Frenchman, and Custer, the American. +Both smelled powder as the aides-de-camp of their chiefs; both rose +rapidly from grade to grade, and from rank to rank, until they stood +at the top; both labored at the end under the burden of criticism +and detraction; and both met their death through a mistake, and fell +like brave and gallant soldiers. + +George Armstrong Custer was born at New Rumley, in the State of +Ohio, on December 5, 1839. His father was a blacksmith and farmer, +of German stock, a descendant of a Hessian officer named Kuestu--one +among many who came to conquer and remained to live and die as +citizens of the land they had failed to subjugate. + +Young Custer was educated in the district school of New Rumley, and +in the academy at Monroe, in Michigan, where he went in 1849 to live +with his sister Lydia. Returning to Ohio he taught school for a year +or more in Hopedale, near New Rumley, and in 1857 was able to see +his boyish dream come true, and, as a lad of seventeen, enter the +United States Military Academy at West Point. + +Cadet Custer graduated from West Point in 1861, and hurried to the +front at once, eager for service, for the war between the States had +begun. He was made bearer of despatches by General Scott; he fought +at Bull Run as lieutenant in the Second United States Cavalry, to +which he had been assigned; he conducted successfully balloon +reconnoissance along the Confederate lines, and so inspired General +McClellan by his energy, courage, and persistence that he was +appointed aide-de-camp to the general, with the rank of captain. + +For his dash and daring in the Rappahannock battles he was advanced +by speedy promotions to the rank of brigadier-general of volunteers, +his commission dating from June, 1863, just one year after his +appointment as aide-de-camp to McClellan. He won his brevet as major +in the regular army for his brilliant leadership of cavalry at +Gettysburg; he had a horse shot under him while heading the charge +at Culpepper, and gained his brevet as lieutenant-colonel of +regulars for his gallantry in Sheridan's lights about Richmond, in +the spring of 1864. He won renown and glory in Sheridan's famous +raid on Richmond, by saving his brigade-colors at the battle of +Trevillion Station, and, in September, 1864, his dashing valor at +Winchester procured him his brevet as colonel of regulars and the +volunteer rank of major-general. He won the battle of Woodstock by a +wonderful cavalry engagement, routing the enemy, whom he drove for +twenty-six miles, and capturing all their guns save one. In the +bloody battle of Cedar Creek he fought at the head of the Third +Division of Cavalry from start to finish, helping to turn a rout +into a victory and recapturing all the guns and colors the Union +troops had lost early in the action, besides taking all the +Confederate flags and cannon. At Waynesboro, in the spring of 1865, +still leading the Third Division, he won the day unaided; he +captured 1,600 prisoners, with all the enemy's camp equipage, guns, +and colors, and then turning for another onset, Custer drove the +Confederate General Early from the field, destroying his command, +scattering his army, and ending the campaign, so far as Early's army +was concerned. For this brilliant engagement, and for his bravery at +the battles of Five Forks and Dinwiddie Court-House, on April 1, +1865, Custer was brevetted brigadier-general in the regular army; +and, as he had won the first colors taken by the Army of the Potomac +in 1862, so, in 1865, he received the first flag of truce from Lee's +army when the end at last came, and was present at the historic +surrender at Appomattox. Then he secured his last promotion. He was +brevetted major-general in the regular army and appointed +major-general of volunteers. + +It was a brilliant and exceptional record. He had fought in all the +battles of the Army of the Potomac save one. He was Sheridan's most +trusted and favorite cavalry officer. In less than four years he had +advanced from captain of volunteers to major-general, and from +lieutenant to major-general in the regular army. He was but +twenty-six when the war closed, and all his promotions had been won +by his bravery, his dash, his daring, and his good leadership. +During the last six months of the war the Third Division of Cavalry, +led by Custer, captured in open fight over one hundred pieces of +artillery, sixty-five battle flags, and ten thousand prisoners. It +was a record of which any soldier might be proud, and it made Custer +at once the idol of his hard-riding troopers, and one of the popular +heroes of the day. At the great review in Washington he rode near +the head of the parade, leading what was popularly called "the most +gallant cavalry division of the age," greeted with cheers and +flowers along the line of march. + +Custer's active service did not close with the war. He was sent to +Texas as commander of a cavalry division, and in November, 1865, was +made chief of cavalry. In February, 1866, he was mustered out of +service as major-general of volunteers and became again captain in +the regular army, "on leave." President Johnson denied him the leave +of absence he asked for to fight under Juarez in Mexico against +Maximilian, the usurper, and in July, 1866, he received his +commission as lieutenant-colonel of the newly formed Seventh +Cavalry, United States Army--the regiment that he made into Indian +fighters and served with until the end. In November, 1866, he joined +his regiment at Fort Riley, and was soon fighting Indians on the +plains. He utterly defeated the hostile Cheyennes, Arapahoes, and +Kiowas at the battle of the Washita, in the Indian Territory, in +November, 1871; he was on post duty in Kentucky until 1873, and then +again on the plains, where, on August 4, 1873, he whipped the +hostile Sioux at the battle of Tongue River, in the Yellowstone +country, and again, on the 11th of the same month, at the battle of +the Big Horn. In the summer of 1874 he led an expedition of +exploration and discovery into the Black Hills, in the Dakota +country, and in May, 1876, led his regiment in what proved to be his +last campaign, a march against the hostile Sioux in the unexplored +region of the Little Big Horn. Here, with less than three hundred +men, he faced the confederated Sioux, numbering thousands of +warriors, and in a desperate and characteristic engagement closed +the record of a life of brilliant effort and daring by standing at +bay, against the tremendous odds of ten to one, until he and his +entire command fell to a man, fighting desperately to the end. + +Custer was gallant, but sometimes indiscreet; he was daring, but +often careless of consequences; and when in positions of command he +was apt to be impatient of cowardice and of greed. So he raised up +enemies for himself, and twice these enemies sought and nearly +accomplished his downfall. His last campaign was fought under the +burden of an apparent official censure, galling to a man of Custer's +impetuous nature, all the more so as he knew it to be unmerited and +unjust. There is little doubt that this weight of wrong engendered a +spirit of recklessness, foreign even to his daring nature, and led +him to take risks he would not otherwise have accepted, simply +because he felt the necessity for action and believed that through +valor would come his speediest vindication. Had he been supported by +those he relied upon he might, even in the face of the overpowering +odds marshalled against him, have come off victorious, instead of +dying, an unnecessary sacrifice, like another Roland, and, if we +accept the legends, at just Roland's age. It is because that tragic +ending of a valiant life was, viewed from the picturesque +stand-point, its logical and dramatic conclusion, that American +tradition and popular applause will, in the years to come, remember +Custer, not so much for the dash at Winchester, the daring at +Waynesboro, or the valor at Five Forks, as for his immortal last +stand on the banks of the Little Big Horn, when he and his brave +troopers went down in death together. + +General Custer was the born soldier in face and figure. Lithe, +broad-shouldered, and sinewy in frame, nearly six feet in height, +blue-eyed and golden-haired, he was the beau ideal cavalry +leader--alert, active, ready, and responsive, with an eye to all +details, a love for the picturesque in bearing and equipment, of +great endurance, abstemious, healthy, and strong, and as much at +home in the saddle and with the sabre as in his own little house in +Monroe or by his blazing camp-fire. He married, in February, 1864, +Elizabeth Bacon, a daughter of Judge Daniel S. Bacon, of Monroe. For +ten years his wife was his constant companion in camp and in +frontier service, and she has written many sketches of his active +life in the saddle and his characteristics as soldier and as man. + +General Custer, at the time of his death, was engaged on a series of +"War Memoirs," and his articles on frontier life and army experiences +found ready acceptance and wide favor. He was, undoubtedly, America's +best cavalry leader, and won a place as "a perfect general of horse" +beside the world's dashing war-riders--from Hannibal's "Thunderbolt," +Mago the Carthaginian, to Maurice of Nassau and the "Golden Eagle," +Murat the Frenchman. + +Fourteen of the thirty-seven years he lived were spent in actual +service in the camp or on the battle-field. He was a brigadier-general +at twenty-three and a major-general at twenty-five. In the height of +his popularity and his phenomenal success as a cavalry leader, he was +a picturesque and familiar figure to friend and foe alike, as in his +broad cavalier's hat, his gold-bedizened jacket, and high cavalry +boots, with his long hair streaming in the wind, he would ride like a +tornado, to the accompaniment of "Garry Owen," his favorite +battle-air, carrying all before him--a subject worthy the pencil of a +Vandyke, the very type of the dashing trooper of romance. But that +there was a method in his dash and a practical element in his daring, +even the generals he outranked and the civilians who tried to direct +him would admit, and to be the choice of McClellan and the favorite of +Sheridan gave the assurance of worth to his leadership and of value to +his valor. + +In 1877 Custer's remains were removed to the graveyard at West Point +from the battle-field of the Little Big Horn, where he had first +been buried amid the fallen heroes of his own brave band. In 1879 +the Government made the battle-ground where Custer met his death a +national cemetery, and raised a monument, upon which appeared the +names and rank of all those who fell in that needless and fatal, but +heroic, fight. + +[Signature: Elbridge S. Brooks.] + +[Illustration: Custer's Last Fight.] + + + + +HENRY M. STANLEY[23] + + [Footnote 23: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess] + +By NOAH BROOKS + +(Born 1841) + +[Illustration: Henry M. Stanley.] + + +Two white men, one from America and the other from England, met in +the heart of Equatorial Africa, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, +November 10, 1871. This was their first meeting. The Englishman had +been lost to the outside world for more than two years, and the +American had been looking for him since the early part of 1871. +Finally, after many great difficulties and perils, the American +found the lost explorer, surrounded by his black guards, friends, +and companions. They had dimly heard of each other through the vague +rumors of the natives for months past, and now meeting face to face, +the American lifting his cap, said, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume." +The Englishman nodded an affirmative reply, and the other said, "I +am Henry M. Stanley." + +It was in this simple yet dramatic way that two of the most famous +African travellers of modern times met in the heart of the Dark +Continent. Quite as dramatic, perhaps, was the departure of Stanley +in pursuit of Livingstone. Stanley was not widely known previous to +his expedition to Africa in search of Livingstone. He had served as +a war correspondent of one of the great New York newspapers for +several years, and was known to his craft as a faithful, accurate, +and courageous newspaper correspondent. He had dared many dangers, +and had encountered and overcome obstacles that would have dismayed +a less intrepid soul. In 1868 he served the _New York Herald_ as +correspondent during the war in Abyssinia which raged between the +British and King Theodore. It was here he got his first taste of +African adventure. It was not a long war. The British shut up King +Theodore in the fortress of Magdala, where he perished miserably by +his own hand in the flames of his burning citadel. Thence Stanley +went to Spain, where a great civil war had broken out, and he +witnessed the sacking of cities, the prosecution of sieges, and +battles large and small innumerable. + +This war over, in the autumn of 1869, the civilized world was +wondering whether Dr. Livingstone, the African missionary and +explorer, were dead or alive. Dr. Livingstone, who was of Scottish +birth and was in the service of the London Missionary Society, had +been long laboring in South Africa, a country of which the outer +world then knew but very little. Along the coast here and there were +points occupied temporarily by white traders and travellers, but the +interior of the Dark Continent was known only through the tales of +the slave-catchers, who brought to the coast the black people they +had gathered like so many cattle in the interior. Dr. Livingstone +was doing what he could to spread the light of the Christian +religion through those benighted regions. His first departure into +the interior of Africa was from Cape Town, in 1840, and for more +than thirty-three years he spent his life in the arduous work to +which he had consecrated himself. In 1858 he had returned to England +and published a book, giving an account of his missionary labors and +his discoveries, and, liberally provided with means, he returned to +Africa to carry on his work. He was accompanied by his wife, who +died in the interior of Africa in 1862. In 1863 he returned to +England and published a second book, giving some further account of +his explorations. + +Again, in 1865, he returned to Africa, and for more than a year no +word came from him, but there ran a rumor that he had been killed by +the savages. Early in 1869, however, letters from Dr. Livingstone, +written a year before, were received on the coast, showing that he +was alive and well. He had travelled many thousands of miles, being +the first white man that had ever penetrated those dark and +mysterious regions in the heart of Africa. But now, in the autumn of +1869, more than twenty months had passed since any word of his had +come out of the darkness, and the world was ready to believe that +the faithful missionary and explorer had dared his fate too often, +and had died in the jungles of Africa. + +It was at this time that Stanley, resting after a long and arduous +campaign in Spain, received from James Gordon Bennett, who was then +in Paris, a telegram summoning him to an interview in that city. +Arriving at the French capital early in the morning, Stanley went +straight to Mr. Bennett's lodgings, before that gentleman had risen +from his bed. In answer to his knock a voice commanded him to enter. +The two men had not met in many years. Stanley was bronzed and aged +by sun and storm, and Bennett, surprised, abruptly asked, "Who are +you?" + +"I am Stanley, and I have come to answer your message," was the +reply. + +Bennett motioned Stanley to a seat, and after a moment's pause, +asked: + +"Will you go to Africa and find Livingstone?" + +Stanley was startled. For a moment he reflected; then he replied, "I +will;" and before he left the room his agreement with Bennett was +practically concluded, and some of the larger details of the +expedition were mapped out, and Stanley left the hotel clothed with +a commission to find Livingstone, and promised all needed funds for +expenses and for the relief of the great African explorer, should he +be in need, as it was expected he would be found, if at all. + +Stanley first went to the east coast of Africa, where he arrived in +the early part of 1871. Months were consumed at Zanzibar in making +ready the expedition with which he was to penetrate into the +interior. Several caravans or trains were despatched, one after the +other, loaded with ammunition, arms, provisions, and the necessaries +of life, and with a large supply of goods with which to purchase a +right of way through hostile or unfriendly kingdoms and states. + +Bringing up the rear of these various trains, Stanley and his armed +force left the coast of Africa, March 21, 1871. He had with him 192 +persons, negroes and Arabs, and as he launched out into the +untravelled places of Africa, two words rang in his ears, "Find +Livingstone." Enduring many hardships, sometimes fighting and +sometimes coaxing the natives, Stanley pressed on his way, his +general course being in a northwesterly direction, signs, rumors, +and perhaps instincts, leading him to believe that Livingstone, if +found alive, would be discovered somewhere in the region of Lake +Tanganyika. It would be impossible to describe the vagueness and +mysteriousness of the rumors which float to and fro in an +untravelled and savage country, but as the intrepid adventurer +pressed on he heard more and more credible reports of the lost white +man. His first convincing intimation of his being near Livingstone +was when a black met him, and, speaking to him in tolerably good +English, told him that a white man was said to be in a village near +by. This man was one of Dr. Livingstone's servants, and soon the +two, one from America and the other from England, met at Ujiji, on +the shores of the lake. + +Stanley remained with Livingstone until March 14th of the following +year, busied with explorations of the fascinating region into which +he had penetrated. He supplied Livingstone with all of the goods +that he could spare, and on his return to Zanzibar he sent him a +caravan with men, supplies, and such articles as he needed, +fulfilling the orders of Mr. Bennett. Stanley never again saw +Livingstone in life. + +Livingstone died of malarial fever contracted in the African +marshes, and his faithful blacks embalmed his body and carried it to +the coast, hundreds of miles, bringing with them every article +belonging to the faithful missionary, even to the smallest scraps of +paper on which were penned the last notes of his journey which he +ever wrote. Livingstone was buried with grand ceremony in +Westminster Abbey, and Stanley was one of those who bore him to his +grave. + +Stanley's early life was a romance. He was born in Wales, near the +little town of Denbigh, and his parents were so poor that when he +was about three years of age he was sent to the poor-house of St. +Asaph to be brought up and educated at the expense of the parish. At +the age of thirteen he was his own master, and though young, he was +ambitious, well informed, and well poised. He taught school while +yet a lad in the village of Mold, Flintshire, North Wales. Tiring +of this uncongenial occupation, he made his way to Liverpool when he +was about fourteen years of age, and shipped as cabin-boy on board a +sailing vessel bound to New Orleans. Like other British-born youths, +America was to him the promised land, and thither he turned his +steps in pursuit of fortune and fame. In New Orleans he fell in with +a kindly merchant, a Mr. Stanley, who adopted him and gave him his +name, for the youngster's real name was John Rowlands. His protector +dying without leaving a will, the boy was once more turned adrift, +but he managed to live and sustain himself, and when twenty-one +years of age, in 1861, the great Civil War having broken out, +Stanley went into the Confederate service then recruiting at New +Orleans. He was subsequently taken prisoner by the Federal forces, +and being allowed his liberty, he volunteered in the United States +Navy. He did his work well, and was in due time promoted to be +acting ensign on the iron-clad Ticonderoga. He made friends wherever +he went, for he was brave, modest, and of a frank disposition. The +war over he was discharged from the naval service, went to Asia +Minor, where he saw many strange countries, wrote letters to the +American newspapers, and in 1866 revisited his native village in +Wales. Returning to the United States, he entered the service of the +_New York Herald_, and went to Abyssinia as war correspondent, as +before stated. + +Stanley returned to Europe after his discovery of Livingstone, in +July, 1872, and published his narrative, but many people in Europe +and in America refused to believe his story. Some persons who +thought themselves expert in knowledge of African travel proved to +their entire satisfaction that he never had been far from the coast, +never had seen Livingstone, and that his wonderful tale was a tissue +of romance. The Queen of England showed her belief and confidence in +him by sending him a box of gold set with jewels, and the Royal +Geographical Society of Great Britain, a very high and mighty body, +showed him great honor. + +The attention of geographers and scientific men was now turned to +the great Lake Tanganyika, about which very little was known. The +outlet of the lake was as yet undiscovered. The secret sources of +the Nile were unknown, and the great river that reaches the Congo +coast from the interior was then, so far as men knew, lost in the +foam of the cataracts above. Even the already famous lake known as +the Victoria Nyanza was indistinctly sketched on the maps, and +people familiar with African exploration were uncertain whether that +great body of water was a lake or a chain of lakes. + +Stanley was asked by the editor of the _London Daily Telegraph_ if +he could settle these great questions if he were commissioned to go +to Africa. He replied, "While I live there will be something done. +If I survive the time required to perform all the work, all shall be +done." James Gordon Bennett was asked by cable if he would join in +the new expedition. His sententious reply flashed under the ocean +was: "Yes. Bennett." And Stanley's second great work was already +determined upon. + +Only six weeks were allowed for preparation, and when it was noised +abroad that Stanley was taking another expedition into the heart of +Africa, he was overwhelmed with offers of volunteer assistants, and +with a great variety of strange contrivances to help him on his +journey. Finally, all preparations being concluded, he left England +August 15, 1874, accompanied by only three white men, Frank and +Edward Pocock and Frederick Barker. These men, with the goods and +other needed articles for the expedition, were sent on ahead, and +twenty months after his last previous departure from Zanzibar, +Stanley was once more at that point of departure, ready to begin his +preparations for another plunge into the heart of the Dark +Continent. + +Some of the black men who had been with him on his previous journey, +when he searched for Livingstone, were found at Zanzibar, and they +were all eager to go with him again, and when he was ready to depart +he had in his company 224 persons, some of the black men taking +their wives with them. The company after leaving Zanzibar landed at +Bergamoyo, on the mainland, November 13, 1874, and five days later +his column boldly advanced into the heart of the Dark Continent. The +general direction of the expedition was at first nearly westerly, +then turning to the north it was aimed for Victoria Nyanza. The +march was obstructed by marshy regions, overflowing with recent +rains. Moist exhalations and poisonous vapors prevailed, and the +first month was a gloomy one. Stanley's own weight in thirty-eight +days fell from 180 pounds to 130 pounds, and the three young +Englishmen with him were greatly reduced in strength and flesh. One +of these, Edward Pocock, was prostrated, and though he was carried +back to the high, dry table land nearer the coast, he died and was +buried in that lonely region. + +By January 21, 1875, 20 of the black men of the expedition had died, +many were sick and disabled, and 89, discouraged by their +misfortunes, deserted. They were now in a hostile region, and were +attacked by natives day after day in succession, but after much hard +fighting they got away and labored onward toward the Victoria +Nyanza, which they reached on January 27th, near its southern shore. +This event was celebrated with great joy and cheerfulness; they felt +that they were out of the wilderness. Six weeks were now consumed in +a voyage around Victoria Nyanza. + +During the absence of the exploring party, Frederick Barker, who had +been left in the camp on the lake, died of fever, leaving Pocock and +Stanley the only white men in the party. It was here that Stanley +met King Mtesa, the King of Uganda, a benevolent and mild-mannered +Pagan, who had previously been converted to Mohammedanism, and now +accepted the Christian religion with equal cheerfulness and +good-nature. + +On his way westward Stanley passed through the regions of King +Rumanika, an eccentric character, at whose court the white man heard +many strange stories of unknown regions in the heart of the +continent. From this point Stanley went southwardly to explore that +part of Lake Tanganyika which lies south, and this he found to be +three hundred and twenty miles long, averaging a width of +twenty-eight miles. It has no known outlet, and a sounding line of +two hundred and eighty feet found no bottom. + +His next march from Tanganyika to the River Lualaba was toilsome and +perilous and beset with dangers almost incredible. At Nyangwe +Stanley touched the most distant point in Central Africa ever +reached before by white man. Here he met with Tippoo Tib, the famous +Arab trader. This man, who has always seemed to be master of the +destinies and fortunes of the wild, roving tribes in the interior, +agreed to accompany Stanley on his exploration of the Lualaba or +Great River. If it had not been for this agreement with Tippoo Tib, +it is most likely that Stanley's expedition would have ended then +and there, and we never should have known, as we now know, that the +Congo and the Lualaba are one river, the second largest in the +world. Its line extends from its month on the west coast of Africa +more than half-way across the continent, and it has its rise in the +great lakes of the interior. To this vast stream Stanley has given +the name of Livingstone. + +The object of Stanley's journey now was to throw light on the +western half of the continent, which was then represented on the +maps by a blank, through which meandered a few vague and uncertain +lines representing rivers, guessed at but not known. Stanley got on +better with the natives than did any of those who had gone before +him, for he was wise, patient, and gentle, and yet so firm and +decided that he was held in great awe and respect by the black men +wherever he was known. Leaving the river and deflecting to the +westward, he struggled on through a forest matted and interlaced +with vines, swarming with creeping things, damp and reeking with +vapors, and dripping with moisture. It was a most intolerable and +horrid stage of the journey. When again he struck the great river he +resolved to go by land no further. Here he was abandoned by Tippoo +Tib, who refused to go on. Stanley resolutely set himself to work +building and buying canoes, and led by his own English-built boat, +the Lady Alice, his expedition started finally down the river, which +here flows due north. The fleet was twenty-three in number, and was +loaded with stores, goods, and supplies. + +[Illustration: Stanley shooting the Rapids of the Congo.] + +It was a wonderful voyage. The explorers were harassed at times by +savage tribes, some of them believed to be cannibals, who attacked +the strangers from shore, or in pure wantonness, as they drifted +down the stream. Sickness and hunger were often their lot, and they +were overtaken by tropical storms. In some places, too, they +encountered rapids and cataracts, around which their fleet had to be +dragged through paths cut in the primeval forest while the savages +hovered around them. The forests were populous with wild beasts; +chimpanzees and gorillas, monkeys, and all manner of four-footed +things infested the clambering vines that festooned the trees. They +were once attacked by an hippopotamus, and elephants and +rhinoceroses were never far away. At a point below where the great +river turns from its great northerly course and flows westward, just +above the equator, was discovered a series of cataracts, seven in +all, the first of which was named Livingstone Falls and the seventh +Stanley Falls. The natives from this point downward to the mouth of +the Congo had lost something of their natural ferocity, as they had +been tamed by trade from the west coast, and great was the rejoicing +of Stanley's Zanzibar men when they encountered native warriors with +firearms in their hands, for this showed that they had reached a +people supplied by traders from the Congo coast. + +The passing of the last group of cataracts was attended by numerous +dangers. In spite of all their efforts, canoes were sometimes +carried over the falls and wrecked, and on June 3d, Frank Pocock, +the last of Stanley's white companions, was drowned in the Congo by +the upsetting of a boat. Pocock was a brave, faithful, and devoted +follower of Stanley, who has paid a touching tribute to the +manliness, affection, and courage of the young Englishman who lies +buried in the savage wilderness of the Congo. + +Very soon, as they drew nearer to the west coast, in the latter part +of the summer of 1877, sickness, distress, and famine pressed hard +upon the way-worn travellers. They were destitute of nearly +everything that could sustain nature. The natives refused to sell +supplies, and starvation stared them in the face. Knowing that a +trading-post was established at Embomma, a two days' journey down +the river, Stanley wrote on an old piece of cotton cloth a letter +asking for help, which was sent to the trading-post by his swiftest +runners. This letter was written in Spanish, French, and also in +English, Stanley in his anxiety and despair leaving no means untried +to reach the unknown traders whom he heard were at Embomma. The men +into whose hands this three-fold message fell were English and +Portuguese. Their response was prompt and generous. The messengers +were sent back, followed by a small caravan laden with ample +supplies of food and the necessaries of life, greatly to the relief +of the starving people who, on the arrival of this timely aid, had +eaten nothing for thirty hours. On August 9, 1877, the nine hundred +and ninety-ninth day from the date of their departure from Zanzibar, +Stanley's company, now numbering one hundred and fourteen blacks and +one white man, met the generous traders and merchants of Embomma, +who received the way-worn voyagers that had crossed the Dark +Continent. From the mouth of the Congo the expedition was carried by +steamer to Kabinda, a seaport a short distance up the coast, whence +they were taken to the port of San Paolo de Loanda, where they +embarked on board a British man-of-war and were taken to Cape Town; +thence, touching at Port Natal, they steamed to Zanzibar, where they +arrived on November 20, 1877. Long since given up for dead, the +Zanzibar men were greeted by their kindred with signs of +thanksgiving, tears and cries of joy. They had crossed the heart of +the continent, doubled the great Cape, and were again at home. + +Stanley returned to England from Zanzibar, arriving in December, +1877. The King of the Belgians had been planning an expedition to +open up the Congo country to trade, and now requested Stanley to +take command of his expedition. Stanley undertook the management of +the new organization and returned to Africa in 1879, where he +remained nearly six years, hard at work on the Congo, making roads, +establishing stations, and opening the way for commerce. The Congo +Free State, founded by King Leopold, lies chiefly south of the great +bend of the river, and contains an area of 1,508,000 square miles, +with a population of more than 42,000,000. The articles collected +from the African trade at points along the great river, are ivory, +palm-oil, gum, copal, rubber, bees-wax, cabinet woods, hippopotamus +teeth and hides, monkey skins, and divers other things. Stanley now +made brief visits to Europe and the United States. While he was in +this country, in the winter of 1886 and 1887, he was summoned back +to Europe to take once more command of an African expedition to +rescue Emin Pasha, governor of the province of Equatorial Africa. +Emin is the Egyptian name of Dr. Schnitzler. He has been generally +known throughout Africa as Emin Pasha, and was governor of the +province which is one of the outlying posts of the Egyptian +government, when the revolt in the Soudan took place. When General +Gordon was besieged in Khartoum, the province of Emin Pasha was cut +off from the rest of Egypt, and Emin was shut up in the region north +of the Albert Nyanza, whose capital is Lado, on one of the minor +branches of the White Nile. + +To relieve him in his isolation and necessity, a subscription was +started in England, and once more, equipped with men, arms, +ammunition, and other supplies, Stanley sailed for Africa in +January, 1887, making his head-quarters as before at Zanzibar. The +supplies for the expedition were shipped directly to the Congo and +carried up stream by steamers. At Zanzibar, Stanley's old friend +Tippoo Tib was met, and he signed an agreement making him Governor +of Stanley Falls to defend that post against all comers, a salary +being guaranteed him. Then, accompanied by Tippoo Tib, Stanley went +to the mouth of the Congo by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, +reaching the river March 18, 1887; then, ascending the stream on +which he had met so many hardships and endured so much suffering, he +carried his force of nearly one thousand men, and his supplies, +arms, and ammunition, to the relief of Emin Pasha, an enormous +quantity altogether. The white companions of Stanley on this +expedition were Major Barttelot, who had served with distinction +under General Wolseley in Egypt, Major Sir Andrew Clarke, Lieutenant +Stairs, Captain Nelson, Dr. Park, Rose Troup, Mountjoy Jephson, +William Bonny, and Mr. Jameson. Of these, two returned to England +before the termination of the journey, and three perished during the +wanderings of the expedition through forty-five hundred miles of +trackless wilderness, pestilential marshes, and regions populous +with hostile savages. From June, 1887, to December, 1889, the party +was lost to the world and no definite news from it reached +civilization. + +The expedition, which had been divided into two parts, generally +pursued its way in a northeastward course. Major Barttelot was left +on the Aruwimi, at Yambuya, with 257 men and the main part of the +stores, to await the coming of the promised reinforcements from +Tippoo Tib. A long delay ensued, and troubles broke out in +consequence (it is said) of the rash and imperious demeanor of Major +Barttelot, and finally Barttelot was murdered and the entire +rear-guard was broken down by desertion and pillage. Jameson +collected the remains of the party, but he soon after died, and Mr. +Bonny succeeded to the command and collected and kept the men +together. Meanwhile, Stanley's march ahead was made with many +difficulties, and he encountered rapid streams and other obstacles +unforeseen and unexpected. Toward the end of December, 1887, +Stanley's expedition having reached the Albert Edward Nyanza, and +still being unable to open communications with Emin Pasha, it was +decided to return to the forest and build a fort, and, after resting +the forces, make a new start toward the lake. This fortification, +known as Fort Bodo, was inhabited until April, 1888, when Stanley +pressed on, and finally found Emin Pasha and his companion, Dr. +Casati. They had passed through the country of the dwarfs, nearly +perishing with hunger, and when they reached the lake, Emin's +soldiers had mutinied and he was a prisoner. Emissaries from the +Mahdist Dervishes had stirred up the camp of Emin and caused +inextricable confusion. Emin was reluctant to leave the province, +and when Stanley and his white companions determined to attempt to +reach Zanzibar by an unexplored route, Emin refused to depart. Four +months were spent in an effort to overcome the reluctance of Emin +Pasha and Captain Casati, who were unwilling to leave their people. + +Emin's plea was that ten thousand of his people would have to be +extricated from the province and carried to the coast. After many +and exasperating discussions, Stanley refused to wait longer, and +Emin, who had become nearly blind, brought away with him about five +hundred persons. The expedition then, over a southeasterly route, +made its way toward the coast. + +The course of march from Albert Edward Nyanza was nearly in a direct +line to the Uzinja country, on the southwest shore of the Victoria +Nyanza. The party passed south of Victoria Lake and reached the east +coast December 4, 1889. The caravan, since it left Albert Edward +Nyanza, had dwindled from fifteen hundred to one-half that number. +This latest journey of Stanley lasted one thousand and twelve days, +of which hardly twenty were without tragical and perilous incidents. +The story of the annihilation that overcame his rear-guard has been +often told. It will probably never be settled exactly where shall be +placed the blame for that frightful disaster. + +On his return from the Emin relief expedition, Stanley revisited the +United States, accompanied by his bride whom he had lately married. +He gave lectures in several of the larger cities of the country on +his surprising adventures in Africa. He was now prematurely aged by +his terrible experiences, and though his eye was still bright and +his frame alert, care and privation had whitened his hair, exposure +had darkened his skin and left its wrinkled impress on his forehead. +Everywhere he was received with the greatest enthusiasm and followed +by eager thousands, who gazed upon his face and hung with rapture on +his words. In 1892 he returned to England, and availing himself of +his British nationality, stood for Parliament in the District of +Lambeth, City of London, as a Conservative candidate. Much to the +surprise and grief of his friends he was defeated and since then he +has remained in private life. + +[Signature: Noah Brooks.] + + + + +THOMAS ALVA EDISON[24] + + [Footnote 24: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By CLARENCE COOK + +(Born 1847) + +[Illustration: Thomas Alva Edison.] + + +As someone has called Leonardo da Vinci "the great Italian Yankee," +because of his multifarious and ingenious suggestions in the world +of material things, so our own Edison may be called "the Yankee +Leonardo," for, with a curiosity ranging over the whole world of +nature, equal to that of the Italian, and with a fecundity of +invention no less bewildering, he unites, like Leonardo, an +imaginative and poetical vein that lifts his devices into the domain +of Art. + +Yet Edison is in no respect a graceful or romantic figure such as +Leonardo was. He reminds us rather, by the weird and cosmic nature +of his speculations and inventions, of some one of the beings +created by the Norse mythologists: a nineteenth century gnome, +rough, shaggy, uncouth, wholly absorbed in his search among the +secrets of nature, and, while working always for the good of +mankind, dwelling in a world apart, and with neither time nor +inclination to mix in human affairs. + +Thomas Alva Edison was born at Milan, Erie County, O., February 11, +1847. He started in life hampered by poverty, by want of teaching +and training, without friends outside his own home circle to +encourage him in pushing his fortunes, and with small opportunity, +in the little village where his lot had been cast, for bettering his +condition. On his father's side he came of sturdy Dutch stock: the +old man, who was still living in 1879 at the age of seventy-four, +reckoned among his immediate ancestors one who lived to be one +hundred and two years old, and another who reached one hundred and +three. He would appear to have been, like pioneers in general, +ready, if not obliged, to turn his hand to any employment that might +yield a living, that must be scanty at the best; and we read of him +as in turn a tailor, a nurseryman, a dealer, first in grain and then +in lumber, and an agent for the sale of farm-lands. He seems to have +been unable to do much for his boy beyond teaching him to read and +write, stimulating his taste for reading by paying him small sums of +money for every book he read through; he had no need to insist that +the reading should be done thoroughly, for it was the boy's way to +do thoroughly everything he undertook. His mother, also, helped +Thomas in learning: she was of Scotch extraction; but, though her +parents were from the old country, she herself was born in +Massachusetts, where for a time she had been a school-teacher. This, +then, with the exception of two months at the village school, was +the limit of young Edison's education--to use the conventional +term. The world was now to take him in hand, and show what it could +do with material so unpromising. + +Before he was twelve years old, the boy had found a place as newsboy +on the Grand Trunk Line running to Detroit. In the intervals between +his raids upon the helpless passengers with his newspapers, +periodicals, novels, and candies, he kept up the habit of reading, +and by practice acquired a remarkably clear and finished +handwriting. His next step was to secure the sole right of selling +newspapers on the train, and he soon had four boys under him to +assist him in the work. Having then bought a lot of old type from +some printing-office, he rigged up a rude frame in one of the +baggage-cars that served as a lumber-room, and then proceeded to set +up and print a newspaper which he called the _Grand Trunk Herald_, +and sold with the other newspapers. As he had no press, he was +obliged to take off the impressions by rubbing the paper on the +inked type with his hands. In some way, a copy of this newspaper +found its way to the _London Times_, and the editor spoke of it as +the only newspaper in the world printed on a moving train. During +the fighting at Pittsburgh Landing in 1862, Edison printed off +abstracts of the telegraphic news, and posted them up at the small +country stations, thus rendering a great service to the people +anxiously waiting for news from the field. The terminus of his train +was Detroit, and here, for the first time, he had access to a +library. In his enthusiasm at finding himself in virtual possession +of such a treasure, he determined, then and there, to read the whole +library through, as it stood, using his time between trains. +Beginning at one shelf he read fifteen feet in a line, going through +each book solidly from cover to cover. In this first bout, among +other books, he read Newton's "Principia," Ure's "Scientific +Dictionary," and Burton's "Anatomy of Melancholy." + +All this time, by hints and suggestions, Nature had been pushing the +youth toward the field he was finally to occupy almost by right of +eminent domain. As yet, telegraphy was in its infancy, and the +powers of electricity only beginning to be known. Edison had from +the first been interested in the workings of the telegraph line +along the railroad, and had made some experiments with a rude line +of his own, connecting his father's home at Port Huron--a village to +which the family had some time before removed from Milan--with the +house of a neighbor. To do this, he had to make a battery out of +odds and ends, old bottles, stove-pipe wire, and nails made out of +zinc contributed by his youthful friends, who in their zeal cut +pieces out of the zinc mats under their mothers' stoves. He had no +one to teach him telegraphy, but an accident--if accidents there +be--was unexpectedly to put him in the way of learning its secrets. +The child of the station-master was in danger from a moving train; +young Edison snatched it up and saved its life at the risk of his +own, and the grateful father rewarded him by teaching him what he +knew of telegraphy. + +Armed with this rudimentary knowledge, and with what, in addition, he +had learned by practice, Edison passed the next few years of his life +in moving about over the country, seeking employment less, it would +appear, for the sake of employment than for the opportunity of +increasing his practical knowledge of the art that was to swallow up, +in his mind, all the other arts. But he seems to have succeeded almost +in spite of himself. He was so eager in his chase after knowledge that +he was continually tripping himself up. While still at his trade of +newsboy on the Grand Trunk Railroad, he had come across, at Detroit +probably, a copy of Fresenius' "Qualitative Analysis" and had become +so much interested in chemistry, that alongside his printing-press he +had fitted up a small laboratory with a chance-medley apparatus for +experiments, and one day a bottle of phosphorus was upset, and the car +taking fire was only saved by the energy of the conductor, who +promptly pitched the whole apparatus, with the printing-press to boot, +out at the door, and then gave the young Fresenius-Franklin a +thrashing. Later we hear of him, in the course of his wanderings, set +to watch a telegraph-machine in the absence of the operator, and to +prove that he was on guard he was to send the word six over the line +every half-hour. Not to be interrupted in the book he was reading, he +contrived a device that did the work automatically. In another office +he kept back messages while he was contriving a way to send them more +quickly! Disappearing from this office, he appears again in another, +this time in Memphis, Tenn. But his interest in solving the problem of +duplicate transmission proved so absorbing that he continually +neglected his duties, and on the occasion of a change of officers he +was dismissed as a useless member of the staff. At Louisville he +upsets a carboy of sulphuric acid which ruins the handsome furniture +of a broker's office on the floor below, and again finds himself +adrift in an unappreciative world. Yet he had proved himself, in spite +of all drawbacks, an adept of uncommon skill in telegraphy; and so +widespread in scientific circles was his reputation, that he was sent +for to Boston to take charge of the main New York wire. The impression +made by the records of his life at this time is, that he looked upon +all these employments merely as so many opportunities for earning his +bread while pursuing his beloved experiments, and that the +bread-earning was the least important part of the affair. No doubt, he +always meant to do his duty, but the ecstasy of invention and the +thirst for discovery carried him out of himself and made him often +oblivious of sublunary things. While in Boston he still kept up his +experiments and perfected his duplex telegraph, but it was not brought +into successful operation until 1872. + +In 1871 he came to New York, and having attracted the attention of +the Stock Exchange by some ingenious suggestions put forth while +busied in repairing the machine that recorded quotations, he was +made Superintendent of the Gold and Stock Company, and brought out +his invention of the printing-telegraph, by which the fluctuations +of the stock-market in any part of the country are instantly +recorded on narrow strips of paper. + +[Illustration: Thomas A. Edison--The Wizard of Menlo Park.] + +The immediate success of this invention, and the great demand for +the machines, led him to establish a workshop for their manufacture +in Newark, N. J. But soon the need of still more space, and the +desire for freedom from interruption while at his work, obliged him +to give up Newark, and he found new quarters at Menlo Park, N. J.--a +bare plot of barren acres destitute of natural attraction of any +kind, unless it be--what to Edison indeed is a great charm--an +uninterrupted view of the sky; a place virtually unknown before he +planted there the rude buildings that house his wonderful +inventions; yet now a place known to scientific men all over the +world; the Mecca of many a mind seeking to wrest from Nature her +dearest secrets. + +No doubt, many of the inventions that have made Edison famous must +be ascribed in their conception and ripening' to various periods of +his life, but to the popular mind they are all associated with the +wizard's present home, from whence for several years the bulletins +of inventions--playful, useful, necessary, revolutionary--often as +simple in their mechanism as they are astonishing in their results, +have been given to a delighted world. Some of Edison's inventions +have a character at present of little more than picturesque +playfulness, such as the Phonograph, perhaps the most remarkable of +these minor inventions; the Aerophone, by which sounds are amplified +without loss of distinctness; the Megaphone, an instrument which, +inserted in the ear, so magnifies sounds that faint whispers may be +heard a thousand feet; the Phonometer, for measuring the force of +the soundwaves caused by the human voice; the Microtasimeter, for +measuring small variations in temperature. This has been tested for +so small a variation as 1/24000 of a degree Fahrenheit, and in 1878 +was used to detect the presence of heat in the sun's corona. The +most familiar of these lesser inventions is the Phonograph by which +sounds are made self-recording and capable of being repeated. While +this curious invention--almost childish in its simplicity--is as yet +little more than a plaything, and has proved of small utility, it +makes, nevertheless, a strong appeal to the imagination when we +reflect that by its aid the voice of any human being may be +transmitted to ages far in the future, and its living tones be heard +long after he who uttered them has returned to the dust. + +But, while these inventions have the charm that invests "the +fairy-tales of science," the world-wide fame of Edison rests upon +greater gifts to the world; the various improvements he has made in +the telegraph, and the perfection to which he has brought the +electric light. The invention of the telephone, by which persons are +enabled to converse with one another at very long distances, and by +which concerts, operas, and orations or sermons in one city can be +heard by an audience assembled in another, is one of the most +remarkable of Edison's achievements, and one the usefulness of which +in various directions it is easy to foresee. The idea of the +transmission of messages in opposite directions by the same wire was +one that had early occurred to Edison, but he was long in reducing +it to practice. The secret once discovered, however, he rapidly +progressed until he had brought out the sextuple telegraph, where we +believe the ability of the instrument rests at present. + +The inventor next turned his mind to the study of the electric lamp, +in which he saw great possibilities. He believed that he could +produce a light that should be cheaper than gas, and also purer, +more steady, and more to be depended on. He rejected the principle +of the Voltaic arc involved in the Brush patent then in use, by +which the electric current was passed through a strip of platinum or +other metal that requires a high temperature to melt, because in +practice it was found that in fact, owing to the difficulty of +regulating the flow of the electric current, the medium did often +melt. He therefore sought for a medium that should be practically +indestructible, and believed that it would be found in pure carbon +enclosed in a vacuum. After many trials with one and another +substance, he at length found that by employing slender strips of +card-board reduced by intense heat to carbon, connecting them with +the wires leading from the machine, and enclosing them in glass +bulbs from which the air had been extracted, the desired result +could be produced. The next step to accomplish was the division of +the light, so that any number of lamps could be supplied by the same +pair of wires--a condition absolutely necessary if the invention +were to be of practical utility as applied to the lighting of +factories, public buildings, or private households, where-ever, in +short, many lights are needed. This was finally accomplished, and in +December, 1879, an exhibition was given at Menlo Park of a complete +system of lighting. This first demonstration of the possibility of +light-division created a great interest in scientific circles all +over the world, especially as scientific experts had testified +before the British House of Commons that the feat was impossible. +The Edison incandescent burner is now in use in every city, town, +and hamlet in this country, and it would seem as if it must of +necessity before long drive the costly, unhealthy, and dangerous +coal-gas out of use for illuminating purposes, although we believe a +wide field of usefulness lies before the coal-gas as a substitute +for coal in our kitchens. + +Thomas Edison has received few public honors from his countrymen; +but the nature of his work has been such as to make his name a +household word throughout his native country; and not only by the +admiration excited by his genius--for it deserves no less a +name--but by the practical, every-day benefits he has conferred, he +has earned a place in the good-will and esteem of his fellows such +as seldom falls to the lot of man. + +[Signature: Clarence Cook.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 6 of 8, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREAT MEN AND FAMOUS WOMEN. *** + +***** This file should be named 28456.txt or 28456.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/4/5/28456/ + +Produced by Sigal Alon, Christine P. Travers and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +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. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |