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diff --git a/39012-h/39012-h.htm b/39012-h/39012-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5f5d56b --- /dev/null +++ b/39012-h/39012-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,14270 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Famous American Statesmen, by Sarah Knowles Bolton</title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + margin: 3em auto 3em auto; + height: 0px; + border-width: 1px 0 0 0; + border-style: solid; + border-color: #dcdcdc; + width: 500px; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +table.toc { + margin: auto; + width: 50%; +} + +td.c1 { + text-align: right; + vertical-align: top; + padding-right: 1em; +} + +td.c2 { + text-align: left; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 2em; + text-indent: -2em; + padding-right: 1em; + vertical-align: top; +} + +td.c3 { + text-align: right; + padding-left: 1em; + vertical-align: bottom; +} + +td { padding: 0em 1em; } +th { padding: 0em 1em; } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + color: #999; +} /* page numbers */ + + .blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + .center {text-align: center;} + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .gap { margin-top: 1em; } + +/* Images */ + .figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + .bord img { + padding: 1px; + border: 1px solid black; +} + +p.caption { + margin-top: 0; + font-size: 70%; + text-align: left; +} + + + +/* Transcriber Notes */ +div.tn { + background-color: #EEE; + border: dashed 1px; + color: #000; + margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + margin-top: 5em; + margin-bottom: 5em; + padding: 1em; +} + +ul.corrections { + list-style-type: circle; +} + + +/* Poetry */ + .poem { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + text-align: left; +} + + .poem br { display: none; } + + .poem .stanza { margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em; } + + .poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + .poem span.i1 { + display: block; + margin-left: 1em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + .poem span.i2 { + display: block; + margin-left: 2em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + .poem span.i4 { + display: block; + margin-left: 4em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + .signature { + text-align: right; + margin-right: 5%; +} + +li.pad { padding-top: 2.0%; } + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Famous American Statesmen, by Sarah Knowles +Bolton</h1> +<pre> +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 <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Famous American Statesmen</p> +<p>Author: Sarah Knowles Bolton</p> +<p>Release Date: February 29, 2012 [eBook #39012]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAMOUS AMERICAN STATESMEN***</p> +<p> </p> +<h4>E-text prepared by Darleen Dove, Julia Neufeld,<br /> + and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> + from page images generously made available by<br /> + Internet Archive<br /> + (<a href="http://www.archive.org">http://www.archive.org</a>)</h4> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/famousamericanst00bolt2"> + http://www.archive.org/details/famousamericanst00bolt2</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h1> +FAMOUS<br /> + +<span class="smcap">American Statesmen</span></h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>SARAH K. BOLTON</h2> + +<p class="center">AUTHOR OF "POOR BOYS WHO BECAME FAMOUS," "GIRLS WHO<br /> +BECAME FAMOUS," "FAMOUS AMERICAN AUTHORS,"<br /> +"STORIES FROM LIFE," "FROM HEART,<br /> +AND NATURE," ETC.<br /><br /> + +"A nation has no possessions so valuable as its great men, +living or dead."—<span class="smcap">Hon. John Bigelow.</span></p> +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> +<p class="center">NEW YORK<br /> +THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.<br /> +<span class="smcap">No. 13 Astor Place</span></p> +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1888, by<br /> +Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><br /><span class="smcap">Electrotyped +By C. J. Peters and Son, Boston.</span><br /><br /> + +<span class="smcap">Presswork by Berwick & Smith, Boston.</span></p> +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> +<p class="center">To<br /> + +THOMAS Y. CROWELL.<br /><br /> + +<span class="smcap">Respected as a Publisher<br /> +and<br /> +Esteemed as a Friend.</span> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>"With the great, one's thoughts and manners +easily become great; ... what this country +longs for is personalities, grand persons, to counteract +its materialities," says Emerson. Such lives +as are sketched in this book are a constant inspiration, +both to young and old. They teach Garfield's +oft-repeated maxim, that "the genius of success is +still the genius of labor." They teach patriotism—a +deeper love for and devotion to America. +They teach that life, with some definite and noble +purpose, is worth living.</p> + +<p>I have written of Abraham Lincoln, one of our +greatest and best statesmen, in "Poor Boys Who +Became Famous," which will explain its omission +from this volume.</p> + +<div class="signature"> +S. K. B.</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"><span class="smcap">Page</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">George Washington</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Benjamin Franklin</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Thomas Jefferson</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Alexander Hamilton</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Andrew Jackson</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Daniel Webster</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_177">177</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Henry Clay</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Charles Sumner</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_268">268</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Ulysses S. Grant</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_307">307</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">James A. Garfield</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_361">361</a></td></tr> +</table><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 386px;"> + +<img src="images/illus-001.jpg" width="386" height="600" alt="G. Washington" title="G. Washington" /> + +</div> + + + +<h2> GEORGE WASHINGTON.</h2> + + +<p>The "purest figure in history," wrote William +E. Gladstone of George Washington.</p> + +<p>When Frederick the Great sent his portrait to +Washington, he sent with it these remarkable +words: "From the oldest general in Europe to the +greatest general in the world."</p> + +<p>Lord Brougham said: "It will be the duty of +the historian, and the sage of all nations, to let no +occasion pass of commemorating this illustrious +man; and until time shall be no more will a test +of the progress which our race has made in wisdom +and virtue be derived from the veneration paid to +the immortal name of Washington."</p> + +<p>At Bridge's Creek, Maryland, in a substantial +home, overlooking the Potomac, George Washington +was born, February 22, 1732. His father, +Augustine, was descended from a distinguished +family in England—William de Hertburn, a +knight who owned the village of Wessyngton +(Washington). He married, at the age of twenty-one, +Jane Butler, who died thirteen years afterward. +Two years after her death he married<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> +Mary Ball, a beautiful girl, of decided character +and sterling common-sense. She became a good +mother to his two motherless children; two having +died in early childhood.</p> + +<p>Six children were born to them, George being the +eldest. The opportunities for education in the new +world, especially on a plantation, were limited. +From one of his father's tenants, the sexton of the +parish, George learned to read, write, and cipher. +He was fond of military things, and organized +among the scholars sham-fights and parades; taking +the position usually of commander-in-chief, by +common consent. This love of war might have +come through the influence of his half-brother +Lawrence, who had been in battles in the West +Indies.</p> + +<p>When George was twelve, his father died suddenly, +leaving Mary Ball, at thirty-seven, to care +for her own five children, one having died in +infancy, and two boys by the first marriage. +Fortunately, a large estate was left them, which +she was to control till they became of age.</p> + +<p>While she loved her children tenderly, she exacted +the most complete obedience. She was dignified +and firm, yet cheerful, and possessed an +unusually sweet voice. To his mother's intelligence +and moral training George attributed his +success in life. She would gather her children +about her daily, and read to them from Matthew +Hale's "Contemplations, Divine and Moral." The +book had been loved by the first wife, who wrote<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> +in it, "Jane Washington." Under this George's +mother wrote, "and Mary Washington." This +book was always preserved with tender care at +Mount Vernon, in later years. Such teaching the +boy never forgot. When he was thirteen, he wrote +"Rules of courtesy and decent behavior in company +and conversation," one hundred and ten +maxims, which seemed to have great influence over +him.</p> + +<p>At fourteen, he desired to enter the navy, and a +midshipman's warrant was procured by his brother +Lawrence. Now he could see the world, and was +happy at the prospect. All winter long, the +mother's heart ached as she thought of the separation, +and finally, when his clothing had been taken +on board of a British man-of-war, her affection +triumphed, and the lad was kept in his Virginia +home; kept for a great work. However disappointed +he may have been, his mother's word was +law. Those who learn to obey in youth learn also +how to govern in later life. George went back to +school to study arithmetic and land-surveying. +He was thorough in his work, and his record +books, still preserved, are neat and exact.</p> + +<p>It is never strange that a boy who idolizes his +mother should think other women lovable. At +fifteen, the bashful, manly boy had given his heart +to a girl about his own age, and it was long before +he could conquer the affection. A year later he +wrote to a friend, "I might, was my heart disengaged, +pass my time very pleasantly, as there's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> +a very agreeable young lady lives in the same +house; but as that's only adding fuel to fire, it +makes me the more uneasy, for by often and unavoidably +being in company with her revives my +former passion for your Lowland Beauty; whereas, +was I to live more retired from young women, I +might in some measure alleviate my sorrows, by +burying that chaste and troublesome passion in the +grave of oblivion."</p> + +<p>Years afterwards, the son of this "Lowland +Beauty," General Henry Lee, became a favorite +with Washington in the Revolutionary War; possibly +all the more loved from tender recollections +of the mother. General Lee was the father of +General Robert E. Lee of the Confederate Army, +in the Civil War.</p> + +<p>At sixteen, the real work of Washington's life +began. Lord Fairfax of Virginia desired his large +estates beyond the Blue Ridge to be surveyed, +and he knew that the youth had the courage to +meet the Indians in the wilderness, and would do +his work well.</p> + +<p>Washington and a friend set out on horseback +for the valley called by the Indians Shenandoah, +"the daughter of the stars." He made a record +daily of the beauty of the trees—every refined +soul loves trees almost as though they were human—and +the richness of the soil, and selected the best +sites for townships. In his diary he says, "A +blowing, rainy night, our straw upon which we +were lying took fire, but I was luckily preserved by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> +one of our men awaking when it was in a flame." +For three years he lived this exposed life, sleeping +out-of-doors, gaining self-reliance, and a knowledge +of the Indians, which knowledge he was soon to +need.</p> + +<p>Trouble had begun already in the Ohio valley, +between the French and English, in their claims to +the territory. No wonder a sachem asked, "The +French claim all the land on one side of the Ohio, +the English claim all the land on the other side—now, +where does the Indians' land lie?"</p> + +<p>Virginia began to make herself ready for a war +which seemed inevitable. She divided her province +into military districts, and placed one in +charge of the young surveyor, only nineteen, who +was made adjutant general with the rank of major. +Thus early did the sincere, self-poised young man +take upon himself great responsibilities. Washington +at once began to make himself ready for +his duties, by studying military tactics; taking +lessons in field-work from his brother Lawrence, +and sword exercise from a soldier. This drill was +broken in upon for a time by the illness and death +of Lawrence, of whom he was very fond, and whom +he accompanied to the Barbadoes. Here George +took small-pox, from which he was slightly marked +through life. The only child of Lawrence soon +died, and Mount Vernon came to George by will. +He was now a person of wealth, but riches did not +spoil him. He did not seek ease; he sought work +and honor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>Matters were growing worse in the Ohio valley. +The Virginians had erected forts at what is now +Pittsburg; and the French, about fifteen miles +south of Lake Erie. Governor Dinwiddie determined +to make a last remonstrance with the French +who should thus presume to come upon English +territory. The way to their forts lay through an +unsettled wilderness, a distance of from five hundred +to six hundred miles. Some Indian tribes +favored one nation; some the other. The governor +offered this dangerous commission—a visit +to the French—to several persons, who hastened +to decline with thanks the proffered honor.</p> + +<p>Young Washington, with his brave heart, was +willing to undertake the journey, and started +September 30, 1753, with horses, tents, and other +necessary equipments. They found the rivers +swollen, so that the horses had to swim. The +swamps, in the snow and rain, were almost impassable. +At last they arrived at the forts, early in +December. Washington delivered his letter to the +French, and an answer was written to the governor.</p> + +<p>On December 25, Washington and his little +party started homeward. The horses were well-nigh +exhausted, and the men dismounted, put on +Indian hunting-dress, and toiled on through the +deepening snow. Washington, in haste to reach +the governor, strapped his pack on his shoulders, +and, gun in hand, with one companion, Mr. Gist, +struck through the woods, hoping thus to reach the +Alleghany River sooner, and cross on the ice. At<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> +night they lit their camp-fire, but at two in the +morning they pursued their journey, guided by the +north star.</p> + +<p>Some Indians now approached, and offered their +services as guides. One was chosen, but Washington +soon suspected that they were being guided in +the wrong direction. They halted, and said they +would camp for the night, but the Indian demurred, +and offered to carry Washington's gun, as he was +fatigued. This was declined, when the Indian +grew sullen, hurried forward, and, when fifteen +paces ahead, levelled his gun and fired at Washington. +Gist at once seized the savage, took his gun +from him, and would have killed him on the spot +had not the humane Washington prevented. He +was sent home to his cabin with a loaf of bread, +and told to come to them in the morning with +meat. Probably he expected to return before +morning, and, with some other braves, scalp the +two Americans; but Washington and Gist travelled +all night, and reached the Alleghany River +opposite the site of Pittsburg.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, the river was not frozen as they +had hoped, but was full of broken ice. All day +long they worked to construct a raft, with but one +hatchet between them. After reaching the middle +of the river the men on the raft were hurled into +ten feet of water by the floating ice, and Washington +was saved from drowning only by clinging to +a log. They lay till morning on an island in the +river, their clothes stiff with frost, and the hands<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +and feet of poor Gist frozen by the intense cold. +The agony of that night Washington never forgot, +even in the horrors of Valley Forge.</p> + +<p>Happily, the river had grown passable in the +night, and they were able to cross to a place of +safety. He came home as speedily as possible and +delivered the letter to Governor Dinwiddie. His +journal was sent to London and published, because +of the knowledge it gave of the position of the +French. The young soldier of twenty-one had +escaped death from the burning straw in surveying, +from the Indian's gun, and from drowning. +He had shown prudence, self-devotion, and heroism. +"From that moment," says Irving, in his +delightful life of Washington, "he was the rising +hope of Virginia." And he was the rising hope of +the new world as well.</p> + +<p>The polite letter brought by Washington to the +governor had declared that no Englishmen should +remain in the Ohio valley! Dinwiddie at once determined +to send three hundred troops against the +French, and offered the command to Washington. +He shrunk from the charge, and it was given to +Colonel Fry, while he was made second in command. +Fry soon died, and Washington was obliged +to assume control. He was equal to the occasion. +He said, "I have a constitution hardy enough to +encounter and undergo the most severe trials, and, +I flatter myself, resolution enough to face what any +man dares, as shall be proved when it comes to the +test."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>The test soon came. In the conflict which followed +he was in the thickest of the fight, one man +being killed at his side. He wrote to his brother, +"I heard the bullets whistle, and, believe me, there +is something charming in the sound." Years afterward, +he said, when he had long known the sorrows +of war, "If I said that, it was when I was +young."</p> + +<p>At Great Meadows, below Pittsburg, he was defeated +by superior numbers, and obliged to evacuate +the fort, but the Virginia House of Burgesses +thanked him for his bravery.</p> + +<p>The next year, England sent out General Braddock, +who had been over forty years in the service, +a fearless but self-willed officer, to take command +of the American forces. Washington gladly joined +him as an aide-de-camp. They set out with two +thousand soldiers, toward Fort du Quesne (Pittsburg). +The amount of baggage astonished Washington, +who well knew the swamps and mountains +that must be crossed, but Braddock could not be +influenced. He remarked to Benjamin Franklin, +"These savages may indeed be a formidable enemy +to raw militia, but upon the king's regular and disciplined +troops, sir, it is impossible they should +make an impression." How great an "impression" +savages could make upon the "king's regular and +disciplined troops" was soon to be shown.</p> + +<p>The march was exceedingly difficult. Sometimes +a whole day was spent in cutting a passage of two +miles over the mountains. Washington urged that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +the Virginia Rangers be put to the front, as they +understood Indian warfare. The general haughtily +opposed it, and the regulars in brilliant uniforms, +bayonets fixed, colors flying, and drums beating, +swept over the open plain to battle, July 9, 1755.</p> + +<p>Suddenly there was a cry, "The French and +Indians!" The Indian yell struck terror to the +hearts of the regulars. They fired in all directions, +killing their own men. A panic ensued. +Braddock tried to rally his men; even striking +them with the flat of his sword. Five horses +were killed under him. At last a bullet entered +his lungs, and he fell, mortally wounded. Then +the men fled precipitately, falling over their dead +comrades. Out of eighty-six officers, twenty-six +were killed and thirty-six wounded. Nearly half +of the whole army were dead or disabled. The +Virginia Rangers covered the retreat of the flying +regulars, and thus saved a remnant. Braddock, +bequeathing his horse and servant, Bishop, to +Washington, died broken-hearted, moaning, "Who +would have thought it!... We shall better know +how to deal with them another time." Washington +tenderly read the funeral service, and Braddock +was buried in the new and wild country he had +come to save.</p> + +<p>Washington escaped as by a miracle. He wrote +his brother, "By the all-powerful dispensations of +Providence, I have been protected beyond all +human probability or expectation; for I had four +bullets through my coat, and two horses shot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +under me, yet escaped unhurt, though death was +levelling my companions on every side of me." +Through life, this man, great in all that mankind +prize, loved and believed in the Christian religion. +Agnosticism had no charms for him.</p> + +<p>Washington returned to Mount Vernon temporarily +broken in health, and his fond mother, +who was living at the old homestead, wrote begging +that he would not again enter the service. In +reply he said, "Honored Madam," for thus he +always addressed her, "if it is in my power to +avoid going to the Ohio again, I shall; but if the +command is pressed upon me by the general voice +of the country, and offered upon such terms as cannot +be objected against, it would reflect dishonor +on me to refuse it; and that, I am sure, must and +ought to give you greater uneasiness than my going +in an honorable command."</p> + +<p>Braddock's defeat electrified the colonies. Governor +Dinwiddie at once called for troops, and +Washington was made "commander-in-chief of all +the forces raised or to be raised in Virginia." For +two years he protected the people in the attacks of +the Indians; his heart so full of pity that he wrote +the governor, "I solemnly declare, if I know my +own mind, I could offer myself a willing sacrifice +to the butchering enemy, provided that would contribute +to the people's ease." No wonder that +such self-sacrifice and unselfishness won the homage +of the State, and later of the nation.</p> + +<p>In May, 1758, the condition of the army was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +such, the men so poorly clad and paid, that the +young commander decided to go to Williamsburg +to lay the matter before the council. In crossing +the Pamunkey, a branch of the York River, he met +a Mr. Chamberlayne, who pressed him to dine, +more especially as a charming lady was visiting at +his house. He accepted the invitation, and there +met Martha Custis, a widow of twenty-six, two +months younger than himself; a bright, frank, +agreeable woman, with dark eyes and hair, below +the middle size, a contrast indeed to his striking +physique, six feet two inches tall, blue eyes, and +grave demeanor.</p> + +<p>Martha Dandridge, with amiable disposition and +winning manners, had been married at seventeen to +Daniel Parke Custis, thirty-eight, a kind-hearted +and wealthy land-owner. For seven years they +lived at "The White House," on the Pamunkey +River, where he died, leaving two children, John +Parke and Martha Parke Custis. Mrs. Custis had +come to visit the Chamberlaynes, and now was to +meet the most popular officer in Virginia.</p> + +<p>The dinner passed pleasantly, and then Bishop, +the servant, brought Colonel Washington's horse +and his own to the gate at the appointed hour. +But Colonel Washington did not appear. The +afternoon seemed like a dream, for love takes no +account of time. The sun was setting when he +rose to go, but Major Chamberlayne urged his +guest to pass the night. Probably he did not need +to be urged, for the most sublime and beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +force in all the world now controlled the fearless +Washington. The next morning he hastened to +Williamsburg, transacted his business, returned to +the home of Martha Custis, where he spent a day +and a night, and left her his betrothed.</p> + +<p>The commander went back to camp with a new +joy in living. The army was now ordered against +Fort du Quesne, under Brigadier-General Forbes of +Great Britain; Washington leading the Virginia +troops. He seized a moment before leaving to +write to Mrs. Custis, which letter Lossing gives in +his interesting lives of Mary and Martha Washington:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"A courier is starting for Williamsburg, and I embrace +the opportunity to send a few words to one whose life is now +inseparable from mine. Since that happy hour when we +made our pledges to each other, my thoughts have been continually +going to you as to another self. That an all-powerful +Providence may keep us both in safety is the prayer of +your ever faithful and</p> + + +<div class="signature">"Ever affectionate friend,"<br /> +<span class="smcap">G. Washington</span>."</div> +</blockquote> + +<p>The army marched again over the field where the +bones of Braddock's men were bleaching in the sun, +and approached the fort, only to find that the +French had deserted it after setting it on fire, and +retreated down the river. Washington, who led +the advance, planted the British flag over the smoking +ruin of what is now Pittsburg, so called from +the illustrious William Pitt. With the French +driven out of the Ohio valley, Washington, having<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> +served five years in the army, resigned, and married +Martha Custis, January 6, 1759. Every inch +a soldier he must have looked in his suit of blue +cloth lined with red silk, and ornamented with silver +trimmings; while his bride wore white satin, +with pearl necklace and ear-rings, and pearls in her +hair. She rode home in a coach drawn by six +horses, while Colonel Washington, on a fine chestnut +horse, attended by a brilliant cortége, rode beside +her carriage.</p> + +<p>The year previous, 1758, Washington had been +elected a member of the Virginia Assembly. When +he took his seat, the House gave him an address of +welcome. He rose to reply, trembled, and could +not say a word. "Sit down, Mr. Washington," +said the speaker; "your modesty equals your +valor, and that surpasses the power of any language +I possess." Beautiful attributes of character, not +always found in conjunction; valor and modesty!</p> + +<p>For three months Washington remained at the +home of his wife, to attend to the business of the +colony; becoming also guardian of her two pretty +children, four and six years of age, whom he seemed +to love as his own. When he took his bride to +Mount Vernon to live, he wrote to a relative, "I +am now, I believe, fixed in this spot with an agreeable +partner for life; and I hope to find more happiness +in retirement than I ever experienced in the +wide and bustling world."</p> + +<p>For seventeen years he lived on his estate of +eight thousand acres, delighting in agriculture, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +enjoying the development of the two children. +The years passed quickly, for affection, the holiest +thing on earth, brought rest and contentment. +He or she is rich who possesses it. To have millions, +and yet live in a home where there is no +affection, is to be poor indeed.</p> + +<p>He was an early riser; in winter often lighting +his own fire, and reading by candle-light; retiring +always at nine o'clock. He was vestryman in the +Episcopal Church, and judge of the county court, +as well as a member of the House of Burgesses. +So honest was he that a barrel of flour marked +with his name was exempted from the usual inspection +in West India ports.</p> + +<p>Into this busy and happy life came sorrow, as it +comes into other lives. Martha Parke Custis, a +gentle and lovely girl, died of consumption at +seventeen, Washington kneeling by her bedside in +prayer as her life went out. The love of both parents +now centred in the boy of nineteen, John +Parke Custis, who, the following year, left Columbia +College to marry a girl of sixteen, Eleanor +Calvert. While Washington attended the wedding, +Mrs. Washington could not go, in her mourning +robes, but sent an affectionate letter to her new +daughter.</p> + +<p>The quiet life at Mount Vernon was now to be +wholly changed. The Stamp Act and the oppressive +taxes had stirred America. When the taxes +were repealed, save that on tea, and Lord North +was urged to include tea also, he said: "To temporize<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> +is to yield; and the authority of the mother +country, if it is not now supported, will be relinquished +forever; <i>a total repeal cannot be thought of +till America is prostrate at our feet</i>." Mrs. Washington, +like other lovers of liberty, at once ceased +to use tea at her table.</p> + +<p>When the First Continental Congress met at +Philadelphia, September 5, 1774, Washington was +among the delegates chosen by Virginia. He rode +thither on horseback, with his brilliant friends +Patrick Henry and Edmund Pendleton. When +they departed from Mount Vernon, the patriotic +Martha Washington said: "I hope you will all +stand firm. I know George will.... God be with +you, gentlemen."</p> + +<p>To a relative, who wrote deprecating Colonel +Washington's "folly," his wife answered: "Yes; +I foresee consequences—dark days, and darker +nights; domestic happiness suspended; social enjoyments +abandoned; property of every kind put +in jeopardy by war, perhaps; neighbors and +friends at variance, and eternal separations on +earth possible. But what are all these evils when +compared with the fate of which the Port Bill +may be only a threat? My mind is made up, +my heart is in the cause. George is right; he +is always right. God has promised to protect the +righteous, and I will trust him." Blessings on the +woman who, in the darkest hour, knows how to be +as the sunlight in her hope and trust, and to be +well-nigh a divine embodiment of courage and fortitude!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +Truly said Schiller: "Honor to women! +they twine and weave the roses of heaven into the +life of man."</p> + +<p>Congress remained in session fifty-one days. +When the results of its labors were put before the +House of Lords, the great Chatham said: "When +your lordships look at the papers transmitted to us +from America; when you consider their decency, +firmness, and wisdom, you cannot but respect their +cause, and wish to make it your own. For myself, +I must declare and avow that, in the master states +of the world, I know not the people, or senate, who, +in such a complication of difficult circumstances, +can stand in preference to the delegates of America +assembled in General Congress at Philadelphia."</p> + +<p>When Patrick Henry was asked, on his return +home, who was the greatest man in Congress, he +replied: "If you speak of eloquence, Mr. Rutledge +of South Carolina is by far the greatest orator; but +if you speak of solid information and sound judgment, +Colonel Washington is unquestionably the +greatest man on that floor." Wise reading in all +these years had given Washington "solid information," +and "sound judgment" was partly an +inheritance from noble Mary Washington.</p> + +<p>People all through New England were arming +themselves. General Gage, who had been sent to +Boston with British troops, said: "It is surprising +that so many of the other provinces interest themselves +so much in this. They have some warm +friends in New York, and I learn that the people<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> +of Charleston, South Carolina, are as mad as they +are here." He was soon to possess a more thorough +knowledge of the American character.</p> + +<p>The Boston troops, under Gage, numbered about +four thousand. He determined to destroy the military +stores at Concord, on the night of April 18, +1775. It was to be done secretly, but as soon as +the British regiment started, under Colonel Smith +and Major Pitcairn, for Concord, the bells of Boston +rang out, cannon were fired, and Paul Revere, +with Prescott and Davis, rode at full speed in the +bright moonlight to Lexington, to alarm the neighboring +country. When cautioned against making +so much noise, Revere replied: "You'll have noise +enough here before long—the regulars are coming +out."</p> + +<p>Long before morning, nearly two-score of the villagers, +under Captain Parker, gathered on the green, +near the church, waiting for the red-coats, who +came at double-quick, Major Pitcairn exclaiming, +"Disperse, ye villains! Lay down your arms, ye +rebels, and disperse!" Unmoved, Captain Parker +said to his men, "Don't fire unless you are fired on; +but if they want a war, let it begin here." The +Revolutionary War began there, to end only when +America should be free. Seven Americans were +killed, nine wounded, and the rest were put to +flight; but the blood shed on Lexington Green +made liberty dear to every heart.</p> + +<p>The British now marched to Concord, where, in +the early morning, they found four hundred and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +fifty men gathered to receive them. Captain Isaac +Davis, who said, when his company led the force, +"I haven't a man that is afraid to go," was killed at +the first shot, at the North Bridge.</p> + +<p>The British troops destroyed all the stores they +could find, though most had been removed, and +then started toward Boston. All along the road +the indignant Americans fired upon them from +behind stone fences and clumps of bushes. Tired +by their night march, having lost three hundred in +killed and wounded, over three times as many as +the Americans, they were glad to meet Lord Percy +coming to their rescue with one thousand men. He +formed a hollow square, and, faint and exhausted, +the soldiers threw themselves on the ground within +it, and rested.</p> + +<p>The whole country seemed to rise to arms. Men +came pouring into Boston with such weapons as +they could find. Noble Israel Putnam of Connecticut +left his plough in the field and hastened to the +war.</p> + +<p>May 10, Congress again met at Philadelphia. +They sent a second petition to King George, which +John Adams called an "imbecile measure." They +made plans for the support of the army already +gathered at Cambridge from the different States. +Who should be the commander of this growing +army? Then John Adams spoke of the gentleman +from Virginia, "whose skill and experience as an +officer, whose independent fortune, great talents, +and excellent universal character, would command<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +the approbation of all America, and unite the cordial +exertions of all the colonies better than any +other person in the Union." June 5, Washington +was unanimously elected commander-in-chief.</p> + +<p>Rising in his seat, and thanking Congress, he +modestly said: "I beg it may be remembered by +every gentleman in the room that I this day declare, +with the utmost sincerity, I do not think +myself equal to the command I am honored with. +As to pay, I beg leave to assure the Congress that, +as no pecuniary consideration could have tempted +me to accept this arduous employment, at the expense +of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not +wish to make any profit of it. I will keep an +exact account of my expenses. Those, I doubt not, +they will discharge, and that is all I desire." He +wrote to his wife: "I should enjoy more real happiness +in one month with you at home than I have +the most distant prospect of finding abroad if my +stay were to be seven times seven years. But as it +has been a kind of destiny that has thrown me +upon this service, I shall hope that my undertaking +it is designed to answer some good purpose.... +I shall feel no pain from the toil or danger of the +campaign; my unhappiness will flow from the +uneasiness I know you will feel from being left +alone." No wonder Martha Washington loved +him; so brave that he could meet any danger without +fear, yet so tender that the thought of leaving +her brought intense pain.</p> + +<p>He was now forty-three; the ideal of manly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +dignity. He at once started for Boston. Soon a +courier met him, telling him of the battle of Bunker +Hill—how for two hours raw militia had withstood +British regulars, killing and wounding twice +as many as they lost, and retreating only when +their ammunition was exhausted. When Washington +heard how bravely they had fought, he exclaimed: +"The liberties of the country are safe." +Under the great elm (still standing) at Cambridge, +Washington took command of the army, July 3, +1775, amid the shouts of the multitude and the roar +of artillery. His headquarters were established at +Craigie House, afterward the home of the poet +Longfellow. Here Mrs. Washington came later, +and helped to lessen his cares by her cheerful +presence.</p> + +<p>The soldiers were brave but undisciplined; the +terms of enlistment were short, thus preventing +the best work. To provide powder was well-nigh +an impossibility. For months Washington drilled +his army, and waited for the right moment to +rescue Boston from the hands of the British. Generals +Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne had been sent +over from England. Howe had strengthened Bunker +Hill, and, with little respect for the feelings of +the Americans, had removed the pulpit and pews +from the Old South Church, covered the floor with +earth, and converted it into a riding-school for +Burgoyne's light dragoons. They did not consider +the place sacred, because it was a "meeting-house +where sedition had often been preached."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>The "right moment" came at last. In a single +night the soldiers fortified Dorchester Heights, cannonading +the enemy's batteries in the opposite +direction, so that their attention was diverted from +the real work. When the morning dawned of +March 5, 1776, General Howe saw, through the +lifting fog, the new fortress, with the guns turned +upon Boston. "I know not what to do," he said. +"The rebels have done more work in one night +than my whole army would have done in one +month."</p> + +<p>He resolved to attack the "rebels" by night, +and for this attack twenty-five hundred men were +embarked in boats. But a violent storm set in, +and they could not land. The next day the rain +poured in torrents, and when the second night +came Dorchester Heights were too strong to be +attacked. The proud General Howe was compelled +to evacuate Boston with all possible dispatch, March +17, the navy going to Halifax and the army to +New York. The Americans at once occupied the +city, and planted the flag above the forts. Congress +moved a vote of thanks to Washington, and +ordered a gold medal, bearing his face, as the deliverer +of Boston from British rule.</p> + +<p>The English considered this a humiliating defeat. +The Duke of Manchester, in the House of Lords, +said: "British generals, whose name never met +with a blot of dishonor, are forced to quit that +town, which was the first object of the war, the +immediate cause of hostilities, the place of arms,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +which has cost this nation more than a million to +defend."</p> + +<p>The Continental Army soon repaired to New York. +Washington spared no pains to keep a high moral +standard among his men. He said, in one of his +orders: "The general is sorry to be informed that +the foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing +and swearing—a vice heretofore little known in an +American army—is growing into fashion. He +hopes the officers will, by example as well as influence, +endeavor to check it, and that both they and +the men will reflect that we can have little hope of +the blessing of Heaven on our arms if we insult it +by our impiety and folly. Added to this, it is a +vice so mean and low, without any temptation, that +every man of sense and character detests and +despises it." Noble words!</p> + +<p>Great Britain now realized that the fight must +be in earnest, and hired twenty thousand Hessians +to help subjugate the colonies. When Admiral +Howe came over from England, he tried +to talk about peace with "Mr." Washington, or +"George Washington, Esq.," as it was deemed beneath +his dignity to acknowledge that the "rebels" +had a general. The Americans could not talk about +peace, with such treatment.</p> + +<p>Soon the first desperate battle was fought, on +Long Island, August 27, 1776, partly on the ground +now occupied by Greenwood Cemetery, between +eight thousand Americans and more than twice +their number of trained Hessians. Washington,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> +from an eminence, watched the terrible conflict, +wringing his hands, and exclaiming, "What brave +fellows I must this day lose!"</p> + +<p>The Americans were defeated, with great loss. +Washington could no longer hold New York with +his inadequate forces. With great energy and +promptness he gathered all the boats possible, and +then, so secretly that even his aides did not know +his intention, nine thousand men, horses, and provisions, +were ferried over the East River. A heavy +fog hung over the Brooklyn side, as though provided +by Providence, while it was clear on the New +York side, so that the men could form in line. +Washington crossed in the last boat, having been +for forty-eight hours without sleep.</p> + +<p>In the morning, the astonished Englishmen +learned that the prize had escaped. A Tory woman, +the night before, seeing that the Americans +were crossing the river, sent her colored servant to +notify the British. A Hessian sentinel, not understanding +the servant, locked him up till morning, +when, upon the arrival of an officer, his errand was +known; but the knowledge came too late!</p> + +<p>On October 28, the Americans were again defeated, +at White Plains, Howe beginning the engagement. +The condition of the Continental Army +was disheartening. They were half-fed and half-clothed; +the "ragged rebels," the British called +them. There was sickness in the camp, and many +were deserting. Washington said, "Men just +dragged from the tender scenes of domestic life,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +unaccustomed to the din of arms, totally unacquainted +with every kind of military skill, are +timid, and ready to fly from their own shadows. +Besides, the sudden change in their manner of living +brings on an unconquerable desire to return to +their homes." So great-hearted was the commander-in-chief, +though on the field of battle he +had no leniency toward cowards.</p> + +<p>Washington retreated across New Jersey to +Trenton. When he reached the Delaware River, +filled with floating ice, he collected all the boats +within seventy miles, and transported the troops, +crossing last himself. Lord Cornwallis, of Howe's +army, came in full pursuit, reached the river just +as the last boat crossed, and looked in vain for +means of transportation. There was nothing to be +done but to wait till the river was frozen, so that +the troops could cross on the ice.</p> + +<p>Washington, December 20, 1776, told John Hancock, +President of Congress, "Ten days more will +put an end to the existence of our army." Yet, on +the night of December 25, Christmas, with almost +superhuman courage, he determined to recross the +Delaware, and attack the Hessians at Trenton. +The weather was intensely cold. The boats, in +crossing, were forced out of their course by the +drifting ice. Two men were frozen to death. At +four in the morning, the heroic troops took up +the line of march, the snow and sleet beating +in their faces. Many of the muskets were wet +and useless. "What is to be done?" asked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +the men. "Push on, and use the bayonet," was +the answer.</p> + +<p>At eight in the morning, the Americans rushed +into the town. "The enemy! the enemy!" cried +the Hessians. Their leader, Colonel Rahl, fell, +mortally wounded. A thousand men laid down +their arms and begged for quarter. Washington +recrossed the Delaware with his whole body of +captives, and the American nation took heart once +more. That fearful crossing of the Delaware, in +the blinding storm, and the sudden yet marvellous +victory which followed, will always live among the +most pathetic and stirring scenes of the Revolution. +A few days later, January 3, 1777, with five +thousand men, Washington defeated Cornwallis at +Princeton, exposing himself so constantly to danger +that his officers begged him to seek a place of +safety.</p> + +<p>The third year of the Revolutionary War had +opened. France, hating England, sympathizing +with America in her struggle for liberty, and +being encouraged in this sympathy by the honored +Benjamin Franklin, loaned us money, supplied +muskets and powder, and many troops under +such brave leaders as Lafayette and De Kalb. +The year 1777, although our forces were defeated +at Brandywine and Germantown, witnessed the +defeat of a part of Burgoyne's army at Bennington, +Vermont, and, on the 17th of October, the +remaining part at Saratoga; over five thousand +men, seven thousand muskets, and a great quantity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +of military stores. Two months later, France +made a treaty of alliance with the United States, +to the joy of the whole country.</p> + +<p>On December 11, Washington went into winter-quarters +at Valley Forge, on the west side of the +Schuylkill, about twenty miles from Philadelphia. +Trees were felled to build huts, the men toiling +with scanty food, often barefoot, the snow showing +the marks of their bleeding feet. Continental +money had so depreciated that forty dollars were +scarcely equal in value to one silver dollar. Sickness +was decreasing the forces. Washington +wrote to Congress: "No less than two thousand +eight hundred and ninety-eight men are now in +camp unfit for duty, because they are barefoot and +otherwise naked." From lack of blankets, he said, +"numbers have been obliged, and still are, to sit +up all night by fires, instead of taking comfortable +rest in a natural and common way." A man less +great would have been discouraged, but he trusted +in a power higher than himself, and waited in sublime +dignity and patience for the progress of +events. Martha Washington had come to Valley +Forge to share in its privations, and to minister to +the sick and the dying.</p> + +<p>The years 1778 and 1779 dragged on with their +victories and defeats. The next year, 1780, the +country was shocked by the treason of Benedict +Arnold, who, having obtained command at West +Point, had agreed to surrender it to the British for +fifty thousand dollars in money and the position<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> +of brigadier-general in their army. On September +21, Sir Henry Clinton sent Major John André, an +adjutant-general, to meet Arnold. He went ashore +from the ship Vulture, met Arnold in a wood, +and completed the plan. When he went back to +the boat, he found that a battery had driven her +down the river, and he must return by land. At +Tarrytown, on the Hudson, he was met by three +militiamen, John Paulding, David Williams, and +Isaac Van Wart, who at once arrested him, and +found the treasonable papers in his boots. He +offered to buy his release, but Paulding assured +him that fifty thousand dollars would be no temptation.</p> + +<p>André was at once taken to prison. While +there he won all hearts by his intelligence and his +cheerful, manly nature. He had entered the British +army by reason of a disappointment in love. +The father of the young lady had interfered, and +she had become the second wife of the father of +Maria Edgeworth. André always wore above his +heart a miniature of Honora Sneyd, painted by +herself. Just before his execution as a spy, he +wrote to Washington, asking to be shot. When +he was led to the gallows, October 2, 1780, and +saw that he was to be hanged, for a moment he +seemed startled, and exclaimed, "How hard is my +fate!" but added, "It will soon be over." He put +the noose about his own neck, tied the handkerchief +over his eyes, and, when asked if he wished +to speak, said only: "I pray you to bear witness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +that I meet my fate like a brave man." His death +was universally lamented. In 1821, his body was +removed to London by the British consul, and buried +in Westminster Abbey.</p> + +<p>Every effort was made to capture Arnold, but +without success. He once asked an American, +who had been taken prisoner by the British, what +his countrymen would have done with him had he +been captured. The immediate reply was: "They +would cut off the leg wounded in the service of +your country, and bury it with the honors of war. +The rest of you they would hang."</p> + +<p>In 1781, the condition of affairs was still gloomy. +Some troops mutinied for lack of pay, but when +approached by Sir Henry Clinton, through two +agents, offering them food and money if they +would desert the American cause, the agents were +promptly hanged as spies. Such was the patriotism +of the half-starved and half-clothed soldiers.</p> + +<p>In May of this year, Cornwallis took command +of the English forces in Virginia, destroying about +fifteen million dollars worth of property. Early +in October, Washington with his troops, and Lafayette +and De Rochambeau with their French +troops, gathered at Yorktown, on the south bank +of the York River. For ten days the siege was +carried on. The French troops rendered heroic +service. Washington was so in earnest that one +of his aids, seeing that he was in danger, ventured +to suggest that their situation was much exposed. +"If you think so, you are at liberty to step back,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +was the grave response of the general. Shortly +afterwards a musket-ball fell at Washington's feet. +One of his generals grasped his arm, exclaiming, +"We can't spare you yet." When the victory was +finally won, Washington drew a long breath and +said, "The work is done and well done." Cornwallis +surrendered his whole army, over seven +thousand soldiers, October 19, 1781.</p> + +<p>The American nation was thrilled with joy and +gratitude. Washington ordered divine service to +be performed in the several divisions, saying, "The +commander-in-chief earnestly recommends that the +troops not on duty should universally attend, +with that seriousness of deportment and gratitude +of heart which the recognition of such reiterated +and astonishing interpositions of Providence demands +of us." Congress appointed a day of +thanksgiving and prayer, and voted two stands of +colors to Washington and two pieces of field-ordnance +to the brave French commanders. When +Lord North, Prime Minister of England, heard of +the defeat of the British, he exclaimed, "Oh, God! +it is all over!"</p> + +<p>The nearly seven long years of war were ended, +and America had become a free nation.</p> + +<p>The articles of peace between Great Britain and +the United States were not signed till September +3, 1783. On November 4 the army was disbanded, +with a touching address from their idolized commander. +On December 4, in the city of New York, +in a building on the corner of Pearl and Broad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +Streets, Washington said good-bye to his officers, +losing for a time his wonderful self-command. "I +cannot come to each of you to take my leave," he +said, "but shall be obliged if each of you will come +and take me by the hand." Tears filled the eyes +of all, as, silently, one by one, they clasped his +hand in farewell, and passed out of his sight.</p> + +<p>Then Washington repaired to Annapolis, where +Congress was assembled, and at twelve o'clock on +the 23d of December, before a crowded house, +offered his resignation. "Having now finished the +work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of +action; and bidding an affectionate farewell to this +august body, under whose orders I have long acted, +I here offer my commission, and take my leave of +all the employments of public life." "Few tragedies +ever drew so many tears from so many beautiful +eyes," said one who was present.</p> + +<p>The beloved general returned to Mount Vernon, +to enjoy the peace and rest which he needed, and +the honor of his country which he so well deserved. +John Parke Custis, Mrs. Washington's only remaining +child, had died, leaving four children, two +of whom—Eleanor, two years old, and George +Washington, six months old—the general adopted +as his own. These brought additional "sweetness +and light" into the beautiful home.</p> + +<p>The following year the Marquis de Lafayette was +a guest at Mount Vernon, and went to Fredericksburg +to bid adieu to Washington's mother. When +he spoke in high praise of the man whom he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +so loved and honored, Mary Washington replied +quietly, "I am not surprised at what George has +done, for he was always a good boy." Blessed +mother-heart, that, in training her child, could look +into the future, and know, for a certainty, the +result of her love and progress! She died August +25, 1789.</p> + +<p>Three years later—May 25, 1787—a convention +met at Philadelphia to form a more perfect union +of the States, and frame a Constitution. Washington +was made President of this convention. He +had long been reading carefully the history and +principles of ancient and modern confederacies, +and he was intelligently prepared for the honor +accorded him. When the Constitution was finished, +and ready for his signature, he said: "Should +the United States reject this excellent Constitution, +the probability is that an opportunity will never +again be offered to cancel another in peace; the +next will be drawn in blood."</p> + +<p>When the various States, after long debate, had +accepted the Constitution, a President must be +chosen, and that man very naturally was the man +who had saved the country in the perils of war. +On the way to New York, then the seat of government, +Washington received a perfect ovation. The +bells were rung, cannon fired, and men, women, +and children thronged the way. Over the bridge +crossing the Delaware the women of Trenton had +erected an arch of evergreen and laurel, with the +words, "The defender of the mothers will be the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +protector of the daughters." As he passed, young +girls scattered flowers before him, singing grateful +songs. How different from that crossing years +before, with his worn and foot-sore army, amid the +floating ice!</p> + +<p>The streets of New York were thronged with +eager, thankful people, who wept as they cheered +the hero, now fifty-seven, who had given nearly his +whole life to his country's service. On April 30, +1789, the inauguration took place. At nine o'clock +in the morning, religious services were held in all +the churches. At twelve, in the old City Hall, in +Wall Street, Chancellor Livingston administered +the oath of office, Washington stooping down and +kissing the open Bible, on which he laid his hand; +"the man," says T. W. Higginson, "whose generalship, +whose patience, whose self-denial, had achieved +and then preserved the liberties of the nation; the +man who, greater than Cæsar, had held a kingly +crown within reach, and had refused it." Washington +had previously been addressed by some who +believed that the Colonies needed a monarchy for +strong government. Astonished and indignant, +he replied: "I am much at a loss to conceive what +part of my conduct could have given encouragement +to an address which to me seems big with the +greatest mischiefs that can befall my country." +After taking the oath, all proceeded on foot to St. +Paul's Church, where prayers were read.</p> + +<p>The next four years were years of perplexity and +care in the building of the nation. The great war<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +debt, of nearly one hundred millions, must be provided +for by an impoverished nation; commerce +and manufactures must be developed; literature +and education encouraged, and Indian outbreaks +quelled. With a love of country that was above +party-spirit, with a magnanimity that knew no +self-aggrandizement, he led the States out of their +difficulties. When his term of office expired, he +would have retired gladly to Mount Vernon for +life, but he could not be spared. Thomas Jefferson +wrote him: "The confidence of the whole Union +is centred in you.... North and South will hang +together, if they have you to hang on."</p> + +<p>Again he accepted the office of President. Affairs +called more than ever for wisdom. He +continually counselled "mutual forbearances and +temporizing yieldings on all sides." France, who +had helped us so nobly, was passing through the +horrors of the Revolution. The blood of kings and +people was flowing. The French Republic having +sent M. Genet as her minister to the United States, +he attempted to fit out privateers against Great +Britain. Washington knew that America could not +be again plunged into a war with England without +probable self-destruction; therefore he held to neutrality, +and demanded the recall of Genet. The +people earnestly sympathized with France, and, but +for the strong man at the head of the nation, would +have been led into untold calamities. The country +finally came to the verge of war with France, but +when Napoleon overthrew the Directory, and made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> +himself First Consul, he wisely made peace with +the United States.</p> + +<p>Washington declined a third term of office, and +sent his beautiful farewell address to Congress, containing +the never-to-be-forgotten words: "Of all the +dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, +religion and morality are indispensable supports.... +Observe good faith and justice towards +all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with +all."</p> + +<p>He now returned to Mount Vernon to enjoy the +rest he had so long desired. Three years later the +great man lay dying, after a day's illness, from +affection of the throat. From difficulty of breathing, +his position was often changed. With his usual +consideration for others, he said to his secretary, +"I am afraid I fatigue you too much." "I feel I +am going," he said to his physicians. "I thank +you for your attentions, but I pray you to take +no more trouble about me." The man who could +face death on the battle-field had no fears in the +quiet home by the Potomac. In the midst of +his agony, he could remember to thank those who +aided him, and regret that he was a source of +care or anxiety. Great indeed is that soul which +has learned that nothing in God's universe is a +little thing.</p> + +<p>At ten in the evening he gave a few directions +about burial. "Do you understand me?" he +asked. Upon being answered in the affirmative, +he replied, "'Tis well!" when he expired without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +a struggle, December 14, 1799. Mrs. Washington, +who was seated at the foot of the bed, said: "'Tis +well. All is now over. I shall soon follow him. +I have no more trials to pass through."</p> + +<p>On December 18, 1799, the funeral procession +took its way to the vault on the Mount Vernon +estate. The general's horse, with his saddle and +pistols, led by his groom in black, preceded the +body of his dead master. A deep sorrow settled +upon the nation. The British ships lowered their +flags to half-mast. The French draped their standards +with crape.</p> + +<p>Martha Washington died three years later, May +22, 1802, and was buried beside her husband. In +1837, the caskets were enclosed in white marble +coffins, now seen by visitors to Mount Vernon. In +1885 a grand marble monument, five hundred and +fifty-five feet high, was completed on the banks of +the Potomac, at the capital, to the immortal Washington.</p> + +<p>Truly wrote Jefferson: "His integrity was most +pure; his justice the most inflexible I have ever +known; no motives of interest or consanguinity, +of friendship or hatred, being able to bias his decision. +He was, indeed, in every sense of the word, +a wise, a good, and a great man."</p> + +<p>The life of George Washington will ever be an +example to young men. He had the earnest heart +and manner—never trivial—which women love, +and men respect. He had the courage which the +world honors, and the gentleness which made little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +children cling to him. He controlled an army and +a nation, because he understood the secret of +power—self-control. Well does Mr. Gladstone +call him the "purest figure in history;" unselfish, +fair, patient, heroic, true.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 385px;"> +<img src="images/illus-038.jpg" width="385" height="600" alt="Benj. Franklin" title="Benj. Franklin" /> +</div> + + + + +<h2>BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.</h2> + + +<p>"To say that his life is the most interesting, the +most uniformly successful, yet lived by any +American, is bold. But it is, nevertheless, strictly +true." Thus writes John Bach McMaster, in his +life of the great statesman.</p> + +<p>In the year 1706, January 6 (old style), in the +small house of a tallow-chandler and soap-boiler, +on Milk Street, opposite the Old South Church, +Boston, was born Benjamin Franklin. Already +fourteen children had come into the home of +Josiah Franklin, the father, by his two wives, and +now this youngest son was added to the struggling +family circle. Two daughters were born later.</p> + +<p>The home was a busy one, and a merry one +withal; for the father, after the day's work, would +sing to his large flock the songs he had learned in +his boyhood in England, accompanying the words +on his violin.</p> + +<p>From the mother, the daughter of Peter Folger +of Nantucket, "a learned and godly Englishman," +Benjamin inherited an attractive face, and much of +his hunger for books, which never lessened through +his long and eventful life. At eight years of age,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +he was placed in the Boston Latin School, and in +less than a year rose to the head of his class. The +father had hoped to educate the boy for the ministry, +but probably money was lacking, for at ten his +school-life was ended, and he was in his father's +shop filling candle-moulds and running on errands.</p> + +<p>For two years he worked there, but how he hated +it! not all labor, for he was always industrious, but +soap and candle-making were utterly distasteful to +him. So strongly was he inclined to run away to +sea, as an older brother had done, that his father +obtained a situation for him with a maker of +knives, and later he was apprenticed to his brother +James as a printer.</p> + +<p>Now every spare moment was used in reading. +The first book which he owned was Bunyan's +"Pilgrim's Progress," and after reading this over +and over, he sold it, and bought Burton's "Historical +Collections," forty tiny books of travel, history, +biography, and adventure. In his father's small +library, there was nothing very soul-stirring to be +found. Defoe's "Essays upon Projects," containing +hints on banking, friendly societies for the relief +of members, colleges for girls, and asylums for +idiots, would not be very interesting to most boys +of twelve, but Benjamin read every essay, and, +strange to say, carried out nearly every "project" +in later life. Cotton Mather's "Essays to do +Good," with several leaves torn out, was so eagerly +read, and so productive of good, that Franklin +wrote, when he was eighty, that this volume "gave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +me such a turn of thinking as to have an influence +on my conduct through life; for I have always set +a greater value on the character of a doer of good +than on any other kind of reputation; and, if I +have been a useful citizen, the public owe the advantage +of it to that book."</p> + +<p>As the boy rarely had any money to buy books, +he would often borrow from the booksellers' clerks, +and read in his little bedroom nearly all night, being +obliged to return the books before the shop +was opened in the morning. Finally, a Boston +merchant, who came to the printing-office, noticed +the lad's thirst for knowledge, took him home to +see his library, and loaned him some volumes. +Blessings on those people who are willing to lend +knowledge to help the world upward, despite the +fact that book-borrowers proverbially have short +memories, and do not always take the most tender +care of what they borrow.</p> + +<p>When Benjamin was fifteen, he wrote a few ballads, +and his brother James sent him about the +streets to sell them. This the father wisely checked +by telling his son that poets usually are beggars, a +statement not literally true, but sufficiently near +the truth to produce a wholesome effect upon the +young verse-maker.</p> + +<p>The boy now devised a novel way to earn money +to buy books. He had read somewhere that vegetable +food was sufficient for health, and persuaded +James, who paid the board of his apprentice, that +for half the amount paid he could board himself.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>Benjamin therefore attempted living on potatoes, +hasty pudding, and rice; doing his own cooking,—not +the life most boys of sixteen would +choose. His dinner at the printing-office usually +consisted of a biscuit, a handful of raisins, and a +glass of water; a meal quickly eaten, and then, O +precious thought! there was nearly a whole hour +for books.</p> + +<p>He now read Locke on "Human Understanding," +and Xenophon's "Memorable Things of Socrates." +In this, as he said in later years, he learned one of +the great secrets of success; "never using, when I +advanced anything that may possibly be disputed, +the words <i>certainly</i>, <i>undoubtedly</i>, or any others that +give the air of positiveness to an opinion; but +rather say, I conceive or apprehend a thing to be +so and so; it appears to me, or <i>I should think it so +or so</i>, for such and such reasons; or, <i>it is so</i>, if <i>I +am not mistaken</i>.... I wish well-meaning, sensible +men would not lessen their power of doing good +by a positive, assuming manner, that seldom fails +to disgust, tends to create opposition, and to defeat +every one of those purposes for which speech was +given to us, to wit, giving or receiving information +or pleasure.... To this habit I think it principally +owing that I had early so much weight with +my fellow-citizens, when I proposed new institutions +or alterations in the old, and so much influence +in public councils when I became a member; +for I was but a bad speaker, never eloquent, subject +to much hesitation in my choice of words, and yet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +I generally carried my points." A most valuable +lesson to be learned early in life.</p> + +<p>Coming across an odd volume of the "Spectator," +Benjamin was captivated by the style, and resolved +to become master of the production, by rewriting +the essays from memory, and increasing his fulness +of expression by turning them into verse, and then +back again into prose.</p> + +<p>James Franklin was now printing the fifth newspaper +in America. It was intended to issue the +first—<i>Publick Occurrences</i>—monthly, or oftener, +"if any glut of occurrences happens." When the +first number appeared, September 25, 1690, a very +important "occurrence happened," which was the +immediate suspension of the paper for expressions +concerning those in official position. The next +newspaper,—the <i>Boston News-Letter</i>,—a weekly, +was published April 24, 1704; the third was the +<i>Boston Gazette</i>, which James was engaged to print, +but, being disappointed, started one of his own, +August 17, 1721, called the <i>New England Courant</i>. +The <i>American Weekly Mercury</i> was printed in +Philadelphia six months before the <i>Courant</i>.</p> + +<p>Benjamin's work was hard and constant. He +not only set type, but distributed the paper to customers. +"Why," thought he, "can I not write +something for the new sheet?" Accordingly, he +prepared a manuscript, slipped it under the door of +the office, and the next week saw it in print before +his eyes. This was joy indeed, and he wrote again +and again.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>The <i>Courant</i> at last gave offence by its plain +speaking, and it ostensibly passed into Benjamin's +hands, to save his brother from punishment. The +position, however, soon became irksome, for the passionate +brother often beat Benjamin, till at last he +determined to run away. As soon as this became +known, James went to every office, told his side of +the story, and thus prevented Benjamin from obtaining +work. Not discouraged, the boy sold a +portion of his precious books, said good-bye to his +beloved Boston, and went out into the world to +more poverty and struggle.</p> + +<p>Three days after this, he stood in New York, +asking for work at the only printing-office in the +city, owned by William Bradford. Alas! there +was no work to be had, and he was advised to go +to Philadelphia, nearly one hundred miles away, +where Andrew Bradford, a son of the former, had +established a paper. The boy could not have been +very light-hearted as he started on the journey. +After thirty hours by boat, he reached Amboy, +and then travelled fifty miles on foot across New +Jersey. It rained hard all day, but he plodded on, +tired and hungry, buying some gingerbread of a +poor woman, and wishing that he had never left +Boston. His money was fast disappearing.</p> + +<p>Finally he reached Philadelphia.</p> + +<p>"I was," he says in his autobiography, "in my +working dress, my best clothes being to come round +by sea. I was dirty from my journey; my pockets +were stuffed out with shirts and stockings, and I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> +knew no soul nor where to look for lodging. I was +fatigued with travelling, rowing, and want of rest. +I was very hungry, and my whole stock of cash +consisted of a Dutch dollar and about a shilling in +copper. The latter I gave the people of the boat +for my passage, who at first refused it, on account +of my rowing, but I insisted on their taking it; +a man being sometimes more generous when he +has but a little money than when he has plenty, +perhaps through fear of being thought to have but +little.</p> + +<p>"Then I walked up the street, gazing about, till +near the Market-house I met a boy with bread. I +had made many a meal on bread, and, inquiring +where he got it, I went immediately to the baker's +he directed me to, in Second Street, and asked for +biscuit, intending such as we had in Boston; but +they, it seems, were not made in Philadelphia. +Then I asked for a threepenny loaf, and was told +they had none such. So, not considering or knowing +the difference of money, and the greater cheapness, +nor the names of bread, I bade him give me +threepenny-worth of any sort. He gave me, accordingly, +three great puffy rolls. I was surprised +at the quantity, but took it, and, having no room +in my pockets, walked off with a roll under each +arm, and eating the other.</p> + +<p>"Thus I went up Market Street as far as Fourth +Street, passing by the door of Mr. Read, my future +wife's father; when she, standing at the door, saw +me, and thought I made, as I certainly did, a most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> +awkward, ridiculous figure. Then I turned and +went down Chestnut Street and part of Walnut +Street, eating my roll all the way, and, coming +round, found myself again at Market Street wharf, +near the boat I came in, to which I went for a +draught of the river water; and, being filled with +one of my rolls, gave the other two to a woman +and her child that came down the river in the boat +with us, and were waiting to go farther."</p> + +<p>After this, he joined some Quakers who were +on their way to the meeting-house, which he too +entered, and, tired and homeless, soon fell asleep. +And this was the penniless, runaway lad who was +eventually to stand before five kings, to become +one of the greatest philosophers, scientists, and +statesmen of his time, the admiration of Europe +and the idol of America. Surely, truth is stranger +than fiction.</p> + +<p>The youth hastened to the office of Andrew Bradford, +but there was no opening for him. However, +Bradford kindly offered him a home till he could +find work. This was obtained with Keimer, a +printer, who happened to find lodging for the +young man in the house of Mr. Read. As the +months went by, and the hopeful and earnest lad +of eighteen had visions of becoming a master printer, +he confided to Mrs. Read that he was in love +with, and wished to marry, the pretty daughter, +who had first seen him as he walked up Market +Street, eating his roll. Mr. Read had died, and the +prudent mother advised that these children, both<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +under nineteen, should wait till the printer proved +his ability to support a wife.</p> + +<p>And now a strange thing happened. Sir William +Keith, governor of the province, who knew young +Franklin's brother-in-law, offered to establish him +in the printing business in Philadelphia, and, better +still, to send him to England with a letter of +credit with which to buy the necessary outfit.</p> + +<p>A mine of gold seemed to open before him. He +made ready for the journey, and set sail, disappointed, +however, that the letter of credit did not +come before he left. When he reached England, +he ascertained that Sir William Keith was without +credit, a vain man and devoid of principle. Franklin +found himself alone in a strange country, doubly +unhappy because he had used for himself and some +impecunious friends one hundred and seventy-five +dollars, collected from a business man. This he +paid years afterward, ever considering the use of +it one of the serious mistakes of his life.</p> + +<p>He and a boy companion found lodgings at +eighty-seven cents per week; very inferior lodgings +they must have been. There was of course +no money to buy type, no money to take passage +back to America. He wrote a letter to Miss Read, +telling her that he was not likely to return, dropped +the correspondence, and found work in a printing-office.</p> + +<p>After a year or two, a merchant offered him a +position as clerk in America, at five dollars a week. +He accepted, and, after a three-months voyage,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +reached Philadelphia, "the cords of love," he said, +drawing him back. Alas! Deborah Read, persuaded +by her mother and other relatives; had +married, but was far from happy. The merchant +for whom Franklin had engaged to work soon died, +and the printer was again looking for a situation, +which he found with Keimer. He was now twenty-one, +and life had been anything but cheerful or encouraging.</p> + +<p>Still, he determined to keep his mind cheerful +and active, and so organized a club of eleven young +men, the "Junto," composed mostly of mechanics. +They came together once a month to discuss questions +of morals, politics, and science. As most of +these were unable to buy books—a book in those +days often costing several dollars—Franklin conceived +the idea of a subscription library, raised the +funds, and became the librarian. Every day he set +apart an hour or two for study, and for twenty +years, in the midst of poverty and hard work, the +habit was maintained. If Franklin himself did not +know that such a young man would succeed, the +world around him must have guessed it. Out of +this collection of books—the mother of all the +subscription libraries of this country—has grown +a great library in the city of Philadelphia.</p> + +<p>Keimer proved a business failure; but kindness +to a fellow-workman, Meredith, a youth of intemperate +habits, led Franklin to another open door. +The father of Meredith, hoping to save his son, +started the young men in business by loaning them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +five hundred dollars. It was a modest beginning, +in a building whose rent was but one hundred and +twenty dollars a year. Their first job of printing +brought them one dollar and twenty-five cents. As +Meredith was seldom in a condition for labor, +Franklin did most of the work, he having started +a paper—the <i>Pennsylvania Gazette</i>. Some prophesied +failure for the new firm, but one prominent +man remarked: "The industry of that Franklin is +superior to anything I ever saw of the kind. I see +him still at work when I go home from the club, +and he is at work again before his neighbors are +out of bed."</p> + +<p>But starting in business had cost five hundred +more than the five hundred loaned them. The +young men were sued for debt, and ruin stared +them in the face. Was Franklin discouraged? +If so at heart, he wisely kept a cheerful face and +manner, knowing what poor policy it is to tell our +troubles, and made all the friends he could. Several +members of the Assembly, who came to have +printing done, became fast friends of the intelligent +and courteous printer.</p> + +<p>In this pecuniary distress, two men offered to +loan the necessary funds, and two hundred and fifty +dollars were gratefully accepted from each. These +two persons Franklin remembered to his dying day. +Meredith was finally bought out by his own wish, +and Franklin combined with his printing a small +stationer's shop, with ink, paper, and a few books. +Often he wheeled his paper on a barrow along the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +streets. Who supposed then that he would some +day be President of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania?</p> + +<p>Franklin was twenty-four. Deborah Read's husband +had proved worthless, had run away from his +creditors, and was said to have died in the West +Indies. She was lonely and desolate, and Franklin +rightly felt that he could brighten her heart. They +were married September 1, 1730, and for forty years +they lived a happy life. He wrote, long afterward, +"We are grown old together, and if she has +any faults, I am so used to them that I don't perceive +them." Beautiful testimony! He used to +say to young married people, in later years, "Treat +your wife always with respect; it will procure respect +to you, not only from her, but from all that +observe it."</p> + +<p>The young wife attended the little shop, folded +newspapers, and made Franklin's home a resting-place +from toil. He says: "Our table was plain +and simple, our furniture of the cheapest. My +breakfast was, for a long time, bread and milk (no +tea), and I ate it out of a twopenny earthen porringer, +with a pewter spoon: but mark how luxury +will enter families, and make a progress in spite of +principle. Being called one morning to breakfast, +I found it in a china bowl, with a spoon of silver. +They had been bought for me without my knowledge +by my wife, and had cost her the enormous +sum of three and twenty shillings! for which she +had no other excuse or apology to make, but that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> +she thought <i>her</i> husband deserved a silver spoon +and china bowl as well as any of his neighbors."</p> + +<p>The years went by swiftly, with their hard work +and slow but sure accumulation of property. At +twenty-seven, having read much and written considerable, +he determined to bring out an almanac, +after the fashion of the day, "for conveying instruction +among the common people, who bought +scarcely any other book." "Poor Richard" appeared +in December, 1732; price, ten cents. It +was full of wit and wisdom, gathered from every +source. Three editions were sold in a month. +The average annual sale for twenty-five years was +ten thousand copies. Who can ever forget the +maxims which have become a part of our every-day +speech?—"Early to bed and early to rise, makes a +man healthy, wealthy, and wise."—"He that hath a +trade, hath an estate."—"One to-day is worth two +to-morrows."—"Never leave that till to-morrow +which you can do to-day."—"Employ thy time well +if thou meanest to gain leisure; and since thou art +not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour."—"Three +removes are as bad as a fire."—"What +maintains one vice would bring up two children."—"Many +a little makes a mickle."—"Beware of little +expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship."—"If +you would know the value of money, go and +try to borrow some; for he that goes a-borrowing +goes a-sorrowing."—"Rather go to bed supperless +than rise in debt."—"Experience keeps a dear +school, but fools will learn in no other."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>An interesting story is told concerning the proverb, +"If you would have your business done, go; if +not, send." John Paul Jones, one of the bravest +men in the Revolutionary War, had become the +terror of Britain, by the great number of vessels he +had captured. In one cruise he is said to have +taken sixteen prizes; burned eight and sent home +eight. With the Ranger, on the coast of Scotland, +he captured the Drake, a large sloop-of-war, and +two hundred prisoners. At one time, Captain +Jones waited for many months for a vessel which +had been promised him. Eager for action, he +chanced to see "Poor Richard's Almanac," and +read, "If you would have your business done, go; +if not, send." He went at once to Paris, sought +the ministers, and was given command of a vessel, +which, in honor of Franklin, he called Bon Homme +Richard.</p> + +<p>The battle between this ship and the Serapis, +when, for three hours and a half, they were lashed +together by Jones' own hand, and fought one of the +most terrific naval battles ever seen, is well known +to all who read history. The Bon Homme Richard +sunk after her victory, while her captain received +a gold medal from Congress and an appreciative +letter from General Washington.</p> + +<p>So bravely did Captain Pearson, the opponent, +fight, that the King of England made him a knight. +"He deserved it," said Jones, "and, should I have +the good-fortune to fall in with him again, I will +make a lord of him."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>No wonder that Franklin's proverbs were copied +all over the continent, and translated into French, +German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Bohemian, +Greek, and Portuguese. In all these very busy +years, Franklin did not forget to study. When he +was twenty-seven, he began French, then Italian, +then Spanish, and then to review the Latin of his +boyhood. He learned also to play on the harp, +guitar, violin, and violoncello.</p> + +<p>Into the home of the printer had come two sons, +William and Francis. The second was an uncommonly +beautiful child, the idol of his father. +Small-pox was raging in the city, but Franklin +could not bear to put his precious one in the slightest +peril by inoculation. The dread disease came +into the home, and Francis Folger, named for his +grandmother—at the age of four years—went suddenly +out of it. "I long regretted him bitterly," +Franklin wrote years afterwards to his sister Jane. +"My grandson often brings afresh to my mind the +idea of my son Franky, though now dead thirty-six +years; whom I have seldom since seen equalled in +every respect, and whom to this day I cannot think +of without a sigh." On a little stone in Christ +Church burying-ground, Philadelphia, are the boy's +name and age, with the words, "The delight of all +that knew him."</p> + +<p>This same year, when Franklin was thirty, he +was chosen clerk of the General Assembly, his +first promotion. If, as Disraeli said, "the secret +of success in life is for a man to be ready for his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +opportunity when it comes," Franklin had prepared +himself, by study, for his opportunity.</p> + +<p>The year later, he was made deputy postmaster, +and soon became especially helpful in city affairs. +He obtained better watch or police regulations, organized +the first fire-company, and invented the +Franklin stove, which was used far and wide.</p> + +<p>At thirty-seven, so interested was he in education +that he set on foot a subscription for an +academy, which resulted in the noble University of +Pennsylvania, of which Franklin was a trustee for +over forty years. The following year his only +daughter, Sarah, was born, who helped to fill the +vacant chair of the lovely boy. The father, Josiah, +now died at eighty-seven, already proud of his son +Benjamin, for whom in his poverty he had done +the best he could.</p> + +<p>About this time, the Leyden jar was discovered +in Europe by Musschenbroeck, and became the +talk of the scientific world. Franklin, always +eager for knowledge, began to study electricity, +with all the books at his command. Dr. Spence, a +gentleman from Great Britain, having come to +America to lecture on the subject, Franklin bought +all his instruments. So much did he desire to give +his entire time to this fascinating subject that he +sold his printing-house, paper, and almanac, for +ninety thousand dollars, and retired from business. +This at forty-two; and at fifteen selling ballads +about the streets! Industry, temperance, and +economy had paid good wages. He used to say<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +that these virtues, with "sincerity and justice," +had won for him "the confidence of his country." +And yet Franklin, with all his saving, was generous. +The great preacher Whitefield came to Philadelphia +to obtain money for an orphan-house in +Georgia. Franklin thought the scheme unwise, +and silently resolved not to give when the collection +should be taken. Then, as his heart warmed +under the preaching, he concluded to give the copper +coins in his pocket; then all the silver, several +dollars; and finally all his five gold pistoles, so +that he emptied his pocket into the collector's +plate.</p> + +<p>Franklin now constructed electrical batteries, +introduced the terms "positive" and "negative" +electricity, and published articles on the subject, +which his friend in London, Peter Collinson, laid +before the Royal Society. When he declared his +belief that lightning and electricity were identical, +and gave his reasons, and that points would draw +off electricity, and therefore lightning-rods be of +benefit, learned people ridiculed the ideas. Still, +his pamphlets were eagerly read, and Count de +Buffon had them translated into French. They +soon appeared in German, Latin, and Italian. +Louis XV. was so deeply interested that he ordered +all Franklin's experiments to be performed +in his presence, and caused a letter to be written +to the Royal Society of London, expressing +his admiration of Franklin's learning and skill. +Strange indeed that such a scientist should arise<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> +in the new world, be a man self-taught, and one so +busy in public life.</p> + +<p>In 1752, when he was forty-six, he determined +to test for himself whether lightning and electricity +were one. He made a kite from a large +silk handkerchief, attached a hempen cord to it, +with a silk string in his hand, and, with his son, +hastened to an old shed in the fields, as the thunder-storm +approached.</p> + +<p>As the kite flew upward, and a cloud passed +over, there was no manifestation of electricity. +When he was almost despairing, lo! the fibres of +the cord began to loosen; then he applied his +knuckle to a key on the cord, and a strong spark +passed. How his heart must have throbbed as he +realized his immortal discovery!</p> + +<p>A Leyden jar was charged, and Franklin went +home from the old shed to be made a member of +the Royal Society of London, to receive the Copley +gold medal, degrees from Harvard and Yale Colleges, +and honors from all parts of the world. Ah! +if Josiah Franklin could have lived to see his son +come to such renown! And Abiah, his mother, had +been dead just a month! But she knew he was +coming into greatness, for she wrote him near the +last: "I am glad to hear you are so well respected +in your town for them to choose you an alderman, +although I don't know what it means, or what the +better you will be of it besides the honor of it. I +hope you will look up to God, and thank him for +all his good providences towards you." Sweetest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> +of all things is the motherhood that never lets go +the hand of the child, and always points Godward!</p> + +<p>Lightning-rods became the fashion, though there +was great opposition, because many believed that +lightning was one of the means of punishing the +sins of mankind, and it was wrong to attempt to +prevent the Almighty from doing his will. Some +learned men urged that a ball instead of a point +be used at the end of the rod, and George III. +insisted that the president of the Royal Society +should favor balls. "But, sire," said Sir John +Pringle, "I cannot reverse the laws and operations +of nature."</p> + +<p>"Then, Sir John, you had perhaps better resign," +was the reply, and the obstinate monarch +put knobs on his conductors.</p> + +<p>Through all the scientific discord, Franklin had +the rare good-sense to remain quiet, instead of +rushing into print. He said, "I have never entered +into any controversy in defence of my philosophical +opinions; I leave them to take their +chance in the world. If they are <i>right</i>, truth and +experience will support them; if <i>wrong</i>, they +ought to be refuted and rejected. Disputes are +apt to sour one's temper and disturb one's quiet."</p> + +<p>Franklin was not long permitted to enjoy his +life of study. This same year, 1752, he was +elected a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly, +and reëlected every year for ten years, "without," +as he says, "ever asking any elector for his vote, +or signifying, either directly or indirectly, any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> +desire of being chosen." He was also, with Mr. +William Hunter of Virginia, appointed postmaster-general +for the colonies, having been the postmaster +in Philadelphia for nearly sixteen years. +So excellent was his judgment, and so conciliatory +his manner, that he rarely made enemies, and +accomplished much for his constituents. He cut +down the rates of postage, advertised unclaimed +letters, and showed his rare executive ability and +tireless energy.</p> + +<p>For many years the French and English had +been quarrelling over their claims in the New +World, till finally the "French and Indian War," +or "Seven Years' War," as it was named in Europe, +began. Delegates from the various colonies +were sent to Albany to confer with the chiefs of +the Six Nations about the defence of the country. +Naturally, Franklin was one of the delegates. +Before starting, he drew up a plan of union for +the struggling Americans, and printed it in the +<i>Gazette</i>, with the now well known wood-cut at the +bottom; a snake cut into as many pieces as there +were colonies, each piece having upon it the first +letter of the name of a colony, and underneath the +words, "<span class="smcap">Join</span> or <span class="smcap">Die</span>." He presented his plan of +union to the delegates, who, after a long debate, +unanimously adopted it, but it was rejected by +some of the colonies because they thought it gave +too much power to England, and the king rejected +it because he said, "The Americans are trying to +make a government of their own."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>Franklin joined earnestly in the war, and commanded +the forces in his own State, but was soon +sent abroad by Pennsylvania, as her agent to bring +some troublesome matters before royalty. He +reached London, July 27, 1757, with his son +William, no longer the friendless lad looking for +a position in a printing-house, but the noted scientist, +and representative of a rising nation. Members +of the Royal Society hastened to congratulate +him; the universities at Oxford and Edinburgh +conferred degrees upon him. While he attended to +matters of business in connection with his mission, +he entertained his friends with his brilliant electrical +experiments, and wrote for several magazines +on politics and science.</p> + +<p>After five years of successful labor, Doctor +Franklin went back to Philadelphia to receive +the public thanks of the Assembly, and a gift of +fifteen thousand dollars for his services. His son +was also appointed governor of New Jersey, by +the Crown. Franklin was now fifty-seven, and +had earned rest and the enjoyment of his honors. +But he was to find little rest in the next twenty-five +years.</p> + +<p>The "Seven Years' War" had been terminated +by the Treaty of Paris, February 10, 1763. Of +course, great expenses had been incurred. The following +year, Mr. Grenville, Prime Minister of England, +proposed that a portion of the enormous debt +be paid by America through the Stamp Act. The +colonies had submitted already to much taxation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +without any representation in Parliament, and had +many grievances. The manufacture of iron and +steel had been forbidden. Heavy duties had been +laid upon rum, sugar, and molasses, and constables +had been authorized to search any place suspected +of avoiding the duties.</p> + +<p>When the Stamp Act was suggested, the colonies, +already heavily in debt by the war, remonstrated +in public meetings, and sent their protests to the +king. Franklin, having been reappointed agent +for Pennsylvania, used all possible effort to prevent +its passage, but to no avail. The bill passed +in March, 1765. By this act, deeds and conveyances +were taxed from thirty-seven cents to one +dollar and twenty-five cents apiece; college degrees, +ten dollars; advertisements, fifty cents each, +and other printed matter in proportion.</p> + +<p>At once, the American heart rebelled. Bells +were tolled, and flags hung at half-mast. In New +York, the Stamp Act was carried about the streets, +with a placard, "The folly of England and the +ruin of America." The people resolved to wear no +cloth of English manufacture. Agents appointed +to collect the hated tax were in peril of their lives. +Patrick Henry electrified his country by the well +known words, "Cæsar had his Brutus, Charles I. +had his Cromwell, and George III."—and when +the loyalists shouted, "Treason!" he continued, +"may profit by their example. If that be treason, +make the most of it."</p> + +<p>Grenville saw, too late, the storm he had aroused.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +Franklin was now, as he wrote to a friend, "extremely +busy, attending members of both houses, +informing, explaining, consulting, disputing, in a +continual hurry from morning till night." His +examination before the House of Commons filled +England with amazement and America with joy. +When asked, "If the Stamp Act should be repealed, +would it induce the Assemblies of America to acknowledge +the rights of Parliament to tax them, +and would they erase their resolutions?" he replied, +"No, never!"</p> + +<p>"What used to be the pride of the Americans?"</p> + +<p>"To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of +Great Britain."</p> + +<p>"What is now their pride?"</p> + +<p>"To wear their old clothes over again, till they +can make new ones," said the fearless Franklin.</p> + +<p>The great commoners William Pitt and Edmund +Burke were our stanch friends. A cry of +distress went up from the manufacturers of England, +who needed American markets for their goods, +and in 1766 the Stamp Act was repealed.</p> + +<p>America was overjoyed, but her joy was of short +duration; for in the very next year a duty was +placed on glass, tea, and other articles. Then riots +ensued. The duty was repealed on all save tea. +When the tea arrived in Boston Harbor, the indignant +citizens threw three hundred and forty chests +overboard; in Charlestown, the people stored it in +cellars till it mildewed; and from New York and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> +Philadelphia they sent it home again to Old England.</p> + +<p>In 1774, the Boston Port Bill, which declared +that no merchandise should be landed or shipped +at the wharves of Boston, was received by the +colonists with public mourning. September 5 of +this year, the First Continental Congress met at +Philadelphia, and again a manly protest was sent +to George III. Again the great Pitt, Earl of Chatham, +poured out his eloquence against what he saw +was close at hand—"a most accursed, wicked, barbarous, +cruel, unjust, and diabolical war." But +George III. was immovable.</p> + +<p>The days for Franklin were now bitter in the +extreme. Ten thousand more troops had been sent +to General Gage in Boston, to compel obedience. +Franklin's wife was dying in Philadelphia, longing +to see her husband, who had now been absent ten +years, each year expecting to return, and each year +detained by the necessities of the colonies. At +last he started homeward, landing May 5, 1775. +His daughter had been happily married to Mr. +Richard Bache, a merchant, but his wife was dead, +and buried beside Franky. The battles of Lexington +and Concord had been fought; the War for +Freedom was indeed begun.</p> + +<p>Franklin was now almost seventy, but ready for +the great work before him. He loved peace. He +said: "All wars are follies, very expensive and +very mischievous ones. When will mankind be +convinced of this, and agree to settle their differences<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +by arbitration? Were they to do it, even by +the cast of a die, it would be better than by fighting +and destroying each other." But now war was +inevitable. With the eagerness of a boy he wrote +to Edmund Burke: "General Gage's troops made +a most vigorous retreat,—twenty miles in three +hours,—scarce to be paralleled in history; the +feeble Americans, who pelted them all the way, +could scarce keep up with them."</p> + +<p>He was at once made a member of the Continental +Congress, called to meet May 10, at Philadelphia. +George Washington and Patrick Henry, +John and Samuel Adams, were in the noted assemblage. +They came with brave hearts and an earnest +purpose. Franklin served upon ten committees: +to engrave and print Continental money, to +negotiate with the Indians, to send another but +useless petition to George III., to find out the +source of saltpetre, and other matters. He was +made postmaster-general of the United States, and +was also full of work for Pennsylvania.</p> + +<p>England had voted a million dollars to conquer +the colonies, and had hired nearly twenty thousand +Hessians to fight against them, besides her own +skilled troops. The army under Washington had +no proper shelter, little food, little money, and +no winter clothing. Franklin was Washington's +friend and helper in these early days of discouragement. +At first the people had hoped to keep +united to the mother country; now the time had +arrived for the Declaration of Independence, by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> +which America was to become a great nation. +Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, +Roger Sherman of Connecticut, and Robert R. +Livingston of New York were appointed to draw +up the document. Jefferson wrote the Declaration, +and Franklin and Adams made a few verbal +changes. And then, with the feeling so well +expressed by Franklin, "We must hang together, +or else, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately," +the delegates fearlessly signed their names +to what Daniel Webster well called the "title-deed +of our liberties."</p> + +<p>And now another important work devolved upon +Franklin. The colonies believed that the French +were friendly and would assist. He was unanimously +chosen commissioner to France, to represent +and plead the cause of his country. Again +the white-haired statesman said good-bye to America, +and sailed to Europe. As soon as he arrived, +he was welcomed with all possible honor. The +learned called upon him; his pictures were hung +in the shop-windows, and his bust placed in the +Royal Library. When he appeared on the street a +crowd gathered about the great American. He +was applauded in every public resort.</p> + +<p>"Franklin's reputation," said John Adams, "was +more universal than that of Leibnitz or Newton, +Frederick or Voltaire; and his character more beloved +and esteemed than any or all of them. His +name was familiar to government and people, to +kings, courtiers, nobility, clergy, and philosophers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> +as well as plebeians, to such a decree that there +was scarcely a peasant or a citizen, a valet de +chambre, coachman or footman, a lady's chamber-maid +or a scullion in a kitchen, who was not +familiar with it, and who did not consider him a +friend to humankind. When they spoke of him +they seemed to think he was to restore the golden +age." Royalty made him welcome at court, and +Marie Antoinette treated him with the graciousness +which had at first won the hearts of the +French to the beautiful Austrian. France made +a treaty of alliance with America, and recognized +her independence, February 6, 1778, which gave +joy and hope to the struggling colonies. Franklin +was now made minister plenipotentiary. What a +change from the hated work of moulding tallow +candles!</p> + +<p>The great need of the colonies was money to +carry on the war, and, pressed as was France in +the days preceding her own revolution, when M. +Necker was continually opposing the grants, she +loaned our country—part of it a gift—over five +million dollars, says James Parton, in his admirable +life of Franklin. For this reason, as well as +for the noble men like Lafayette who came to our +aid, the interests of France should always be dear +to America. When the Revolutionary War was +over, Franklin helped negotiate the peace, and +returned to America at his own request in the fall +of 1785, receiving among his farewell presents a +portrait of Louis XVI., set with four hundred and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> +eight diamonds. Thomas Jefferson became minister +in his stead. When asked if he had replaced +Dr. Franklin, he replied, "I <i>succeed</i>; no one can +ever <i>replace</i> him."</p> + +<p>He was now seventy-nine years old. He had +been absent for nine years. When he landed, +cannon were fired, church-bells rung, and crowds +greeted him with shouts of welcome. He was at +once made President of the Commonwealth of +Pennsylvania, and at eighty-one a delegate to the +convention that framed our Constitution, where he +sat regularly five hours a day for four months. +To him is due the happy suggestion, after a heated +discussion, of equal representation for every State +in the Senate, and representation in proportion to +population in the House.</p> + +<p>At eighty-four, in reply to a letter to Washington, +he received these tender words:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"If to be venerated for benevolence, if to be admired for +talents, if to be esteemed for patriotism, if to be beloved for +philanthropy, can gratify the human mind, you must have +the pleasing consolation to know that you have not lived in +vain. And I flatter myself that it will not be ranked +among the least grateful occurrences of your life to be +assured that, so long as I retain my memory, you will be +recollected with respect, veneration, and affection, by your +sincere friend,</p> + +<div class="signature"> +"<span class="smcap">George Washington</span>." +</div></blockquote> + +<p>The time for the final farewell came, April 17, +1790, near midnight, when the gentle and great +statesman, doubly great because so gentle, slept +quietly in death. Twenty thousand persons gathered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +to do honor to the celebrated dead. Not only +in this country was there universal mourning, but +across the ocean as well. The National Assembly +of France paid its highest eulogies.</p> + +<p>By his own request, Franklin was buried beside +his wife and Franky, under a plain marble slab, in +Christ Church Cemetery, Philadelphia, with the +words,—</p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="headstone"> +<tr><td align="left">Benjamin</td><td align="left">}</td><td align="left">Franklin.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">and</td><td align="left">}</td><td align="left">1790.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Deborah</td><td align="left">}</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>He was opposed to ostentation. He used to +quote the words of Cotton Mather to him when he +was a boy. On leaving the minister's house, he +hit his head against a beam. "'Stoop,' said Mather; +'you are young, and have the world before you; +stoop as you go through it, and you will miss +many hard thumps!' This advice, thus beat into +my head, has frequently been of use to me, and I +often think of it when I see pride mortified, and +misfortunes brought upon people by their carrying +their heads too high."</p> + +<p>Tolerant with all religions, sweet-tempered, with +remarkable tact and genuine kindness, honest, and +above jealousy, he adopted this as his rule, which +we may well follow: "To go straight forward in +doing what appears to me to be right, leaving the +consequences to Providence."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 395px;"> +<img src="images/illus-067.jpg" width="395" height="600" alt="Ths. Jefferson" title="Ths. Jefferson" /> + +</div> + + + + +<h2>THOMAS JEFFERSON.</h2> + + +<p>Five miles east of Charlottesville, Virginia, +near where the River Rivanna enters the +James, Thomas Jefferson was born, April 13, 1743, +the third in a family of eight children.</p> + +<p>Peter Jefferson, his father, descended from a +Welsh ancestry, was a self-made man. The son of +a farmer, with little chance for schooling, he improved +every opportunity to read, became, like +George Washington, a surveyor, and endured cheerfully +all the perils of that pioneer life. Often, in +making his survey across the Blue Ridge Mountains, +he was obliged to defend himself against the attacks +of wild beasts, and to sleep in hollow trees. +When the provisions gave out, and his companions +fell fainting beside him, he subsisted on raw flesh, +and stayed on until his work was completed.</p> + +<p>So strong was he physically that when two +hogsheads of tobacco, each weighing a thousand +pounds, were lying on their sides, he could raise +them both upright at once. Besides this great +strength of body, he developed great strength of +mind. Shakespeare and Addison were his favorites.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> +It was not strange that by and by he became a +member of the Virginia House of Burgesses.</p> + +<p>When Peter Jefferson was thirty-one, he married +into a family much above his own socially—Jane, +the daughter of Isham Randolph, a rich and cultured +gentleman. She was but nineteen, of a most +cheerful and hopeful temperament, with a passionate +love of nature in every flower and tree.</p> + +<p>From these two the boy Thomas inherited the +two elements that make a man's character beautiful, +not less than a woman's—strength and sweetness. +With his mother's nature, he found delight in every +varying cloud, every rich sunset or sunrise, and in +that ever new and ever wonderful change from +new moon to full and from full to new again. +How tender and responsive such a soul becomes! +How it warms toward human nature from its love +for the material world!</p> + +<p>When Thomas was five years old, he was sent to +a school where English only was taught. The hours +of confinement doubtless seemed long to a child +used to wander at will over the fields, for one day, +becoming impatient for school to be dismissed, he +went out-of-doors, knelt behind the house, and repeated +the Lord's Prayer, thus hoping to expedite +matters!</p> + +<p>At nine he entered the family of Rev. William +Douglas, a Scotch clergyman, where he learned +Greek, Latin, and French. So fond did he become +of the classics that he said, years later, if he were +obliged to decide between the pleasure derived from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +them and the estate left him by his father, he would +have greatly preferred poverty and education.</p> + +<p>All these early years at "Shadwell," the Jefferson +home,—so named after his mother's home in +England, where she was born,—Thomas had an +especially dear companion in his oldest sister, Jane. +Her mind was like his own, quick and comprehensive, +and her especial delight, like his, was in +music. Three things, he said, became a passion +with him, "Mathematics, music, and architecture." +Jane had a charming voice, and her brother became +a skilled performer on the violin, often practising +three hours a day in his busy student life.</p> + +<p>Peter Jefferson, the strong, athletic Assemblyman, +died suddenly when Thomas was but fourteen, +urging, as his dying request, that this boy be well +educated. There was but one other son, and he +an infant. The sweet-tempered Mrs. Jefferson, +under forty, was left with eight children to care +for; but she kept her sunny, hopeful heart.</p> + +<p>When Thomas was a little more than sixteen, he +entered the college of William and Mary, at Williamsburg. +He was a somewhat shy, tall, slight +boy, eager for information, and warm-hearted. It +was not surprising that he made friends with those +superior to himself in mental acquirements. He +says, in his Memoirs: "It was my great good-fortune, +and what, perhaps, fixed the destinies of my +life, that Dr. William Small of Scotland was the +professor of mathematics, a man profound in most +of the useful branches of science, with a happy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +talent of communication, correct and gentlemanly +manners, and an enlarged and liberal mind. He, +most happily for me, became soon attached to me, +and made me his daily companion when not engaged +in the school; and from his conversation I got my +first views of the expansion of science and of the +system of things in which we are placed. Fortunately, +the philosophical chair became vacant soon +after my arrival at college, and he was appointed +to fill it <i>per interim;</i> and he was the first who ever +gave in that college regular lectures in ethics, +rhetoric, and belles-lettres. He returned to Europe +in 1762, having previously filled up the measure of +his goodness to me by procuring for me, from his +most intimate friend, George Wythe, a reception as +a student of law under his direction, and introduced +me to the acquaintance and familiar table of Governor +Fauquier, the ablest man who had ever filled +that office."</p> + +<p>The governor, though an accomplished scholar +and great patron of learning, was very fond of +card-playing, and of betting in the play. In this +direction his influence became most pernicious to +Virginia. Strangely enough, young Jefferson never +knew one card from another, and never allowed +them to be played in his house.</p> + +<p>He devoted himself untiringly to his books. He +worked fifteen hours a day, allowing himself only +time to run out of town for a mile in the twilight, +before lighting the candles, as necessary exercise. +Though, from the high social position of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +mother, he had many acquaintances at Williamsburg, +Thomas went little in society, save to dine +with the prominent men above mentioned. These +were a constant stimulant to him. A great man, +or the written life of a great man, becomes the +maker of other great men. The boy had learned +early in life one secret of success; to ally one's +self to superior men and women.</p> + +<p>Years afterward, he wrote to his eldest grandson, +"I had the good-fortune to become acquainted +very early with some characters of very high standing, +and to feel the incessant wish that I could ever +become what they were. Under temptations and +difficulties, I would ask myself, what would Dr. +Small, Mr. Wythe, Peyton Randolph do in this +situation? What course in it will insure me their +approbation? I am certain that this mode of deciding +on my conduct tended more to correctness +than any reasoning powers I possessed. Knowing +the even and dignified lives they pursued, I could +never doubt for a moment which of two courses +would be in character for them. From the circumstances +of my position, I was often thrown into the +society of horse-racers, card-players, fox-hunters, +scientific and professional men, and of dignified +men; and many a time have I asked myself in the +enthusiastic moment of the death of a fox, the +victory of a favorite horse, the issue of a question +eloquently argued at the bar or in the great council +of the nation, well, which of these kinds of +reputation should I prefer—that of a horse-jockey,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> +a fox-hunter, an orator, or the honest advocate of +my country's rights?"</p> + +<p>The very fact that Jefferson thus early in life +valued character and patriotism above everything +else was a sure indication of a grand and successful +manhood. We usually build for ourselves the kind +of house we start to build in early years. If it is +an abode of pleasure, we live in the satiety and +littleness of soul which such a life brings. If it +is an abode of worship of all that is pure and exalted, +we walk among high ideals, with the angels +for ministering spirits, and become a blessing to +ourselves and to mankind.</p> + +<p>In these college-days, Jefferson became acquainted +with the fun-loving, brilliant Patrick +Henry, forming a friendship that became of great +value to both. After two years in college, where +he had obtained a fair knowledge of French, Spanish, +and Italian, besides his Latin and Greek, he +went home to spend the winter in reading law. +But other thoughts continually mingled with Coke. +On every page he read the name of a beautiful girl +of whom he had become very fond. She had given +him a watch-paper, which having become spoiled +accidentally, the law-student wrote to his friend +John Page, afterward governor of Virginia, "I +would fain ask the favor of Miss Becca Burwell to +give me another watch-paper of her own cutting, +which I should esteem much more, though it were a +plain round one, than the nicest in the world, cut +by other hands." He asked advice of Page as to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> +whether he had better go to her home and tell her +what was in his heart. "Inclination tells me to +go, receive my sentence, and be no longer in suspense; +but reason says, 'If you go, and your +attempt proves unsuccessful, you will be ten times +more wretched than ever.'"</p> + +<p>He battled with Coke all winter and all the next +summer,—a young man in love who can thus bend +himself to his work shows a strong will,—going to +Williamsburg in October to attend the General +Court, and to meet and ask Miss Burwell for her +heart and hand. Alas! he found her engaged to +another. Possibly, he was "ten times more +wretched than ever," but it was wise to know the +worst.</p> + +<p>A young man of twenty-one usually makes the +best of an unfortunate matter, remembering that +life is all before him, and he must expect difficulties. +The following year, a sister married one of +his dearest friends, Dabney Carr; and the same +year, 1765, his pet sister, Jane, died. To the end +of his life, he never forgot this sorrow; and, even +in his extreme old age, said "that often in church +some sacred air, which her sweet voice had made +familiar to him in youth, recalled to him sweet +visions of this sister, whom he had loved so well +and buried so young."</p> + +<p>After five years spent in law studies, rising at +five, even in winter, for his work, he began to practise, +with remarkable success. He was not a gifted +speaker, but, having been a close student, his knowledge<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +was highly valued. Years afterward, an old +gentleman who knew Jefferson, when asked, "What +was his power in the court-room?" answered, "He +always took the right side."</p> + +<p>Parton says, in his valuable life of Jefferson, +"He had most of the requisites of a great lawyer; +industry, so quiet, methodical, and sustained that +it amounted to a gift; learning, multifarious and +exact; skill and rapidity in handling books; the +instinct of research, that leads him who has it to +the fact he wants, as surely as the hound scents the +game; a serenity of temper, which neither the inaptitude +of witnesses nor the badgering of counsel +could ever disturb; a habit of getting everything +upon paper in such a way that all his stores of +knowledge could be marshalled and brought into +action; a ready sympathy with a client's mind; an +intuitive sense of what is due to the opinions, prejudices, +and errors of others; a knowledge of the +few avenues by which alone unwelcome truth can +find access to a human mind; and the power to +state a case with the clearness and brevity that +often make argument superfluous."</p> + +<p>In 1768, when he was only twenty-five years old, +he offered himself as a candidate for the Virginia +Legislature, and was elected. He entered upon +his public life, which lasted for forty years, with +the resolution "never to engage, while in public +office, in any kind of enterprise for the improvement +of my fortune;" and he kept his resolution.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>Two years after he began to practise law, the +house at "Shadwell" was burned. He was absent +from home, and greatly concerned about his library. +When a colored man came to tell him of his loss, +Jefferson inquired eagerly for his books. "Oh," +replied the servant, carelessly, "they were all +burnt, but ah! we saved your fiddle!"</p> + +<p>A new house was now begun, two miles from +the Shadwell home, on a hill five hundred and +eighty feet high, which he called afterwards +"Monticello," the Italian for "Little Mountain." +This had long been a favorite retreat for Jefferson. +He and Dabney Carr had come here day after day, +in the summer-time, and made for themselves a +rustic seat under a great oak, where they read law +together, and planned the rose-colored plans of +youth. Sweet, indeed, is it that we have such +plans in early years. Those get most out of life +who live much in the ideal; who see roses along +every pathway, and hear Nature's music in every +terrific storm.</p> + +<p>Jefferson was building the Monticello home with +bright visions for its future. Another face had +come into his heart, this time to remain forever. +It was a beautiful face; a woman, with a slight, +delicate form, a mind remarkably trained for the +times, and a soul devoted to music. She had been +married, and was a widow at nineteen. Her father +was a wealthy lawyer; her own portion was about +forty thousand acres of land and one hundred and +thirty-five slaves. Although Jefferson had less<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +land, his annual income was about five thousand +dollars, from this and his profession.</p> + +<p>Martha Skelton was now twenty-three, and Jefferson +nearly twenty-nine. So attractive a woman +had many suitors. The story is told that two interested +gentlemen came one evening to her father's +house, with the purpose of having their future definitely +settled. When they arrived, they heard +singing in the drawing-room. They listened, and +the voices were unmistakably those of Jefferson +and Martha Skelton. Making up their minds that +"their future was definitely settled," as far as she +was concerned, they took their hats and withdrew.</p> + +<p>Jefferson was married to the lady January 1, +1772, and after the wedding started for Monticello. +The snow had fallen lightly, but soon became so +deep that they were obliged to quit the carriage +and proceed on horseback. Arriving late at night, +the fires were out and the servants in bed; but love +keeps hearts warm, and darkness and cold were forgotten +in the satisfaction of having won each other. +This satisfaction was never clouded. For years, +the home life deepened with its joys and sorrows. +A little girl, Martha, was first born into the home; +then Jane, who died when eighteen months old, +and then an only son, who died in seventeen days. +Monticello took on new beauty. Trees were set +out and flower-beds planted. The man who so +loved nature made this a restful and beautiful +place for his little group.</p> + +<p>The year after Jefferson's marriage, Dabney Carr,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +the brilliant young member of the Virginia Assembly, +a favorite in every household, eloquent and +lovable, died in his thirtieth year. His wife, for +a time, lost her reason in consequence. Carr was +buried at "Shadwell," as Jefferson was away from +home; but, upon his return, the boyish promise +was kept, and the friend was interred under the +old oak at Monticello, with these words on the +stone, written by Jefferson:—</p> + +<p class="center"> +"To his Virtue, Good-Sense, Learning, and Friendship,<br /> +this stone is dedicated by Thomas Jefferson, who,<br /> +of all men living, loved him most." +</p> + +<p>At once, Mrs. Carr, with her six little children, +came to Jefferson's home, and lived there ever +after, he educating the three sons and three daughters +of his widowed sister as though they were his +own. Thus true and tender was he to those whom +he loved.</p> + +<p>For some years past, Jefferson had been developing +under that British teaching which led America +to freedom. When a student of law, he had listened +to Patrick Henry's immortal speech in the +debate on the Stamp Act. "I attended the debate," +said Jefferson in his Memoir, "and heard the +splendid display of Mr. Henry's talents as a popular +orator. They were indeed great; such as I +have never heard from any other man. He appeared +to me to speak as Homer wrote.... I +never heard anything that deserved to be called by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> +the same name with what flowed from him; and +where he got that torrent of language from is +inconceivable. I have frequently shut my eyes +while he spoke, and, when he was done, asked +myself what he had said, without being able to +recollect a word of it. He was no logician. He +was truly a great man, however,—one of enlarged +views."</p> + +<p>The whole country had become aflame over the +burning of the Gaspee, in March, 1772,—a royal +schooner anchored at Providence, R. I. The +schooner came there to watch the commerce of +the colonies, and to search vessels. She made +herself generally obnoxious. Having run aground +in her chase of an American packet, a few Rhode +Islanders determined to visit her and burn her. +The little company set out in eight boats, muffling +their oars, reaching her after midnight. The Gaspee +was taken unawares, the hands of the crew tied +behind them, and the vessel burned.</p> + +<p>At once a reward of five thousand dollars was +offered for the detection of any person concerned; +but, though everybody knew, nobody would tell. +Word came from England "that the persons concerned +in the burning of the Gaspee schooner, and +in the other violences which attended that daring +insult, should be brought to England to be tried." +This fired the hearts of the colonists. The Virginia +House of Burgesses appointed a committee +to correspond with other Legislatures on topics +which concerned the common welfare. The royal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> +governor of Virginia had no liking for such free +thought and free speech as this, and dissolved the +House, which at once repaired to a tavern and continued +its deliberations.</p> + +<p>Soon a convention was called, before which +Jefferson's "Summary View of the Rights of +British America" was laid. It was worded as +a skilful lawyer and polished writer knew how to +word it; and it stated the case so plainly that, +when it was published, and sent to Great Britain, +Jefferson, to use his own words, "had the honor of +having his name inserted in a long list of proscriptions +enrolled in a bill of attainder commenced +in one of the Houses of Parliament, but +suppressed by the hasty step of events." Remoteness +from England doubtless saved his life.</p> + +<p>Jefferson went up to the Continental Congress +at Philadelphia, which opened May 10, 1775, taking +his "Summary View" with him. The delegates +were waiting to see what Virginia had to say in +these important days. She had instructed her +men to offer a resolution that "the United Colonies +be free and independent States," which was +done by Richard Henry Lee, on June 7. Four +days later, Congress appointed a committee of +five to prepare a Declaration of Independence. +Thomas Jefferson, only thirty-two, one of the +youngest members of Congress, was made chairman. +How well he had become fitted to write +this immortal document! It was but a condensation +of the "Summary View." He was also, says<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> +John T. Morse, in his life of Jefferson, "a man +without an enemy. His abstinence from any active +share in debate had saved him from giving +irritation."</p> + +<p>The Declaration still exists in Jefferson's clear +handwriting. For three days the paper was hotly +debated, "John Adams being the colossus of the +debate." Jefferson did not speak a word, though +Franklin cheered him as he saw him "writhing +under the acrimonious criticism of some of its +parts."</p> + +<p>When it was adopted, the country was wild with +joy. It was publicly read from a platform in +Independence Square. Military companies gathered +to listen to its words, fired salutes, and lighted +bonfires in the evenings. The step, dreaded, yet +for years longed for, had been taken—separation +and freedom, or union and slavery. Jefferson +came to that Congress an educated, true-hearted +lover of his country; he went back to Martha +Jefferson famous as long as America shall endure. +He was reëlected to Congress, but declined to +serve, as he wished to do important work in his +own State, in the changing of her laws.</p> + +<p>But now, October 8, 1776, came a most tempting +offer; that of joint commissioner with Benjamin +Franklin and Silas Deane to represent America at +the court of France. He had always longed for +European travel; he was a fine French scholar, +and could make himself most useful to his new +country, but his wife was too frail to undertake<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +the long journey. She was more to him than the +French mission, and he stayed at home.</p> + +<p>Born with a belief in human brotherhood and a +love for human freedom, he turned his attention +in the Virginia Legislature to the repeal of the +laws of entail and primogeniture, derived from +England. He believed the repeal of these, and +the adoption of his bill "for establishing religious +freedom," would, as he said, form a system by +which every fibre would be eradicated of ancient +or future aristocracy. "The repeal of the laws of +entail would prevent the accumulation and perpetuation +of wealth in select families.... The +abolition of primogeniture, and equal partition of +inheritances, removed the feudal and unnatural +distinctions which made one member of every +family rich and all the rest poor.... The restoration +of the rights of conscience relieved the people +from taxation for the support of a religion not +theirs."</p> + +<p>There was much persecution of Dissenters by +the Established Church. Baptists were often +thrown into prison for preaching, as Patrick +Henry declared, "the Gospel of the Saviour to +Adam's fallen race." For nine years the matter +of freedom of conscience was wrestled with, before +Virginia could concede to her people the right +to worship God as they pleased.</p> + +<p>Jefferson was averse to slavery, worked for the +colonization of the slaves, and in 1778 carried +through a bill against their further importation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> +He wrote later, in his "Notes on Virginia": "The +whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual +exercise of the most boisterous passions, the +most unremitting despotism, on the one part, and +degrading submissions on the other.... I tremble +for my country when I reflect that God is just; +that his justice cannot sleep forever; that, considering +numbers, nature, and natural means only, a revolution +of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of +situations, is among possible events; that it may +become probable by supernatural interference! +The Almighty has no attribute which can take +side with us in such a contest." When his State +could not bring itself to adopt his plan of freeing +the slaves, he wrote in his autobiography, in 1821, +"The day is not distant when it must bear and +adopt it, or worse will follow. Nothing is more +certainly written in the book of fate than that +these people are to be free." How great indeed +was the man who could look beyond his own personal +interests for the well-being of the race!</p> + +<p>He worked earnestly for common schools and +the establishment of a university in his native +State, believing that it is the right and duty of +a nation to make its people intelligent and capable +of self-government.</p> + +<p>In June, 1779, Jefferson was made governor of +Virginia, to succeed Patrick Henry, her first governor. +The Revolutionary War had been going +forward, with some victories and some defeats. +Virginia had given generously of men, money, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> +provisions. The war was being transferred to the +South, as its battle-ground. British fleets had laid +waste the Atlantic coast. Benedict Arnold and +Cornwallis had ravaged Virginia. When General +Tarlton was ordered to Charlottesville, in 1781, +and it seemed probable that Monticello would fall +into his hands, Jefferson moved his family to a +place of safety.</p> + +<p>When the British arrived, and found that the +governor was not to be captured, they retired +without committing the slightest injury to the +place. This was in return for kindness shown by +Jefferson to four thousand English prisoners, who +had been sent from near New York, to be in camp +at Charlottesville, where it seemed cheaper to provide +for them. Jefferson rightly said: "It is for +the benefit of mankind to mitigate the horrors of +war as much as possible. The practice, therefore, +of modern nations, of treating captive enemies +with politeness and generosity, is not only delightful +in contemplation, but really interesting to +all the world—friends, foes, and neutrals."</p> + +<p>Two faithful servants at Monticello, fearful that +the silver might be stolen by the red-coats, concealed +it under a floor a few feet from the ground; +Cæsar, removing a plank, and slipping through +the cavity, received it from the hands of Martin. +The soldiers came just as the last piece was +handed to Cæsar; the plank was immediately +restored to its place, and for nearly three days +and nights the poor colored man remained in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> +dark, without food, guarding his master's treasures. +When a soldier put his gun to the breast of Martin +and threatened to fire unless Jefferson's whereabouts +was disclosed, the brave fellow answered, +"Fire away, then!" A man or woman who wins +and holds such loyalty from dependents is no +ordinary character.</p> + +<p>After holding the office of governor for two +years, Jefferson resigned, feeling that a military +man would give greater satisfaction. Such a one +followed him, but with no better success among +the half-despairing patriots, destitute of money +and supplies. Jefferson, with his sensitive spirit, +felt keenly the criticisms of some of the people, +saying, "They have inflicted a wound on my spirit +which will only be cured by the all-healing grave." +He refused to return to public life, and looked +forward to happy years of quiet study at Monticello.</p> + +<p>How little we know the way which lies before +us. We long for sunlight, and perchance have +only storms. We love to be as children who must +be carried over the swamps and rough places, not +knowing that strength of manhood and womanhood +comes generally through struggling. The "happy +years" at Monticello were already numbered. +Another little girl had come to gladden the heart +of the man who so loved children, and had quickly +taken her departure. And now Martha Jefferson, +at thirty-four, the sweet, gentle woman who +had lived with him only ten short years, was also<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +going away. She talked with him calmly about +the journey; she said she could not die content if +she thought their children would have a stepmother. +The young governor, without a moment's +thought as to his future happiness, taking her +hand, solemnly promised that he would never +marry again, and he kept his word. It is not +known that any person ever entered the place left +vacant in his heart by Martha Jefferson's death.</p> + +<p>For four months he had watched by her bedside, +or had his books so near her that he could +work without being separated from her. When +she died he fainted, and remained so long insensible +that the attendants thought he could never be +restored to consciousness. For three weeks he +kept his room, ministered to by his little daughter +Martha, who wound her arms about his neck, with +that inexpressible consolation that only a pure, +sweet child-nature can give. She said years later, +"I was never a moment from his side. He walked +almost incessantly, night and day, only lying down +occasionally, when nature was completely exhausted.... +When, at last, he left his room, he +rode out, and from that time he was on horseback +rambling about the mountain, in the least frequented +roads, and just as often through the +woods. In those melancholy rambles I was his +constant companion, a solitary witness to many a +burst of grief."</p> + +<p>He longed now for a change of scene; Monticello +was no more a place of peace and rest. Being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> +elected to Congress, he took his seat in November, +1783. To him we owe, after much heated discussion, +the adoption of the present system of dollars +and cents, instead of pounds and shillings. In +May, 1784, he was appointed minister to France, +to join Dr. Franklin and John Adams in negotiating +commercial treaties. He sailed in July, +taking with him his eldest child, Martha, leaving +Mary and an infant daughter with an aunt.</p> + +<p>The educated governor and congressman of +course found a cordial welcome in Parisian society, +for was he not the author of the Declaration of +Independence, endeared to all lovers of liberty, in +whatever country. He was charmed with French +courtesy, thrift, and neatness, but he was always +an American in sentiment and affection. He wrote +to his young friend, James Monroe, afterwards +President: "The pleasure of the trip to Europe +will be less than you expect, but the utility greater. +It will make you adore your own country,—its +soil, its climate, its equality, liberty, laws, people, +and manners. How little do my countrymen know +what precious blessings they are in possession of, +and which no other people on earth enjoy!" +More and more he loved, and believed in, a republic. +He wrote to a friend: "If all the evils which can +arise among us from the republican form of government, +from this day to the day of judgment, +could be put into scale against what this country +suffers from its monarchical form in a week, or +England in a month, the latter would preponderate.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> +No race of kings has ever presented above one man +of common-sense in twenty generations. The best +they can do is to leave things to their ministers; +and what are their ministers but a committee badly +chosen?"</p> + +<p>Jefferson spent much time in looking up the +manufacturing and agricultural interests of the +country, and kept four colleges—Harvard, Yale, +William and Mary, and the College of Philadelphia—advised +of new inventions, new books, and new +phases of the approaching Revolution.</p> + +<p>He had placed his daughter Martha in a leading +school. His letters to her in the midst of his busy +life show the beautiful spirit of the man, who was +too great ever to rise above his affectional nature. +"The more you learn the more I love you," he +wrote her; "and I rest the happiness of my life on +seeing you beloved by all the world, which you will +be sure to be if to a good heart you join those accomplishments +so peculiarly pleasing in your sex. +Adieu, my dear child; lose no moment in improving +your head, nor any opportunity of exercising +your heart in benevolence."</p> + +<p>His baby-girl, Lucy, died two years after her +mother, and now only little Mary was left in America. +He could not rest until this child was with +him in France. She came, with a breaking heart +on leaving the old Virginia home and her aunt. +On board the vessel she became so attached to the +captain that it was almost impossible to take her +from him. She spent some weeks with Mrs. John<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> +Adams in London, who wrote: "A finer child I +never saw. I grew so fond of her, and she was so +much attached to me, that, when Mr. Jefferson sent +for her, they were obliged to force the little creature +away."</p> + +<p>Once in Paris, the affectionate child was placed +at school with her sister Martha, to whom Jefferson +wrote: "She will become a precious charge upon +your hands.... Teach her, above all things, to be +good, because without that we can neither be valued +by others nor set any value on ourselves. +Teach her to be always true; no vice is so mean as +the want of truth, and at the same time so useless. +Teach her never to be angry; anger only serves to +torment ourselves, to divert others, and alienate +their esteem."</p> + +<p>The love of truth was a strong characteristic of +Jefferson's nature, one of the most beautiful characteristics +of any life. There is no other foundation-stone +so strong and enduring on which to +build a granite character as the granite rock of +truth. Jefferson wrote to his children and nephews: +"If you ever find yourself in any difficulty, and +doubt how to extricate yourself, <i>do what is right</i>, +and you will find it the easiest way of getting out +of the difficulty.... Give up money, give up fame, +give up science, give the earth itself, and all it contains, +rather than do an immoral act. And never +suppose that, in any possible situation or any circumstances, +it is best for you to do a dishonorable +thing." Again he wrote: "Determine never to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> +idle. No person will have occasion to complain of +the want of time, who never loses any. It is wonderful +how much may be done if we are always +doing."</p> + +<p>After five years spent in France, most of which +time he was minister plenipotentiary, Dr. Franklin +having returned home, and John Adams having +gone to England, Jefferson set sail for America, +with his two beloved children, Martha, seventeen, +and Mary, eleven. He had done his work well, +and been honored for his wisdom and his peace-loving +nature. Daniel Webster said of him: "No +court in Europe had at that time a representative +in Paris commanding or enjoying higher +regard, for political knowledge or for general +attainments, than the minister of this then infant +republic."</p> + +<p>Even before Jefferson reached home he had been +appointed Secretary of State by President Washington. +He accepted with a sense of dread, and +his subsequent difficulties with Alexander Hamilton, +Secretary of the Treasury, realized his worst +fears. The one believed in centralization of power—a +stronger national government; the other believed +in a pure democracy—the will of the people, +with the least possible governing power. The +two men were opposite in character, opposite in +financial plans, opposite in views of national polity. +Jefferson took sides with the French, and Hamilton +with the English in the French Revolution. The +press grew bitter over these differences, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> +noble heart of George Washington was troubled. +Finally Jefferson resigned, and retired to Monticello. +"I return to farming," he said, "with an +ardor which I scarcely knew in my youth."</p> + +<p>Three years later, he was again called into public +life. As Washington declined a reëlection, John +Adams and Thomas Jefferson became the two +Presidential candidates. The one receiving the +most votes of the electors became President, and +the second on the list, Vice-President. John +Adams received three more votes than Jefferson, +and was made President.</p> + +<p>On March 4, 1797, Jefferson, as Vice-President, +became the leader of the Senate, delivering a short +but able address. Much of the next four years he +spent at Monticello, watching closely the progress +of events. Matters with the French republic grew +more complicated. She demanded an alliance with +the United States against England, which was refused, +and war became imminent. At the last +moment, John Adams rose above the tempest of +the hour, went quite half-way in bringing about a +reconciliation, and the country was saved from a +useless and disastrous war.</p> + +<p>The Federalists had passed some unwise measures, +such as the "Alien Law," whereby the President +was authorized to send foreigners out of the +country; and the "Sedition Law," which punished +with fine and imprisonment freedom of speech and +of the press. Therefore, at the next presidential +election, when Adams and Jefferson were again<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +candidates, the latter was made President of the +United States, the Federalists having lost their +power, and the Republicans—afterwards called +Democrats—having gained the ascendancy.</p> + +<p>The contest had been bitter. Jefferson's religious +belief had been strongly assailed. Through it all +he had the common-sense to know that the cool-headed, +good-natured man, who has only words of +kindness, and who rarely or never makes an +enemy, is the man who wins in the end. He controlled +himself, and therefore his party, in a manner +almost unexampled.</p> + +<p>March 4, 1801, at the age of fifty-eight, in a +plain suit of clothes, the great leader of Democracy +rode to the Capitol, hitched his horse to the fence, +entered the Senate Chamber, and delivered his +inaugural address. Thus simple was the man, +who wished ever to be known as "the friend +of the people." Alas! that sweet Martha Jefferson +could not have lived to see this glad day! +To what a proud height had come the hard-working +college boy and the tender-hearted, tolerant +man!</p> + +<p>As President, he was the idol of his party, and, +in the main, a wise leader. He made few removals +from office, chiefly those appointed by John Adams +just as he was leaving the Presidency. Jefferson +said removals "must be as few as possible, done +gradually, and bottomed on some malversation or +inherent disqualification." One of the chief acts +was the purchase from France of a great tract of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> +land, called the Territory of Louisiana, for fifteen +million dollars.</p> + +<p>During his second four years in office, there were +more perplexities. Aaron Burr, Vice-President during +Jefferson's first term, was tried on the charge +of raising an army to place himself on the throne +of Mexico, or at the head of a South-western confederacy. +England, usually at war with France, had +issued orders prohibiting all trade with that country +and her allies; Napoleon had retorted by a like +measure. Both nations claimed the right to take +seamen out of United States vessels. The British +frigate Leopard took four seamen by force from +the American frigate Chesapeake. The nation +seemed on the verge of war, but it was postponed, +only to come later, in 1812, under James +Madison.</p> + +<p>Congress passed the Embargo Act, by which all +American vessels were detained in our own ports. +It had strong advocates and strong opponents, but +was repealed as soon as Jefferson retired from +office. Owing to these measures our commerce +was well-nigh destroyed.</p> + +<p>At the age of sixty-five years, Jefferson retired +to Monticello, "with a reputation and popularity," +says Mr. Morse, "hardly inferior to that of Washington." +He had had the wisdom never to assume +the bearing of a leader. He had been careful to +avoid disputes. Once, when riding, he met a +stranger, with whom engaging in conversation, he +found him bitterly opposed to the President. Upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> +being asked if he knew Mr. Jefferson personally, +he replied, "No, nor do I wish to."</p> + +<p>"But do you think it fair to repeat such stories +about a man, and condemn one whom you do not +dare to face?"</p> + +<p>"I shall never shrink from meeting him if he +ever comes in my way."</p> + +<p>"Will you, then, go to his house to-morrow, and +be introduced to him, if I promise to meet you +there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I will."</p> + +<p>The stranger came, to his astonishment found +that the man he had talked with was the President +himself, dined with him, and became his firm friend +and supporter ever afterward.</p> + +<p>For the next seventeen years, Jefferson lived at +Monticello, honored and visited by celebrities from +all the world. Sometimes as many as fifty persons +stayed at his home over night. One family of six +came from abroad, and remained with him for ten +months. His daughter Martha, married to Thomas +Mann Randolph, presided over his hospitable +home, and with her eleven children made the place +a delight, for she had "the Jefferson temperament—all +music and sunshine." The beautiful Mary, +who married her cousin, John W. Eppes, had died +at twenty-six, leaving two small children, who, like +all the rest, found a home with Jefferson.</p> + +<p>In the midst of this loving company, the great +man led a busy life, carrying on an immense correspondence, +by means of which he exerted a commanding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> +influence on the questions of the day as +well as on all social matters. To a child named for +him, he wrote a letter which the boy might read +after the statesman's death. In it are these helpful +words: "Adore God. Reverence and cherish +your parents. Love your neighbor as yourself. +Be just. Be true. Murmur not at the ways of +Providence."</p> + +<p>To his daughter Mary he wrote these lines, +which well might be hung up in every household:—</p> + +<p>"Harmony in the married state is the very first +object to be aimed at. Nothing can preserve affections +uninterrupted but a firm resolution never to +differ in will, and a determination in each to consider +the love of the other as of more value than +any object whatever on which a wish had been +fixed. How light, in fact, is the sacrifice of any +other wish when weighed against the affections of +one with whom we are to pass our whole life. And +though opposition in a single instance will hardly +of itself produce alienation, yet every one has his +pouch into which all these little oppositions are +put. While that is filling, the alienation is insensibly +going on, and when filled it is complete. It +would puzzle either to say why, because no one +difference of opinion has been marked enough to +produce a serious effect by itself. But he finds his +affections wearied out by a constant stream of little +checks and obstacles.</p> + +<p>"Other sources of discontent, very common indeed,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> +are the little cross-purposes of husband and +wife, in common conversation; a disposition in +either to criticise and question whatever the other +says; a desire always to demonstrate and make +him feel himself in the wrong, and especially in +company. Nothing is so goading. Much better, +therefore, if our companion views a thing in a light +different from what we do, to leave him in quiet +possession of his view. What is the use of rectifying +him, if the thing be unimportant, and, if important, +let it pass for the present, and wait a softer +moment and more conciliatory occasion of revising +the subject together. It is wonderful how many +persons are rendered unhappy by inattention to +these little rules of prudence."</p> + +<p>Jefferson rose early; the sun, he said, had not for +fifty years caught him in bed. But he bore great +heart-sorrow in these declining years, and bore it +bravely. His estate had diminished in value, and +he had lost heavily by indorsements for others. +His household expenses were necessarily great. +Finally, debts pressed so heavily that he sold to +Congress the dearly prized library, which he had +been gathering for fifty years. He received nearly +twenty-four thousand dollars for it, about half its +original value. But this amount brought only +temporary relief.</p> + +<p>Then he attempted to dispose of some of his +land by lottery, as was somewhat the fashion of +the times. The Legislature reluctantly gave permission, +but as soon as his friends in New York,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> +Philadelphia, and Baltimore heard of his pecuniary +condition, they raised about eighteen thousand +dollars for him, and the lottery plan was abandoned. +He was touched by this proof of esteem, +and said: "No cent of this is wrung from the +tax-payer; it is the pure and unsolicited offering +of love."</p> + +<p>Jefferson was now, as he said, "like an old +watch, with a pinion worn out here and a wheel +there, until it can go no longer." On July 3, 1826, +after a brief illness, he seemed near the end. He +desired to live till the next day, and frequently +asked if it were the Fourth. He lingered till +forty minutes past the noon of July 4, and then +slept in death. That same day, John Adams, at +ninety-one, was dying at Quincy, Mass. His last +words were, as he went out at sunset, the booming +of cannon sounding pleasant to his patriotic heart, +"Thomas Jefferson still lives." He did not know +that his great co-laborer had gone home at midday. +"The two aged men," says T. W. Higginson, +"floated on, like two ships becalmed at nightfall, +that drift together into port, and cast anchor side +by side." Beautiful words!</p> + +<p>The death of two Presidents at this memorable +time has given an additional sacredness to our +national Independence Day.</p> + +<p>Among Jefferson's papers were found, carefully +laid away, "some of my dear, dear wife's +handwriting," and locks of hair of herself and +children. Also a sketch of the granite stone he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +desired for his monument, with these words to be +inscribed upon it.</p> + +<p class="center"> +Here was buried<br /> +<span class="smcap">Thomas Jefferson</span>,<br /> +Author of the Declaration of Independence,<br /> +Of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom,<br /> +And Father of the University of Virginia. +</p> + +<p>He was buried by his family and servants, on the +spot selected by himself and Dabney Carr in boyhood, +his wife on one side and his loving Mary on +the other.</p> + +<p>The beloved Monticello passed into other hands. +Martha Jefferson and her children would have +been left penniless had not the Legislatures of +South Carolina and Louisiana each voted her ten +thousand dollars. Thomas Jefferson Randolph, +the grandson, with the assistance of his daughters, +who established a noted school, paid all the remaining +debts, many thousand dollars, to save the honor +of their famous ancestor.</p> + +<p>To the last, Jefferson kept his sublime faith in +human nature and in the eternal justice of republican +principles, saying it is "my conviction that +should things go wrong at any time, the people will +set them to rights by the peaceable exercise of their +elective rights." Whatever his religious belief in +its details of creed, he said, "I am a Christian in +the only sense in which Jesus wished any one to +be—sincerely attached to his doctrines in preference<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +to all others." He compiled a little book of +the words of Christ, saying, "A more precious +morsel of ethics was never seen."</p> + +<p>In his public life he was honest, in his domestic +life lovable, and he died, as he had lived, tolerant +of the opinions of others, even-tempered, believing +in the grandeur and beauty of human nature. +What though we occasionally trust too much! Far +better that than to go through life doubting and +murmuring! That he believed too broadly in +States' Rights for the perpetuity of the Union, +our late Civil War plainly showed, and his views +on Free Trade are, of course, shared by a portion +only of our citizens. However, he gave grandly +of the affection of his heart and the power of his +intellect, and he received, as he deserved, the love +and honor of thousands, the world over.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 367px;"> +<img src="images/illus-099.jpg" width="367" height="600" alt="A. Hamilton" title="A. Hamilton" /> + +</div> + + + + +<h2>ALEXANDER HAMILTON.</h2> + + +<p>To the quiet and picturesque island of Nevis, +one of the West Indies, many years ago, a +Scotch merchant came to build for himself a home. +He was of a proud and wealthy family, allied centuries +before to William the Conqueror.</p> + +<p>On this island lived also a Huguenot family, who +had settled there after the revocation of the Edict +of Nantes, which drove so many Protestants out of +the country. In this family was a beautiful and +very intellectual girl, with refined tastes and gentle, +cultured manners. Through the ambition of +her mother she had contracted a marriage with a +Dane of large wealth, followed by the usual unhappiness +of marrying simply for money. A divorce +resulted, and the attractive young woman married +the Scotch merchant, James Hamilton. A son, +Alexander, was born to them, January 11, 1757.</p> + +<p>But he was born into privation rather than joy +and plenty. The generous and kindly father failed +in business; the beautiful mother died in his childhood, +and he was thrown upon the bounty of her +relations.</p> + +<p>The opportunities for education on the island<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +were limited. The child read all the books he +could lay his hands upon, becoming especially fond +of Plutarch's Lives and Pope's works. He was +fortunate also in having the friendship of a superior +man, Dr. Knox, a Presbyterian clergyman, who +delighted in the boy's quick and comprehensive +mind.</p> + +<p>At twelve years of age he was obliged to earn +money, and was placed in the counting-house of +Nicholas Cruger. Probably, like other boys, he +wished he were rich, but found later in life that +success is usually born of effort and economy. He +early chose "Perseverando" for his motto, and it +helped to carry him to the summit of power.</p> + +<p>That the counting-house was not congenial to +him, a letter to a school-fellow in New York +plainly shows. "To confess my weakness, Ned, +my ambition is prevalent, so that I contemn the +grovelling condition of a clerk, or the like, to which +my fortune condemns me, and would willingly risk +my life, though not my character, to exalt my station. +I am confident, Ned, that my youth excludes +me from any hopes of immediate preferment, nor +do I desire it, but I mean to prepare the way for +futurity. I'm no philosopher, you see, and may be +justly said to build castles in the air; my folly +makes me ashamed, and beg you'll conceal it; yet, +Neddy, we have seen such schemes successful, when +the projector is constant. I shall conclude by +saying, I wish there was a war."</p> + +<p>The "projector was constant," and the "schemes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +became successful." He was indeed "preparing +the way for futurity," this lad not yet fourteen. +At this time, Mr. Cruger made a visit to New +York, and left the precocious boy in charge of his +business. Such reliance upon him increased his +self-reliance, and helped to fit him to advise and +uphold a nation in later years.</p> + +<p>In these early days he began to write both prose +and poetry. When he was fifteen, the Leeward +Islands were visited by a terrific hurricane. In one +town five hundred houses were blown down. So +interested was Alexander in this novel occurrence +that he wrote a description of it for a newspaper. +When the authorship was discovered, it was decided +by the relatives that such a boy ought to be educated. +The money was raised for this purpose, +and he sailed for New York, taking with him some +valuable letters of introduction from Dr. Knox.</p> + +<p>He was soon attending a grammar-school at +Elizabeth, New Jersey. The principal, Francis +Barber, was a fine classical scholar, patriotic, entering +the Revolutionary War later; the right man to +impress his pupils for good. Alexander, with his +accustomed energy and ambition, set himself to +work. In winter, wrapt in a blanket, he studied +till midnight, and in summer, at dawn, resorted to +a cemetery near by, where he found the quiet he +desired. In a year he was ready to enter college.</p> + +<p>Attracted to Princeton, he asked Dr. Witherspoon, +the president of the college, the privilege +of taking the course in about half the usual time.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +The good days of election in study had not yet +dawned. The dull and the bright must have the +same routine; the one urged to his duties, the +other tired by the delay. The doctor could not +establish so peculiar a precedent, and Princeton +missed the honor of educating the great statesman.</p> + +<p>He entered Columbia College, and made an excellent +record for himself. In the debating club, +say his classmates, "he gave extraordinary displays +of richness of genius and energy of mind." He +won strong friendships to himself by his generous +and unselfish nature, and his ardent love for others. +It is only another proof of the old rule, that "Like +begets like." Those who give love in this world +usually receive it. Selfishness wins nothing—self-sacrifice, +all things.</p> + +<p>The college-boy was often seen walking under the +large trees on what is now Dey Street, New York, +talking to himself in an undertone, and apparently +in deep thought. The neighbors knew the slight, +dark-eyed lad, as the "young West Indian," and +wondered concerning his future. When he was +seventeen, a "great meeting in the fields" was held +in New York, July 6, 1774. While Hamilton was +studying, the colonies of America had been looking +over into the promised land of freedom, driven +thither by some unwise task-masters. Boston had +seasoned the waters of the Atlantic with British +tea. New York, well filled with Tories, yet had +some Patriots, who felt that the hour was approaching +when all must stand together in the demand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +for liberty. Accordingly, the "great meeting" +was called, to teach the people the lessons of the +past and the duties of the future.</p> + +<p>Hamilton had recently returned from a visit to +Boston, and was urged to be present and speak at +the meeting. He at first refused, being a stranger +in the country and unknown. He attended, however; +and when several speakers had addressed +the eager crowds, thoughts flowed into the youth's +mind and pleaded for utterance. He mounted the +platform. The audience stared at the stripling. +Then, as he depicted the long endured oppression +from England, urged the wisdom of resistance, and +painted in glowing colors the sure success of the colonies, +the hearts of the multitude took fire with +courage and hope. When he closed, they shouted, +"It is a collegian! it is a collegian!"</p> + +<p>Hamilton was no longer a West Indian; he was, +heart and soul, an American. Liberty now grew +more exciting than college books. Dr. Seabury, +afterwards Bishop of Connecticut, wrote two tracts +entitled "Free Thoughts on the Proceedings of the +Continental Congress," and "Congress Canvassed +by a Westchester Farmer." These pamphlets attempted +to show the foolishness of opposing a +monarchy like England. They were scattered +broadcast.</p> + +<p>Then tracts appeared in answer; clear, terse, +sound, and able. These said, "No reason can be +assigned why one man should exercise any power +or preëminence over his fellow-creatures more than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> +another, unless they have voluntarily vested him +with it. Since, then, Americans have not, by any +act of theirs, empowered the British Parliament to +make laws for them, it follows they can have no +just authority to do it.... If, by the necessity of +the thing, manufactures should once be established, +and take root among us, they will pave the way +still more to the future grandeur and glory of +America; and, by lessening its need of external +commerce, will render it still securer against the +encroachments of tyranny."</p> + +<p>This was rank heterodoxy toward a power which +had crippled the manufactures of America in all +possible ways, and wished to keep her a great agricultural +country. "The sacred rights of mankind," +said the writer, "are not to be rummaged for among +old parchments or musty records; they are written, +as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human +nature, by the hand of the Divinity itself, and can +never be erased or obscured by mortal power." +The wonder grew as to the authorship of these +pamphlets. Some said John Jay wrote them; some +said Governor Livingstone. When it was learned +that Hamilton, only eighteen, had composed them, +the Tories stood aghast, and the Patriots saw that +a new star had risen in the heavens.</p> + +<p>Hamilton knew that the war was inevitable; +that the time must soon come for which he longed +when he wrote to his friend Ned, "I wish there +was a war." He immediately began to study military +affairs. There are always places to be filled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> +by those who make themselves ready. He was +learning none too early. His corps, called the +"Hearts of Oak" in green uniforms and leathern +caps, drilled each morning. While engaged in +removing cannon from the battery, a boat from +the Asia, a British ship-of-war, fired into the men, +killing the person who stood next to Hamilton. +At once the drums were beaten, and the people +rushed to arms. The king's store-houses were pillaged, +and the "Liberty Boys" marched through +the streets, threatening revenge on every Tory.</p> + +<p>Young Hamilton, fearless before the Asia, could +also be fearless in defence of his friends. Dr. +Cooper, the President of Columbia College, was a +pronounced Tory. When the mob approached the +steps of the institution, Hamilton, nothing daunted, +appeared before them, and urged coolness, lest they +bring "disgrace on the cause of liberty." Dr. +Cooper imagined that his liberal pupil was assisting +the mob, and cried out from an upper window, +"Don't listen to him, gentlemen! he is crazy, he is +crazy!" But the mob did listen, and the president +was saved from harm.</p> + +<p>The Revolutionary War had begun. Lexington +and Bunker Hill were as beacon-fires to the new +nation. In 1776, the New York Convention ordered +a company of artillery to be raised, and +Hamilton applied for the command of it. Only +nineteen, and very boyish in looks, his fitness for +the position was doubted, till his excellent examination +proved his knowledge, and he was appointed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> +captain. He used the last money sent him by his +relatives in the West Indies, to equip his company.</p> + +<p>College days were now over, and the busy life of +the soldier had commenced. For most young men, +the stirring events of the times would have filled +every moment and every thought. Not so the man +born to have a controlling and permanent influence +in the republic. He found time to study about +money circulation, rates of exchange, commerce, +taxes, increase of population, and the like, because +he knew that a great work must be done by somebody +after the war. How true it is that if we fit +ourselves for a great work, the work will find us.</p> + +<p>Meantime, Captain Hamilton drilled his troops +so well that General Greene observed it, made the +acquaintance of the captain, invited him to his +headquarters, and spoke of him to Washington. +Had not the work been well done, it would not +have commanded attention, but this attention was +an important stepping-stone to fame and honor. +Hamilton was ever after a most loyal friend to +General Greene.</p> + +<p>The company was soon called into active service. +At the disastrous battle of Long Island, +Hamilton was in the thickest of the fight, and +brought up the rear, losing his baggage and a field-piece. +After the retreat up the Hudson, at Harlem +Heights, Washington observed the skill used +in the construction of some earthworks, and, finding +that the engineer was the young man introduced +to him by General Greene, invited him to his tent.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> +This was the beginning of a life-long and most +devoted friendship between the great commander +and the boyish captain.</p> + +<p>Later, at the battles of Trenton and Princeton, +Hamilton was fearless and heroic. "Well do I +recollect the day," said a friend, "when Hamilton's +company marched into Princeton. It was a model +of discipline; at their head was a boy, and I wondered +at his youth; but what was my surprise when, +struck with his slight figure, he was pointed out to +me as that Hamilton of whom we had already +heard so much.... A mere stripling, small, +slender, almost delicate in frame, marching beside +a piece of artillery, with a cocked hat pulled down +over his eyes, apparently lost in thought, with his +hand resting on a cannon, and every now and then +patting it, as if it were a favorite horse or a pet +plaything."</p> + +<p>He had so won the esteem and approbation of +Washington that he was offered a position upon +his staff, which he accepted March 1, 1777, with +the rank of lieutenant-colonel. His work now +was constant and absorbing. The correspondence +was immense, but all was done with that clearness +and elegance of diction which had marked the +young collegian. He was popular with old and +young, being called the "Little Lion," as a term of +endearment, in appreciation of bravery and nobility +of character.</p> + +<p>When the skies looked darkest, as at Valley +Forge, Hamilton was habitually cheerful, seeing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> +always a rainbow among the clouds. His enthusiasm +was contagious. He carried men with him +by a belief in his own powers, and by deep sympathy +with others. Lafayette loved him as a +brother. He wrote Hamilton, "Before this campaign +I was your friend and very intimate friend, +agreeably to the ideas of the world. Since my +second voyage, my sentiment has increased to such +a point the world knows nothing about. To show +<i>both</i>, from want and from scorn of expression, I +shall only tell you—Adieu!"</p> + +<p>Baron Steuben used to say, in later days, "The +Secretary of the Treasury is my banker; my Hamilton +takes care of me when he cannot take care of +himself."</p> + +<p>Hamilton wrote to his dear friend Laurens, "Cold +in my professions—warm in my friendships—I +wish it were in my power, by actions rather than +words, to convince you that I love you.... You +know the opinion I entertain of mankind, and how +much it is my desire to preserve myself free from +particular attachments, and to keep my happiness +independent of the caprices of others. You should +not have taken advantage of my sensibility to steal +into my affections without my consent."</p> + +<p>Best of all, Washington confided in him, and +loved him, and we usually love those in whom we +have confided. When he wanted a calcitrant general, +like Gates, brought to terms, he sent the tactful, +clear-headed Hamilton on the mission. When +he wanted decisive action, he sent the same fearless<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +young officer, who knew no such word as failure. +Sometimes he broke down physically, but the power +of youth triumphed, and he was soon at work +again.</p> + +<p>On his expedition to General Gates, in November, +1777, with all his desire to keep himself "free +from particular attachments," he laid the foundation +for the one lasting attachment of his life. At +the house of the wealthy and distinguished General +Philip Schuyler, he met and liked the second +daughter, Elizabeth. Three years later, in the +spring of 1780, when the officers brought their +families to Morristown, the acquaintance ripened +into love, and December 14, 1780, when Hamilton +was twenty-three, he was married to Miss Schuyler. +The father of the young lady was proud and happy +in her choice. He wrote Hamilton, "You cannot, +my dear sir, be more happy at the connection you +have made with my family than I am. Until the +child of a parent has made a judicious choice, his +heart is in continual anxiety; but this anxiety was +removed the moment I discovered it was you on +whom she placed her affections."</p> + +<p>In this year, 1780, the country was shocked by +the treason of Benedict Arnold. Hamilton was +sent in pursuit, only to find that he had escaped to +the British. He ministered to the heart-broken +wife of Arnold, as best he could. He wrote to a +friend, "Her sufferings were so eloquent that I +wished myself her brother, to have a right to become +her defender."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>For Major André he had the deepest sympathy, +and admiration of his manly qualities. He wrote +to Miss Schuyler, afterward his wife, "Poor André +suffers to-day. Everything that is amiable in virtue, +in fortitude, in delicate sentiment and accomplished +manners, pleads for him; but hard-hearted policy +calls for a sacrifice. I urged a compliance with +André's request to be shot, and I do not think it +would have had an ill effect."</p> + +<p>A month after his marriage, his only difficulty +with General Washington occurred. The commander-in-chief +had sent for Hamilton to confer with +him, who, meeting Lafayette, was stopped by him +for a few moments' conversation on business. +When he reached Washington, the general said, +"Colonel Hamilton, you have kept me waiting at +the head of the stairs these ten minutes. I must +tell you, sir, you treat me with disrespect." The +proud young aid answered, "I am not conscious +of it, sir; but since you have thought it necessary +to tell me so, we part." He therefore resigned his +position, glad to be free to take a more active part +in the war. Washington, with his usual magnanimity, +made overtures of reconciliation, and they +became ever after trusted co-workers.</p> + +<p>All these years, Hamilton had shown himself +brave and untiring in the interests of his adopted +country. At the battle of Monmouth, his horse +was shot under him. At Yorktown, at his own +earnest request, he led the perilous assault upon +the enemy's works, and carried them. When Hamilton<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> +saw that the enemy was driven back, he +humanely ordered that not a British soldier should +be killed after the attack. He says in his report, +"Incapable of imitating examples of barbarity, and +forgetting recent provocations, the soldiers spared +every man who ceased to resist."</p> + +<p>Washington appreciated his heroism, and said, +"Few cases have exhibited greater proof of intrepidity, +coolness, and firmness than were shown on +this occasion."</p> + +<p>Letters home to his wife show the warm heart of +Hamilton. "I am unhappy—I am unhappy beyond +expression. I am unhappy because I am to +be so remote from you; because I am to hear from +you less frequently than I am accustomed to do. I +am miserable, because I know you will be so.... +Constantly uppermost in my thoughts and affections, +I am happy only when my moments are devoted +to some office that respects you. I would +give the world to be able to tell you all I feel and +all I wish; but consult your own heart, and you will +know mine.... Every day confirms me in the intention +of renouncing public life, and devoting +myself wholly to you. Let others waste their time +and their tranquillity in a vain pursuit of power +and glory; be it my object to be happy in a quiet +retreat, with my better angel."</p> + +<p>At the close of the Revolutionary War, he repaired +to Albany, spending the winter at the home +of General Schuyler, his wife's father. He had but +little money, and his dues in the service of an impoverished<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +country were unpaid; but he had what +was far better, ability. He determined to study law. +For four months, he bent himself unreservedly to +his work, and was admitted to the bar. He steadily +refused offers of pecuniary aid from General +Schuyler, preferring to support his wife and infant +son by his own exertions. Such a man, of proud +spirit and unwavering purpose, would, of course, +succeed.</p> + +<p>Friends who appreciated the service he had +rendered to his country now interceded in his +behalf, and he was appointed Continental receiver +of taxes for New York. To accept a position +meant, to him, persistent labor, and success in it if +possible. He at once repaired to Poughkeepsie, +where the Legislature was in session; presented his +plans of taxation, and prevailed upon that body to +pass a resolution asking for a convention of the +States that a Union might be effected, stronger +than the existing Confederation.</p> + +<p>The position as receiver of taxes was sometimes +a disagreeable one, but it was another round in the +ladder which carried him to fame. He had increased +the number of his acquaintances. His +energy and his knowledge of public questions had +been revealed to the people; and the result was his +election to Congress, at the age of twenty-five. +Thus rapidly the ambitious, energetic, and intelligent +young man had risen in influence.</p> + +<p>That his voice would be heard in Congress was +a foregone conclusion. General Schuyler wrote his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> +daughter soon after Congress met: "Participate +afresh in the satisfaction I experience from the +connection you have made with my beloved Hamilton. +He affords me happiness too exquisite for +expression. I daily experience the pleasure of +hearing encomiums on his virtue and abilities, from +those who are capable of distinguishing between +real and pretended merit. He is considered, as he +certainly is, the ornament of his country, and +capable of rendering it the most essential services, +if his advice and suggestions are attended to."</p> + +<p>The country was deeply in debt from the Revolutionary +War. It had no money with which to +pay its soldiers; its paper currency was nearly +worthless; dissatisfaction was apparent on every +hand. There was little unity of interest among +the States. Hamilton's plans for raising money, +and for a more centralized government, were unheeded; +and, after a year in Congress, he returned +to the practice of law, saying, "The more I see, +the more I find reason for those who love this +country to weep over its blindness."</p> + +<p>As soon as the war was over, the people began +to grow more bitter than ever toward the Tories, or +loyalists. Harsh legislative measures were passed. +The "Trespass Act" declared that any person who +had left his abode in consequence of invasion +could collect damages of those who had occupied +the premises during his absence. A widow, reduced +to poverty by the war, brought suit against +a rich Tory merchant, who had lived in her house<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> +while the Tories held the city. Hamilton, feeling +that a principle of justice was involved, took the +part of the merchant, and by a brilliant speech, in +which he contended that "the fruits of immovables +belong to the captor so long as he remains in +actual possession of them," he gained the case. Of +course, he brought upon himself much obloquy; +was declared to be a "Britisher," and lover of +monarchy, a charge to which he must have grown +accustomed in later years.</p> + +<p>Hamilton's pen was not idle in this controversy. +He wrote a pamphlet, advocating respect for law +and justice, which was called "Phocion," from its +signature. It was read widely, both in England +and America. Among the many replies was one +signed "Mentor," which drew from Hamilton a +"Second letter of Phocion." So inflamed did +public opinion become that in one of the clubs it +was decided that one person after another should +challenge Hamilton, till he should fall in a duel. +This came to the knowledge of "Mentor" and the +abhorrent plan was stopped by his timely interference. +There are too few men and women great +enough to be tolerant of ideas in opposition to +their own, or to persons holding those ideas. Tolerance +belongs to great souls only.</p> + +<p>Matters in the States had so grown from bad to +worse, and Congress, with its limited powers, was +so helpless, that a convention was finally called at +Philadelphia, May 25, 1787, to provide for a more +complete and efficient Union. Nine States sent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> +delegates: Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, +Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, +South Carolina, and Georgia. General Washington +was made president of the convention. A +plan of government was submitted, called the +"Virginia plan," which provided for a Congress of +two branches, one to be elected by the people, the +other from names suggested by the State Legislatures. +There was to be a President, not eligible +for a second term. Then the "New Jersey plan" +was submitted; which was simply a revision of the +Articles of Confederation.</p> + +<p>The debates were earnest, but most intelligent; +for men in those times had studied the existing +governments of the world, and the fate of previous +republics. Hamilton was present as a delegate, +and, early in the convention, gave his plan for a +new government, in a powerful speech, six hours +long. He reviewed the whole domain of history, +the present condition of the States, and the reasons +for it, and then developed his plan. Those only +could vote for President and Senators who owned +a certain amount of real estate. These officials +were to hold office for life or during good behavior. +The President should appoint the Governors of the +various States.</p> + +<p>Of course, the believers in "States' Rights" +could not for a moment concede such power to one +man, at the head of a nation. When Hamilton +affirmed that the "British government was the +best model in existence," he awoke the antagonism<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> +of the American heart. He probably knew that +his plan could not be adopted, but it strengthened +the advocates of a central government. Many +delegates went home under protest; but the Constitution, +brought into its present form largely by +James Madison, was finally adopted, and sent to +the different States for ratification.</p> + +<p>The opposition to its adoption was very great. +Hamilton, with praiseworthy spirit, accepted it as +the best thing attainable under the circumstances, +and worked for it night and day with all the vigor +and power of his masterly intellect. To the <i>Federalist</i> +he contributed fifty-one papers in defence +of the Constitution, and did more than any other +man to secure its ultimate adoption.</p> + +<p>Henry Cabot Lodge, in his clear and admirable +"Life of Hamilton," says: "As an exposition of the +meaning and purposes of the Constitution, the +<i>Federalist</i> is now, and always will be cited, on the +bench and at the bar, by American commentators, +and by all writers on constitutional law. As a +treatise on the principles of federal government +it still stands at the head, and has been turned +to as an authority by the leading minds of +Germany, intent on the formation of the German +Empire."</p> + +<p>Party feeling ran high. When a State enrolled +herself in favor of the Constitution, bonfires, feasts, +and public processions testified to the joy of a portion +of the people; while the burning in effigy of +prominent Federalists, mobs and riots, testified to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> +the anger of the opponents. In the State of New +York the contest was extremely bitter. Hamilton +used all his logic, his eloquence, his fire, and his +boundless activity to carry the State in favor of the +Constitution. Said Chancellor Kent: "He urged +every motive and consideration that ought to sway +the human mind in such a crisis. He touched, +with exquisite skill, every chord of sympathy that +could be made to vibrate in the human breast. +Our country, our honor, our liberties, our firesides, +our posterity were placed in vivid colors +before us."</p> + +<p>When told by a friend, who was just starting on +a journey, that he would be questioned in relation +to the adoption of the Constitution, Hamilton replied: +"God only knows! Several votes have been +taken, by which it appears that there are two to +one against us." But suddenly his face brightened, +as he said, "Tell them that the convention shall +never rise until the Constitution is adopted."</p> + +<p>The excitement in New York city became intense. +Crowds collected on the street-corners, and +whispered, "Hamilton is speaking yet!" Late in +the evening of July 28, 1788, it was announced that +the Constitution had been adopted by New York, the +vote standing thirty to twenty-seven. At once the +bells were rung and guns were fired. A great procession +was formed of professional men and artisans, +bearing pictures of Washington and Hamilton, and +banners, with the words "Federalist," "Liberty of +the Press," and "The Epoch of Liberty." The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> +federal frigate Hamilton was fully manned, and +received the plaudits of the crowds.</p> + +<p>When the Constitution was adopted, at last, +Washington was made President, April 30, 1789. +It was not strange that he chose for his Secretary of +the Treasury the man who had studied finance by +the camp-fires of the Revolution. At thirty-two +Hamilton was in the Cabinet of his country. At +once Congress asked him to prepare a report on the +public credit, stating his plan of providing for the +public debt. In about three months the report was +ready. It advocated the funding of all the debts +of the United States incurred through the war. +As to the foreign and domestic debts, all persons +seemed agreed that these should be paid; but the +assumption of the debts of the different States met +with the most violent opposition. Those who owed +a few million dollars were unwilling to help those +who owed many millions.</p> + +<p>Hamilton advocated a foreign loan, not to exceed +twelve millions, and a revenue derived from +taxes on imports; such a revenue as would not only +provide funds for the new nation, but protect manufactures +from the competition of the old world. +The believers in protection have had no more earnest +or able advocate than Hamilton.</p> + +<p>His next report was an elaborate one upon +national banks, and the establishment of a United +States bank, which should give a uniform system +of bank-notes, instead of the unreliable and uneven +values of the notes of the State banks. His financial<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> +policy, while it aroused the bitterest enmity in +some quarters, raised the United States from bankruptcy +to the respect of her creditors, abroad and at +home. When the old cry of "unconstitutional!" +was heard, as it has been heard ever since when any +great matter is suggested, Hamilton taught the people +to feel that the <i>implied</i> powers of the Constitution +were great enough for all needs, and that the document +must be interpreted by the spirit as well as +the letter of the law. Capitalists were his strong +advocates, as they well knew that a firm and safe +financial policy was at the root of success and +progress.</p> + +<p>Very soon after his report on banks, he transmitted +to Congress a report on the establishment +of a mint, showing wide research on the subject of +coinage. Besides these papers, he reported on the +purchase of West Point, on public lands, navigation +laws, on the post-office, and other matters, always +showing careful study, good judgment, and patriotism.</p> + +<p>That he was accused of being a monarchist signified +little, as there were hundreds of people at +that time who feared that the republic would go +down, as had others in past centuries. He so +deprecated the lack of central power in the government +that he exaggerated the dangers of the +people's rule. This lack of trust in the masses +and in the power of the Constitution, and Thomas +Jefferson's trust in self-government and belief in +States' rights, led, at last, to the bitter and public<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> +disagreement of these two great men, the Secretary +of the Treasury and the Secretary of State. +Each was honest in his belief; each was tolerant +of most men, but intolerant of the other to the +end of life.</p> + +<p>Hamilton naturally became the leader of the +Federalists, as Jefferson the leader of the Republicans, +or Democrats, as they are now called. One +party saw in Hamilton the great thinker, the safe +guardian of the destinies of the people; the other +party thought it saw a bold and unscrupulous man, +who would sit on a throne if that were possible. +Hamilton's character was assailed, sometimes with +truth, but oftener without truth. He was not +perfect, but he was great, and in most respects +noble.</p> + +<p>The French Revolution was now interesting all +minds. Genet had been sent to America by the +French Republic, as her minister. Hamilton urged +neutrality, and looked with horror upon the growing +excesses in France. Jefferson, with his hatred of +monarchy, was lenient, and, in the early part of +the Revolution, sympathetic. The United States +became divided into two great factions, for and +against France. Genet fanned the flames till the +patient Washington could endure it no longer; the +unwise minister was recalled, and neutrality was +proclaimed April 22, 1793.</p> + +<p>Through all this matter, Hamilton had the complete +love and confidence of Washington. When +it was deemed wise to send a special commissioner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> +to effect a treaty with England, that proper commercial +relations be maintained, Hamilton was at +once suggested. Party feeling opposed, and John +Jay was appointed. When he returned from his +mission, Great Britain having consented to pay us +ten million dollars for illegal seizure of vessels, +we agreeing to pay all debts owed to her before the +Revolutionary War, the people rose in wrath +against the treaty, and burned Jay in effigy. When +Hamilton was speaking for its adoption at a public +meeting in New York, he was assaulted by stones. +"Gentlemen," he said, coolly, "if you use such +strong arguments, I must retire." After this he +wrote essays, signed "Camillus," in defence of the +treaty, and helped largely to secure its acceptance.</p> + +<p>Meantime, the Excise Law, whereby distilled +spirits were taxed, caused the "Whiskey Insurrection" +in Pennsylvania. Hamilton, who believed in +the prompt execution of law, urged Washington to +take decisive measures. The President called out +thirteen thousand troops, and the refusal to pay +the taxes was no more heard of.</p> + +<p>Hamilton, like Jefferson, had become weary of +his six years of public life; his increasing family +needed more than his limited salary, and he resigned, +returning to his law practice in the city of +New York.</p> + +<p>When a new President was chosen to succeed +Washington, it was not the real leader of the +party, Hamilton, but one who had elicited less opposition +by strong measures—John Adams, a man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> +of long and distinguished service, both in England +and America. Hamilton seems to have preferred +Thomas Pinckney of South Carolina, and thus to +have gained the ill-will of Adams, which helped at +last to split the Federal party.</p> + +<p>When Adams and Jefferson became the Presidential +nominees in 1800, Hamilton threw himself +heartily into the contest in the State of New York. +Here he found himself pitted against a rare antagonist, +the most famous lawyer in the State except +himself, Aaron Burr. He was well born, being the +son of the president of the college at Princeton, +and the grandson of Jonathan Edwards. Like +Hamilton, he was precocious; being ready to enter +Princeton when he was eleven years old. He was +short in stature, five feet and six inches in height; +with fine black eyes, and gentle and winsome manners. +Both these men won the most enduring +friendships from men and women—homage indeed. +Both were intense in nature, though Burr had far +greater self-control. Both were brave to rashness; +both were untiring students; both loved and always +gained authority. Burr had won honors in +the Revolutionary War. He had married at twenty-six, +a woman ten years older than himself, a widow +with two children, with neither wealth nor beauty, +whom he idolized for the twelve years she was +spared to him, for her rare mind and devoted affection. +From her he learned to value intellect in +woman. He used to write her before marriage, +"Deal less in sentiments, and more in ideas."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> +When she died, he said, "The mother of my Theo +was the best woman and finest lady I have ever +known." For his only child, his beloved Theodosia, +he seemed to have but one wish, that she be +a scholar. He said to his wife, "If I could foresee +that Theo would become a mere fashionable woman, +with all the attendant frivolity and vacuity of +mind, adorned with whatever grace and allurement, +I would earnestly pray God to take her forthwith +hence. But I yet hope by her to convince the +world what neither sex appear to believe—that +women have souls!"</p> + +<p>At ten years of age, she was studying Horace +and Terence, learning the Greek grammar, speaking +French, and reading Gibbon.</p> + +<p>This Theo, the idol of his life, afterward married +to Governor Alston of South Carolina, loved +him with a devotion that will forever make one +gleam of sunshine in a life full of shadows. When +the dark days came, she wrote him, "I witness +your extraordinary fortitude with new wonder at +every new misfortune. Often, after reflecting on +this subject, you appear to me so superior, so elevated +above all other men; I contemplate you with, +such a strange mixture of humility, admiration, +reverence, love, and pride, very little superstition +would be necessary to make me worship you as a +superior being; such enthusiasm does your character +excite in me.... I had rather not live than +not be the daughter of such a man."</p> + +<p>Burr's success in the law had been phenomenal.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> +When he was studying for admission to the bar, he +often passed twenty hours out of the twenty-four +over his books.</p> + +<p>And now, Colonel Burr, at thirty-six, after being +in the United States Senate for six years, was the +candidate for Vice-President on the Jefferson ticket. +Hamilton's eloquence stirred the State of New +York in the contest; but Burr's generalship in +politics won the votes, and he was elected.</p> + +<p>Hamilton went back again to his large law practice. +Men sought him with the belief that if he +would take their cases, there was no doubt of the +result. An aged farmer came to him to recover a +farm for which a deed had been obtained from him +in exchange for Virginia land. Hamilton heard +the case; then wrote to the wealthy speculator to +call upon him. When he came, Hamilton said, +"You must give me back that deed. I do not say +that you knew that the title to these lands is bad; +but it is bad. You are a rich—he is a poor man. +How can you sleep on your pillow? Would you +break up the only support of an aged man and +seven children?" He walked the floor rapidly, as +he exclaimed, "I will add to my professional services +all the weight of my character and powers +of my nature; and <i>you</i> ought to know, when I espouse +the cause of innocence and of the oppressed, +that character and those powers will have their +weight."</p> + +<p>The property was reconveyed to the farmer, who +gratefully asked Hamilton to name the compensation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> +"Nothing! nothing!" said he. "Hasten +home and make your family happy."</p> + +<p>Hamilton was clear in his reasoning; a master +in constitutional law; persuasive in his manner; +sometimes highly impassioned, sometimes solemn +and earnest. Says Henry Cabot Lodge: "Force of +intellect and force of will were the sources of his +success.... Directness was his most distinguishing +characteristic, and, whether he appealed to the +head or the heart, he went straight to the mark.... +He never indulged in rhetorical flourishes, and his +style was simple and severe.... That which led +him to victory was the passionate energy of his +nature, his absorption in his work, his contagious +and persuasive enthusiasm."</p> + +<p>"There was a fascination in his manner, by which +one was led captive unawares," says another writer. +"On most occasions, when animated with the subject +on which he was engaged, you could see the +very workings of his soul, in the expression of his +countenance; and so frank was he in manner that +he would make you feel that there was not a +thought of his heart that he would wish to hide +from your view."</p> + +<p>"Alexander Hamilton was the greatest man this +country ever produced," said Judge Ambrose Spencer.... +"He argued cases before me while I sat +as judge on the bench. Webster has done the +same. In power of reasoning Hamilton was the +equal of Webster; and more than this can be said +of no man. In creative power Hamilton was infinitely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +Webster's superior.... He, more than any +man, did the thinking of the time."</p> + +<p>His chief relaxation from work was at "The +Grange," his summer home at Harlem Heights, not +far from the spot, it is said, where he first attracted +the eye of Washington. Beeches, maples, and +many evergreens abounded. The Hudson River +added its beauty to the picturesque place. Here +he read the classics for pleasure, and the Bible. +To a friend he said: "I have examined carefully +the evidence of the Christian religion; and, if I +was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity, I +should unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor.... +I can prove its truth as clearly as any proposition +ever submitted to the mind of man."</p> + +<p>At "The Grange" he was especially happy with +his family. He said, "My health and comfort both +require that I should be at home—at that home +where I am always sure to find a sweet asylum +from care and pain.... It will be more and more +my endeavor to abstract myself from all pursuits +which interfere with those of affection. 'Tis here +only I can find true pleasure."</p> + +<p>When Hamilton was forty-four, he endured the +great affliction of his life. His eldest son, Philip, +nineteen, just graduated from Columbia College, +deeply wounded by the political attacks upon his +father, challenged to a duel one of the men who +had made objectionable remarks. The lad fell at +the first fire, a wicked sacrifice to a barbarous "code +of honor." After twenty hours of agony, he died,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> +surrounded by the stricken family. Hamilton was +especially proud of this son, of whom he said, when +he gave his oration at Columbia College, "I could +not have been contented to have been surpassed by +any other than my son."</p> + +<p>For three years Hamilton worked on with a +hope which was never broken, constantly adding +to his fame. And then came the fatal error of his +life. All along he had opposed Aaron Burr. When +named for a foreign mission, Hamilton helped to defeat +him. When the tie vote came between Jefferson +and Burr in the Presidential returns, Hamilton +said, "The appointment of Burr as President will +disgrace our country abroad." When Burr was +nominated for Governor of New York, Hamilton +used every effort to defeat him, and succeeded. +Burr, exasperated and disappointed at his failures, +sent Hamilton a challenge. He wrote to Hamilton, +"<i>Political</i> opposition can never absolve gentlemen +from the necessity of a rigid adherence to the laws +of honor and the rules of decorum. I neither +claim such privilege nor indulge it in others." +Alas! that some men in public life, even now, +forget the "laws of honor and the rules of decorum" +in their treatment of opponents.</p> + +<p>Everything in Hamilton's career protested +against this suicidal combat. He was only forty-seven, +distinguished and beloved, with a wife and +seven children dependent upon him.</p> + +<p>Before going to the fatal meeting, he wrote his +feelings about duelling. "My religious and moral<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> +principles are strongly opposed to the practice of +duelling, and it would even give me pain to be +obliged to shed the blood of a fellow-creature in a +private combat forbidden by the laws.... To +those who, with me, abhorring the practice of duelling, +may think that I ought on no account to have +added to the number of bad examples, I answer +that my <i>relative</i> situation, as well in public as +private, enforcing all the considerations which constitute +what men of the world denominate honor, +imposed on me (as I thought) a peculiar necessity +not to decline the call. The ability to be in future +useful, whether in resisting mischief or effecting +good, in those crises of our public affairs which +seem likely to happen, would probably be inseparable +from a conformity with public prejudice in +this particular."</p> + +<p>He made his will, leaving all, after the payment +of his debts, to his "dear and excellent wife." +"Should it happen that there is not enough for the +payment of my debts, I entreat my dear children, +if they, or any of them, should ever be able, to +make up the deficiency. I, without hesitation, +commit to their delicacy a wish which is dictated +by my own. Though conscious that I have too +far sacrificed the interests of my family to public +avocations, and on this account have the less claim +to burden my children, yet I trust in their magnanimity +to appreciate as they ought this my request. +In so unfavorable an event of things, the +support of their dear mother, with the most respectful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> +and tender attention, is a duty, all the +sacredness of which they will feel. Probably her +own patrimonial resources will preserve her from +indigence. But in all situations they are charged +to bear in mind that she has been to them the +most devoted and best of mothers." And then, +the great statesman, after writing two farewell +letters to "my darling, darling wife," conformed to +"public prejudice" by hastening with his second, +at daybreak, to meet Aaron Burr, at Weehawken, +two miles and a half above Hoboken. It was a +quiet and beautiful spot, one hundred and fifty +feet above the level of the Hudson River, shut +in by trees and vines, but golden with sunlight on +that fatal morning.</p> + +<p>At seven o'clock the two distinguished men were +ready, ten paces apart, to take into their own +hands that most sacred of all things, human life. +There was no outward sign of emotion, though the +one must have thought of his idol, Theodosia, and +the other of his pretty children, still asleep. Hamilton +had determined not to fire, and so permitted +himself to be sacrificed. The word of readiness +was given. Burr raised his pistol and fired, and +Hamilton fell headlong on his face, his own weapon +discharging in the air. He sank into the arms of +his physician, saying faintly, "This is a mortal +wound," and was borne home to a family overwhelmed +with sorrow. The oldest daughter lost +her reason.</p> + +<p>For thirty-one hours he lay in agony, talking,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> +when able, with his minister about the coming +future, asking that the sacrament be administered, +and saying, "I am a sinner. I look to Him for +mercy; pray for me."</p> + +<p>Once when all his children were gathered around +the bed, he gave them one tender look, and closed +his eyes till they had left the room. He retained +his usual composure to the last, saying to his wife, +frenzied with grief, "Remember, my Eliza, you +are a Christian." He died at two o'clock on the +afternoon of July 12, 1804. The whole nation +seemed speechless with sorrow. In New York all +business was suspended. At the funeral, a great +concourse of people, college societies, political associations, +and military companies, joined in the +common sorrow. Guns were fired from the British +and French ships in the harbor; on a platform in +front of Trinity Church, Governor Morris pronounced +a eulogy, General Hamilton's four sons, +the eldest sixteen and the youngest four, standing +beside the speaker. Thus the great life faded +from sight in its vigorous manhood, leaving a wonderful +record for the aspiring and the patriotic, +and a prophecy of what might have been accomplished +but for that one fatal mistake.</p> + +<p>Aaron Burr hastened to the South, to avoid +arrest; but public execration followed him. He +became implicated in a scheme for putting himself +at the head of Mexico, was arrested and tried for +treason, and, though legally acquitted, was obliged +to flee to England, and from there to Sweden and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> +Germany. Finally he came home, only to hear +that Theodosia's beautiful boy of eleven was dead. +Poor and friendless, he longed now for the one +person who had never forsaken him, his daughter. +She started from Charleston in a pilot-boat, for +New York, and was never heard from afterwards. +Probably all went down in a storm off Cape Hatteras. +When it was reported in the papers that +the boat had been captured by pirates, Burr said, +"No, no, she is indeed dead. Were she alive, all +the prisons in the world could not keep her from +her father. When I realized the truth of her +death, the world became a blank to me, and life +had then lost all its value."</p> + +<p>When he was nearly eighty, he married a lady +of wealth; but they were unhappy, and soon separated. +He died on Staten Island, cared for at the +last by the children of an old friend. His courage +and fortitude the world will always admire; but it +can never forget the fatal duel by which Alexander +Hamilton was taken from his country, in the prime +of his life and in the midst of his great work.</p> + +<p>The name of Hamilton will not be forgotten. +The Hon. Chauncey M. Depew of New York, on +February 22, 1888, gave the great statesman this +well deserved tribute of praise:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The political mission of the United States has so far +been wrought out by individuals and territorial conditions. +Four men of unequal genius have dominated our century, +and the growth of the West has revolutionized the republic. +The principles which have heretofore controlled the policy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> +of the country have mainly owed their force and acceptance +to Hamilton, Jefferson, Webster, and Lincoln.</p> + +<p>"The first question which met the young confederacy was +the necessity of a central power strong enough to deal with +foreign nations and to protect commerce between the +States. At this period Alexander Hamilton became the +savior of the republic. If Shakespeare is the commanding +originating genius of England, and Goethe of Germany, +Hamilton must occupy that place among Americans. This +superb intelligence, which was at once philosophic and +practical, and with unrivalled lucidity could instruct the +dullest mind on the bearing of the action of the present on +the destiny of the future, so impressed upon his contemporaries +the necessity of a central government with large +powers that the Constitution, now one hundred and one +years old, was adopted, and the United States began their +life as a nation."</p></blockquote> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 422px;"> +<img src="images/illus-133.jpg" width="422" height="600" alt="Andrew Jackson" title="Andrew Jackson" /> + +</div> + + + + +<h2>ANDREW JACKSON.</h2> + + +<p>George Bancroft said, "No man in private +life so possessed the hearts of all around +him; no public man of the country ever returned +to private life with such an abiding mastery over +the affections of the people.... He was as sincere +a man as ever lived. He was wholly, always, and +altogether sincere and true. Up to the last he +dared do anything that it was right to do. He +united personal courage and moral courage beyond +any man of whom history keeps the record.... +Jackson never was vanquished. He was always +fortunate. He conquered the wilderness; he conquered +the savage; he conquered the veterans of +the battle-field of Europe; he conquered everywhere +in statesmanship; and when death came to +get the mastery over him, he turned that last +enemy aside as tranquilly as he had done the feeblest +of his adversaries, and passed from earth in +the triumphant consciousness of immortality."</p> + +<p>Thus wrote Bancroft of the man who rose from +poverty and sorrow to receive the highest gift +which the American nation can bestow. The gift +did not come through chance; it came because the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +man was worthy of it, and had earned the love and +honor of the people.</p> + +<p>In 1765, among many other emigrants, a man, +with his wife and two sons, came to the new world +from the north of Ireland. They were linen-weavers, +poor, but industrious, and members of the +Presbyterian Church. They settled at Waxhaw, +North Carolina, not far from the South Carolina +boundary, and the husband began to build a log +house for his dear ones. This man was the father +of Andrew Jackson.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had the log house been built, and a single +crop raised, before the wife was left a widow +and the children fatherless. There was a quiet +funeral, a half-dozen friends standing around an +open grave, and then the little house passed into +other hands, and Mrs. Jackson went to live at the +home of her brother-in-law.</p> + +<p>Not long after the funeral, a third son was born, +March 15, 1767, whom the stricken mother named +Andrew Jackson, after his father. He was welcomed +in tears, and naturally became the idol of +her young heart. Three weeks later, she moved to +the house of another brother-in-law to assist in his +family. She was not afraid to work, and she bent +herself to the hard labor of pioneer life. There +was no sorrow in the labor, for was she not doing +it for her sons, and a noble woman knows no hardship +in her self-sacrifice for love.</p> + +<p>Her ambition seems to have centred in the +slight, light-haired, blue-eyed Andrew, who, she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +hoped, one day might become a Presbyterian minister. +How he was to obtain a college education, +perhaps, she did not discern, but she trusted, and +trust is a divine thing.</p> + +<p>The barefooted boy attended a school kept by +Dr. Waddell. He made commendable progress in +his studies, from his quick and ardent temperament, +but he loved fun even better than books. He was +impulsive, ambitious, and persevering. He could +run foot-races as rapidly as the bigger boys, and +loved to wrestle or engage in anything which +seemed like a battle. Says an old schoolmate, "I +could throw him three times out of four, but he +would never <i>stay throwed</i>. He was dead game, +even then, and never <i>would</i> give up."</p> + +<p>To the younger boys he was a protector, but from +the older he would brook no insult, and was sometimes +hasty and overbearing. One of the best +traits in the boy's character was his love for his +mother. His intense nature knew no change, and +he was loyal and single of purpose forever. He +used to say in later life, "One of the last injunctions +given me by my mother was never to institute +a suit for assault and battery or for defamation; +never to wound the feelings of others nor +suffer my own to be outraged: these were her +words of admonition to me; I remember them well, +and have never failed to respect them; my settled +course through life has been to bear them in mind, +and never to insult or wantonly to assail the feelings +of any one; and yet many conceive me to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> +a most ferocious animal, insensible to moral duty +and regardless of the laws both of God and man."</p> + +<p>He did nothing slowly nor indifferently. He +bent his will to his work, even at that early age, +and knew no such word as failure. When the boy +was thirteen, an incident occurred which made a +lasting impression. The British General Tarlton, +in the Revolutionary War, with three hundred cavalry, +came against Waxhaw, surprised the militia, +killing one hundred and thirteen and wounding +one hundred and fifty. The little settlement was +terrorized. The meeting-house became a hospital, +and Mrs. Jackson, with her sons, helped to minister +to the wants of the suffering soldiers. Andrew +learned not only lessons in war, but to dream of +future rewards to the British.</p> + +<p>When Cornwallis, after the surrender of General +Gates, moved his whole army toward Waxhaw, +Mrs. Jackson and her sons were obliged to seek a +safe retreat with a distant relative. Here Andrew +did "chores" for his board. "Never," said one +who knew him well at this time, "did Andrew +come home from the shops without bringing with +him some new weapon with which to kill the +enemy. Sometimes it was a rude spear, which he +would forge while waiting for the blacksmith to +finish his job. Sometimes it was a club or a tomahawk. +Once he fastened the blade of a scythe to a +pole, and, on reaching home, began to cut down the +weeds with it that grew about the house, assailing +them with extreme fury, and occasionally uttering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> +words like these, 'Oh, if I were a man, how I +would sweep down the British with my grass +blade!'"</p> + +<p>A year later, when Mrs. Jackson had returned to +Waxhaw, the brothers were both taken prisoners in +a skirmish. Being commanded to clean the boots +of a British officer, Andrew refused, saying, "Sir, +I am a prisoner of war, and claim to be treated as +such."</p> + +<p>The angry Englishman drew his sword, and +rushed at the boy, who, attempting to defend himself +from the blow, received a deep gash in his left +hand, and also on his head, the scars of which he +bore through life. Robert, the brother, also refused +to clean the boots, and was prostrated by the +sword of the brutal officer. Soon after, the boys +were taken with other prisoners to Camden, eighty +miles distant, a long and agonizing journey for +wounded men.</p> + +<p>They found the prison a wretched place, with no +medical supplies; the food scanty, and small-pox +raging among the inmates. The poor mother, hearing +of their forlorn condition, hastened to the +place. Both her boys were ill of the dreaded +small-pox, and both suffering from their sword-wounds. +She arranged for the exchange of prisoners, +and took her sons home; Robert to die in +her arms two days later, and Andrew to be saved +at last after a perilous illness of several months. +Her oldest son, Hugh, had already given his life to +his country in the war.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>Almost broken-hearted with the loss of her two +sons, yet intensely patriotic, she hastened to the +Charleston prison-ships, to care for the wounded, +taking with her provisions and medicine sent by +loving wives and daughters. The blessed ministrations +proved of short duration. Mrs. Jackson was +taken ill of ship-fever, died after a brief illness, +and was buried in the open plain near by. The +grave is unmarked and unknown. When, years +later, her illustrious son had become President, he +tried to find the burial-place of the woman he idolized, +but it was impossible.</p> + +<p>Andrew was now an orphan, and poor; but he +had what makes any boy or man rich, the memory +of a devoted, heroic mother. Such a person has +an inspiration that is like martial music on the +field of battle; he is urged onward to duty forevermore. +The world is richer for all such instances +of ideal womanhood; the womanhood that gives +rather than receives; that seeks neither admiration +nor self-aggrandizement; that, like the flowers, +sends out the same fragrance whether in royal +gardens or beside the peasant's door; that lives to +lighten others' sorrows, to rest tired humanity, to +sweeten the bitterness of life by her loveliness +of soul; that is to the world around her</p> + +<p class="center"> +"A new and certain sunrise every day." +</p> + +<p>Fatherless, motherless, brotherless, the boy of +fifteen looked about him to see what his life-work +should be. In the family of a distant relative he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> +found a home. The son was a saddler. For six +months Andrew worked at this trade. But other +plans were in his mind. He knew how his mother +had desired that he might be educated. But how +could a boy win his way without money? For two +years or more, little is known of him. It is believed +that he taught a small school. When nearly +eighteen, he had made up his mind to study law, +a somewhat remarkable decision for a boy in his +circumstances.</p> + +<p>If he studied at all, it should be under the best +of teachers; so he rode to Salisbury, seventy-five +miles from Waxhaw, and entered the office of Mr. +Spruce McCay, an eminent lawyer, and later a +judge of distinction.</p> + +<p>For nearly two years he studied, enjoying also +the sports of the time, and making, as he did all +through life, close friends who were devoted to his +interests. When in the White House, forty-five +years afterward, he said, "I was but a raw lad +then, but I did my best." And he did his best +through life!</p> + +<p>He loved a fine horse almost as though it were +human; he enjoyed the society of ladies, and possessed +a grace and dignity of manner that surprised +those who knew the hardships of his life. +His eager intelligence, his quick, direct glance, that +bespoke alertness of mind, won him attention, even +more than would beauty of person. Over six feet +in height, slender to delicacy, he gave the impression +of leadership, from his bravery and self-reliance.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +Emerson well says, "The basis of good +manners is self-reliance.... Self-trust is the first +secret of success; the belief that, if you are here, +the authorities of the universe put you here, and +for cause or with some task strictly appointed you +in your constitution."</p> + +<p>When his two years of law-study were ended, the +work was but just begun. There was reputation to +be made, and perhaps a fortune, but where and +how? For a year he seems not to have found a +law opening; the streams of fortune do not always +flow toward us—we have to make the journey by +persistent and hard rowing against the tide. He +probably worked in a store owned by some acquaintances, +earning for daily needs.</p> + +<p>At twenty-one came his first opportunity; came, +as it often comes, through a friend. Mr. John McNairy +was appointed a judge of the Superior Court +of the Western District of North Carolina (Tennessee), +and young Jackson, his friend, public prosecutor +of the same district. He moved to Nashville +in 1788, to begin his difficult work. He was +obliged to ride on horseback over the mountains +and through the wilderness, often among hostile +Indians, his life almost constantly in danger. +Once, while travelling with a party of emigrants, +when all slept save the sentinels, he sat against a +tree, smoking his corn-cob pipe and keeping an +eager watch. Soon he heard the notes of what +seemed to be various owls! He quietly roused the +whole party and moved them on. An hour later,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> +a company of hunters lay down by the fires which +Jackson had left, and before daylight all save one +man were killed by the Indians.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the young lawyer slept for twenty +successive nights in the wilderness. This was no +life of ease and luxury. At Nashville he found +lodgings in the house of the widow of Colonel +John Donelson, a brave pioneer from Virginia, who +had been killed by the Indians. And here Jackson +met the woman who was to prove his good +angel as long as she lived. With Mrs. Donelson +lived her dark-haired and dark-eyed daughter +Rachel, married to Lewis Robards from Kentucky. +Vivacious, kindly, and sympathetic, Rachel had +been the idol of her father, and probably would +have been of her husband had it not been for his +jealous disposition. He became angry at Jackson, +as he had been at others, and made her life so unhappy +that she separated from him and went to +friends in Natchez, with the approval of her +mother, and the entire confidence and respect of +her husband's relatives.</p> + +<p>After a divorce in 1791, Jackson married her, +when they were each twenty-four years old. History +does not record a happier marriage. To the +last, she lived for him alone, but not more fully +than he lived for her. With the world he was +thought to be domineering and harsh, and was often +profane; but with her he was patient, gentle, and +deferential. When he won renown, she was happy +for his sake, but she did not care for it for herself.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +Her kindness of heart took her among the sick and +the unfortunate, and everywhere she was a welcome comforter. +She lived outside of self, and +found her reward in the homage of her husband +and her friends.</p> + +<p>Jackson soon began to prosper financially. +Often he would receive his fee in lands, a square +mile of six hundred and forty acres or more, so +that after a time he was the possessor of several +thousand acres. Success came also from other +sources. When a convention was called to form a +constitution for the new State of Tennessee, Jackson +was chosen a delegate. He took an active +part in the organization of the State—he was +active in whatever he engaged—and bravely +espoused her claims against the general government +for expenses incurred in Indian conflicts. +Tennessee felt that she had a true friend in Jackson, +and, when she wanted a man to represent her +in Congress, she sent him to the House of Representatives. +This honor came at twenty-nine years +of age—a strange contrast to the years when he +made saddles or did "chores" for his board, and +longed to "sweep down the British with his grass +blade."</p> + +<p>Jackson served his State well by securing compensation +for every man who had done service or +lost his property in the Indian wars. It was not +strange, therefore, that, when a vacancy occurred +in the United States Senate, Jackson was chosen +to fill the place, in the autumn of 1797. Only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> +thirty years old! Rachel Jackson might well be +proud of him.</p> + +<p>But the following year he resigned his position, +glad to be, as he supposed, out of official life. He +was, however, too prominent to be allowed to +remain in private life, and was elected to a +judgeship of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. +As he had made it a rule "never to seek and never +to decline public duty," he accepted, on the small +salary of six hundred dollars a year. While many +other men in the State were more learned in the +law than Jackson, yet the people believed in his +honesty and integrity, and therefore he was +chosen. Quick to decide and slow to change his +mind, in fifteen days he had disposed of fifty cases, +says James Parton, in his entertaining life of +Andrew Jackson.</p> + +<p>After six years, longing for a more active life, +Jackson resigned, and was made major-general of +the militia of the State. This position was given, +not without opposition, he receiving only one more +vote than his chief competitor. That one vote, +perhaps, led to New Orleans and the Presidency. +This office was in accordance with his natural +tastes. Since boyhood, he had loved the stir and +command of battle, and believed he should like to +conquer an enemy as he had met and conquered +every obstacle that lay athwart his path.</p> + +<p>As there was no war in progress, he continued +his law practice. But, not satisfied with this +alone, he became a merchant, trading with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> +Indians, selling blankets, hardware, and the like, +and receiving in return cotton and other produce +of the country. In the panic of 1798, he became +financially embarrassed, but, true to his manly +nature, he worked steadily on till every dollar was +paid. He sold twenty-five thousand acres of his +wild land, sold his home, and moved into a log +house at the Hermitage, seven miles out from +Nashville, and preserved for himself the best +thing on earth, a good name. So honest was he +believed to be, when a Tennessean went to Boston +bankers for a loan, with several leading names +on his paper, they said, "Do you know General +Jackson? Could you get his endorsement?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but he is not worth a tenth as much as +either of these men whose names I offer you," +was the response.</p> + +<p>"No matter; General Jackson has always protected +himself and his paper, and we'll let you +have the money on the strength of his name." +And the loan was granted.</p> + +<p>Honest and just though he was, he permitted +his own fiery nature, or a perverted public opinion, +to lead him into acts which tarnished his whole +subsequent career. Quick to resent a wrong, he +was morbidly sensitive about the circumstances of +his marriage with Rachel Robards. When they +were married, in 1791, they supposed that the +divorce, applied for, had been granted, but they +learned in 1793, two years afterward, that it was +not legally obtained till the latter date. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> +were at once remarried, but the matter caused +much idle talk, and, as General Jackson came +into prominence, his enemies were not slow to +rehearse the story. The slightest aspersion of his +wife's character aroused all the anger of his +nature, and, says Parton, "For the man who dared +breathe her name except in honor, he kept pistols +in perfect condition for thirty-seven years." And, +as duelling was the disgraceful fashion of the +times, Jackson did not hesitate to use his pistols.</p> + +<p>In 1806, when he was thirty-nine, one of those +miscalled "affairs of honor" took place. Charles +Dickinson, a prominent man of the State, in the +course of a long quarrel, had spoken disparagingly +of Mrs. Jackson, and he was therefore challenged +to mortal combat. Thursday morning, May 29, he +kissed his young wife tenderly, telling her he was +going to Kentucky, and "would be home, sure, to-morrow +night." He met Jackson on the banks of +the Red River. The one was tall, erect, and intense; +the other young, handsome, an expert marksman, +and determined to make no mistake in his +fatal work.</p> + +<p>Dickinson fired with his supposed unerring aim, +and missed! The bullet grazed Jackson's breast, +and years later was the true cause of his death. +Jackson took deliberate aim, intending to kill his +opponent, and succeeded. The ball passed quite +through Dickinson's body. His wife was sent for, +being told that he was dangerously wounded. On +her way thither she met, in a rough emigrant wagon,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> +the body of her husband. He had "come home, +sure, to-morrow night"—but dead! He was deeply +mourned by the State, which sympathized with his +wife and infant child. General Jackson made bitter +enemies by this act. Rachel had been avenged, +but at what a fearful cost!</p> + +<p>Eighteen years had gone by since Jackson's marriage. +He had received distinguished honors; he +had been a Representative, a Senator, a Judge of +the Supreme Court of the State, a Major-General +of the militia, but one joy was wanting. No children +had been born in the home. Mrs. Jackson's +nephews and nieces were often at the Hermitage, +and he made her kindred his own; but both loved +children, and this one blessing was denied them. +In 1809, twins were born to Mrs. Jackson's brother. +One of these, when but a few days old, was taken +to the Hermitage, and the general adopted him, +giving him his own name, Andrew Jackson.</p> + +<p>Ever after, this child was a comfort and a delight. +Visitors would often find the general reading, +with the boy in the rocking-chair beside him +or in his lap. Hon. Thomas H. Benton, in his +"Thirty Years' View," tells this story: "I arrived +at his house one wet, chilly evening in February, +and came upon him in the twilight, sitting alone +before the fire, a lamb and a child between his +knees. He started a little, called a servant to remove +the two innocents to another room, and explained +to me how it was. The child had cried +because the lamb was out in the cold, and begged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> +him to bring it in, which he had done to please the +child, his adopted son, then not two years old. +The ferocious man does not do that! and though +Jackson had his passions and his violence, they +were for men and enemies—those who stood up +against him—and not for women and children, +or the weak and helpless; for all whom his feelings +were those of protection and support."</p> + +<p>Jackson was always the friend of <i>young</i> men—a +constant inspiration to them to do their best. +He knew the possibilities of a barefooted boy like +himself. The world owes thanks to those who are +its inspiration; whose minds develop ours; whose +sweetness of nature makes us grow lovable, as plants +grow in the sunshine; whose ideals become our +ideals; who lead us up the mountains of faith and +trust and hope, but the cord is silken and we never +know that we are led; who go through life loving +and serving—for love is service; who are our +comfort and strength—we lean on those whom we +love.</p> + +<p>While Jackson was the friend of young men, +especially he was loyal to any who were near his +heart. He was like another great man, in a great +war, the hero of 1812 and the hero of 1861. Jackson +and Grant were true to those who had been +true to them. Only a man of small soul forgets +the ladder by which he climbs.</p> + +<p>The second war with Great Britain had come +upon the American people, June 19, 1812. Our +country had suffered in its commerce through the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> +continued wars of England with France. Vessels +had been searched by the English, to find persons +suspected of being British subjects; often American +seamen were impressed into their service. On +the ocean, the contest between English and American +ships became almost constant. While a portion +of the States were not in favor of the war, one +person was surely in favor, and ready for it; one +who had not forgotten the deaths of his mother +and brothers in the Revolutionary War; who had +not forgotten the wounds on his head and hand. +That person was General Jackson.</p> + +<p>He at once offered to the Governor of Louisiana, +for the defence of New Orleans, three thousand +soldiers. The offer was accepted, and he started +for Natchez, there to await orders. The men were +in the best of spirits, kept hopeful and enthusiastic +by the ardor of their commander, who said to them: +"Perish our friends—perish our wives—perish +our children (the dearest pledges of Heaven)—nay, +perish all earthly considerations—but let the +honor and fame of a volunteer soldier be untarnished +and immaculate. We now enjoy liberties, +political, civil, and religious, that no other nation +on earth possesses. May we never survive them! +No, rather let us perish in maintaining them. And +if we must yield, where is the man that would not +prefer being buried in the ruins of his country than +live the ignominious slave of haughty lords and +unfeeling tyrants?"</p> + +<p>After a time the "orders" came, but what was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> +the astonishment and indignation of both officers +and men to hear that their services were not needed, +as the British evidently did not intend to attack +New Orleans; that they were to disband and return +to Tennessee. Without pay or rations, five hundred +miles from home!—Jackson felt that it was +an insult. He took an oath that they should never +disband till they were at their own doors; that he +would conduct his brave three thousand through +the wilderness and the Indian tribes, and be responsible +for expenses. One hundred and fifty of +his men were ill. He put those who could ride on +horses, and then, walking at their head, led the +gallant company toward home.</p> + +<p>The soldiers used to say that he was "tough as +hickory;" then "Old Hickory" grew to be a term +of endearment, which he bore ever afterward. A +month later, and the disappointed soldiers were +at Nashville. Before they disbanded, they were +marched out upon the public square, and received +a superb stand of colors. The needle-work was on +white satin; eighteen orange stars in a crescent, +with two sprigs of laurel, and the words, "Tennessee +Volunteers—Independence, in a state of war, +is to be maintained on the battle-ground of the +Republic. The tented field is the post of honor. +Presented by the ladies of East Tennessee." Under +these words were all the implements of war; cannons, +muskets, drums, swords, and the like. Jackson +and his men never forgot this offering of love, +and showed themselves worthy of it in after years.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>If Jackson was not needed at New Orleans, he +was soon needed elsewhere. Tecumseh, the great +Indian chief, saw the lands of his fathers passing +into the hands of the white men. He had long +been uniting the western tribes from Florida to +the northern lakes, and, now that we were at war +with England, he believed the hour of their delivery +was come. He at once incited the Creeks of +Alabama to arms.</p> + +<p>In the southern portion of that State, forty miles +north of Mobile, stood Fort Mims. The whites +had become alarmed at the hostile attitude of the +Indians, and over five hundred men, women, and +children had crowded into the fort for safety. +On the 30th of August, 1813, a thousand Creek +warriors in their war paint and feathers, uttering +their terrible war-whoops, rushed into the fort, +tomahawked the men and women, and trampled +the children into the dust. The buildings were +burned, and the plain was covered with dead +bodies. The massacre at Fort Mims blanched +every face and embittered every heart. The Tennesseans +offered at once to march against the +Creeks. The hot-headed General Jackson had been +wounded in a quarrel with Thomas H. Benton, +and was suffering from the ball in his shoulder, +which he carried there for twenty years. But he +put his left arm into a sling, and, though emaciated +through long weeks of illness, he led his twenty-five +hundred men into the Indians' country.</p> + +<p>The provisions did not follow them as had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> +been arranged. Jackson wrote home earnestly for +money and food. He said, "There is an enemy +whom I dread much more than I do the hostile +Creeks, and whose power, I am fearful, I shall +first be made to feel—I mean the meagre monster, +<span class="smcap">Famine</span>." And yet he encouraged his men with +these brave words: "Shall an enemy wholly +unacquainted with military evolution, and who +rely more for victory on their grim visages and +hideous yells than upon their bravery or their +weapons—shall such an enemy ever drive before +them the well trained youths of our country, +whose bosoms pant for glory and a desire to +avenge the wrongs they have received? Your +general will not live to behold such a spectacle; +rather would he rush into the thickest of the +enemy, and submit himself to their scalping-knives.... +With his soldiers he will face all +dangers, and with them participate in the glory +of conquest."</p> + +<p>The first battle with the Creeks was fought +under General John Coffee at Talluschatches, thirteen +miles from Jackson's camp, the friendly +Creeks leading the way, wearing white feathers +and white deer's-tails to distinguish them from +the hostile tribes. The whites, maddened by the +memory of Fort Mims, fought like tigers; the +Indians, sullen and revengeful at the prospect of +losing their homes and their hunting-grounds, +neither asked nor gave quarter, and fought heroically. +Nearly the whole town perished.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>On the battle-field was found a dead mother +with her arms clasped about a living child. The +babe was brought into camp, and Jackson asked +some of the Indian women to care for it. "No!" +said they, "all his relations are dead; kill him +too." The baby was cared for at General Jackson's +expense till the campaign was over, and +then carried to the Hermitage, where he grew to +young manhood as a petted son. The general and +his wife gave him the name of Lincoyer. In his +seventeenth year he died of consumption, sincerely +mourned by his devoted friends.</p> + +<p>Following the battle of Talluschatches, General +Jackson moved against Talladega, and, after +a bloody conflict, rescued one hundred and fifty +friendly Creeks. Returning to camp, he found +starvation staring him in the face. The men were +becoming desperate; yet he kept his cheerfulness, +dividing with them the last crust. One morning a +gaunt, hungry-looking soldier approached General +Jackson as he was sitting under a tree, eating, and +asked for some food, saying that he was nearly +starving.</p> + +<p>"It has been a rule with me," said the general, +"never to turn away a hungry man, when it is in +my power to relieve him, and I will most cheerfully +divide with you what I have." Putting his +hand in his pocket, he drew forth a few acorns. +"This is the best and only fare I have," he said, +and the soldier was comforted.</p> + +<p>Many of the men had enlisted for three months<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> +only, and were impatient to return home. Finally, +the militia determined to return with or without +the general's consent. Jackson heard of their intention, +and at once ordered the volunteers to detain +them, peaceably if they could, forcibly if they +must. Then the volunteers, in turn, attempted to +go back, but were met by Jackson's firm resolve to +shoot the first man who took a step toward home.</p> + +<p>"I cannot," he said, "must not believe that the +'Volunteers of Tennessee,' a name ever dear to +fame, will disgrace themselves, and a country +which they have honored, by abandoning her +standard, as mutineers and deserters; but should +I be disappointed, and compelled to resign this +pleasing hope, one thing I will not resign—my +duty. Mutiny and sedition, so long as I possess +the power of quelling them, shall be put down; +and even when left destitute of this, I will still +be found in the last extremity endeavoring to +discharge the duty I owe my country and myself." +That one word, "duty," was the key-note +of Jackson's life. It was his religion—it was +his philosophy.</p> + +<p>With all Jackson's kindness to his men, they +knew that he could be severe. John Woods, a boy +not eighteen, the support of aged parents, was shot +for refusing to obey a superior officer. That he +could have been spared seems probable, but Jackson +taught hard lessons to his undisciplined troops, +and sometimes in a harsh manner.</p> + +<p>In seven months the Creeks had been utterly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> +routed; half their warriors were dead, and the +rest were broken in spirit. Weathersford, their +most heroic chief, the leader at the Fort Mims +massacre, sought General Jackson at his camp.</p> + +<p>"How dare you," said Jackson, "ride up to my +tent, after having murdered the women and children +at Fort Mims?"</p> + +<p>"General Jackson, I am not afraid of you," +was the reply. "I fear no man, for I am a Creek +warrior. I have nothing to request in behalf of +myself. You can kill me, if you desire. But I +come to beg you to send for the women and children +of the war party, who are now starving in the +woods. Their fields and cribs have been destroyed +by your people, who have driven them to the +woods without an ear of corn. I hope that you +will send out parties, who will conduct them safely +here, in order that they may be fed. I exerted +myself in vain to prevent the massacre of the +women and children at Fort Mims. I am now +done fighting. The Red Sticks are nearly all +killed. If I could fight you any longer, I would +most heartily do so. Send for the women and +children. They never did you any harm. But +kill me, if the white people want it done."</p> + +<p>"Kill him! kill him!" shouted several voices.</p> + +<p>"Silence!" exclaimed Jackson. "Any man +who would kill as brave a man as this would rob +the dead!"</p> + +<p>Weathersford's request was granted, and the +women and children of the war party were provided<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> +for. The chief died many years afterward, +a planter in Alabama, respected by the Americans +for his bravery and his honor.</p> + +<p>The Creek war over, Jackson went back to +Tennessee, a noted, successful soldier. He had +not only conquered the Creeks, but he had won +for himself the position of major-general in the +United States army, having in charge the department +of the South. He was now forty-seven, and +had indeed reached a high position. Mississippi +voted him a sword, and other States sent testimonials +of appreciation. All this time he was a +constant sufferer in body, and only kept himself +from his bed by his indomitable will. The Hermitage +could not long keep the ardent, tireless +general from the front. He soon established his +headquarters at Mobile, and prepared to defend a +thousand miles of coast from the British. He had +but a small army at his command, and was far +from Washington, with scarcely any means of +communication. Indeed, the English had captured +that city already, and burned most of its +public buildings.</p> + +<p>The English had attacked Mobile Point, been +defeated, and retired to Pensacola, Florida. Spain +owned Florida, and was supposed to be neutral, +but she was in reality friendly and helpful to +England, and allowed her to use the State as a base +of operations. Jackson wrote to Washington asking +leave to attack Pensacola. The answer did +not come back till the war of 1812 was over and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> +Jackson had won renown for himself and his country. +He did not wait for an answer, however, but +stormed Pensacola, captured it, and then hastened +to New Orleans, where he expected the next attack +would be made. He used to say to young men, +"Always take all the time to reflect that circumstances +will permit; but when the time for action +has come, stop thinking." And at Pensacola he +stopped thinking, and acted. Nothing was ready +for his coming, but all eyes turned to the conquerer +of the Creeks as the savior of New Orleans. +Women gathered around him and looked trustingly +toward the erect, self-centred, bronzed soldier. +Men flocked willingly to his service, glad to +do his bidding. He summoned the engineers of +the city and ordered every bayou to be obstructed +by earth and sunken logs. The city was put +under martial law. No person was permitted to +leave the place without a written permit signed by +the general or one of his staff. The street lamps +were extinguished at nine o'clock, after which +hour any person without the necessary permit or +not having the countersign was apprehended as a +spy and held for examination. All able-bodied +men, black and white, were compelled to serve as +soldiers or sailors.</p> + +<p>He had with him about two thousand troops, +and four thousand more within ten or fifteen days' +march. Against these, for the most part undisciplined +troops, a British force of twenty thousand +men was coming, with a fleet of fifty ships, carrying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> +a thousand guns. Much of this army had +served under the great Wellington in France; +its present leader, General Packenham, was Wellington's +brother-in-law. He was only thirty-eight, +brave, and the idol of his men. Some of the +ships had been with Nelson in the battle of the +Nile. The flower of England's army and navy had +been sent to conquer the independent and self-reliant +Americans.</p> + +<p>So certain were the British of conquest that +several families were with the fleet, husbands and +brothers having been appointed already to civil +offices. Another person was also confident of victory—the +man who had seen but fourteen months +of service, but who from boyhood had never known +what it was to be defeated. He inspired others +with the same confidence. Says Latour, in his +history of the war in West Florida and Louisiana, +"The energy manifested by General Jackson +spread, as it were, by contagion, and communicated +itself to the whole army. There was nothing +which those who composed it did not feel themselves +capable of performing, if he ordered it to +be done. It was enough that he expressed a wish +or threw out the slightest intimation, and immediately +a crowd of volunteers offered themselves to +carry his views into execution."</p> + +<p>The English fleet entered Lake Borgne, sixty +miles north-east from New Orleans, on December +10, 1814. Twelve days later they had reached the +Mississippi River, nine miles below the city. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> +next day, when Jackson was informed of their +approach, he said, bringing his clenched fist down +upon the table, "By the Eternal, they shall not +sleep on our soil!"</p> + +<p>At once, with, as Parton says, that "calm impetuosity +and that composed intensity which belonged +to him," he sent word to the various regiments +to meet him at three o'clock at a specified +place. And then he lay down and slept for a short +time, his only rest during the next three days and +three nights. Few men except General Jackson, +with his iron will, could have slept at such a time. +A messenger came, sent by some ladies, asking +what they should do if the city were attacked.</p> + +<p>"Say to them not to be uneasy. No British soldier +shall enter the city as an enemy, unless over +my dead body," and he kept his word.</p> + +<p>At three o'clock the men were hastening on to +meet the "red-coats." Twilight came early, and +the moon rose dimly over the battle-field. The signal +of attack was to be a shot fired from the ship +Carolina. At half-past seven, the first gun was +heard, then seven others, and the word was given—<span class="smcap">Forward</span>.</p> + +<p>And forward they went, with quick steps and +eager hearts. A tremendous fire opened upon our +artillery-men. The horses attached to the cannon +became unmanageable, and one of the pieces was +turned over into the ditch. Jackson dashed into +the midst of the fray, exclaiming, "Save the +guns, my boys, at every sacrifice," and the guns<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> +were saved. Men fought hand to hand in the +smoke and the darkness; the British using their +bayonets, and the Americans their long hunting-knives. +Prisoners were taken and retaken. Till +ten o'clock the battle raged; when our men fell +back upon the Roderiguez canal, to wait till the +morning sun should show where to begin the deadly +work. When the morning came, the battle-field +presented a ghastly appearance. Says a British +officer concerning the American dead, "Their hair, +eyebrows, and lashes were thickly covered with +hoar-frost, or rime, their bloodless cheeks vying +with its whiteness. Few were dressed in military +uniforms, and most of them bore the appearance of +farmers or husbandmen. Peace to their ashes! +they had nobly died in defending their country."</p> + +<p>The Roderiguez canal was now strongly fortified. +Spades, crowbars, and wheelbarrows had been sent +from the city. The canal was deepened and the +earth thrown up on the side. Fences were torn +away, and rails driven down to keep the sand from +falling back into the canal. The line of defence, a +mile long, was four or five feet high in some places. +Cotton bales from a neighboring ship were used.</p> + +<p>"Here," said Jackson, "we will plant our stakes, +and not abandon them until we drive these 'red-coat' +rascals into the river or the swamp."</p> + +<p>While these busy preparations were going on, +food was brought to General Jackson, which he ate +in the saddle. Christmas day came. The English +Admiral Cochrane had said, "I shall eat my Christmas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +dinner in New Orleans." General Jackson +heard of it, and remarked, "Perhaps so; but I +shall have the honor of presiding at that dinner."</p> + +<p>The Americans were ready, but the British did +not make the expected attack. Every man was at +his post. When an officer, the son of one of Jackson's +best friends, said to him, "May I go to town +to-day?" the reply was, "Of course, Captain Livingston, +you <i>may</i> go; but <i>ought</i> you to go?" The +young man blushed, bowed, and returned to duty.</p> + +<p>Meantime, the British were not idle. They had +determined to silence the guns of the American +ships, and, with great toil, had brought up into the +swampy ground nine field-pieces, two howitzers, one +mortar, a furnace for heating balls, and the necessary +ammunition. At dawn on the morning of +December 27 the firing began. The Carolina, after +a terrific bombardment, blew up. The Louisiana +fought her way out into a place of safety.</p> + +<p>The days went by slowly under the dreadful suspense. +On New Year's day, General Packenham +cannonaded the Americans and was driven back. +On January 8, the final battle began. Early in the +morning, the British moved against the Americans. +Jackson walked along the lines, cheering the men, +"Stand to your guns. Don't waste your ammunition. +See that every shot tells. Give it to them, +boys! Let us finish the business to-day."</p> + +<p>And every shot did tell. The sharpshooters +aimed at the officers, and the batteries mowed down +the British regulars. Seeing them falter, Packenham<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> +rushed among the men, shouting, "For shame! +recollect that you are British soldiers!" Taking +off his hat, he spurred his horse to the head of the +wavering column. A ball splintered his right arm. +Then the Highlanders came to the support of their +comrades.</p> + +<p>"Hurrah! brave Highlanders!" he said, as a mass +of grape-shot tore open his thigh and killed his +horse. Another shot struck him, and he was borne +under a live-oak to die. The great tree is still +standing.</p> + +<p>At nine o'clock in the morning the battle was +virtually over. The English lost seven hundred +killed, fourteen hundred wounded, and five hundred +taken prisoners; while the Americans lost but +eight killed and thirteen wounded. "The field +was so thickly strewn with the dead that, from the +American ditch, you could have walked a quarter +of a mile to the front on the bodies of the killed +and disabled.... The course of the column could +be distinctly traced in the broad red line of the +victims of the terrible batteries and unerring guns +of the Americans. They fell in their tracks; in +some places, whole platoons lay together, as if +killed by the same discharge."</p> + +<p>The news of this great victory at New Orleans +astonished the North, and made Jackson the hero +of his time. The whole country was proud of a +man who could win such a battle, losing the lives +of so few of his men. Nearly every State passed +resolutions in his praise. The Senate and House<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> +of Representatives ordered a gold medal to be +struck in his honor. Philadelphia enjoyed a general +illumination; one of the transparencies representing +the general on horseback in pursuit of the +enemy, with the words, "This day shall ne'er go +by, from this day to the ending of the world, but +He in it shall be remembered." Henry Clay said, +"Now I can go to England without mortification."</p> + +<p>When Jackson and his army returned to New +Orleans, men, women, and children came out to +meet them. Young ladies strewed flowers along +the way; children crowned the general with laurel, +and an impressive service was held in his honor in +the Cathedral. He replied, "For myself, to have +been instrumental in the deliverance of such a +country is the greatest blessing that Heaven could +confer. That it has been effected with so little loss—that +so few tears should cloud the smiles of our +triumph, and not a cypress leaf be interwoven in +the wreath which you present, is a source of the +most exquisite enjoyment."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jackson and little Andrew, now seven years +old, came down from the Hermitage, and his cup +of joy was indeed full. To have Rachel's commendation +was more than to have that of all of +the world besides. The ladies of New Orleans +gave to her a valuable set of topaz jewelry, and to +the general a diamond pin. A month later, they +were at home once more. He had shown the good +judgment, the calm bravery, the comprehensive +outlook, the quick decision, the tender compassion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> +of the great soldier. Perhaps the busy public life +was over—who could tell?</p> + +<p>Four months later, General Jackson went to +Washington, at the request of the Secretary of +War, to arrange about the stations of the army in +the South. The journey thither was one constant +ovation. At a great banquet tendered him at +Lynchburg, Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, then seventy-two, +gave this toast: "Honor and gratitude to +those who have filled the measure of their country's +honor." At Washington also he received +distinguished attention.</p> + +<p>In 1817, the Seminole Indians of Georgia and +Alabama had become hostile. General Jackson +was the man to conquer them. He immediately +marched into their country with eighteen hundred +whites and fifteen hundred friendly Indians, and +in five months subjugated them.</p> + +<p>Florida was purchased in 1819, and two years +later Jackson was appointed its governor, with a +salary of five thousand dollars. Mrs. Jackson +joined him there, but neither was happy, and he +soon resigned, and returned with her to the Hermitage. +He had built for her a new house, a +two-story brick, surrounded by a double piazza. +He was at this time frail in health, and did not +expect ever to live in the home, but wished it to +be made beautiful for her. He hoped now to live +a quiet life, enjoying his garden and his farm; but +the nation had other plans for him.</p> + +<p>In 1823, Jackson was elected to the United<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> +States Senate, twenty-six years after his first appearance +in that body. He was now prominently +mentioned as a candidate for the Presidency. +Strange contrast indeed to the days when, bare-footed +and orphaned, he struggled for the rudiments +of an education.</p> + +<p>While he had many ardent friends, he had +strong opponents. Daniel Webster said, "If General +Jackson is elected, the government of our +country will be overthrown; the judiciary will be +destroyed;" yet he added, "His manners are +more presidential than those of any of the candidates. +He is grave, mild, and reserved. My wife +is for him decidedly." Jefferson said, "I feel +very much alarmed at the prospect of seeing General +Jackson President. He is one of the most +unfit men I know of for the place. He has had +very little respect for laws or constitution, and is, +in fact, an able military chief. His passions are +terrible.... He has been much tried since I knew +him, but he is a dangerous man." But the people +knew he had conquered the Indians and the British, +and they believed in him.</p> + +<p>The candidates for the Presidency in 1824 were +Jackson, John Quincy Adams, William H. Crawford, +and Henry Clay. While Jackson received +the largest popular vote, the House of Representatives, +balloting by States, elected John Quincy +Adams. It was believed that Clay used his influence +for Adams against Jackson, and this caused +the election of Adams, a scholarly man, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> +son of John Adams, and long our representative +abroad.</p> + +<p>Four years later, in 1828, the people made their +voices heard at the ballot-box, and Jackson was +elected by a large majority. The contest had +been exceedingly personal and annoying. The +old stories about his marriage were again dragged +through the press. Mrs. Jackson, a victim of +heart-disease, was unduly troubled, and became +broken in health. When he was elected, she said, +"Well, for Mr. Jackson's sake, I am glad; for my +own part, I never wished it."</p> + +<p>Jackson had built for her a small brick church +in the Hermitage grounds, and here, where the +neighbors and servants gathered, she found her +deepest happiness, and sighed for no greater +sphere of usefulness. When she urged the general +to join her church, he said, "My dear, if I were to +do that now, it would be said, all over the country, +that I had done it for the sake of political effect. +My enemies would all say so. I cannot do it <i>now</i>, +but I promise you that, when once more I am clear +of politics, I will join the church."</p> + +<p>The people of Nashville were of course proud +that one from their city had been chosen to so +high a position, and tendered him a banquet on +December 23, the anniversary of the first battle +at New Orleans. A few days before this, Mrs. +Jackson was taken ill, but she urged her husband +to make himself ready for the banquet. While he +had watched by her bedside constantly, on the evening<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> +of December 22, she was so much better that +he consented to lie down on a sofa in an adjoining +room. He had not been there five minutes +before a cry was heard from Mrs. Jackson. He +hastened to her, but she never breathed again.</p> + +<p>He could not believe that she was dead. When +they brought a table to lay her body upon it, he +said tenderly, in a choking voice, "Spread four +blankets upon it. If she does come to, she will +lie so hard upon the table."</p> + +<p>All night long he sat beside the form of his +beloved Rachel, often feeling of her heart and +pulse. In the morning he was wholly inconsolable, +and, when he found that she was really dead, +the body could scarcely be forced from his arms.</p> + +<p>At the funeral, the road to the Hermitage was +almost impassable. The press said of her, "Her +pure and gentle heart, in which a selfish, guileful, +or malicious thought, never found entrance, was +the throne of benevolence.... To feed the hungry, +to clothe the naked, to supply the indigent, to +raise the humble, to notice the friendless, and to +comfort the unfortunate, were her favorite occupations.... +Thus she lived, and when death approached, +her patience and resignation were equal +to her goodness; not an impatient gesture, not +a vexatious look, not a fretful accent escaped her: +but her last breath was charged with an expression +of tenderness for the man whom she loved more +than her life, and honored next to her God." +Only such a nature could have held the undivided<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> +love of an impetuous, imperious man. Jackson, +like so many other unchristian men, had the wisdom +to desire and to choose for himself a Christian +wife.</p> + +<p>He prepared a tomb for her like an open summer-house, +and buried her under the white dome supported +by marble pillars. On the tablet above her +are the words, "Here lie the remains of Mrs. +Rachel Jackson, wife of President Jackson.... +Her face was fair, her person pleasing, her temper +amiable, her heart kind; she delighted in relieving +the wants of her fellow-creatures, and cultivated +that divine pleasure by the most liberal and unpretending +methods; to the poor she was a benefactor; +to the rich an example; to the wretched a comforter; +to the prosperous an ornament; her piety +went hand in hand with her benevolence, and she +thanked her Creator for being permitted to do good. +A being so gentle and so virtuous, slander might +wound, but could not dishonor. Even Death, when +he tore her from the arms of her husband, could +but transport her to the bosom of her God."</p> + +<p>Such a woman need have no fear that she will +fade out of a human heart. While Jackson lived, +he wore her miniature about his neck, and every +night laid it open beside her prayer-book at his +bedside. Her face was the last thing upon which +his eyes rested before he slept, through those eight +years at the White House, and the first thing upon +which his eyes opened in the morning. Possibly it +is not given to all women to win and hold so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> +complete and beautiful an affection; perchance the +fault is sometimes theirs.</p> + +<p>Andrew Jackson went to Washington, having +grown "twenty years older in a night," his friends +said. His nephew, Andrew Jackson Donelson, and +his lovely wife accompanied him. Earl, the artist, +who had painted <i>her</i> picture ("her" always meant +Rachel with General Jackson), for this reason +found a home also at the White House.</p> + +<p>The inauguration seemed to have drawn the +whole country together. Webster said, "I never +saw such a crowd here before. Persons have come +five hundred miles to see General Jackson, and +they really seem to think that the country is rescued +from some dreadful danger." After the ceremony, +crowds completely filled the White House.</p> + +<p>During the first year of the Presidency, the unfortunate +maxim which had found favor in New +York politics, "To the victors belong the spoils," +began to be carried out in the removal, it is believed, +of nearly two thousand persons from office, +and substituting those of different political opinions. +The removals raised a storm of indignation +from the opposite party, which did not in the least +disturb General Jackson.</p> + +<p>In his first message to Congress, after maintaining +that a long tenure of office is corrupting, urging +that the surplus revenue be apportioned among +the several States for works of public utility, he +took strong ground against rechartering the United +States Bank. This caused much alarm, for the influence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> +of the bank was very great. Its capital +was thirty-five million dollars. The parent bank +was at Philadelphia, with twenty-five branches in +the large cities and towns. Since Alexander Hamilton's +time, a government bank had been a matter +of contention. When the second was started in +1816, after the war of 1812, business seemed to revive, +but many persons believed, with Henry Clay, +that such a bank was unconstitutional, and a vast +political power that might be, and was, corruptly +used. Complaints were constantly heard that officials +were favored.</p> + +<p>When the bill to recharter the bank passed Congress, +Jackson promptly vetoed the bill. He said, +"We can, at least, take a stand against all new +grants of monopolies and exclusive privileges, +against any prostitution of our government to the +advancement of the few at the expense of the +many." A few years later he determined to put an +end to the bank by removing all the surplus funds, +amounting to ten millions, and placing them in certain +State banks. When Mr. Duane, the Secretary +of the Treasury, would not remove the deposits, +General Jackson immediately removed him, putting +Roger B. Taney in his place. Congress passed a +vote of censure on the President, but it was afterward +expunged from the records. Speculation resulted +from the distribution of the money; the +panic of 1836-37 followed, which the Whigs said +was caused by the destruction of the bank, and the +Democrats by the bank itself.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>The United States Bank was not the only disturbing +question in these times. The tariff, which +was advantageous to the manufacturers of the +North, was considered disadvantageous to the agricultural +interests of the South. Bitter feeling was +engendered by the discussion, till South Carolina, +under the leadership of John C. Calhoun, declared +that the acts of Congress on the tariff were null +and void; therefore, nullification or disunion became +the absorbing topic. Then came the great +dispute between Robert Y. Hayne and Daniel +Webster.</p> + +<p>If the nullifiers or believers in extreme States' +rights supposed Jackson to be on their side, they +were quickly undeceived. When Jefferson's birthday, +April 13, was observed in Washington, as it +had been for twenty years, Jackson sent the following +toast: "<span class="smcap">Our Federal Union: it must +be preserved</span>." He wrote to the citizens of +Charleston, "Every enlightened citizen must know +that a separation, could it be effected, would begin +with civil discord, and end in colonial dependence +on a foreign power, and obliteration from the list +of nations." He said, "If this thing goes on, our +country will be like a bag of meal with both ends +open. Pick it up in the middle or endwise, it will +run out."</p> + +<p>Still, South Carolina was not to be deterred, with +the eloquent Calhoun as her leader, and the Nullification +Ordinance was passed November 24, 1832. +At once the governor was authorized to accept the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> +service of volunteers. Medals were struck bearing +the words, "John C. Calhoun, First President of +the Southern Confederacy."</p> + +<p>By the time South Carolina was ready to break +the laws, another person was ready to enforce them. +Jackson at once sent General Scott to take command +at Charleston, with gun-boats close by, and +sent also an earnest and eloquent protest to the +seceding State. Public meetings were held in the +large cities of the North. The tariff was modified +at the next session of Congress, but the disunion +doctrines were allowed to grow till thirty years +later, when they bore the bitter fruit of civil war.</p> + +<p>When Jackson was asked, years afterward, what +he would have done with Calhoun and the nullifiers +if they had continued, he replied, "Hung +them as high as Haman. They should have been +a terror to traitors to all time, and posterity would +have pronounced it the best act of my life." When +difficulties arose about the Cherokees of Georgia, +he removed them to the Indian Territory; a harsh +measure it seemed, but perhaps not harder for the +tribes than to have attempted to live among hostile +whites. When the French king neglected to pay +the five million dollars agreed upon for injuries +done to our shipping, Jackson recommended to +make reprisals on French merchantmen, and the +money was paid. The national debt was paid under +Jackson, who believed rightly that this, as +well as every other kind of debt, is a curse. The +Eaton affair showed his loyalty to friends. John<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> +H. Eaton, Secretary of War, had married the widow +of a purser in the Navy, formerly the daughter of +a tavern-keeper in Washington. Her conduct had +caused criticism, and the ladies of the Cabinet +would not associate with her—even though President +Jackson tried every means in his power to +compel it, as Eaton was his warm friend.</p> + +<p>When the eight years of presidential life were +over, Jackson sent his farewell address to the +people of the country, who had idolized him, and +whom he had loved, he said, "with the affection of +a son," and retired to the Hermitage. The people +of Nashville met him with outstretched arms and +tearful faces. He was seventy years old, <i>their</i> +President, and he had come home to live and die +with them.</p> + +<p>He was now through with politics, and wanted +to carry out <i>her</i> wishes, to join the little Hermitage +church. The night of decision was full of +meditation and prayer. One morning in 1843, the +church was crowded to see the ex-President make +a public confession of the Christian religion. He +went home to read his Bible more carefully than +ever—he had never read less than three chapters +daily for thirty-five years, such is the influence +of early education received at a mother's knee.</p> + +<p>The following year, 1844, Commodore Elliot +offered the sarcophagus which he brought from +Palestine, believed to have contained the remains +of the Roman Emperor, Alexander Severus, to +President Jackson for his final resting-place.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>A letter of cordial thanks was returned, with +the words, "I cannot consent that my mortal +body shall be laid in a repository prepared for an +emperor or a king. My republican feelings and +principles forbid it; the simplicity of our system +of government forbids it.... I have prepared an +humble depository for my mortal body beside that +wherein lies my beloved wife, where, without any +pomp or parade, I have requested, when my God +calls me to sleep with my fathers, to be laid."</p> + +<p>The May of 1845 found General Jackson feeble +and emaciated, but still deeply interested in his +country, writing letters to President Polk and +other statesmen about Texas, hoping ever to avert +war if possible. "If not," he said, "let war come. +There will be patriots enough in the land to repel +foreign aggression, come whence it may, and to +maintain sacredly our just rights and to perpetuate +our glorious constitution and liberty, and to preserve +our happy Union." He made his will, bequeathing +all his property to his adopted son, because, said +he, "If <i>she</i> were alive, she would wish him to +have it all, and to me her wish is law."</p> + +<p>On Sunday, June 8, 1845, the family and servants +gathered about the great man, who was +dying at the age of seventy-eight, having fought +against wounds and disease all his life. "My dear +children," he said, "do not grieve for me; it is +true I am going to leave you; I am well aware of +my situation. I have suffered much bodily pain, +but my sufferings are but as nothing compared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> +with that which our blessed Saviour endured upon +that accursed cross, that all might be saved who +put their trust in him.... I hope and trust to +meet you all in Heaven, both white and black—both +white and black." Then he kissed each one, +his eyes resting last, affectionately, upon his granddaughter +Rachel, named for his wife, and closely +resembling her in loveliness of character; then +death came.</p> + +<p>Two days before he died, he said, "Heaven will +be no Heaven to me if I do not meet my wife +there." Who can picture that meeting? He +used to say, "All I have achieved—fame, power, +everything—would I exchange, if she could be +restored to me for a moment." How blessed must +have been the restoration, not "for a moment," +but for eternity!</p> + +<p>The lawn at the Hermitage was crowded with +the thousands who came to attend the funeral. +From the portico, the minister spoke from the +words, "These are they which came out of great +tribulation, and washed their robes white in the +blood of the Lamb."</p> + +<p>All over the country, public meetings were held +in honor of the illustrious dead; the man who had +said repeatedly, "I care nothing about clamors; I +do precisely what I think just and right."</p> + +<p>"He had had honors beyond anything which +his own heart had ever coveted," says Prof. William +G. Sumner, in his life of Jackson. "His +successes had outrun his ambition. He had held<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> +more power than any other American had ever +possessed. He had been idolized by the great +majority of his countrymen, and had been surfeited +with adulation."</p> + +<p>Politicians sometimes sneered about his "kitchen +cabinet" at Washington, the devoted friends who +influenced him but did not hold official position, +for, self-reliant though he was to a marvellous +degree, he was neither afraid nor ashamed to be +influenced by those who loved him. He was absolutely +sincere and unselfish. He hated intensely, +and loved intensely; with an affection as unchanging +as his adamantine will. Patriotic, determined, +energetic, and heroic, he attained success where +others would have failed. He illustrated Emerson's +words, "The man who stands by himself, the +universe will stand by him also." Francis P. +Blair, his devoted friend, used to say, "Of all the +men I have known, Andrew Jackson was the one +most entirely sufficient for himself." During his +presidency, the steamboat which once conveyed +him and his party down the Chesapeake was unseaworthy, +and one of the men exhibited much alarm. +"You are uneasy," said the general; "you never +sailed with <i>me</i> before, I see."</p> + +<p>As a soldier, he was a brave, wise, skilful +leader; as a statesman, honest, earnest, fearless, +true—"I do precisely what I think just and right."</p> + +<p>Said a friend who knew him well, "There was +more of the woman in his nature than in that of +any man I ever knew—more of woman's tenderness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> +toward children, and sympathy with them. +Often has he been known, though he never had a +child of his own, to walk up and down by the hour +with an infant in his arms, because by so doing he +relieved it from the cause of its crying; more also +of woman's patience and uncomplaining, unnoticing +submissiveness to trivial causes of irritation. +There was in him a womanly modesty and delicacy.... +By no man was the homage due to +woman, the only true homage she can receive—faith +in her—more devoutly rendered.... This +peculiar tenderness of nature entered largely, no +doubt, into the composition of that <i>manner</i> of his, +with which so many have been struck, and which +was of the highest available stamp as regards +both dignity and grace."</p> + +<p>Much of what he was in character he owed to +Rachel Jackson. He once said to a prominent +man, "My wife was a pious Christian woman. +She gave me the best advice, and I have not been +unmindful of it. When the people, in their +sovereign pleasure, elected me President of the +United States, <i>she</i> said to me, 'Don't let your popularity +turn your mind away from the duty you +owe to God. Before him we are all alike sinners, +and to him we must all alike give account. All +these things will pass away, and you and I and +all of us must stand before God.' I have never +forgotten it, and I never shall."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 413px;"> +<img src="images/illus-177.jpg" width="413" height="600" alt="Daniel Webster" title="Daniel Webster" /> + +</div> + + + + +<h2>DANIEL WEBSTER.</h2> + + +<p>In the little town of Salisbury, New Hampshire, +now called Franklin, Daniel Webster was born, +January 18, 1782, the ninth in a family of ten +children. Ebenezer, the father, descended from a +sturdy Puritan ancestry, had fought in the French +and Indian Wars; a brave, hardy pioneer. He +had cleared the wilderness for his log house, married +a wife who bore him five children, after which +she died, and then married a second time, Abigail +Eastman, a woman of vigorous understanding, yet +tender and self-sacrificing. Of the five children +of the latter wife, three daughters and two sons, +Daniel was the fourth, a slight, delicate child, +whose frail body made him especially dear to the +mother, who felt that at any time he might be +taken out of her arms forever.</p> + +<p>"In this hut," said Webster, years later, speaking +of his father and mother, "they endured +together all sorts of privations and hardships; my +mother was constantly visited by Indians, who had +never gone to a white man's house but to kill its +inhabitants, while my father, perhaps, was gone, +as he frequently was, miles away, carrying on his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> +back the corn to be ground, which was to support +his family."</p> + +<p>The father was absent from home, also, on more +important errands. When the news of the battle +of Bunker Hill thrilled the colonies, Captain +Webster, who had won his title in the earlier wars, +raised a company, and at once started for the scene +of action. He fought at Bennington under Stark, +being the first to scale the Tory breastworks, at +White Plains, and was at West Point when Arnold +attempted to surrender it to the British. He +stood guard before General Washington's headquarters, +the night of Arnold's treason. No wonder, +when Washington looked upon the robust +form nearly six feet high, with black hair and +eyes, and firm decisive manner, he said, "Captain +Webster, I believe I can trust <i>you</i>."</p> + +<p>And so thought the people of New Hampshire, +for they made him a member of both Houses of +the State Legislature at various times, and a Judge +of the Court of Common Pleas in his own county.</p> + +<p>The delicate boy Daniel was unable to work on +the farm like his brother Ezekiel, two years older, +but found his pleasure and pastime in reading, and +in studying nature. The home, "Elms Farm," as +it was called later, from the elms about it, was in a +valley at a bend of the Merrimac. From here the +boy gazed upon Mount Kearsarge, and Mount Washington, +the king of the White Mountain peaks, +and if he did not dream of what the future had in +store for him, he grew broad in soul from such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> +surroundings. Great mountains, great reaches of +sea or plain, usually bring great thoughts and plans +to those who view them with a loving heart.</p> + +<p>Daniel had little opportunity for schooling in +those early years. He says, in his autobiography, +"I do not remember when or by whom I was +taught to read, because I cannot, and never could, +recollect a time when I could not read the Bible. +I suppose I was taught by my mother, or by my +elder sisters. My father seemed to have no higher +object in the world than to educate his children to +the full extent of his very limited ability. No +means were within his reach, generally speaking, +but the small town-schools. These were kept by +teachers, sufficiently indifferent, in the several +neighborhoods of the township, each a small part +of the year. To these I was sent with the other +children.... In these schools nothing was taught +but reading and writing; and as to these, the first +I generally could perform better than the teacher, +and the last a good master could hardly instruct +me in; writing was so laborious, irksome, and +repulsive an occupation to me always."</p> + +<p>Much of the boy's time was spent in rambles +along the Merrimac river, formed by the Winnipiseogee +and the Pemigewasset, "the beau ideal +of a mountain stream; cold, noisy, winding, and +with banks of much picturesque beauty." He +loved to fish along the streams, having for company +an old British soldier and sailor, Robert Wise. +"He was," says Webster, "my Isaac Walton. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> +had a wife but no child. He loved me, because I +would read the newspapers to him, containing the +accounts of battles in the European wars. When +I have read to him the details of the victories of +Howe and Jervis, etc., I remember he was excited +almost to convulsions, and would relieve his excitement +by a gush of exulting tears. He finally +picked up a fatherless child, took him home, sent +him to school, and took care of him, only, as he +said, that he might have some one to read the +newspaper to him. He could never read himself. +Alas, poor Robert! I have never so attained the +narrative art as to hold the attention of others as +thou, with thy Yorkshire tongue, hast held mine. +Thou hast carried me many a mile on thy back, +paddled me over and over and up and down the +stream, and given whole days in aid of my boyish +sports, and asked no meed but that, at night, I +would sit down at thy cottage door, and read to +thee some passage of thy country's glory!"</p> + +<p>Daniel heard of battles from another source +beside Robert Wise. In the long winter evenings, +when the family were snow-bound, Captain Webster +would tell stories of the Revolutionary War, +and the boy grew patriotic, as he heard of the +brave soldiers who died to bring freedom to unborn +generations. When he was eight years old, with +all the money at his command, twenty-five cents, +he went into a little shop "and bought," as he +says, "a small cotton pocket-handkerchief, with +the Constitution of the United States printed on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> +its two sides. From this I learned either that +there was a Constitution, or that there were thirteen +States. I remember to have read it, and have +known more or less of it ever since." Years afterward +he said, "that there was not an article, a section, +a clause, a phrase, a word, a syllable, or even +a comma, of that Constitution, which he had not +studied and pondered in every relation and in +every construction of which it was susceptible."</p> + +<p>How important a part this twenty-five cent +handkerchief played in the lives of the two Webster +boys! There is no soil so mellow as that of a +child's mind; it needs no enriching save love that +warms it like sunshine. What is planted there +early, grows rank and tall, and mothers do most of +the planting.</p> + +<p>The lad's reading in these boyish days was confined +mostly to the "Spectator," and Pope's "Essay +on Man." The whole of the latter he learned to +repeat. "We had so few books," he says, "that to +read them once or twice was nothing. We thought +they were all to be got by heart." The yearly almanac +was regarded as "an acquisition." Once +when Ezekiel and he had a dispute, after retiring, as +to a couplet at the head of the April page, Daniel +got up, groped his way to the kitchen, lighted a +candle, looked at the quotation, found himself in +the wrong, and went back to bed. But he had inadvertently, +at two o'clock at night in midwinter, +set the house on fire, which was saved by his +father's presence of mind. Daniel said, "They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> +were in pursuit of light, but got more than they +wanted."</p> + +<p>Exceedingly fond of poetry, at twelve he could +repeat many of the hymns of Dr. Watts. Later, he +found delight in Don Quixote, of which he says, +"I began to read it, and it is literally true that I +never closed my eyes until I had finished it; nor +did I lay it down, so great was the power of that +extraordinary book on my imagination." Later +still, Milton, Shakespeare, and the Bible became +his inspiration.</p> + +<p>Years after, he used to say, "I have read through +the entire Bible many times. I now make it a +practice to go through it once a year. It is the +book of all others for lawyers as well as for divines; +and I pity the man that cannot find in it a +rich supply of thought, and of rules for his conduct. +It fits man for life—it prepares him for death!"</p> + +<p>Captain Webster had secretly nourished the +thought that he should send Daniel to college, but +he was not a man to awaken false hopes, so he made +no mention of his thoughts. An incident related +by Daniel shows his father's heart in the matter. +"Of a hot day in July, it must have been in one of +the last years of Washington's administration, I +was making hay with my father. About the middle +of the forenoon, the Honorable Abiel Foster, +who lived in Canterbury, six miles off, called at the +house, and came into the field to see my father. +He was a worthy man, college-learned, and had +been a minister, and was not a person of any considerable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> +natural power. He talked a while in the +field and went on his way. When he was gone, my +father called me to him, and we sat down beneath +the elm, on a haycock. He said, 'My son, that is +a worthy man; he is a member of Congress; he +goes to Philadelphia, and gets six dollars a day, +while I toil here. It is because he had an education, +which I never had. If I had had his early +education, I should have been in Philadelphia in his +place. I came near it as it was. But I missed it, +and now I must work here.' 'My dear father,' +said I, 'you shall not work. Brother and I shall +work for you, and will wear our hands out, and you +shall rest.' And I remember to have cried, and I +cry now at the recollection. 'My child,' said he, +'it is of no importance to me. I now live but for +my children. I could not give your elder brothers +the advantages of knowledge, but I can do something +for you. Exert yourself, improve your opportunities, +learn, learn, and, when I am gone, you +will not need to go through the hardships which I +have undergone, and which have made me an old +man before my time.'"</p> + +<p>Daniel never forgot those precious words, "Improve +your opportunities, learn, learn." The next +year, 1796, he went to Phillips Exeter Academy, +where he found ninety boys. He had come with +his plain clothes from his plain home, while many +of the others had come from rich and aristocratic +families. Sometimes the boys ridiculed his country +ways and country dress. Little they knew of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> +future that was to give them some slight renown +simply because they happened to be in the same +class with this country lad! When will the world +learn not to judge a person by his clothes! When +the first term at Exeter was near its close, the usher, +Nicholas Emery, afterward an eminent lawyer in +Portland, Maine, said to Webster, "You may stop a +few minutes after school: I wish to speak to you." +He then told the lad that he was a better scholar +than any in his class, that he learned more readily +and easily, and that if he returned to school he +should be put into a higher class, and not be hindered +by boys who cared more for play and dress +than for solid improvement.</p> + +<p>"These were the first truly encouraging words," +said Mr. Webster, "that I ever received with regard +to my studies. I then resolved to return, and +pursue them with diligence and so much ability as +I possessed." Blessings on thee, Nicholas Emery! +Strange that either from indifference, or what we +think the world will say, we forget to speak a helpful +or an encouraging word. True appreciation is +not flattery.</p> + +<p>Daniel was at this time extremely diffident—a +manner that speaks well for a boy or girl generally—and +was helped out of it by a noble young teacher, +Joseph Stevens Buckminster, who died at twenty-eight. +Mr. Webster says, "I believe I made tolerable +progress in most branches which I attended to +while in this school; but there was one thing I +could not do—I could not make a declamation. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> +could not speak before the school. The kind and +excellent Buckminster sought, especially, to persuade +me to perform the exercise of declamation +like other boys, but I could not do it. Many a +piece did I commit to memory, and recite and rehearse +in my own room, over and over again, yet, +when the day came, when the school collected to +hear declamations, when my name was called, and +I saw all eyes turned to my seat, I could not raise +myself from it. Sometimes the instructors frowned, +sometimes they smiled. Mr. Buckminster always +pressed and entreated, most winningly, that I would +venture, but I could never command sufficient resolution. +When the occasion was over, I went home +and wept bitter tears of mortification."</p> + +<p>After nine months at Exeter, Daniel began to +study with Rev. Samuel Wood, a minister in the +adjoining town of Boscawen, six miles from Salisbury. +As Captain Webster was driving over with +his son, he communicated to him his plan of sending +him to college. "I remember," says Daniel +Webster, "the very hill which we were ascending, +through deep snows, in a New England sleigh, +when my father made known this purpose to me. +I could not speak. How could he, I thought, with +so large a family, and in such narrow circumstances, +think of incurring so great an expense for +me? A warm glow ran all over me, and I laid my +head on my father's shoulder and wept."</p> + +<p>All through life, Mr. Webster, greatest of American +orators, was never afraid nor ashamed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> +weep. Children are not, and the nearer we keep +to the naturalness of children, with reasonable +self-control, the more power we have over others, +and the sweeter and purer grow our natures.</p> + +<p>While Daniel was at Dr. Wood's, a characteristic +incident occurred. He says: "My father sent for +me in haying time to help him, and put me into +a field to turn hay, and left me. It was pretty +lonely there, and, after working some time, I found +it very dull; and as I knew my father was gone +away, I walked home, and asked my sister Sally if +she did not want to go and pick some whortle-berries. +She said, yes. So I went and got some +horses, and put a side-saddle on one, and we set +off. We did not get home until it was pretty late, +and I soon went to bed. When my father came +home he asked my mother where I was, and what +I had been about. She told him. The next morning, +when I awoke, I saw all the clothes I had +brought from Dr. Wood's tied up in a small bundle +again. When I saw my father, he asked me how I +liked haying. I told him I found it 'pretty dull +and lonesome yesterday.' 'Well,' said he, 'I +believe you may as well go back to Dr. Wood's.' +So I took my bundle under my arm, and on my +way I met Thomas W. Thompson, a lawyer in +Salisbury; he laughed very heartily when he saw +me. 'So,' said he, 'your farming is over, is it?'"</p> + +<p>In August, 1797, when Daniel was fifteen, he +entered Dartmouth College; there he proved a +genial, affectionate friend, and a devoted student.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> +But for this natural warmth of heart, he probably +never would have been an orator, for those only +move others whose own hearts are moved. "He +had few intimates," says Henry Cabot Lodge, in +his admirably written and discriminating "Life of +Webster," "but many friends. He was generally +liked as well as universally admired, was a leader +in the college societies, active and successful in +sports, simple, hearty, unaffected, without a touch +of priggishness, and with a wealth of wholesome +animal spirits."</p> + +<p>After two years, the unselfish student could bear +no longer the thought that his beloved brother +Ezekiel was not to enjoy a college education. +When he went home in vacation, he confided to his +brother his unhappiness for his sake, and for a +whole night they discussed the subject. It was +decided that Daniel should consult the father. +"This, we knew," said Mr. Webster, "would be a +trying thing to my father and mother and two +unmarried sisters. My father was growing old, +his health not good, and his circumstances far +from easy.... The farm was to be carried on, and +the family taken care of; and there was nobody to +do all this but him, who was regarded as the mainstay—that +is to say, Ezekiel. However, I ventured +on the negotiation, and it was carried, as +other things often are, by the earnest and sanguine +manner of youth. I told him that I was unhappy +at my brother's prospects. For myself, I saw my +way to knowledge, respectability, and self-protection;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> +but, as to him, all looked the other way; +that I would keep school, and get along as well as +I could, be more than four years in getting through +college, if necessary,—provided he also could be +sent to study.... He said that to carry us both +through college would take all he was worth; that, +for himself, he was willing to run the risk; but +that this was a serious matter to our mother and +two unmarried sisters; that we must settle the +matter with them, and, if their consent was obtained, +he would trust to Providence, and get +along as well as he could."</p> + +<p>Captain Webster consulted with his wife; told +her that already the farm was mortgaged for Daniel's +education, and that if Ezekiel went to college +it would take all they possessed. "Well," said +she, with her brave mother-heart, "I will trust +the boys;" and they lived to make her glad that +she had trusted them.</p> + +<p>The boy of seventeen went back to Dartmouth +to struggle with poverty alone, but he was happy; +the boy of nineteen began a new life, studying +under Dr. Wood, and, later, entered Dartmouth +College.</p> + +<p>Daniel, as he had promised, began to earn money +to pay his own and his brother's way. By superintending +a small weekly paper, called the <i>Dartmouth +Gazette</i>, he earned enough to pay his +board. In the winter he taught school, and gave +the money to Ezekiel. While in college, his wonderful +powers in debate began to manifest themselves.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> +He wrote his own declamations. Said one +of his classmates: "In his movements he was +rather slow and deliberate, except when his feelings +were aroused; then his whole soul would +kindle into a flame. We used to listen to him with +the deepest respect and interest, and no one ever +thought of equalling the vigor and flow of his +eloquence."</p> + +<p>Beside his regular studies, he devoted himself to +history and politics. From the old world he +learned lessons in finance, in commerce, in the stability +of governments, that he was able to use in +after life. He remembered what he read. He +says, "So much as I read I made my own. When +a half-hour or an hour, at most, had elapsed, I +closed my book, and thought over what I had read. +If there was anything peculiarly interesting or +striking in the passage, I endeavored to recall it, +and lay it up in my memory, and commonly I could +recall it. Then, if, in debate or conversation afterward, +any subject came up on which I had read +something, I could talk very easily so far as I had +read, and then I was very careful to stop." In this +manner Mr. Webster became skilled in the art of +conversation, and could be the life of any social +gathering.</p> + +<p>On July 4, 1800, he delivered his first public +speech, at the request of the people of Hanover, +tracing the history of our country to the grand +success of the Revolution.</p> + +<p>On leaving college he entered the law office of Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> +T. W. Thompson, of Salisbury. He seems not to +have inclined strongly to the law, his tastes leading +him toward general literature, but he was guided +by the wishes of his father and other friends. His +first reading was in the Law of Nations—Vattel, +Burlamaqui, and Montesquieu, followed by Blackstone's +Commentaries. After four months, he was +obliged to quit his studies and earn money for +Ezekiel.</p> + +<p>He obtained a school at Fryeburg, Maine, promising +to teach for six months for one hundred and +seventy-five dollars. Four nights each week he +copied deeds, and made in this way two dollars a +week. Thirty years afterward he said, "The ache +is not yet out of my fingers; for nothing has ever +been so laborious to me as writing, when under the +necessity of writing a good hand."</p> + +<p>When May came with its week of vacation, he +says, "I took my quarter's salary, mounted a horse, +went straight over all the hills to Hanover, and +had the pleasure of putting these, the first earnings +of my life, into my brother's hands for his +college expenses. Having enjoyed this sincere and +high pleasure, I hied me back again to my school +and my copying of deeds." Thus at twenty was +the great American living out Emerson's sublime +motto, "Help somebody," founded on that broadest +and sweetest of all commands, "Love one another."</p> + +<p>"In these days," says George Ticknor Curtis' +delightful life of Webster, "he was always dignified<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> +in his deportment. He was usually serious, +but often facetious and pleasant. He was an +agreeable companion, and eminently social with all +who shared his friendship. He was greatly beloved +by all who knew him. His habits were +strictly abstemious, and he neither took wine nor +strong drink. He was punctual in his attendance +upon public worship, and ever opened his school +with prayer. I never heard him use a profane +word, and never saw him lose his temper."</p> + +<p>While teaching and copying deeds, he read +Adam's "Defence of the American Constitutions," +Williams' "Vermont," Mosheim's "Ecclesiastical +History," and continued his Blackstone. He walked +much in the fields, alone, and thus learned to know +himself; gaining that power of thought and mastery +of self which are essential to those who would +have mastery over others. He said, "I loved this +occasional solitude then, and have loved it ever +since, and love it still. I like to contemplate nature, +and to hold communion, unbroken by the +presence of human beings, with 'this universal +frame—this wondrous fair.' I like solitude also, +as favorable to thoughts less lofty. I like to let +the thoughts go free, and indulge excursions. And +when thinking is to be done one must, of course, +be alone. No man knows <i>himself</i> who does not +thus sometimes keep his own company. At a subsequent +period of life, I have found that my lonely +journeys, when following the court on its circuits, +have afforded many an edifying day."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>And yet in this busy life he called himself +"naturally indolent," which was true, probably. +Seeing that most of us do not love work, it is wise +that in early life, if we would accomplish anything, +we are drilled into habits of industry.</p> + +<p>When he went back to the study of law, he says, +"I really often despaired. I thought I never could +make myself a lawyer, and was almost going back +to the business of school-keeping. There are propositions +in Coke so abstract, and distinctions so +nice, and doctrines embracing so many conditions +and qualifications, that it requires an effort not +only of a mature mind, but of a mind both strong +and mature, to understand him." And yet he adds, +"If one can keep up an acquaintance with general +literature in the meantime, the law may help to +invigorate and unfold the powers of the mind."</p> + +<p>He longed, as every ambitious young man longs, +for a wider sphere. If he could only go to Boston, +and mingle with the cultivated society there!—but +this seemed an impossibility. At this time Ezekiel, +through a college friend, was offered a private +school in Boston. He accepted the position, and +wrote to Daniel urging him to come and teach +Latin and Greek for an hour and a half each day, +thus earning enough to pay his board.</p> + +<p>Daniel went to Boston, poor and unknown. +His first efforts in finding an office in which to +study were unsuccessful, for who cares about a +young stranger in a great city? If we looked +upon a human being as his Maker looks, doubtless<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> +we should be interested in him. He desired to +study with some one already prominent. He found +his way to the office of Christopher Gore, who was +the first district attorney of the United States for +Massachusetts, a commissioner to England under +Jay's treaty for eight years, Ex-Governor of the +State, and ex-senator. Mr. Webster thus narrates +his early experience: "A young man, as little +known to Mr. Gore as myself, undertook to introduce +me to him. We ventured into Mr. Gore's +rooms, and my name was pronounced. I was +shockingly embarrassed, but Mr. Gore's habitual +courtesy of manner gave me courage to speak. I +had the grace to begin with an unaffected apology, +told him my position was very awkward, my +appearance there very like an intrusion; and that +if I expected anything but a civil dismission, it was +only founded in his known kindness and generosity +of character. I was from the country, I said; had +studied law for two years; had come to Boston to +study a year more; had some respectable acquaintances +in New Hampshire, not unknown to him, +but had no introduction; that I had heard he had +no clerk; thought it possible he would receive +one; that I came to Boston to work, not to play; +was most desirous, on all accounts, to be his pupil; +and all I ventured to ask at present was that he +would keep a place for me in his office till I could +write to New Hampshire for proper letters, showing +me worthy of it. I delivered this speech <i>trippingly</i> +on the tongue, though I suspect it was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> +better composed than spoken. Mr. Gore heard +me with much encouraging good-nature. He evidently +saw my embarrassment; spoke kind words, +and asked me to sit down. My friend had already +disappeared. Mr. Gore said what I had suggested +was very reasonable, and required little apology.... +He inquired, and I told him, what gentlemen +of his acquaintance knew me and my father in +New Hampshire. Among others, I remember I +mentioned Mr. Peabody, who was Mr. Gore's +classmate. He talked to me pleasantly for a quarter +of an hour; and, when I rose to depart, he +said: 'My young friend, you look as though you +might be trusted. You say you come to study, and +not to waste time. I will take you at your word. +You may as well hang up your hat at once; go +into the other room; take your book, and sit down +to reading it, and write at your convenience to +New Hampshire for your letters.'"</p> + +<p>The young man must have had the same earnest, +frank look as the father when Washington said to +him, "Captain Webster, I believe I can trust you," +else he would not have won his way so quickly to +the lawyer's confidence. Mr. Gore was a man of +indefatigable research and great amenity of manners. +The younger man probably unconsciously +took on the habits of the older, for, says Emerson, +"With the great we easily become great."</p> + +<p>Webster now read, in addition to books on the +common and municipal law, Ward's "Law of +Nations," Lord Bacon's "Elements," Puffendorff's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> +"Latin History of England," Gifford's "Juvenal," +Boswell's "Tour to the Hebrides," Moore's +"Travels," and other works. When we know +what books a man or woman reads, we generally +know the person. The life in Mr. Gore's office +was one long step on the road to fame, and it did +not come by chance; it came because, even in +timidity, Webster had the courage to ask for a high +place.</p> + +<p>When about ready for admission to the bar, the +position of Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of +Hillsborough County was offered to him, an appointment +which had been the desire of the family +for him for years. The salary was fifteen hundred dollars. +This seemed a fortune indeed. "I +could pay all the debts of the family," he says, +"could help on Ezekiel—in short, I was independent. +I had no sleep that night, and the next +morning when I went to the office I stepped up +the stairs with a lighter heart than I ever had +before." He conveyed the good news to Mr. +Gore.</p> + +<p>"Well, my young friend," said he, "the gentlemen +have been very kind to you; I am glad of it. +You must thank them for it. You will write immediately, +of course."</p> + +<p>"I told him that I felt their kindness and liberality +very deeply; that I should certainly thank +them in the best manner I was able; but that, I +should go up to Salisbury so soon, I hardly thought +it was necessary to write. He looked at me as if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> +he was greatly surprised. 'Why,' said he, 'you +don't mean to accept it, surely!' The bare idea of +not accepting it so astounded me that I should have +been glad to have found any hole to have hid +myself in.... 'Well,' said he, 'you must decide +for yourself; but come, sit down, and let us talk it +over. The office is worth fifteen hundred a year, +you say. Well, it never will be any more. Ten to +one, if they find out it is so much, the fees will +be reduced. You are appointed now by friends; +others may fill their places who are of different +opinions, and who have friends of their own to +provide for. You will lose your place; or, supposing +you to retain it, what are you but a clerk +for life? And your prospects as a lawyer are good +enough to encourage you to go on. Go on, and +finish your studies; you are poor enough, but +there are greater evils than poverty: live on no +man's favor; what bread you do eat, let it be the +bread of independence; pursue your profession, +make yourself useful to your friends and a little +formidable to your enemies, and you have nothing +to fear.'"</p> + +<p>Young Webster went home and passed another +sleepless night. Then he borrowed some money, +hired a sleigh, and started for Salisbury. When +he reached his father's house, the pale old man +said to him, "Well, Daniel, we have got that office +for you."</p> + +<p>"Yes, father," was the reply, "the gentlemen +were very kind; I must go and thank them."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>"They gave it to you without my saying a word +about it."</p> + +<p>"I must go and see Judge Farrar, and tell him +I am much obliged to him."</p> + +<p>"Daniel, Daniel," said he, at last, with a searching +look, "don't you mean to take that office?"</p> + +<p>"No, indeed, father," was the response, "I hope +I can do much better than that. I mean to use my +tongue in the courts, not my pen; to be an actor, +not a register of other men's acts. I hope yet, sir, +to astonish your honor in your own court by my +professional attainments."</p> + +<p>He looked half proud, half sorrowful, and said +slowly, "Well, my son, your mother has always +said you would come to something or nothing. She +was not sure which; I think you are now about +settling that doubt for her." He never spoke a +word more upon the subject. The fifteen-hundred-dollar +clerkship was gone forever, but Daniel had +chosen the right road to fame and prosperity.</p> + +<p>He returned finally to the quiet town of Boscawen, +and, not willing to be separated from his +father, began the life of a country lawyer. His +practice brought not more than five or six hundred +dollars a year, but it gave self-support. He had +also time for study. "Study," he said, "is the +grand requisite for a lawyer. Men may be born +poets, and leap from their cradle painters. Nature +may have made them musicians, and called on them +only to exercise, and not to acquire, ability; but +law is artificial. It is a human science, to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> +learned, not inspired. Let there be a genius for +whom nature has done so much as apparently to +have left nothing for application, yet, to make a +lawyer, application must do as much as if nature +had done nothing. The evil is that an accursed +thirst for money violates everything.... The love +of fame is extinguished, every ardent wish for +knowledge repressed; conscience put in jeopardy, +and the best feelings of the heart indurated by the +mean, money-catching, abominable practices which +cover with disgrace a part of the modern practitioners +of the law."</p> + +<p>Webster's first speech at the bar was listened to +by his proud and devoted father, who did not live +to hear him a second time. He died in 1806, at +sixty-seven, and was buried beneath a tall pine-tree +on his own field. Daniel assumed his debts, and +for ten years bore the burden, if that may be +called a burden which we do willingly for love's +sake.</p> + +<p>The next year he removed to Portsmouth. He +was now twenty-five, pale, slender, and of refined +and apparently delicate organization. He had +written considerable for the press, made several +Fourth of July orations, and published a little +pamphlet, "Considerations on the Embargo Laws."</p> + +<p>In June, 1808, when he was twenty-six, he made +the wisest choice of his life in his marriage to +Grace Fletcher, daughter of Rev. Elijah Fletcher +of Hopkinton. She was twenty-seven, a rare combination +of intellect and sweetness, just the woman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> +to inspire an educated man by her cultivated and +sympathetic mind, and to rest him with her gentle +and genial presence. She had a quiet dignity +which won respect, and her manners were unaffected, +frank, and winning. From the first time +he saw her she looked "like an angel" to him, and +such she ever remained to his vision.</p> + +<p>And now began the happiest years of his life. +The small, wooden house in which they lived grew +into a palace, because love was there. His first +child, little Grace, named for her mother, became +the idol of his heart. Business increased and +friends multiplied during the nine years he lived at +Portsmouth. He was fortunate in having for an +almost constant opponent in the law the renowned +Jeremiah Mason, fourteen years his senior, and the +acknowledged head of the legal profession in New +Hampshire. Mr. Webster studied him closely. +"He had a habit," said Webster, "of standing +quite near to the jury, so near that he might have +laid his finger on the foreman's nose; and then he +talked to them in a plain conversational way, in +short sentences, and using no word that was not +level to the comprehension of the least educated +man on the panel. This led me to examine my +own style, and I set about reforming it altogether." +Before this his style had been somewhat florid; +afterward it was terse, simple, and graphic.</p> + +<p>On July 4, 1812, Webster delivered an oration +before the "Washington Benevolent Society," in +which he stoutly opposed the war then being carried<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> +on with England. The address immediately +passed through two editions, and led to his appointment +as delegate to an assembly of the people +of Rockingham County, to express disapproval of +the war. The "Rockingham Memorial," which +was presented to the President, was written by Mr. +Webster, and showed a thorough knowledge of the +condition of affairs, and an ardent devotion to the +Union, even though the various sections of the country +might differ in opinion. The result of this +meeting was the sending of Mr. Webster to Congress, +where he took his seat May 24, 1813. He +was thirty-one; the poverty, the poor clothes in +Dartmouth College, the burden of the father's debts +had not kept him from success.</p> + +<p>Once in Congress, it was but natural that his influence +should be felt. He did not speak often, but +when he did speak the House listened. He was +placed on the committee on Foreign Relations, with +Mr. Calhoun as chairman. He helped to repeal the +Embargo Laws, spoke on the Tariff, showing that +he was a Free Trader in principle, but favored Protection +as far as expediency demanded it, and took +strong grounds against the war of 1812. He urged +the right and necessity of free speech on all questions. +He said, "It is the ancient and undoubted +prerogative of this people to canvas public measures +and the merits of public men. It is a 'home-bred +right,' a fireside privilege. It has ever been +enjoyed in every house, cottage, and cabin in the +nation.... It is as undoubted as the right of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> +breathing the air, or walking on the earth. Belonging +to private life as a right, it belongs to public +life as a duty; and it is the last duty which +those whose representative I am shall find me to +abandon."</p> + +<p>He was active in that almost interminable discussion +concerning a United States Bank. The first +bank, chartered in 1791, had Hamilton for its defender, +and Jefferson for its opponent. In 1811, +the bank failed to obtain a renewal of its charter. +During the war of 1812, the subject was again +urged. The Jeffersonians were opposed to any +bank; another party favored a bank which should +help the government by heavy loans, and be relieved +from paying its notes in specie; still another +party, to which Webster belonged, favored a +bank with reasonable capital, compelled to redeem +its notes in specie, and at liberty to make loans or +not to the government. On the subject of the currency +he made some remarkable speeches, showing +a knowledge of the subject perhaps unequalled +since Hamilton.</p> + +<p>The bank bill passed in 1816, shorn of some of +its objectionable features. On April 26, Mr. Webster +presented his resolutions requiring all dues to +the government to be paid in coin, or in Treasury +notes, or in notes of the Bank of the United +States, and by a convincing speech aided in its +adoption, thus rendering his country a signal service.</p> + +<p>During this session of Congress, Webster received<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> +a challenge to a duel from John Randolph +of Roanoke, and was brave enough to refuse, saying, +"It is enough that I do not feel myself bound, +at all times and under any circumstances, to accept +from any man, who shall choose to risk his own +life, an invitation of this sort."</p> + +<p>The time had come now in Mr. Webster's life for +a broader sphere; he decided to move to Boston. +His law practice had never brought more than two +thousand dollars a year, and he needed more than +this for his growing family. Besides, his house at +Portsmouth, costing him six thousand dollars, had +been burned, his library and furniture destroyed, +and he must begin the world anew.</p> + +<p>The loss of property was small compared with +another loss close at hand. Grace, the beautiful, +precocious first-born, the sunshine of the home, +died in her father's arms, smiling full in his face as +she died. He wept like a child, and could never +forget that parting look.</p> + +<p>After settling in Boston, business flowed in upon +him, until he earned twenty thousand dollars a +year. He would work hard in the early morning +hours, coming home tired from the courts in the +afternoon. Says a friend, "After dinner, Mr. Webster +would throw himself upon the sofa, and then +was seen the truly electrical attraction of his character. +Every person in the room was drawn immediately +into his sphere. The children squeezing +themselves into all possible places and postures +upon the sofa, in order to be close to him; Mrs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> +Webster sitting by his side, and the friend or social +visitor only too happy to join in the circle. All +this was not from invitation to the children; he +did nothing to amuse them, he told them no stories; +it was the irresistible attraction of his character, +the charm of his illumined countenance, from +which beamed indulgence and kindness to every +one of his family."</p> + +<p>Among the celebrated cases which helped Mr. +Webster's renown was the Dartmouth College case +in 1817. The college was originally a charity +school for the instruction of the Indians in the +Christian religion, founded by Rev. Eleazer Wheelock. +He solicited and obtained subscriptions in +England, the Earl of Dartmouth being a generous +giver. A charter was obtained from the Crown in +1769, appointing Dr. Wheelock president, and empowering +him to name his successor, subject to the +approval of the trustees. In 1815 a quarrel began +between two opposite political and religious factions. +The Legislature was applied to, which +changed the name from college to university, enlarged +the number of trustees, and otherwise modified +the rights of the corporation under the charter +from England. The new trustees took possession +of the property. The old board brought action +against the new, but the courts of New Hampshire +decided that the acts of the Legislature were constitutional. +The case was appealed to Washington, +and on March 10, 1818, Mr. Webster made his +famous speech of over four hours, proving that by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> +the Constitution of the United States the charter +of an institution is a contract which a State Legislature +cannot annul.</p> + +<p>In closing he said to the Chief Justice, "This, +sir, is my case. It is the case, not merely of that +humble institution, it is the case of every college in +our land. It is more. It is the case of every eleemosynary +institution throughout our country—of +all those great charities founded by the piety of +our ancestors, to alleviate human misery and scatter +blessings along the pathway of life. It is +more! It is, in some sense, the case of every man +among us who has property of which he may be +stripped, for the question is simply this: Shall our +State Legislatures be allowed to take that which is +not their own, to turn it from its original use, and +apply it to such ends or purposes as they in their +discretion shall see fit? Sir, you may destroy this +little institution; it is weak; it is in your hands! +I know it is one of the lesser lights in the literary +horizon of our country. You may put it out. +But, if you do so, you must carry through your +work! You must extinguish, one after another, +all those greater lights of science which, for more +than a century, have thrown their radiance over +our land!</p> + +<p>"It is, sir, as I have said, a small college. And +yet there are those who love it—"</p> + +<p>Here Mr. Webster broke down, overcome by the +recollections of those early days of poverty, and +the self-sacrifice of the dead father. The eyes of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> +Chief Justice Marshall were suffused with tears, as +were those of nearly all present. When Mr. Webster +sat down, for some moments the silence was +death-like, and then the people roused themselves +as though awaking from a dream. Nearly seventy +years after this, when the Hon. Mellen Chamberlain, +Librarian of the Boston Public Library, gave his +eloquent address at the dedication of Wilson Hall, +the library building of Dartmouth College, he held +in his hand the very copy of Blackstone from +which Webster quoted in his great argument, with +his autograph on the fly-leaf. Of Webster he said, +"His imagination transformed the soulless body +corporate—the fiction of the king's prerogative—into +a living personality, the object of his filial devotion, +the beloved mother whose protection called +forth all his powers, and enkindled in his bosom a +quenchless love."</p> + +<p>Several years later, Webster won the great case +of Gibbons vs. Ogden, which settled that the State +of New York had no right, under the Constitution, +to grant a monopoly of steam navigation, on its +waters, to Fulton and Livingston.</p> + +<p>He now took an active part in the revision of the +Constitution of Massachusetts, helping to do away +with the religious test, that a person holding office +must declare his belief in the Christian religion. +A believer himself, he was unwilling to force his +views upon others. December 22, 1820, he delivered +an oration at Plymouth, commemorating the +two-hundredth anniversary of the landing of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> +Pilgrims. It was a grand theme, and the theme +had a master to handle it. He began simply, "Let +us rejoice that we behold this day. Let us be +thankful that we have lived to see the bright and +happy breaking of the auspicious morn which +commences the third century of the history of +New England.... Forever honored be this, the +place of our fathers' refuge! Forever remembered +the day which saw them, weary and distressed, +broken in everything but spirit, poor in all but +faith and courage, at last secure from the danger of +wintry seas, and impressing this shore with the first +footsteps of civilized man!"</p> + +<p>Then the picture was sketched on a glowing canvas;—the +noble Pilgrims; the progress of New +England during the century; the grand government +under which we live and develop, with the Christian +religion for our comfort and our hope. In closing +he said, "The hours of this day are rapidly +flying, and this occasion will soon be passed. +Neither we nor our children can expect to behold +its return. They are in the distant regions of +futurity, they exist only in the all-creating power +of God, who shall stand here, a hundred years +hence, to trace through us their descent from the +Pilgrims, and to survey, as we have now surveyed, +the progress of their country during the lapse of a +century. We would anticipate their concurrence +with us in our sentiments of deep regard for our +common ancestors. We would anticipate and partake +the pleasure with which they will then recount<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> +the steps of New England's advancement. +On the morning of that day, although it will not +disturb us in our repose, the voice of acclamation +and gratitude, commencing on the Rock of Plymouth, +shall be transmitted through millions of the +sons of the Pilgrims, till it lose itself in the murmurs +of the Pacific seas."</p> + +<p>The people heard the oration as though entranced. +Said Mr. Ticknor, a man of remarkable +culture, "I was never so excited by public speaking +before in my life. Three or four times I thought +my temples would burst with the gush of blood; +for, after all, you must know that I am aware it is +no connected and compacted whole, but a collection +of wonderful fragments of burning eloquence, to +which his whole manner gave tenfold force. When +I came out I was almost afraid to come near to +him. It seemed to me as if he was like the mount +that might not be touched, and that burned with +fire."</p> + +<p>John Adams wrote him, "If there be an American +who can read it without tears, I am not that +American.... Mr. Burke is no longer entitled to +the praise—the most consummate orator of modern +times.... This oration will be read five hundred +years hence with as much rapture as it was heard. +It ought to be read at the end of every century, +and indeed at the end of every year, forever and +ever."</p> + +<p>From the day he delivered that oration, Mr. Webster +was the leading orator of America. From<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> +that day he belonged not to Grace Webster alone, +not to Massachusetts, not to one political party, +but to the people of the United States. Five years +after that, he delivered the address at the laying of +the corner-stone of Bunker Hill monument. Who +does not remember the impassioned words to the +survivors of the Revolution, "Venerable men! you +have come down to us from a former generation. +Heaven has bounteously lengthened out your lives +that you might behold this joyous day. You are +now where you stood fifty years ago, this very hour, +with your brothers and your neighbors, shoulder to +shoulder, in the strife for your country. Behold, +how altered! The same heavens are indeed over +your heads; the same ocean rolls at your feet; but +all else, how changed! You hear now no roar of +hostile cannon, you see no mixed volumes of smoke +and flame rising from burning Charlestown. The +ground strewed with the dead and the dying; the +impetuous charge; the steady and successful repulse; +the loud call to repeated assault, the summoning +of all that is manly to repeated resistance; +a thousand bosoms freely and fearlessly bared in an +instant to whatever of terror there may be in war +and death,—all these you have witnessed, but you +witness them no more.... All is peace; and God +has granted you this sight of your country's happiness, +ere you slumber in the grave forever. He +has allowed you to behold and to partake the reward +of your patriotic toils, and he has allowed us, +your sons and countrymen, to meet you here, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> +in the name of the present generation, in the name +of your country, in the name of liberty, to thank you!</p> + +<p>"But, alas! you are not all here! Time and the +sword have thinned your ranks. Prescott, Putnam, +Stark, Brooks, Read, Pomeroy, Bridge! our eyes +seek for you in vain amidst this broken band. You +are gathered to your fathers, and live only to your +country in her grateful remembrance and your own +bright example."</p> + +<p>Who has not read that address delivered at Faneuil +Hall, Boston, in commemoration of the lives +and services of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, +who died July 4, 1826. Who does not remember +that imaginary speech of John Adams, "Sink +or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my +hand and my heart to this vote. It is true, indeed, +that in the beginning we aimed not at independence. +But there's a Divinity which shapes our +ends.... Sir, I know the uncertainty of human +affairs, but I see, I see clearly through this day's +business. You and I, indeed, may rue it. We may +not live to see the time when this declaration shall +be made good. We may die,—die colonists,—die +slaves;—die, it may be, ignominiously and on the +scaffold. Be it so. Be it so. If it be the pleasure +of Heaven that my country shall require the poor +offering of my life, the victim shall be ready at the +appointed hour of sacrifice, come when that hour +may. But, while I do live, let me have a country, +or at least the hope of a country, and that a free +country."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>Concerning this speech of John Adams, beginning, +"Sink or swim, live or die," Mr. Webster +said, "I wrote that speech one morning before +breakfast, in my library, and when it was finished +my paper was wet with my tears." In delivering +this oration, his manuscript lay near him on a small +table, but he did not once refer to it. As far as +possible in his addresses, he preferred Anglo-Saxon +words to those with Latin origin; therefore, this +great speech is so simple that school-boys the country +over can declaim it and understand it.</p> + +<p>In 1823, when Webster was forty-one, Boston +elected him to Congress. He was, of course, widely +known and observed; courtly in physique, impassioned +yet calm, easy yet dignified, comprehensive +in thought, a lover of and expounder of the Constitution.</p> + +<p>The following year he visited Marshfield, on the +south-east shore of Massachusetts, and saw the +home which he afterward purchased, and which, +with its eighteen hundred acres, became the joy of +his later years. Here he planted flowers and trees. +He would often say to others, "Plant trees, adorn +your grounds, live for the benefit of those who shall +come after you." Here he watched every sunrise +and sunset, every moonrise from new to full, and +grew rested and refreshed by these ever recurring +glimpses of divine power. He said, "I know the +morning; I am acquainted with it, and I love it, +fresh and sweet as it is, a daily creation, breaking +forth and calling all that have life, and breath, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> +being, to new adoration, new enjoyments, and new +gratitude."</p> + +<p>Here he enjoyed the ocean as he had enjoyed it +in his boyhood, and years later, when his brain was +tired from overwork, he would exclaim, plaintively, +"Oh, Marshfield! the Sea! the Sea!"</p> + +<p>This year also Webster paid a visit to Thomas +Jefferson at Monticello. In his conversation with +the ex-President, he told this story of himself, +which well illustrates the fact that all the knowledge +which we can acquire becomes of use to us at +one time or another in life. When a young lawyer +in Portsmouth, a blacksmith brought him a case +under a will. As the case was a difficult one, he +spent one month in the study of it, buying fifty dollars' +worth of books to help him in the matter. He +argued the case, won it, and received a fee of fifteen +dollars. Years after, Aaron Burr sent for him to +consult with him on a legal question of consequence. +The case was so similar to that of the blacksmith +that Webster could cite all the points bearing upon +it from the time of Charles II. Mr. Burr was astonished, +and suspected he was the counsel for the opposite +side. Webster received enough compensation +from Burr to cover the loss of time and money +in the former case, and gained, besides, Burr's admiration +and respect.</p> + +<p>In the winter of 1824, Webster's youngest child, +Charles, died, at the age of two years. Mrs. Webster +wrote her absent husband, "I have dreaded +the hour which should destroy your hopes, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> +trust you will not let this event afflict you too +much, and that we both shall be able to resign him +without a murmur, happy in the reflection that he +has returned to his Heavenly Father pure as I received +him.... Do not, my dear husband, talk of +your own 'final abode;' that is a subject I never +can dwell on for a moment. With you here, my +dear, I can never be desolate. Oh, may Heaven, in +its mercy, long preserve you!"</p> + +<p>Four years later, "the blessed wife," as he called +her, went to her "final abode." Mr. Webster +watched by her side till death took her. Then at +the funeral, in the wet and cold of that January +day, he walked close behind the hearse, holding +Julia and Fletcher, his two children, by the hand. +Her body was placed beneath St. Paul's Church, +Boston, beside her children. All were removed +afterward to Marshfield.</p> + +<p>Webster went back to Washington, having been +made United States senator, but he seemed broken-hearted, +and unable to perform his duties. He +wrote to a friend, "Like an angel of God, indeed. +I hope she is in purity, in happiness, and in immortality; +but I would fain hope that, in kind remembrance +of those she has left, in a lingering human +sympathy and human love, she may yet be, as God +originally created her, a 'little lower than the angels.' +I cannot pursue these thoughts, nor turn +back to see what I have written." Again he wrote, +"I feel a vacuum, an indifference, a want of motive, +which I cannot describe. I hope my children, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> +the society of my best friends, may rouse me; but +I can never see such days as I have seen. Yet I +should not repine; I have enjoyed much, very +much; and, if I were to die to-night, I should bless +God most fervently that I have lived."</p> + +<p>Judge Story spoke of Mrs. Webster as a sister +with "her kindness of heart, her generous feelings, +her mild and conciliatory temper, her warm and +elevated affections, her constancy, purity, and +piety, her noble disinterestedness, and her excellent +sense."</p> + +<p>Later, Mr. Webster married Caroline Le Roy, +the daughter of a New York merchant, but no +affection ever effaced from his heart the memory of +Grace Webster, whom he always spoke of as "the +mother of his children."</p> + +<p>The next year, 1829, his idolized brother Ezekiel +died suddenly at forty-nine, while he was addressing +a jury in the court-house at Concord, New +Hampshire.</p> + +<p>Daniel Webster said of this shock, "I have felt +but one such in life; and this follows so soon that +it requires more fortitude than I possess to bear it +with firmness, and, perhaps, as I ought. I am +aware that the case admits no remedy, nor any +present relief; and endeavor to console myself +with reflecting that I have had much happiness +with lost connections, and that they must expect +to lose beloved objects in this world who have beloved +objects to lose."</p> + +<p>Recently, at the home of Kate Sanborn in New<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> +York, the grand-niece of Daniel Webster, I met +the sweet-faced wife of Ezekiel, young in her feelings +and young in face despite her four-score +years. Here I saw a picture of the great orator in +his youth, the desk on which he wrote, and scores +of mementos of Marshfield and "Elms Farms," +treasured by the cultivated woman who bears +token of her renowned kinship.</p> + +<p>With all these sorrows crowded into Mr. Webster's +life, he could not cease his pressing work in +Congress. Andrew Jackson had become President, +and John C. Calhoun had preached his Nullification +doctrines till South Carolina was ready to separate +herself from the Union, because of her dissatisfaction +with the tariff laws. Webster had +somewhat changed his views, and had become +a supporter of the "American System" of Henry +Clay, the system of "protection," because he +thought the interests of his constituents demanded +it. For himself, he loved agriculture, but he saw +the need of fostering manufactures if we would +have a great and prosperous country.</p> + +<p>On December 29, 1829, Mr. Foote, a senator +from Connecticut, introduced a resolution to inquire +respecting the sales and surveys of western +lands. In a long debate which followed, General +Hayne of South Carolina took occasion to chastise +New England, in no tender words, for her desire to +build up herself in wealth at the expense of the +West and South. On January 20, Webster made +his first reply to the General, having only a night<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> +in which to prepare his speech. The notes filled +three pages of ordinary letter paper, while the +speech, as reported, filled twenty pages.</p> + +<p>Again General Hayne spoke in an able yet personal +manner, asserting the doctrines of nullification, +and attempting to justify the position of his +State in seceding. Mr. Webster took notes while +he was speaking, but, as the Senate adjourned, his +speech did not come till the following day. Again +he had but a night in which to prepare.</p> + +<p>When the morning of January 26 came, the +galleries, floor, and staircase were crowded with +eager men and women. "It is a critical moment," +said Mr. Bell, of New Hampshire, to Mr. Webster, +"and it is time, it is high time, that the people of +this country should know what this Constitution +<i>is</i>." "Then," answered Webster, "by the blessing +of Heaven they shall learn, this day, before the +sun goes down, what I understand it to be."</p> + +<p>When Webster began speaking his words were +slowly uttered. "Mr. President,—When the +mariner has been tossed, for many days, in thick +weather, and on an unknown sea, he naturally +avails himself of the first pause in the storm, the +earliest glance of the sun, to take his latitude, and +ascertain how far the elements have driven him +from his true course. Let us imitate this prudence, +and before we float farther on the waves of +this debate, refer to the point from which we departed, +that we may at least be able to conjecture +where we now are. I ask for the reading of the +resolution."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>And then with trenchant sarcasm, unanswerable +logic, and the intense feeling which belongs to +true oratory, Mr. Webster taught the American +people the strength and holding power of the Constitution, +which a civil war, thirty years later, +was to prove unalterably. The speech, which +filled seventy printed pages, came from only five +pages of notes. When asked how long he was in +preparation for the reply to Hayne, he answered, +his "whole life."</p> + +<p>How often his loving defence of Massachusetts +has been quoted! "Mr. President, I shall enter on +no encomiums upon Massachusetts. She needs +none. There she is—behold her, and judge for +yourselves. There is her history: the world knows +it by heart. The past, at least, is secure. There +is Boston, and Concord, and Lexington, and Bunker +Hill,—and there they will remain forever. +The bones of her sons, falling in the great struggle +for Independence, now lie mingled with the soil of +every State, from New England to Georgia; and +there they will lie forever. And, sir, where +American liberty raised its first voice, and where +its youth was nurtured and sustained, there it still +lives, in the strength of its manhood and full of its +original spirit. If discord and disunion shall +wound it—if party strife and blind ambition shall +hawk at and tear it—if folly and madness, if +uneasiness under salutary and necessary restraint, +shall succeed to separate it from that union, by +which alone its existence is made sure, it will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> +stand, in the end, by the side of that cradle in +which its infancy was rocked: it will stretch forth +its arm, with whatever of vigor it may still retain, +over the friends who gather round it; and it will +fall at last, if fall it must, amidst the proudest +monuments of its own glory, and on the very spot +of its origin.</p> + +<p>"When my eyes shall be turned to behold for +the last time the sun in heaven, may I not see +him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments +of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered, +discordant, belligerent; on a land rent +with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal +blood!—Let their last feeble and lingering +glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the +republic, now known and honored throughout the +earth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies +streaming in their original lustre, not a stripe +erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured—bearing +for its motto no such miserable interrogatory +as <i>What is all this worth</i>? Nor those other +words of delusion and folly, <i>Liberty first</i>, and +<i>Union</i> afterwards—but everywhere, spread all +over in characters of living light, blazing on all its +ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the +land, and in every wind under the whole heavens, +that other sentiment, dear to every true American +heart—Liberty and Union, now and forever, one +and inseparable!"</p> + +<p>Of course, this reply to Hayne electrified the +country, and Webster began to be mentioned for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> +the presidential chair. No one who ever heard +him speak, with his wonderful magnetism, his +majestic enthusiasm, his rich, full voice, and his +unsurpassed physique, could ever forget the man, +his words, or his presence. When he visited +Europe, some said, "There goes a king." When +Sydney Smith saw him, he exclaimed, "Good +Heavens! he is a small cathedral by himself."</p> + +<p>Through Jackson's administration Webster was +his courteous opponent in most measures, but in +the nullification scheme he was heart and hand +with the fearless, self-willed general. When Henry +Clay brought forward his compromise tariff bill, +which pacified the nullifiers, Webster opposed it, +believing that, in the face of this opposition +to the Constitution, concession was unwise.</p> + +<p>In 1833, the famous statesman made an extended +journey through the West, and was everywhere +honored and fêted. Church-bells were rung, cannon +fired, and houses decorated at his coming. +Great crowds gathered everywhere to hear him +speak.</p> + +<p>By this time a party was developing in opposition +to the unusual powers exercised by General +Jackson, whose great victory at New Orleans had +made him the idol of the people. The party was +the more easily formed from the financial troubles +under Van Buren, he having reaped the harvest of +which Jackson had sown the seed. Naturally, Mr. +Webster became the leader of this Whig party, so +called from the Whig party in England, formed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> +resist the ultra demands of the king. Massachusetts +favored him for the presidency. Boston presented +him with a massive silver vase, before an +audience of four thousand persons. Philadelphia +and Baltimore gave him public dinners. Letters +came from various States urging his name upon +the National Convention, which met at Harrisburg, +Pennsylvania, December 4, 1839. But Mr. Webster +had been so prominent that his views upon +all public questions were too well known, therefore +General William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, an +honored soldier of the War of 1812, was chosen, as +being a more "available" candidate.</p> + +<p>Webster must have been sorely disappointed, as +were his friends, but he at once began to work +earnestly for his party, spoke constantly at meetings, +and helped to elect Harrison, who died one +month after the exciting election, at the age of +sixty-eight. John Tyler, of Virginia, the Vice-President, +succeeded him, and Mr. Webster remained +Secretary of State under him, as he had +been under Harrison. Here the duties were arduous +and complicated.</p> + +<p>For many years the north-eastern boundary had +been a matter of dispute between England and the +United States. Bitter feeling had been engendered +also by trouble in Canada in 1837. Several of +those in rebellion had fled from Canada to the +States, had fitted out an American steamboat, the +Carolina, to make incursions into that country. +She was burned by a party of Canadians, and an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> +American was killed. McLeod, from Canada, +acknowledged himself the slayer, was arrested, +and committed for murder. The British were +angered by this, as were the Americans by the +search of their vessels by British cruisers. Lord +Ashburton was finally sent as a special envoy to +the United States, and largely through the statesmanship +of Mr. Webster the Ashburton treaty was +concluded, and war between the nations avoided.</p> + +<p>Meantime, President Tyler had vetoed the bill +for establishing another United States Bank, and +thereby set his own party against him. Most of +the cabinet resigned, and although much pressure +was brought by the Whig party upon Mr. Webster, +that he resign also, he remained till the treaty +matter was settled. Then he returned to Marshfield, +and devoted himself once more to the law.</p> + +<p>He had spent lavishly upon his farm; he had +also bought western land, and lost money by his +investments. He felt obliged to entertain friends, +and this was expensive. Besides, he never kept +regular accounts, often in his generosity gave five +hundred dollars when he should have given but +five, and now found himself embarrassed by debts +which were a source of sorrow to his friends as +well as to himself, and a source of advantage to his +enemies. Thirty-five thousand dollars were now +given him by his admirers, from which he received +a yearly income.</p> + +<p>In 1844, the annexation of Texas was a leading +presidential question. Until 1836 she was a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> +province of Mexico, but in 1835 she resorted to +arms to free herself. On March 6, 1836, a Texan +fort, called the Alamo, was surrounded by eight +thousand Mexicans, led by Santa Anna. The +garrison was massacred. The next month the +battle of San Jacinto was fought, and Texas +became independent. When she asked admission +to the Union, the Democrats favored and the +Whigs opposed, because she would naturally become +slave territory. Already, August 30, 1843, +the "Liberty Party" had assembled at Baltimore +and nominated a candidate for the presidency. +The North was becoming agitated on the subject +of slavery, but the Whigs avoided both the subjects +of slavery and Texas in their platform, and +nominated as their presidential candidate not Daniel +Webster but Henry Clay.</p> + +<p>Again Webster worked earnestly for his party +and its nominee, but the Whigs were defeated, as +is usually the case when a party fears to touch the +great questions which public opinion demands. +They learned a lesson when it was too late, and +other political parties should profit by their example.</p> + +<p>James K. Polk of Tennessee was elected, Texas +was admitted to the Union, and the Mexican War +resulted. War was declared by Congress May 11, +1846, vigorously prosecuted, and Mexico was +defeated. By the terms of the treaty, concluded +February 2, 1848, New Mexico and Upper California +were given to the United States.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> +Webster, who had been returned to the Senate +by Massachusetts, opposed the war as he had the +annexation of Texas. At this time a double +sorrow came to him. His second son, Major +Edward Webster, a young man of fine abilities, +courage, and high sense of honor, died near the +city of Mexico, from disease induced by exposure. +His body arrived in Boston May 4, and, only +three days before, Webster's lovely daughter, +Julia, who had married Samuel Appleton of Boston, +was carried to her grave by consumption. +Her death, at thirty, was beautiful in its resignation +and faith, even though she left five little children +to the care of others. Her last words were, "Let +me go, for the day breaketh," which words were +placed upon her tombstone.</p> + +<p>Mr. Webster was indeed crushed by this new +sorrow. He wrote to his friend Mrs. Ticknor, "I +cannot speak of the lost ones; but I submit to the +will of God. I feel that I am nothing, less even +than the merest dust of the balance; and that the +Creator of a million worlds, and the judge of all +flesh, must be allowed to dispose of me and +mine as to his infinite wisdom shall seem best."</p> + +<p>In 1848, when Mr. Webster was sixty-six, the +presidency once more eluded his grasp by the +nomination of another "available" man, General +Zachary Taylor, one of the heroes of the Mexican +War. Webster had spoken earnestly for Harrison +and Clay; now he was unwilling longer to work +for the party which had ignored him and nominated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> +a man whom, though an able soldier, he +thought unfitted for the place as a statesman. If +it was a mistake to show that he was wounded in +spirit, as it undoubtedly was for so great a man, it +was nevertheless human.</p> + +<p>The thing which Mr. Webster had feared these +many years was now coming to pass. A violent +agitation of the slavery question in the Territories +was upon the nation. For thirty years slavery had +been odious to the North, and carefully nurtured +by the South. In 1820, when Missouri was admitted +as a State, the North insisted that a clause +prohibiting slavery should be inserted as a condition +of her admission to the Union. Henry Clay +devised the compromise by which slavery was +prohibited in all the new territory lying north of +latitude 36° 30', which was the southern boundary +of Missouri. This line was called Mason and +Dixon's line, from the names of the two surveyors +who ran the boundary line between Maryland and +Pennsylvania.</p> + +<p>Year by year the hatred of slavery had intensified +at the North. February 1, 1847, David Wilmot +of Pennsylvania introduced in Congress his +famous proviso, by which slavery was to be excluded +from all territory thereafter acquired or +annexed by the United States. And now, in 1849, +the conflict on the slavery question was more +virulent than ever. California, having framed +a constitution prohibiting slavery, applied for +admission to the Union. New Mexico asked for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> +a territorial government and for the exclusion of +slavery.</p> + +<p>The South claimed that the Missouri Compromise, +extending to the Pacific coast, guaranteed the +right to introduce slavery into California and New +Mexico, and threatened secession from the Union. +Again Henry Clay settled the matter,—for a time +only, as it proved,—by his famous Compromise of +1850, by which California was admitted as a free +State, the Territories taken from Mexico left to decide +the slavery question as they chose, the slave-trade +abolished in the District of Columbia, more +effectual enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law +demanded, with some other minor provisions.</p> + +<p>The Fugitive Slave Law, which provided for the +return of the fugitives without trial by jury, and +expected Christian people to aid the slave-dealers +in capturing their slaves, was especially obnoxious +to the North. Some of the States had passed +"Personal Liberty Bills," punishing as kidnappers +persons who sought to take away alleged slaves.</p> + +<p>Mr. Webster saw with dismay all this bitterness, +and knew that the Union which he loved was in +danger. He hoped to avert civil war, perhaps to +still the tumult forever, and so gave his great +heart and brain to the Clay compromise. On +March 7, 1850, he delivered in Congress his famous +speech on the Compromise bill. The Senate chamber +was crowded with an intensely excited audience. +Mr. Webster discussed the whole history +of slavery, opposed the Wilmot Proviso, because he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> +thought every part of the country settled as to +slavery, either by law or nature,—he could not +look into the future and see Kansas,—and then +condemned the course of the North in its resistance +to the Fugitive Slave Law, which he held to +be constitutional. The words in reference to restoring +fugitive slaves created a storm of indignation +at the North, which had looked upon Webster +as a great anti-slavery leader, and who had said in +the oration at Plymouth, "I hear the sound of the +hammer, I see the smoke of the furnaces where +manacles and fetters are still forged for human +limbs. I see the visages of those who, by stealth +and at midnight, labor in this work of hell, foul +and dark, as may become the artificers of such instruments +of misery and torture. Let that spot be +purified, or let it cease to be of New England. +Let it be purified, or let it be set aside from the +Christian world; let it be put out of the circle of +human sympathies and human regards, and let civilized +man henceforth have no communion with it." +In his speech to Hayne he had said, "I regard +domestic slavery as one of the greatest evils, both +moral and political."</p> + +<p>Probably Mr. Webster had not changed his mind +at all in regard to the enormity of slavery, but he +hoped to save the Union from war. He indeed +helped to postpone the conflict, but if the presidency +had before this been a possibility to him, it +became now an impossibility forever, and his own +words had done it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>President Taylor died July 9, 1850, when the +discussion of the Compromise matter was at its +height, and Millard Fillmore became President. +He at once made Webster Secretary of State. Mr. +Webster bore bravely the reproaches of the North. +He said, "I cared for nothing, I was afraid of nothing, +but I meant to do my duty. Duty performed +makes a man happy; duty neglected makes a man +unhappy.... If the fate of John Rogers had +stared me in the face, if I had seen the stake, if I +had heard the fagots already crackling, by the blessing +of Almighty God I would have gone on and +discharged the duty which I thought my country +called upon me to perform."</p> + +<p>At the next national Whig convention, General +Winfield Scott was nominated to the presidency. +Multitudes throughout the country were disappointed +that Webster was not chosen. Boston gave +him a magnificent reception. Marshfield welcomed +him with a gathering of thousands of people nine +miles from his home, who escorted him thither, +scattering garlands along the way. "I remember +how," says Charles Lanman, "after the crowd had +disappeared, he entered his house fatigued beyond +measure, and covered with dust, and threw himself +into a chair. For a moment his head fell upon his +breast, as if completely overcome, and he then +looked up like one seeking something he could not +find. It was the portrait of his darling but departed +daughter, Julia, and it happened to be in +full view. He gazed upon it for some time in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> +kind of trance, and then wept like one whose heart +was broken, and these words escaped his lips, 'Oh, +I am so thankful to be here. If I could only have +my will, never, never would I again leave this +home!'"</p> + +<p>Here he was happy. Here he had gathered a +large library, many of his books being on science, +of which he was very fond. Of geology and physical +geography he had made a careful study. Humboldt's +"Cosmos" was an especial favorite.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1852, Mr. Webster fell from his +carriage, and from this fall he never entirely recovered. +In the fall he made his will, and wrote these +words for his monument, "Lord, I believe; help +thou mine unbelief. Philosophical argument, especially +that drawn from the vastness of the universe +in comparison with the apparent insignificance +of this globe, has sometimes shaken my reason +for the faith that is in me; but my heart has +assured and reassured me that the Gospel of Jesus +Christ must be a Divine Reality.</p> + +<p>"The Sermon on the Mount cannot be a merely +human production. This belief enters into the very +depth of my conscience. The whole history of man +proves it."</p> + +<p>Mr. Webster had repeatedly given his testimony +in favor of the Christian religion. "Religion," he +said, "is a necessary and indispensable element in +any great human character. There is no living +without it. Religion is the tie that connects man +with his Creator, and holds him to his throne. If<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> +that tie be all sundered, all broken, he floats away, +a worthless atom in the universe; its proper attractions +all gone, its destiny thwarted, and its +whole future nothing but darkness, desolation, and +death."</p> + +<p>Once, at a dinner party of gentlemen, he was +asked by one present, "What is the most important +thought that ever occupied your mind?"</p> + +<p>The reply came slowly and solemnly, "My individual +responsibility to God!"</p> + +<p>When the last of October came, Mr. Webster +was nearing the end of life. About a week before +he died he asked that a herd of his best oxen +might be driven in front of his windows, that he +might see their honest faces and gentle eyes. A +man who thus loves animals must have a tender +heart.</p> + +<p>A few hours before Mr. Webster died, he said +slowly, "My general wish on earth has been to do +my Maker's will. I thank him now for all the +mercies that surround me.... No man, who is +not a brute, can say that he is not afraid of death. +No man can come back from <i>that</i> bourne; no man +can comprehend the will or the works of God. +That there <i>is</i> a God all must acknowledge. I see +him in all these wondrous works—himself how +wondrous!</p> + +<p>"The great mystery is Jesus Christ—the Gospel. +What would the condition of any of us be if +we had not the hope of immortality?... Thank +God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ brought life and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> +immortality to <i>light</i>, <i>rescued</i> it—brought it to +<i>light</i>." He then began to repeat the Lord's +prayer, saying earnestly, "Hold me up, I do not +wish to pray with a fainting voice."</p> + +<p>He longed to be conscious when death came. At +midnight he said, "I still live," his last coherent +words. A little after three he ceased to breathe.</p> + +<p>He was buried as he had requested to be, "without +the least show or ostentation," on October 29, +1852. The coffin was placed upon the lawn, and +more than ten thousand persons gazed upon the +face of the great statesman. One unknown man, +in plain attire, said as he looked upon him, all unconscious +that anybody might hear his words, +"Daniel Webster, the world without you will seem +lonesome." Six of his neighbors bore him to his +grave and laid him beside Grace and his children.</p> + +<p>When the Civil War came, which Mr. Webster +had done all in his power to avert, it took the last +child out of his family: Fletcher, a colonel of the +Twelfth Massachusetts volunteers, fell in the battle +of August 29, 1862, near Bull Run.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 367px;"> +<img src="images/illus-230.jpg" width="367" height="600" alt=" H. Clay" title="Your friend & obe Serv H. Clay" /> + +</div> + + + + +<h2>HENRY CLAY.</h2> + + +<p>Henry Clay, the "mill-boy of the Slashes," +was born April 12, 1777, in Hanover +County, Virginia, in a neighborhood called the +"Slashes," from its low, marshy ground. The +seventh in a family of eight children, says Dr. +Calvin Colton, in his "Life and Times of Henry +Clay," he came into the home of Rev. John Clay, a +true-hearted Baptist minister, poor, but greatly +esteemed by all who knew him. Mr. Clay used +often to preach out-of-doors to his impecunious +flock, who, beside loving him for his spiritual +nature, admired his fine voice and manly presence.</p> + +<p>When Henry was four years old the father died, +leaving the wife to struggle for her daily bread, +rich only in the affection which poverty so often +intensifies and makes heroic. She was a devoted +mother, a person of more than ordinary mind, and +extremely patriotic, a quality transmitted to her +illustrious son.</p> + +<p>Says Hon. Carl Schurz, in his valuable Life of +Clay, "There is a tradition in the family that, +when the dead body [of the father] was still lying +in the house, Colonel Tarleton, commanding a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> +cavalry force under Lord Cornwallis, passed +through Hanover County on a raid, and left a +handful of gold and silver on Mrs. Clay's table as +a compensation for some property taken or destroyed +by his soldiers; but that the spirited +woman, as soon as Tarleton was gone, swept the +money into her apron and threw it into the fireplace. +It would have been in no sense improper, +and more prudent, had she kept it, notwithstanding +her patriotic indignation."</p> + +<p>Anxious that her children be educated, Mrs. +Clay sent them to the log school-house in the +neighborhood, to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic +from Peter Deacon, an Englishman, who +seems to have succeeded well in teaching, when +sober. The log house was a small structure, with +earth floor, no windows, and an entrance which +served for continuous ventilation, as there was no +door to keep out cold or heat. Henry had nothing +of consequence to remember of this school save +the marks of a whipping received from Peter Deacon +when he was angry.</p> + +<p>As soon as school hours were over each day, he +had to work to help support the family. Now the +bare-footed boy might be seen ploughing; now, +mounted on a pony guided by a rope bridle, with a +bag of meal thrown across the horse's back, he +might be seen going from his home to Mrs. Darricott's +mill, on the Pamunky River. The people +nicknamed him "The mill-boy of the Slashes," and, +years later, when the same bare-footed, mother-loving<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> +boy was nominated for the presidency, the +term became one of endearment and pride to hundreds +of thousands, who knew by experience what +a childhood of toil and hardship meant. He became +the idol of the poor not less than of the rich, +because he could sympathize in their privations, +and sympathy is usually born of suffering. Perchance +we ought to welcome bitter experiences, +for he alone has power who has great sympathy.</p> + +<p>After some years of widowhood, Mrs. Clay +married Captain Henry Watkins of Richmond, +Virginia, and, though she bore him seven children, +he did not forget to be a father to the children of +her former marriage. When Henry was fourteen, +Captain Watkins placed him in Richard Denny's +store in Richmond. For a year the boy sold groceries +and dry-goods in the retail store, reading in +every moment of leisure. His step-father thought +rightly that a boy who was so eager to read should +have better advantages, and therefore applied to +his friend, Colonel Tinsley, for a position in the +office of the Clerk of the High Court of Chancery, +the clerk being the brother of the colonel.</p> + +<p>"There is no vacancy," said the clerk.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said the colonel, "you <i>must</i> take +him;" and so he did.</p> + +<p>The glad mother cut and made for Henry an ill-fitting +suit of gray "figinny" (Virginia) cloth, +cotton and silk mixed, and starched his linen to a +painful stiffness. When he appeared in the +clerk's office he was tall and awkward, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> +occupants at the desks could scarcely restrain their +mirth at the appearance of the new-comer. Henry +was put to the task of copying. The clerks wisely +remained quiet, and soon found that the boy was +proud, ambitious, quick, willing to work, and +superior to themselves in common-sense and the +use of language.</p> + +<p>Every night when they went in quest of amusement +young Clay went home to read. It could not +have been mere chance which attracted to the +studious, bright boy the attention of George +Wythe, the Chancellor of the High Court of Chancery. +He was a noted and noble man, one of the +signers of the Declaration of Independence, for ten +years teacher of jurisprudence at William and +Mary's College, a man so liberal in his views in +the days of slavery that he emancipated all his +slaves and made provision for their maintenance; +the same great man in whose office Thomas Jefferson +gained inspiration in his youth.</p> + +<p>George Wythe selected Clay for his amanuensis +in writing out the decisions of the courts. He +soon became greatly attached to the boy of fifteen, +directed his reading, first in grammatical studies, +and then in legal and historical lines. He read +Homer, Plutarch's Lives, and similar great works. +The conversation of such a man as Mr. Wythe was +to Clay what that of Christopher Gore was to +Daniel Webster, or that of Judge Story to Charles +Sumner. Generally men who have become great +have allied themselves to great men or great principles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> +early in life. When Clay had been four +years with the chancellor he naturally decided to +become a lawyer. Poverty did not deter him; +hard work did not deter him. Those who fear to +labor must not take a step on the road to fame.</p> + +<p>Clay entered the office of Attorney-General +Robert Brooke, a man prominent and able. Here +he studied hard for a year, and was admitted to +the bar, having gained much legal knowledge in +the previous four years. During this year he mingled +with the best society of Richmond, his own +intellectual ability, courteous manners, and good +cheer making him welcome, not less than the well +known friendship of Chancellor Wythe for him. +Clay organized a debating society, and the "mill-boy +of the Slashes" quite astonished, not only the +members but the public as well, by his unusual +powers of oratory.</p> + +<p>The esteem of Richmond society did not bring +money quickly enough to the enterprising young +man. His parents had removed to Kentucky, and +he decided to go there also, "and grow up with the +country." He was now twenty-one, poor, not as +thoroughly educated as he could have wished, but +determined to succeed, and when one has this determination +the battle is half won. That he regretted +his lack of early opportunities, a speech +made on the floor of Congress years afterward +plainly showed. In reply to Hon. John Randolph +he said, "The gentleman from Virginia was pleased +to say that in one point, at least, he coincided with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> +me in an humble estimate of my grammatical and +philological acquisitions. I know my deficiencies. +I was born to no proud patrimonial estate. I inherited +only infancy, ignorance, and indigence. I +feel my defects. But, so far as my situation in +early life is concerned, I may, without presumption, +say it was more my misfortune than my fault. +But, however I regret my want of ability to furnish +the gentleman with a better specimen of +powers of verbal criticism, I will venture to say +it is not greater than the disappointment of +this committee as to the strength of his argument."</p> + +<p>When Clay arrived in Lexington, Kentucky, he +found not the polished society of Richmond, but a +genial, warm-hearted, high-spirited race of men and +women, who cordially welcomed the young lawyer +with his sympathetic manner and distinguished air, +the result of an inborn sense of leadership. Soon +after he began to practise law, he joined a debating +society, and, with his usual good-sense, did not take +an active part until he became acquainted with the +members.</p> + +<p>One evening, after a subject had been long debated, +and the vote was to be taken, Clay, feeling +that the matter was not exhausted, rose to speak. +At first he was embarrassed, and began, "Gentlemen +of the jury!" The audience laughed. Roused +to self-control by this mistake, his words came fast +and eloquent, till the people held their breath in +amazement. From that day, Lexington knew that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> +a young man of brilliancy and power had come +within her borders.</p> + +<p>Nearly fifty years later, he said in the same city, +when he retired from public life, "In looking back +upon my origin and progress through life, I have +great reason to be thankful. My father died in 1781, +leaving me an infant of too tender years to retain +any recollection of his smiles or endearments. My +surviving parent removed to this State in 1792, +leaving me, a boy fifteen years of age, in the +office of the High Court of Chancery, in the city of +Richmond, without guardian, without pecuniary +means of support, to steer my course as I might or +could. A neglected education was improved by my +own irregular exertions, without the benefit of systematic +instruction. I studied law principally in +the office of a lamented friend, the late Governor +Brooke, then attorney-general of Virginia, and also +under the auspices of the venerable and lamented +Chancellor Wythe, for whom I had acted as amanuensis. +I obtained a license to practise the profession +from the judges of the court of appeals of Virginia, +and established myself in Lexington in 1797, +without patrons, without the favor or countenance +of the great or opulent, without the means of paying +my weekly board, and in the midst of a bar uncommonly +distinguished by eminent members. I +remember how comfortable I thought I should be +if I could make one hundred pounds, Virginia +money, per year, and with what delight I received +the first fifteen-shilling fee. My hopes were more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> +than realized. I immediately rushed into a successful +and lucrative practice."</p> + +<p>His cases at first were largely criminal. His +first marked case was that of a woman who, in a +moment of passion, shot her sister-in-law. Clay +could not bear to see a woman hanged, and she +heretofore the respected wife of a respected man. +He pleaded "temporary delirium," and saved her +life.</p> + +<p>It is said that no murderer ever suffered the extreme +penalty of the law who was defended by +Henry Clay. He saved the life of one Willis, accused +of an atrocious murder. Meeting the man +later, he said, "Ah! Willis, poor fellow, I fear I +have saved too many like you who ought to be +hanged." When Clay was public prosecutor, he +took up the case of a slave, much valued for his intelligence +and honor, who, in the absence of his +owner, had been unmercifully treated by an overseer. +In self-defence the slave killed the overseer +with an axe. Clay argued that had the deed been +done by a free man it would have been man-slaughter, +but by a slave, who should have submitted, +it was murder. The colored man was +hanged, meeting death heroically. Clay was so +overcome by the painful result of his own unfortunate +reasoning that he at once resigned his position, +and never ceased to be sorry for his connection +with the affair.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the ending of a case was ludicrous as +well as pathetic. Two Germans, father and son,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> +were indicted for murder in the first degree. The +mother and wife were present, and, of course, intensely +interested. When Clay obtained the +acquittal of the accused, the old lady rushed +through the crowd, flung her arms around the +neck of the stylish young attorney, and clung to +him so persistently that it was difficult for him to +free himself!</p> + +<p>He soon began to engage more exclusively in +civil suits, especially those growing out of the land +laws of Virginia and Kentucky, and quickly acquired +a leading position at the bar. He had already +married, at twenty-two, Lucretia Hart, eighteen +years old, the daughter of Colonel Thomas Hart, +a well known and respected citizen of Lexington. +She was a woman of practical common-sense, devoted +to him, and a tender mother to their eleven +children, six daughters and five sons.</p> + +<p>As soon as Mr. Clay had earned sufficient money +he bought Ashland, an estate of six hundred acres, +a mile and a half south-east from Lexington court-house. +A spacious brick mansion, with flower +gardens and groves, made it in time one of the +most attractive places in the South. Here, later, +Clay entertained Lafayette, Webster, Monroe, and +other famous men from Europe and America.</p> + +<p>Mr. Clay began his political life when but +twenty-two. Kentucky, in 1799, in revising her +constitution, considered a project for the gradual +abolition of slavery in the State. Clay was an +ardent advocate of the measure. He wrote in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> +favor of it in the press, and spoke earnestly in its +behalf in public. He, however, received more +censure than praise for the position he took, but +his conduct was in keeping with his declaration +years later: "I had rather be right than be President."</p> + +<p>All his life he rejoiced that he had thus early +favored the abolition of slavery. He said, thirty +years later, "Among the acts of my life which I +look back to with most satisfaction is that of my +having coöperated with other zealous and intelligent +friends to procure the establishment of that +system in this State. We were overpowered by +numbers, but submitted to the decision of the +majority with that grace which the minority in a +republic should ever yield to that decision. I +have, nevertheless, never ceased, and shall never +cease, to regret a decision the effects of which have +been to place us in the rear of our neighbors, who +are exempt from slavery, in the state of agriculture, +the progress of manufactures, the advance of improvements, +and the general progress of society."</p> + +<p>From this time Clay spoke on all important +political questions. Once, when he and George +Nicholas had spoken against the alien and sedition +laws of the Federalists, so pleased were the Kentuckians +that both speakers were placed in a carriage +and drawn through the streets, the people +shouting applause. Thus foolishly are persons—usually +young men—willing to be considered +horses through their excitement!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span>When Clay was twenty-six, so effective had +been his eloquence that he was elected to the +State Legislature. Who would have prophesied +this when he carried meal to Mrs. Darricott's mill! +Reading evenings, when other boys roamed the +streets, had been an important element in this +success; friendship with those older and stronger +than himself had given maturity of thought and +plan.</p> + +<p>When he was thirty he was chosen to the +United States Senate, to fill the unexpired term of +another. At once, despite his youth, he took an +active part in debate, was placed on important +committees, and advocated "internal improvements," +as he did all the rest of his life, desiring +always that America become great and powerful. +He was happy in this first experience at the +national capital. He wrote home to his wife's +father: "My reception in this place has been +equal, nay, superior to my expectations. I have +experienced the civility and attention of all I was +desirous of obtaining. Those who are disposed to +flatter me say that I have acquitted myself with +great credit in several debates in the Senate. But, +after all I have seen, Kentucky is still my favorite +country. There amidst my dear family I shall +find happiness in a degree to be met with nowhere +else."</p> + +<p>As soon as Clay was home again, Kentucky sent +him to her State Legislature, where he was elected +speaker. Already the conflicts between England<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> +and France under Napoleon had seriously affected +our commerce by the unjust decrees of both +nations. Mr. Clay strongly denounced the Orders +in Council of the British, and praised Jefferson for +the embargo. He urged, also, partly as a retaliatory +measure, and partly as a measure of self-protection, +that the members of the Legislature wear +only such clothes as were made by our own manufacturers. +Humphrey Marshall, a strong Federalist, +and a man of great ability, denounced this resolution +as the work of a demagogue. The result was +a duel, in which, after Clay and Marshall were +both slightly wounded, the seconds prevented +further bloodshed. Once before this Clay had +accepted a challenge, and the duel was prevented +only by the interference of friends. Had death +resulted at either time, America would have missed +from her record one of the brightest and fairest +names in her history.</p> + +<p>When Clay was thirty-three he was again sent +to the Senate of the United States, to fill an unexpired +term of two years. At the end of that time +Kentucky was too proud of him to allow his +returning to private life. He was therefore elected +to the House of Representatives, and took his seat +November 4, 1811. He was at once chosen +speaker, an honor conferred for seven terms, fourteen +years.</p> + +<p>"Henry Clay stands," says Carl Schurz, "in the +traditions of the House of Representatives as the +greatest of its speakers. His perfect mastery of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span> +parliamentary law, his quickness of decision in +applying it, his unfailing presence of mind and +power of command in moments of excitement and +confusion, the courteous dignity of his bearing, are +remembered as unequalled by any one of those who +had preceded or who have followed him."</p> + +<p>Here in the excitement of debate he was happy. +He could speak at will against the British, who had +seized more than nine hundred American ships, and +the French more than five hundred and fifty. +When several thousand Americans had been impressed +as British seamen, the hot blood of the +Kentuckian demanded war. He said in Congress, +"We are called upon to submit to debasement, dishonor, +and disgrace; to bow the neck to royal insolence, +as a course of preparation for manly resistance +to Gallic invasion! What nation, what +individual was ever taught in the schools of ignominious +submission these patriotic lessons of freedom +and independence?... An honorable peace +is attainable only by an efficient war. My plan +would be to call out the ample resources of the +country, give them a judicious direction, prosecute +the war with the utmost vigor, strike wherever we +can reach the enemy, at sea or on land, and negotiate +the terms of a peace at Quebec or at Halifax. +We are told that England is a proud and lofty nation, +which, disdaining to wait for danger, meets it +half way. Haughty as she is, we once triumphed +over her, and, if we do not listen to the counsels of +timidity and despair, we shall again prevail. In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> +such a cause, with the aid of Providence, we must +come out crowned with success; but if we fail, +let us fail like men, lash ourselves to our gallant +tars, and expire together in one common +struggle, fighting for <span class="smcap"><small>FREE TRADE AND SEAMEN'S +RIGHTS</small></span>."</p> + +<p>The War of 1812 came, even though New England +strongly opposed it. The country was poorly +prepared for a great contest by land or by sea, but +Clay's enthusiasm seemed equal to a dozen armies. +He cheered every regiment by his hope and his +patriotism. When defeats came at Detroit and in +Canada, Josiah Quincy of Massachusetts, leader of +the Federalists, said, "Those must be very young +politicians, their pin-feathers not yet grown, and, +however they may flutter on this floor, they are not +fledged for any high or distant flight, who think +that threats and appealing to fear are the ways of +producing any disposition to negotiate in Great +Britain, or in any other nation which understands +what it owes to its own safety and honor."</p> + +<p>Clay answered in a two-days speech that was +never forgotten. He scourged the Federalists with +stinging words: "Sir, gentlemen appear to me to +forget that they stand on American soil; that they +are not in the British House of Commons, but in +the chamber of the House of Representatives of the +United States; that we have nothing to do with +the affairs of Europe, the partition of territory and +sovereignty there, except so far as these things affect +the interests of our own country. Gentlemen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> +transform themselves into the Burkes, Chathams, +and Pitts of another country, and forgetting, from +honest zeal, the interests of America, engage with +European sensibility in the discussion of European +interests.... I have no fears of French or English +subjugation. If we are united we are too powerful +for the mightiest nation in Europe, or all +Europe combined. If we are separated and torn +asunder, we shall become an easy prey to the weakest +of them. In the latter dreadful contingency, +our country will not be worth preserving.</p> + +<p>"The war was declared because Great Britain arrogated +to herself the pretension of regulating our +foreign trade, under the delusive name of retaliatory +orders in council—a pretension by which she undertook +to proclaim to American enterprise, 'Thus +far shalt thou go, and no further'—orders which +she refused to revoke, after the alleged cause of +their enactment had ceased; because she persisted +in the practice of impressing American seamen; +because she had instigated the Indians to commit +hostilities against us; and because she refused indemnity +for her past injuries upon our commerce. +I throw out of the question other wrongs. The +war in fact was announced on our part to meet the +war which she was waging on her part."</p> + +<p>The speech electrified the country. The army +was increased, the nation encouraged, and the war +carried to a successful issue. Such a power had +Clay become that Madison talked of making him +commander-in-chief of the army, but Gallatin dissuaded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> +him, saying, "What shall we do without +Clay in Congress?"</p> + +<p>When the war was nearing its end—before +Jackson had fought his famous battle at New Orleans—and +a treaty of peace was to be effected, +the President appointed five commissioners to confer +with the British government: John Quincy +Adams, Clay, Bayard, Jonathan Russell, Minister +to Sweden, and Albert Gallatin.</p> + +<p>They reached Ghent, in the Netherlands, July 6, +1814, a company of earnest men, not always in accord, +but desirous of accomplishing the most possible +for America. Adams was able, courageous, irritable, +and sometimes domineering; Clay, impetuous, +spirited, genial, making friends of the British +commissioners as they played at whist—he +never allowed cards to come into his home at Ashland; +Gallatin, discreet, a peace-maker, and dignified +counsellor.</p> + +<p>For five months the commissioners argued, waited +to see if their respective countries would accede to +the terms proposed, and finally settled an honorable +peace. Then Clay, Adams, and Gallatin spent +three months in London negotiating a treaty of +commerce. Clay had meantime heard of the battle +of New Orleans, and said, "Now I can go to England +without mortification." In Paris he met Madame +de Staël. "I have been in England," said +she, "and have been battling for your cause there. +They were so much enraged against you that at +one time they thought seriously of sending the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> +Duke of Wellington to lead their armies against +you."</p> + +<p>"I am very sorry," replied Clay, "that they did +not send the duke."</p> + +<p>"And why?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Because if he had beaten us, we should have +been in the condition of Europe, without disgrace. +But if we had been so fortunate as to defeat him, +we should have greatly added to the renown of our +arms."</p> + +<p>When Clay returned to America, he was welcomed +in New York and Lexington with public +dinners. That the war had produced good results +was well stated in his Lexington address. "Abroad, +our character, which, at the time of its declaration, +was in the lowest state of degradation, is raised to +the highest point of elevation. It is impossible for +any American to visit Europe without being sensible +of this agreeable change in the personal attentions +which he receives, in the praises which are +bestowed on our past exertions, and the predictions +which are made as to our future prospects. +At home, a government, which, at its formation, was +apprehended by its best friends, and pronounced +by its enemies to be incapable of standing the +shock, is found to answer all the purposes of its +institution."</p> + +<p>Clay was now famous; commanding in presence, +with a winsome rather than handsome face, exuberant +in spirits, generous by nature, polite to the +poorest, self-possessed, with a voice unsurpassed, if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> +ever equalled, for its musical tone; a man who +made friends everywhere and among all classes, +and never lost them; who was always a gentleman, +because always kind at heart. Manner, +which Emerson calls the "finest of the fine arts," +gave Clay the "mastery of palace and fortune" +wherever he went. That voice and hand-grasp, +that remembrance of a face and a name, won him +countless admirers.</p> + +<p>President Madison offered him the mission to +Russia, which he declined, as also a place in the +Cabinet, as Secretary of War, preferring to speak +on all those matters which helped to build up +America. On the question of the United States +Bank he made a strong speech against its constitutionality, +which Andrew Jackson said later was his +most convincing authority when he destroyed the +bank. Clay's views changed in after years, and +made him at bitter enmity with Andrew Jackson +and John Tyler, both of whom vigorously opposed +a bank, with its vast capital and consequent power +in politics.</p> + +<p>Clay's desire for the rapid development of America +led him to become a "protectionist," and the +leader of the so-called "American system," as +opposed to Free Trade or the Foreign System. +He believed that only as we encourage our own +manufactures can we become a powerful nation, +paying high wages, shutting out the products of +the cheap labor of Europe, increasing our home +market, and becoming independent of the foreign<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> +market. Clay's speeches were read the country +over, and won him thousands of followers.</p> + +<p>Like others in public life, he now and then gave +offence to his constituents. He had voted for a +bill to increase the pay of members of Congress +from six dollars a day to a salary of fifteen hundred +dollars a year. To the farmers of Kentucky +this amount seemed far too great. He one day met +an old hunter who had always voted for him, but +was now determined to vote against a man so +extravagant in his ideas!</p> + +<p>"My friend," said Clay, "have you a good +rifle?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Did it ever flash?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; but only once."</p> + +<p>"What did you do with the rifle when it +flashed?—throw it away?"</p> + +<p>"No; I picked the flint, tried again, and brought +down the game."</p> + +<p>"Have I ever flashed, except upon the compensation +bill?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Well, will you throw me away?"</p> + +<p>"No, Mr. Clay; I will pick the flint and try you +again."</p> + +<p>Mr. Clay was returned to Congress, and voted +for the repeal of the fifteen hundred dollar salary.</p> + +<p>The subject which was to surpass all other subjects +in interest, and well-nigh destroy the Union, +was coming into prominence—slavery. Henry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> +Clay, from a boy, when George Wythe, the Virginia +chancellor, freed his slaves, had looked upon +human bondage as a curse. He used to say, "If I +could be instrumental in eradicating this deepest +stain from the character of our country, and removing +all cause of reproach on account of it, by +foreign nations; if I could only be instrumental in +ridding of this foul blot that revered State that +gave me birth, or that not less beloved State which +kindly adopted me as her son, I would not exchange +the proud satisfaction which I should +enjoy for the honor of all the triumphs ever +decreed to the most successful conqueror.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"When we consider the cruelty of the origin of +negro slavery, its nature, the character of the +free institutions of the whites, and the irresistible +progress of public opinion throughout +America, as well as in Europe, it is impossible +not to anticipate frequent insurrections among the +blacks in the United States; they are rational beings +like ourselves, capable of feeling, of reflection, +and of judging of what naturally belongs to them +as a portion of the human race. By the very condition +of the relation which subsists between us, +we are enemies of each other. They know well +the wrongs which their ancestors suffered at the +hands of our ancestors, and the wrongs which they +believe they continue to endure, although they +may be unable to avenge them. They are kept in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> +subjection only by the superior intelligence and +superior power of the predominant race."</p> + +<p>At the North, anti-slavery sentiments had intensified; +at the South, where slavery was at first regarded +as an evil, the consequent ease and wealth +from slave labor had changed public opinion, and +had made the people jealous of northern discussion. +Through the invention of the cotton-gin, by Eli +Whitney, the value of cotton exports had quadrupled +in twenty years, and the value of slaves had +trebled. Comparatively good feeling was maintained +by the two sections of the country as long +as for every slave State admitted to the Union a +free State was also admitted.</p> + +<p>In 1818, the people of Missouri desired to be admitted +to the Union. Mr. Tallmadge of New +York proposed that the further introduction of +slavery should be prohibited, and that all children +born within the said State should be free at the age +of twenty-five years. The discussion grew strong +and bitter. Two years later the inhabitants of the +State proceeded to adopt a constitution which forbade +free negroes from coming into the territory or +settling in it. The discussion grew more bitter +still. Threats of disunion and civil war were +heard. Jefferson wrote from his Monticello home, +"The Missouri question is the most portentous one +that ever threatened the Union. In the gloomiest +moments of the Revolutionary War I never had +any apprehension equal to that I feel from this +source."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span>A senator from Illinois, Mr. Thomas, proposed +that no restriction as to slavery be imposed upon +Missouri, but that in all the rest of the territory +ceded by France to the United States, north of 36° +30', this being the southern boundary of Missouri, +there should be no slavery. Then Mr. Clay, with +his intense love for the Union, bent all his energies +to effect this compromise suggested by Thomas. +He spoke earnestly in its behalf, and went from +member to member, persuading and beseeching +with all his genius and winsomeness. When Clay +had effected the passage of the bill, the "great +pacificator" became more beloved than ever. He +had saved the Union, and now was talked of as the +successor to President Monroe.</p> + +<p>Clay was now forty-seven, the polished orator, +the consummate leader, one of the great trio whom +all visitors to Washington wished to look upon: +Clay, Webster, and Calhoun. Kentucky was earnest +in her support of Clay as President.</p> + +<p>When the time came for voting, six candidates +were before the people: John Quincy Adams, +Jackson, Clay, Calhoun, Clinton of New York, and +Crawford of Georgia. Hon. Thomas H. Benton of +Missouri was an ardent supporter of Clay, and +travelled over several States speaking in his behalf.</p> + +<p>Clay was anxious for the position, but would do +nothing unworthy to obtain it. He wrote to a +friend, "On one resolution, my friends may rest assured, +I will firmly rely, and that is, to participate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> +in no intrigue, to enter into no arrangements, to +make no promises or pledges; but that, whether I +am elected or not, I will have nothing to reproach +myself with. If elected, I will go into the office +with a pure conscience, to promote with my utmost +exertions the common good of our country, and free +to select the most able and faithful public servants. +If not elected, acquiescing most cheerfully in the +better selection which will thus have been made, I +will at least have the satisfaction of preserving my +honor unsullied and my heart uncorrupted."</p> + +<p>After the vote had been taken, as no candidate +received a clear majority, the election necessarily +went to the House of Representatives. Though +Jackson received the most electoral votes, Clay, +not friendly to him, used his influence for Adams +and helped obtain his election. Clay was, of +course, bitterly censured by the followers of Jackson, +and when Adams made him Secretary of +State the cry of "bargain and sale" was heard +throughout the country. Though both Adams and +Clay denied any promise between them, the Jackson +men believed, or professed to believe it, and +helped in later years to spoil his presidential success. +Adams said, "As to my motives for tendering +him the Department of State when I did, let +the man who questions them come forward. Let +him look around among the statesmen and legislators +of the nation and of that day. Let him then +select and name the man whom, by his preëminent +talents, by his splendid services, by his ardent patriotism,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> +by his all-embracing public spirit, by his +fervid eloquence in behalf of the rights and liberties +of mankind, by his long experience in the +affairs of the Union, foreign and domestic, a President +of the United States, intent only upon the +honor and welfare of his country, ought to have +preferred to Henry Clay."</p> + +<p>Returning to Kentucky before taking the position +of Secretary of State, his journey thither was +one constant ovation. Public dinners were given +him in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. In the +midst of this prosperity, sorrow laid her hand +heavily upon the great man's heart. His children +were his idols. They obeyed him because they +loved him and were proud of him. Lucretia, +named for her mother, a delicate and much beloved +daughter, died at fourteen. Eliza, a most +attractive girl, with her father's magnetic manners, +died on their journey to Washington. A few days +after her death, another daughter, Susan Hart, then +Mrs. Durolde of New Orleans, died, at the age of +twenty.</p> + +<p>There was work to be done for the country, and +Mr. Clay tried to put away his sorrow that he +might do his duty. As Secretary of State he +helped to negotiate treaties with Prussia, Denmark, +Austria, Russia, and other nations. The +opposition to Adams and Clay became intense. +The Jackson party felt itself defrauded. John +Randolph of Virginia was an outspoken enemy, +closing a scathing speech with the words, "by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> +coalition of Blifil and Black George—by the +combination, unheard of till then, of the Puritan +with the blackleg."</p> + +<p>Clay was indignant, and sent Randolph a challenge, +which he accepted. On the night before the +duel, Randolph told a friend that he had determined +not to return Clay's fire. "Nothing," he +said, "shall induce me to harm a hair of his head. +I will not make his wife a widow and his children +orphans. Their tears would be shed over his +grave; but when the sod of Virginia rests on my +bosom, there is not in this wide world one individual +to pay this tribute upon mine."</p> + +<p>The two men met on the banks of the Potomac, +near sunset. Clay fired and missed his adversary, +while Randolph discharged his pistol in the air. +As soon as Clay perceived this he came forward +and exclaimed, "I trust in God, my dear sir, that +you are unhurt; after what has occurred, I would +not have harmed you for a thousand worlds." +Years afterward, a short time before Randolph's +death, as he was on his way to Philadelphia, +he stopped in Washington, and was carried into +the Senate chamber during its all-night session. +Clay was speaking. "Hold me up," he said +to his attendants; "<i>I have come to hear that +voice.</i>"</p> + +<p>At the presidential election of 1828 Andrew +Jackson was the successful candidate, and Clay +retired to his Ashland farm, where he took especial +delight in his fine horses, cattle, and sheep.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> +But he was soon returned to the Senate by his +devoted State.</p> + +<p>The tariff question was now absorbing the public +mind. The South, under Calhoun's leadership, had +been opposed to protection, which they believed +aided northern manufacturers at the expense of +southern agriculturists. When the tariff bill of +1832 was passed, and South Carolina talked of +nullification and secession, Clay said: "The great +principle which lies at the foundation of all free +government is that the majority must govern, from +which there can be no appeal but the sword. That +majority ought to govern wisely, equitably, moderately, +and constitutionally; but govern it must, +subject only to that terrible appeal. If ever one +or several States, being a minority, can, by menacing +a dissolution of the Union, succeed in forcing +an abandonment of great measures deemed essential +to the interests and prosperity of the whole, the +Union from that moment is practically gone. It +may linger on in form and name, but its vital +spirit has fled forever."</p> + +<p>South Carolina passed her nullification ordinance, +and prepared to resist the collection of +revenues at Charleston. Then Jackson, with his +undaunted courage and indomitable will, ordered +a body of troops to South Carolina, and threatened +to hang Calhoun and his nullifiers as "high as +Haman."</p> + +<p>Then the "great pacificator" came forward to +heal the wounds between North and South, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> +preserve the Union. He prepared his "Compromise +Bill," which provided for a gradual reduction +of duties till the year 1842, when twenty per cent. +at a home valuation should become the rate on +dutiable goods. He spent much time and thought +on this bill, visiting the great manufacturers of the +country, and urging them to accede for the sake of +peace.</p> + +<p>After this bill passed he was more esteemed +than ever. He visited by request the Northern +and Eastern States, and spoke to great gatherings +of people in nearly all the large cities. A platform +having been erected on the heights of Bunker Hill, +Edward Everett addressed him in the presence of +an immense audience, and Clay responded with his +usual eloquence. The young men of Boston presented +him a pair of silver pitchers, weighing one +hundred and fifty ounces. The young men of +Troy, New York, gave him a superbly mounted +rifle. Other cities made him expensive presents.</p> + +<p>After the first four years of Jackson's "reign," +as it was called by those who deprecated the +unusual power held by the executive, Clay was +again nominated for the presidency by the Whigs, +and again defeated, Jackson receiving two hundred +and nineteen electoral votes and Clay only forty-nine.</p> + +<p>Again in 1840, after the four years' term of Van +Buren, the protégé of Jackson, all eyes turned +toward Clay as the coming President. But already +he had been twice the nominee and been twice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> +defeated. The anti-slavery element had become +a serious factor in party plans. The secretary of +the American Anti-Slavery Society in New York +wrote Clay: "I should consider the election of +a slave-holder to the presidency a great calamity to +the country." The slave-holders meantime denounced +Clay as an abolitionist.</p> + +<p>When the Whig national convention met, December +4, 1839, they chose, not Clay, but General +William Henry Harrison, a good man and a successful +soldier, but a very different man from the +popular Clay. The statesman was sorely disappointed. +"I am," he said, "the most unfortunate +man in the history of parties: always run by my +friends when sure to be defeated, and now betrayed +for a nomination when I or any one would be sure +of an election."</p> + +<p>His friends throughout the country were grieved +and indignant. But Clay supported with all his +power the true-hearted old soldier, who, when +elected, offered him the first place in the Cabinet, +which was declined. Harrison died a month after +his inauguration, and John Tyler became President. +Clay and Tyler differed constantly, till +Clay determined to retire from the Senate. He +said: "I want rest, and my private affairs want +attention. Nevertheless, I would make any personal +sacrifice if, by remaining here, I could do any +good; but my belief is I can effect nothing, and +perhaps my absence may remove an obstacle to +something being done by others." When it became<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> +known that Clay would make a farewell address, +the Senate chamber was crowded.</p> + +<p>He spoke of his long career of public service, +and the memorable scenes they had witnessed together. +His feelings nearly overcame him as he +said: "I emigrated from Virginia to the State of +Kentucky now nearly forty-five years ago; I went +as an orphan boy who had not yet attained the +age of majority, who had never recognized a father's +smile nor felt his warm caresses, poor, penniless, +without the favor of the great, with an imperfect +and neglected education, hardly sufficient for the +ordinary business and common pursuits of life; +but scarce had I set foot upon her generous soil +when I was embraced with parental fondness, caressed +as though I had been a favorite child, and +patronized with liberal and unbounded munificence. +From that period the highest honors of the +State have been freely bestowed upon me; and +when, in the darkest hour of calumny and detraction, +I seemed to be assailed by all the rest of the +world, she interposed her broad and impenetrable +shield, repelled the poisoned shafts that were +aimed for my destruction, and vindicated my good +name from every malignant and unfounded aspersion. +I return with indescribable pleasure to +linger a while longer, and mingle with the warm-hearted +and whole-souled people of that State; +and, when the last scene shall forever close upon +me, I hope that my earthly remains will be laid +under her green sod with those of her gallant and +patriotic sons."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>When Clay reached Lexington he was welcomed +like a prince. A great public feast was given in +his honor. In his speech to the people he said: +"I have been accused of ambition, often accused +of ambition. If to have served my country during +a long series of years with fervent zeal and unshaken +fidelity, in seasons of peace and war, at +home and abroad, in the legislative halls and in an +executive department; if to have labored most +sedulously to avert the embarrassment and distress +which now overspread this Union, and, when +they came, to have exerted myself anxiously, at +the extra session and at this, to devise healing +remedies; if to have desired to introduce economy +and reform in the general administration, curtail +enormous executive power, and amply provide, at +the same time, for the wants of the government +and the wants of the people, by a tariff which +would give it revenue and then protection; if to +have earnestly sought to establish the bright but +too rare example of a party in power faithful to +its promises and pledges made when out of power,—if +these services, exertions, and endeavors +justify the accusation of ambition, I must plead +guilty to the charge.</p> + +<p>"I have wished the good opinion of the world; +but I defy the most malignant of my enemies to +show that I have attempted to gain it by any low +or grovelling acts, by any mean or unworthy sacrifices, +by the violation of any of the obligations of +honor, or by a breach of any of the duties which I +owed to my country."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>In 1844, at the Whig convention at Baltimore, +May 1, Clay was unanimously nominated for the +presidency, with a great shout that shook the +building. It seemed as though his hour of triumph +had come at last. James K. Polk was the +Democratic nominee. Another party now appeared, +the "Liberty Party," with James G. Birney of +Kentucky as its candidate. He was an able lawyer, +and a man who had liberated his slaves +through principle. The contest was one of the +most acrimonious in our national history. Texas +was clamoring for admission to the Union, with +the Mexican War sure to result. The Whigs +feared to commit themselves on the slavery question. +When the votes were counted Birney had +received over sixty-two thousand, enough to throw +the election into the hands of the Democrats. The +abolitionists had done what they were willing to +do,—bury the Whig party, that from its grave +might arise another party, which should fearlessly +grapple with slavery, and they accomplished their +desire, when, in 1860, the Republican party made +Abraham Lincoln President.</p> + +<p>The disappointment to Mr. Clay was extreme, +but he bore it bravely. His friends all over the +country seemed broken-hearted. Letters of sorrow +poured into Ashland. "I write," said one, +"with an aching heart, and ache it must. God +Almighty save us! Although our hearts are +broken and bleeding, and our bright hopes are +crushed, we feel proud of our candidate. God<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span> +bless you! Your countrymen do bless you. All +know how to appreciate the man who has stood in +the first rank of American patriots. Though unknown +to you, you are by no means a stranger to +me." Another wrote: "I have buried a revolutionary +father, who poured out his blood for his +country; I have followed a mother, brothers, sisters, +and children to the grave; and, although I +hope I have felt, under all these afflictions, as a +son, a brother, and a father should feel, yet nothing +has so crushed me to the earth, and depressed +my spirits, as the result of our late political contest."</p> + +<p>"Permit me, a stranger, to address you. From +my boyhood I have loved no other American statesman +so much except Washington. I write from +the overflowing of my heart. I admire and love you +more than ever. If I may never have the happiness +of seeing you on earth, may I meet you in +heaven."</p> + +<p>A lady wrote, "I had indulged the most joyous +anticipations in view of that political campaign +which has now been so ingloriously ended. I considered +that the nation could never feel satisfied until +it had cancelled, in some degree, the onerous +obligations so long due to its faithful and distinguished +son."</p> + +<p>Another lady wrote, "My mind is a perfect +chaos when I dwell upon the events which have +occurred within the last few weeks. My heart refused +to credit the sad reality. Had I the eloquence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span> +of all living tongues, I could not shadow +forth the deep, deep sorrow that has thrilled +my inmost soul. The bitterest tears have flowed +like rain-drops from my eyes. Never, till now, +could I believe that truth and justice would not +prevail."</p> + +<p>A lady in Maryland, ninety-three years old, +wrought for Clay a counterpane of almost numberless +pieces. New York friends sent a silver +vase three feet high. The ladies of Tennessee sent +a costly vase. Tokens of affection came from all +directions. But the grief was so great that in +some towns business was almost suspended, while +the people talked "of the late blow that has fallen +upon our country."</p> + +<p>Other troubles were pressing upon Mr. Clay's +heart. By heavy expenditures and losses through +his sons, his home had become involved to the extent +of fifty thousand dollars. The mortgage was +to be foreclosed, and Henry Clay would be penniless. +A number of friends had learned these facts, +and sent him the cancelled obligation. He was +overcome by this proof of affection, and exclaimed, +"Had ever any man such friends or enemies as +Henry Clay!"</p> + +<p>Two years later, his favorite son, Colonel Henry +Clay, was killed under General Taylor, in the battle +of Buena Vista. "My life has been full of +domestic affliction," said the father, "but this last +is the severest among them." A few years before, +while in Washington, a brilliant and lovely married<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> +daughter had died. When Mr. Clay opened the +letter and read the sad news, he fainted, and remained +in his room for days.</p> + +<p>Mr. Clay was now seventy years old. Chastened +by sorrow, he determined to unite with the Episcopal +Church. Says one who was present in the +little parlor at Ashland, "When the minister entered +the room on this deeply solemn and interesting +occasion, the small assembly, consisting of the +immediate family, a few family connections, and +the clergyman's wife, rose up. In the middle of +the room stood a large centre-table, on which was +placed, filled with water, the magnificent cut-glass +vase presented to Mr. Clay by some gentlemen of +Pittsburg. On one side of the room hung the +large picture of the family of Washington, himself +an Episcopalian by birth, by education, and a +devout communicant of the church; and immediately +opposite, on a side-table, stood the bust of the +lamented Harrison, with a chaplet of withered +flowers hung upon his head, who was to have been +confirmed in the church the Sabbath after he died,—fit +witnesses of such a scene. Around the room +were suspended a number of family pictures, and +among them the portrait of a beloved daughter, +who died some years ago, in the triumphs of that +faith which her noble father was now about to embrace; +and the picture of the late lost son, who +fell at the battle of Buena Vista. Could these +silent lookers-on at the scene about transpiring +have spoken from the marble and the canvas, they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> +would heartily have approved the act which dedicated +the great man to God."</p> + +<p>In 1848, Clay was again talked of for the presidency, +but the party managers considered General +Taylor, of the Mexican War, a more available candidate, +and he was nominated and elected. Clay was +again unanimously chosen to the Senate for six +years from March 4, 1849. Seven years before, he +had said farewell. Now, at seventy-two, he was +again to debate great questions, and once more save +the nation from disruption and civil war,—for a +time; he hoped, for all time.</p> + +<p>The territory obtained from Mexico became a +matter of contention as to whether it should be +slave territory or not. California asked to be admitted +to the Union without slavery. The North +favored this, while the South insisted that the +Missouri Compromise of 1820, which forbade slavery +north of 36° 30', if continued to the Pacific +Ocean, would entitle them to California. Already +the Wilmot Proviso, which sought to exclude slavery +from all territory hereafter acquired by the United +States, had aroused bitter feeling at the South. +Clay, loving the Union beyond all things else, +thought out his compromise of 1850. As he +walked up to the Capitol to make his last great +speech upon the measure, he said to a friend accompanying +him, "Will you lend me your arm? I +feel myself quite weak and exhausted this morning." +The friend suggested that he postpone his +speech.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>"I consider our country in danger," replied +Clay; "and if I can be the means in any measure +of averting that danger, my health and life are of +little consequence."</p> + +<p>Great crowds had come from Philadelphia, New +York, Boston, and elsewhere to hear the speech, +which occupied two days. He said: "War and +dissolution of the Union are identical; they are +convertible terms; and such a war!... If the +two portions of the confederacy should be involved +in civil war, in which the effort on the one side +would be to restrain the introduction of slavery +into the new territories, and, on the other side, to +force its introduction there, what a spectacle should +we present to the contemplation of astonished +mankind! An effort to propagate wrong! It +would be a war in which we should have no sympathy, +no good wishes, and in which all mankind +would be against us, and in which our own history +itself would be against us."</p> + +<p>For six months the measure was debated. Clay +came daily to the Senate chamber, so ill he could +scarcely walk, but determined to save the Union. +"Sir," said the grand old man, "I have heard something +said about allegiance to the South. I know +no South, no North, no East, no West, to which I +owe any allegiance.... Let us go to the fountain +of unadulterated patriotism, and, performing a +solemn lustration, return divested of all selfish, +sinister, and sordid impurities, and think alone of +our God, our country, our conscience, and our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span> +glorious Union.... If Kentucky to-morrow unfurls +the banner of resistance unjustly, I never will +fight under that banner. I owe a paramount allegiance +to the whole Union,—a subordinate one to +my own State. When my State is right, when it +has a cause for resistance, when tyranny and +wrong and oppression insufferable arise, I will +then share her fortunes; but if she summons me +to the battlefield, or to support her in any cause +which is unjust against the Union, never, <i>never</i> +will I engage with her in such a cause!"</p> + +<p>Finally the Compromise Bill of 1850 was substantially +adopted. Among its several provisions +were the admission of California as a free State, +the abolition of the slave-trade in the District of +Columbia, the organization of the Territories of +New Mexico and Utah without conditions as to +slavery, and increased stringency of the Fugitive +Slave Laws.</p> + +<p>Mr. Clay's hopes as to peace seemed for a few +brief months to be realized. Then the North, exasperated +by the provisions of the Fugitive Slave +Bill, by which all good citizens were required to +aid slave-holders in capturing their fugitive slaves, +began to resist the bill by force. Clay could do no +more. He must have foreseen the bitter end. +Worn and tired, he went to Cuba to seek restoration +of health.</p> + +<p>In 1852 he was urged to allow his name to be +used again for the presidency. It was too late +now. He returned to Washington at the opening<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> +of the thirty-second Congress, but he entered the +Senate chamber but once. During the spring, +devoted friends and two of his sons watched by his +bedside. He said: "As the world recedes from +me, I feel my affections more than ever concentrated +on my children and theirs."</p> + +<p>The end came peacefully, June 29, 1852, when he +was seventy-six. On July 1 the body lay in state +in the Senate chamber, and was then carried to +Lexington. In all the principal cities through +which the cortege passed, Baltimore, Philadelphia, +New York, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, +and others, thousands gathered to pay their homage +to the illustrious dead, weeping, and often +pressing their lips upon the shroud. On July 10, +when the body, having reached Lexington, was +ready for burial, nearly a hundred thousand persons +were gathered. In front of the Ashland +home, on a bier covered with flowers, stood the +iron coffin. Senators and scholars, the rich and +the poor, the white and the black, mourned together +in their common sorrow. The great man +had missed the presidency, but he had not missed +the love of a whole nation. The "mill-boy of the +Slashes," winsome, sincere, had, unaided, become +the only and immortal Henry Clay.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 432px;"> +<img src="images/illus-fpc.jpg" width="432" height="600" alt="Charles Sumner" title="Charles Sumner" /> + +</div> + + + + +<h2>CHARLES SUMNER.</h2> + + +<p>Henry Ward Beecher said of Charles +Sumner: "He was raised up to do the work +preceding and following the war. His eulogy will +be, a lover of his country, an advocate of universal +liberty, and the most eloquent and high-minded of +all the statesmen of that period in which America +made the transition from slavery to liberty."</p> + +<p>"The most eloquent and high-minded." Great +praise, but worthily bestowed!</p> + +<p>Descended from an honorable English family +who came to Massachusetts in 1637, settling in +Dorchester, and the son of a well known lawyer, +Charles Sumner came into the world January 6, +1811, with all the advantages of birth and social +position. That he cared comparatively little for +the family coat-of-arms of his ancestors is shown +by his words in his address on "The True Grandeur +of Nations." "Nothing is more shameful for +a man than to found his title to esteem not on his +own merits, but on the fame of his ancestors. The +glory of the fathers is, doubtless, to their children, +a most precious treasure; but to enjoy it without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> +transmitting it to the next generation, and without +adding to it yourselves,—this is the height of +imbecility."</p> + +<p>Sumner added to the "glory of the fathers," +not by ease and self-indulgence, not by conforming +to the opinions of the society about him, but by a +life of labor, and heroic devotion to principle. He +had such courage to do the right as is not common +to mankind, and such persistency as teaches a lesson +to the young men of America.</p> + +<p>Charles was the oldest of nine children, the +twin brother of Matilda, who grew to a beautiful +womanhood, and died of consumption at twenty-one. +The family home was at No. 20 Hancock +Street, Boston, a four-story brick building.</p> + +<p>Charles Pinckney Sumner, the father, a scholarly +and well bred man of courtly manners, while +he taught his children to love books, had the severity +of nature which forbade a tender companionship +between him and his oldest son. This was +supplied, however, by the mother, a woman of +unusual amiability and good-sense, who lived to +be his consolation in the struggles of manhood, +and to be proud and thankful when the whole +land echoed his praises.</p> + +<p>The boy was tall, slight, obedient, and devoted +to books. He was especially fond of reading and +repeating speeches. When sent to dancing-school +he showed little enjoyment in it, preferring to go +to the court-room with his father, to listen to the +arguments of the lawyers. When he visited his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> +mother's early home in Hanover, he had the extreme +pleasure of reciting in the country woods +the orations which he had read in the city.</p> + +<p>In these early days he was an aspiring lad, with +a manner which made his companions say he was +"to the manor born." The father had decided to +educate him in the English branches only, thus +fitting him to earn his living earlier, as his income +from the law, at this time, was not large. Charles, +however, had purchased some Latin books with his +pocket money, and surprised his father with the +progress he had made by himself when ten years +old. He was therefore, at this age, sent to the +Boston Latin School. So skilful was he in the +classics that at thirteen he received a prize for a +translation from Sallust, and at fifteen a prize for +English prose and another for a Latin poem. At +the latter age he was ready to enter Harvard College. +He had desired to go to West Point, but, +fortunately, there was no opening. The country +needed him for other work than war. To lead a +whole nation by voice and pen up to heroic deeds +is better than to lead an army.</p> + +<p>All this time he read eagerly in his spare moments, +especially in history, enjoying Gibbon's +"Rome," and making full extracts from it in his +notebooks. At fourteen he had written a compendium +of English history, from Cæsar's conquest +to 1801, which filled a manuscript book of eighty-six +pages.</p> + +<p>His first college room at Harvard was No. 17<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> +Stoughton Hall. "When he entered," says one of +his class-mates, "he was tall, thin, and somewhat +awkward. He had but little inclination for engaging +in sports or games, such as kicking foot-ball +on the Delta, which the other students were in +almost the daily habit of enjoying. He rarely +went out to take a walk; and almost the only +exercise in which he engaged was going on foot to +Boston on Saturday afternoon, and then returning +in the evening. He had a remarkable fondness +for reading the dramas of Shakespeare, the works +of Walter Scott, together with reviews and magazines +of the higher class. He remembered what +he read, and quoted passages afterwards with the +greatest fluency.... In declamation he held rank +among the best; but in mathematics there were +several superior. He was always amiable and gentlemanly +in deportment, and avoided saying anything +to wound the feelings of his class-mates." +One of the chief distinguishing marks of a well +bred man is that he speaks ill of no one and +harshly to no one.</p> + +<p>In Sumner's freshman year his persistency +showed itself, as in his childhood, when, in quarrelling +with a companion over a stick, he held it +till his bleeding hands frightened his antagonist, +who ran away. By the laws of the college, students +wore a uniform, consisting of an Oxford +cap, coat, pantaloons, and vest of the color known +as "Oxford mixed." In summer a white vest was +allowed. Sumner, having a fancy for a buff vest,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> +purchased one, wore it, and was summoned before +the teachers for non-conformity to rules. He +insisted, with much eloquence, that his vest was +white. Twice he was admonished, and finally, as +the easiest way to settle with the good-principled +but persistent student, it was voted by the board, +"that in future Sumner's vest be regarded as +white!"</p> + +<p>In scholarship in college he ranked among the +first third. He gave much time to general reading, +especially the old English authors, Milton, +Pope, Dryden, Addison, Goldsmith. Hazlitt's +"Select British Poets" and Harvey's "Shakespeare" +he kept constantly on his table in later +life, ready for use. The latter, which he always +called <span class="smcap">The Book</span>, was found open on the day of +his death, with the words marked in Henry VI:—</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">"Would I were dead! if God's good will were so;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">For what is in this world but grief and woe?"</span> +</p> + +<p>On leaving college, Sumner's mind was not made +up as to his future work. He was somewhat +inclined to the law, but questioned his probable +success in it. He spent a year at home in study, +mastering mathematics, which he so disliked, and +reading Tacitus, Juvenal, Persius, Hume, Hallam, +and the like. In the winter he composed an essay +on commerce, and received the prize offered by the +"Boston Society for the Diffusion of Useful +Knowledge." Daniel Webster, the president of +the society, gave the prize, Liebner's "Encyclopædia<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span> +Americana," to Sumner, taking his hand and +calling him his "young friend." He did not know +that this youth would succeed him in the Senate, +and thrill the nation by his eloquence, as Webster +himself had done.</p> + +<p>Sumner's class-mates were proud that he had +gained this prize, and one wrote to another, "Our +friend outstrips all imagination. He will leave us +all behind him.... He has been working hard to +lay a foundation for the future. I doubt whether +one of his class-mates has filled up the time since +commencement with more, and more thorough +labor; and to keep him constant he has a pervading +ambition,—not an intermittent, fitful gust of +an affair, blowing a hurricane at one time, then +subsiding to a calm, but a strong, steady breeze, +which will bear him well on in the track of honor."</p> + +<p>In the fall of 1831 Sumner had decided to study +law, and began in earnest at the Harvard Law +School. Early and late he was among his books, +often until two in the morning. He soon knew +the place of each volume in the law library, so +that he could have found it in the dark. He read +carefully in common law, French law, and international +law; procured a common-place book, and +wrote out tables of English kings and lord-chancellors, +sketches of lawyers, and definitions and incidents +from Blackstone. He made a catalogue of +the law library, and wrote articles for legal magazines. +He went little into society, because he preferred +his books. Judge Story, a man twice his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> +own age, became his most devoted friend, and to +the end of his life Sumner loved him as a brother.</p> + +<p>Chief Justice Story, whom Lord Brougham +called the "greatest justice in the world," was a +man of singularly sweet nature, appreciative of the +beautiful and the pure, as well as a man of profound +learning. The influence of such a lovable +and strong nature over an ambitious youth, who can +estimate?</p> + +<p>The few friends Sumner made among women +were, as a rule, older than himself, a thing not +unusual with intellectual men. He chose those +whose minds were much like his own, and who +were appreciative, refining, and stimulating. Brain +and heart seemed to be the only charms which +possessed any fascination for him.</p> + +<p>The eminent sculptor, W. W. Story of Rome, +says, "Of all men I ever knew at his age, he was +the least susceptible to the charms of women. +Men he liked best, and with them he preferred to +talk. It was in vain for the loveliest and liveliest +girl to seek to absorb his attention. He would at +once desert the most blooming beauty to talk to +the plainest of men. This was a constant source +of amusement to us, and we used to lay wagers +with the pretty girls that with all their art they +could not keep him at their side a quarter of an +hour. Nor do I think we ever lost one of these +bets. I remember particularly one dinner at my +father's house, when it fell to his lot to take out +a charming woman, so handsome and full of <i>esprit</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span> +that any one at the table might well have envied +him his position. She had determined to hold him +captive, and win her bet against us. But her efforts +were all in vain. Unfortunately, on his other +side was a dry old <i>savant</i>, packed with information; +and within five minutes Sumner had completely +turned his back on his fair companion and +engaged in a discussion with the other, which +lasted the whole dinner. We all laughed. She +cast up her eyes deprecatingly, acknowledged herself +vanquished, and paid her bet. Meantime, +Sumner was wholly unconscious of the jest or of +the laughter. He had what he wanted—sensible +men's talk. He had mined the <i>savant</i> as he +mined every one he met, in search of ore, and was +thoroughly pleased with what he got."</p> + +<p>In manner Sumner was natural and sincere, +friendly to all, winning at the first moment by his +radiant smile. A sunny face is a constant benediction. +How it blesses and lifts burdens from aching +hearts! Sumner had heart-aches like all the +rest of mankind, but his face beamed with that +open, kindly expression which is as sweet to hungering +humanity as the sunshine after rain. And +this "genial illuminating smile," says Mr. Story, +"he never lost."</p> + +<p>These days in the law school were happy days +for the lover of learning. Forty years afterward, +Mr. Sumner said, in an address to the colored law +students of Howard University, Washington, +"These exercises carry me back to early life....<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> +I cannot think of those days without fondness. +They were the happiest of my life.... There is +happiness in the acquisition of knowledge, which +surpasses all common joys. The student who feels +that he is making daily progress, constantly learning +something new,—who sees the shadows by +which he was originally surrounded gradually exchanged +for an atmosphere of light,—cannot fail +to be happy. His toil becomes a delight, and all +that he learns is a treasure,—with this difference +from gold and silver, that it cannot be lost. It is +a perpetual capital at compound interest."</p> + +<p>While at the law school, Sumner wrote a friend, +"A lawyer must know everything. He must know +law, history, philosophy, human nature; and, if he +covets the fame of an advocate, he must drink of +all the springs of literature, giving ease and elegance +to the mind, and illustration to whatever subject +it touches. So experience declares, and reflection +bears experience out.... The lower floor +of Divinity Hall, where I reside, is occupied by +law students. There are here Browne and Dana of +our old class, with others that I know nothing of,—not +even my neighbor, parted from me by a +partition wall, have I seen yet, and I do not wish +to see him. I wish no acquaintances, for they eat +up time like locusts. The old class-mates are +enough." To another he wrote, "Determine that +you will master the whole compass of law; and do +not shrink from the crabbed page of black-letter, +the multitudinous volumes of reports, or even the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> +gigantic abridgments. Keep the high standard in +your mind's eye, and you will certainly reach some +desirable point.... You cannot read history too +much, particularly that of England and the United +States. History is the record of human conduct +and experience; and it is to this that jurisprudence +is applied.... Above all love and honor your profession. +You can make yourself love the law, +proverbially dry as it is, or any other study. Here +is an opportunity for the exercise of the will. Determine +that you will love it, and devote yourself +to it as to a bride."</p> + +<p>When the study at the law school was over, +Sumner returned to Boston, and entered the office +of Benjamin Rand, Court Street, a man distinguished +for learning rather than for oratory. The +young lawyer succeeded fairly well, though he +loved study better than general practice. Two +years later he gave instruction at the law school +when Judge Story was absent, and then reported +his opinions in the Circuit Court, in three volumes. +He assisted Professor Greenleaf in preparing "Reports +of the Decisions of the Supreme Court of +Maine," revised, with much labor, Dunlap's "Admiralty +Practice," and edited "The American +Jurist."</p> + +<p>In the midst of this hard work he spent a brief +vacation at Washington, writing to his father, "I +shall probably hear Calhoun, and he will be the +last man I shall ever hear speak in Washington. I +probably shall never come here again. I have little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> +or no desire ever to come again in any capacity. +Nothing that I have seen of politics has made me +look upon them with any feeling other than loathing. +The more I see of them the more I love law, +which, I feel, will give me an honorable livelihood."</p> + +<p>When he visited Niagara, he wrote home, "I +have sat for an hour contemplating this delightful +object, with the cataract sounding like the voice of +God in my ears. But there is something oppressive +in hearing and contemplating these things. +The mind travails with feelings akin to pain, in the +endeavor to embrace them. I do not know that it +is so with others; but I cannot disguise from myself +the sense of weakness, inferiority, and incompetency +which I feel."</p> + +<p>When Sumner was twenty-six, he determined to +carry out a life-long plan of visiting Europe, to +study its writers, jurists, and social customs. He +needed five thousand dollars for this purpose. He +had earned two thousand, and, borrowing three +from three friends, he started December 8, 1837. +Emerson gave him a letter of introduction to Carlyle, +Story to some leading lawyers, and Washington +Allston to Wordsworth. Judge Story said in +his letter, "Mr. Sumner is a practising lawyer at +the Boston bar, of very high reputation for his +years, and already giving the promise of the most +eminent distinction in his profession; his literary +and judicial attainments are truly extraordinary. +He is one of the editors, indeed, the principal editor, +of 'The American Jurist,' a quarterly journal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span> +of extensive circulation and celebrity among us, +and without a rival in America. He is also the reporter +of the court in which I preside, and has +already published two volumes of reports. His +private character, also, is of the best kind for +purity and propriety."</p> + +<p>His friend Dr. Lieber gave him some good suggestions +about travelling. "Plan your journey. +Spend money carefully. Keep steadily a journal. +Never think that an impression is too vivid to be +forgotten. Believe me, <i>time</i> is more powerful than +senses or memory. Keep little books for addresses. +Write down first impressions of men and countries."</p> + +<p>Just before Sumner started from New York, he +wrote to his little sister, Julia, then ten years old, +"I am very glad, my dear, to remember your cheerful +countenance.... Let it be said of you that +you are always amiable.... Cultivate an affectionate +disposition. If you find that you can do +anything which will add to the pleasure of your +parents, or anybody else, be sure to do it. Consider +every opportunity of adding to the pleasure +of others as of the highest importance, and do not +be unwilling to sacrifice some enjoyment of your +own, even some dear plaything, if by doing so you +can promote the happiness of others. If you follow +this advice, you will never be selfish or ungenerous, +and everybody will love you."</p> + +<p>To his brother George, six years younger than +himself, he wrote, "Do not waste your time in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span> +driblets. Deem every moment precious,—far +more so than the costliest stones.... Keep some +good book constantly on hand to occupy every stray +moment."</p> + +<p>As soon as Sumner reached Paris he devoted +himself to the study of the language, so as to be +able to speak what he could write already. He attended +lectures given by the professors of colleges, +became acquainted with Victor Cousin, the noted +writer on morals and metaphysics, and the friend +of authors, lawyers, and journalists. He said, +years later, in an eloquent tribute to Judge Story: +"It has been my fortune to know the chief jurists +of our time in the classical countries of jurisprudence,—France +and Germany. I remember well +the pointed and effective style of Dupin, in one of +his masterly arguments before the highest court +of France; I recall the pleasant converse of Pardessus, +to whom commercial and maritime law is +under a larger debt, perhaps, than to any other mind, +while he descanted on his favorite theme; I wander +in fancy to the gentle presence of him with flowing +silver locks who was so dear to Germany, Thibaut, +the expounder of Roman law, and the earnest +and successful advocate of a just scheme for the +reduction of the unwritten law to the certainty of +a written text; from Heidelberg I pass to Berlin, +where I listen to the grave lecture and mingle in +the social circle of Savigny, so stately in person +and peculiar in countenance, whom all the continent +of Europe delights to honor; but my heart and my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span> +judgment, untravelled, fondly turn with new love +and admiration to my Cambridge teacher and +friend. Jurisprudence has many arrows in her +quiver, but where is one to compare with that +which is now spent in the earth?"</p> + +<p>After some months in Paris, Sumner went to +England, remaining ten months, and receiving attentions +rarely if ever accorded to an American. +He used some letters of introduction, but generally +he was welcomed to the houses of lords and authors +simply because the young man of learning was +honored for his refinement and nobility of soul. +He was admitted to the clubs, attended debates in +Parliament, was present at the coronation of +Queen Victoria in Westminster Abbey, sat on the +bench at Westminster Hall, dined often with Lord +Brougham, Sir William Hamilton, Jeffrey of the +<i>Edinburgh Review</i>, Lord Morpeth the Chief Secretary +for Ireland, Hallam, Carlyle, Lord Holland, +Lord Houghton, Grote, Sydney Smith, Macaulay, +Landor, Leigh Hunt, and scores of others, +the greatest in the kingdom. An English writer +said: "He presents in his own person a decisive +proof that an American gentleman, without official +rank or widespread reputation, by mere dint of +courtesy, candor, an entire absence of pretension, +an appreciating spirit, and a cultivated mind, may +be received on a perfect footing of equality in the +best English circles, social, political, and intellectual."</p> + +<p>Sumner wrote back to his friends in America:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> +"I have made myself master of English practice +and English circuit life. I cannot sufficiently express +my admiration of the heartiness and cordiality +which pervade all the English bar. They are +truly a band of brothers, and I have been received +among them as one of them. I have visited many—perhaps +I may say most—of the distinguished +men of these glorious countries (England, Scotland, +and Ireland), at their seats, and have seen English +country life, which is the height of refined luxury, +in some of its most splendid phases. For all +the opportunities I have had I feel grateful."</p> + +<p>Sumner found, what all travellers find, that cultivated, +well bred people all speak a common language, +that of universal courtesy and kindness. +The English did not ask if he had wealth or +distinguished parentage; it was enough that he +was intelligent on all topics, considerate, gentle in +manner, a gentleman in every possible situation.</p> + +<p>Every letter home teemed with descriptions of +visits to Wordsworth, then sixty-nine years of age; +to Macaulay, whom Sydney Smith called "a tremendous +machine for colloquial oppression;" to +the beautiful Caroline Norton, the poet, "one of +the brightest intellects I have ever met," with +"the grace and ease of the woman, with a strength +and skill of which any man might well be proud;" +to Lord Brougham, with "a fulness of information +and physical spirits, which make him more commanding +than all."</p> + +<p>Sumner spent three months in Rome, at first<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span> +studying the language from six to twelve hours a +day. He became the friend of the artist Thomas +Crawford, then poor, but with high ambition. He +wrote his praises home to his friends, induced +them to buy one of his earliest works and exhibit +it in Boston; cheered the half-despairing artist by +assuring him that he would be "a great and successful +sculptor, and be living in a palace," all of +which came true. A noble nature, indeed, that +could pause in its own aspiring work and lift another +to fame and success!</p> + +<p>Six months were spent in Germany by Sumner, +where he studied language and law as earnestly as +he had in France and Italy. The rich, full days +of literary intercourse were coming to an end. He +wrote to his intimate friend Longfellow: "I shall +soon be with you; and I now begin to think of +hard work, of long days filled with uninteresting +toil and humble gains. I sometimes have a moment +of misgiving, when I think of the certainties +which I abandoned for travel, and of the uncertainties +to which I return. But this is momentary; +for I am thoroughly content with what I +have done. If clients fail me; if the favorable +opinion of those on whom professional reputation +depends leaves me; if I find myself poor and solitary,—still +I shall be rich in the recollection of +what I have seen, and will make companions of the +great minds of these countries I have visited."</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1840 Sumner was home again, +having been abroad for two and one-half years.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span> +The father and his sister Jane, a lovely girl of +seventeen, had both died during his absence. He +went at once to the Hancock Street home, and +began his professional labors from nine till five or +six in the afternoon. In the evening he read as +formerly till midnight or later, going every Saturday +evening to spend the night with Longfellow at +Craigie House.</p> + +<p>This affection for Longfellow never changed. +When the poet went abroad in 1842, Sumner wrote +him, "We are all sad at your going; but I am +more sad than the rest, for I lose more than they +do. I am desolate. It was to me a source of +pleasure and strength untold to see you; and, +when I did not see you, to feel that you were near, +with your swift sympathy and kindly words. I +must try to go alone,—hard necessity in this rude +world of ours, for our souls always in this life need +support and gentle beckonings, as the little child +when first trying to move away from its mother's +knee. God bless you, my dear friend, from my +heart of hearts. My eyes overflow as I now trace +these lines."</p> + +<p>Sumner was full of incident and vivid description +of his life abroad, and the most charming +homes of Boston were open to him whenever he +had the time to visit, which was seldom. The +letters from Europe made the long days of law +practice less monotonous. He wrote much on +legal matters; and now, at thirty-three, undertook +to edit the "Equity Reports" of Francis Vesey,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> +Jr., numbering twenty volumes, for two thousand +dollars. By the terms agreed upon, a volume was +to be ready each fortnight. He worked night and +day, took no recreation, and soon broke down in +health; and his life was despaired of. He welcomed +death, for he had before this time become +somewhat despondent. Most of his friends were +married, and some, like Prescott and Longfellow, +had come to fame already. He felt that his life +was not showing the results of which his youth +gave promise.</p> + +<p>Had he found at this time "the perfect woman" +for whom he used to tell his friends he was seeking, +and made her his wife, there would doubtless +have come into his life satisfaction and rest. +That he did not marry was the more strange since +women admired him for the qualities which are +especially attractive to the sex; a knightly sense +of honor, fidelity in friendship, fearlessness, and +affectionate confidence.</p> + +<p>Sumner recovered his health, while his beloved +sister Mary, at the age of twenty-two, faded from +his sight by consumption. He wrote his brother +George: "She herself wished to die; and I believe +that we all became anxious at last that the angel +should descend to bear her aloft. From the beautiful +flower of her life the leaves had all gently +fallen to the earth; and there remained but little +for the hand of death to pluck. During the night +preceding the morning on which she left us, she +slept like a child; and within a short time of her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span> +death, when asked if she were in pain, she said, +'No; angels are taking care of me.'"</p> + +<p>To Charles Sumner this death was an incomparable +loss. She was especially beautiful and +lovely, and the idol of his heart. Possibly it +helped to make him ready for his great work.</p> + +<p>Into most lives, especially those designed for +great deeds, there seem to come decisive moments +when events open the door from the darkness of +obscurity into the noonday glare of fame. Such a +time came to Sumner in 1845. He was asked to +deliver the usual Fourth of July address at Tremont +Temple, Boston, as Charles Francis Adams, +Horace Mann, and others had done in previous +years. He chose for his subject "The True Grandeur +of Nations," showing that the "true grandeur" +is peace and not war. He dealt vigorously with +the Mexican War, then impending, as a result of +the annexation of Texas, with consequent enlargement +of slave territory.</p> + +<p>Sumner was now thirty-four, well developed +physically, his face handsome and radiant as ever, +with the smile of his boyhood, his voice clear and +resonant, his mind full to overflowing. He spoke +for two hours, without notes. He said: "The true +greatness of a nation cannot be in triumphs of the +intellect alone. Literature and art may widen +the sphere of its influence; they may adorn it; +but they are in their nature but accessories. <i>The +true grandeur of humanity is in moral elevation, +sustained, enlightened, and decorated by the intellect +of man....</i> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>In our age there can be no peace +that is not honorable; there can be no war that is +not dishonorable. The true honor of a nation is +to be found only in deeds of justice and beneficence, +securing the happiness of its people,—all +of which are inconsistent with war. In the clear +eye of Christian judgment, vain are its victories, +infamous are its spoils. He is the true benefactor, +and alone worthy of honor, who brings comfort +where before was wretchedness; who dries the +tear of sorrow; who pours oil into the wounds of +the unfortunate; who feeds the hungry, and clothes +the naked; who unlooses the fetter of the slave; +who does justice; who enlightens the ignorant; +who, by his virtuous genius in art, in literature, in +science, enlivens and exalts the hours of life; who, +by words or actions, inspires a love for God and for +man. This is the Christian hero; this is the man +of honor in a Christian land."</p> + +<p>The believers in war felt somewhat hurt by +Sumner's plainness of speech, but the city of Boston +and the State of Massachusetts awoke to the +knowledge of an eloquent man in their midst, who +had doubtless a work before him. Mrs. Lydia +Maria Child wrote him: "How I did thank you for +your noble and eloquent attack upon the absurd +barbarism of war! It was worth living for to have +done that, if you never do anything more. But +the soul that could do that <i>will</i> do more."</p> + +<p>Chancellor Kent wrote him, "I am very strongly +in favor of the institution of a congress of nations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> +or system of arbitration without going to war. +Every effort ought to be made by treaty stipulation, +remonstrance, and appeal to put a stop to the +resort to brutal force to assert claims of right. +The idea of war is horrible. I remember I was +very much struck, even in my youth, by the observation +(I think it was in Tom Paine's 'Crisis') +that 'he who is the author of war lets loose the +whole contagion of hell, and opens a vein that +bleeds a nation to death.'"</p> + +<p>Seven thousand copies of this oration were distributed +by the Peace Societies of England, and it +had a wide reading in our own country.</p> + +<p>Sumner was now called upon to speak with Garrison, +Phillips, and others, on the question of the +annexation of Texas with her slave territory. He +said, "God forbid that the votes and voices of the +freemen of the North should help to bind anew the +fetters of the slave! God forbid that the lash of +the slave-dealer should be nerved by any sanction +from New England! God forbid that the blood +which spurts from the lacerated quivering flesh of +the slave should soil the hem of the white garments +of Massachusetts."</p> + +<p>The educated Boston lawyer, the friend of hosts +of authors and jurists on both sides of the ocean, +the accomplished and aristocratic scholar, Sumner +had placed himself among the despised Abolitionists! +Many of his friends stood aghast, even refusing +to recognize him on the street. This act +required great moral heroism, but he was equal to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span> +the occasion. The door had opened to fame and +immortality, even though they came to him through +contumely and well-nigh martyrdom.</p> + +<p>In 1846, Mr. Sumner spoke before the Phi Beta +Kappa Society of Harvard University: "We stand +on the threshold of a new age, which is preparing +to recognize new influences. The ancient divinities +of violence and wrong are retreating to their kindred +darkness. The sun of our moral universe is +entering a new ecliptic, no longer deformed by +those images, Cancer, Taurus, Leo, Sagittarius, but +beaming with the mild radiance of those heavenly +signs, Faith, Hope, and Charity.</p> + +<div class="poem"> + +<span class="i0"> "'There's a fount about to stream;</span><br /> +<span class="i1">There's a light about to beam;</span><br /> +<span class="i1">There's a warmth about to glow;</span><br /> +<span class="i1">There's a flower about to blow;</span><br /> +<span class="i1">There's a midnight blackness changing</span><br /> +<span class="i4">Into gray:</span><br /> +<span class="i1">Men of thought and men of action,</span><br /> +<span class="i4">Clear the way!'"</span> +</div> + +<p>Theodore Parker wrote to the orator, "You have +planted a seed, 'out of which many and tall branches +shall arise,' I hope. <i>The people are always true to +a good man who truly trusts them.</i> You have had +opportunity to see, hear, and feel the truth of that +oftener than once. I think you will have enough +more opportunities yet; men will look for deeds +noble as the words <i>a man speaks</i>."</p> + +<p>And Charles Sumner became as noble as the +words he had spoken. It makes us stronger to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> +commit ourselves before the world. We are compelled +to live up to the standard of our speech, or +be adjudged hypocrites.</p> + +<p>Before the Boston Mercantile Library Association, +Sumner read a brilliant paper on "White Slavery +in the Barbary States," and gave an address before +Amherst College on "Fame and Glory." He +spoke earnestly in the Whig conventions, asking +them to come out against slavery. He urged Daniel Webster, +the Defender of the Constitution, to +become the "Defender of Humanity," "by the side +of which that earlier title shall fade into insignificance, +as the Constitution, which is the work of +mortal hands, dwindles by the side of man, who is +created in the image of God." But the words of +entreaty came too late; the Whig party did not +dare take up the cause of human freedom.</p> + +<p>In 1851, when Sumner was forty, the new era of +his life came. The Free-Soil party, organized August +9, 1848, the successor of the "Liberty" party +formed eight years earlier, wanted him as their +leader. Would he separate from the Whigs? +Yes, for he had said, "Loyalty to principle is +higher than loyalty to party. The first is a heavenly +sentiment from God; the other is a device of +this earth.... I wish it to be understood that I +belong to the party of freedom,—to that party +which plants itself on the Declaration of Independence +and the Constitution of the United States.... +It is said that we shall throw away our votes, +and that our opposition will fail. Fail, sir! No<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span> +honest, earnest effort in a good cause ever fails. +It may not be crowned with the applause of man; +it may not seem to touch the goal of immediate +worldly success, which is the end and aim of so +much of life; but still it is not lost. It helps to +strengthen the weak with new virtue, to arm the +irresolute with proper energy, to animate all with +devotion to duty, which in the end conquers all. +Fail! Did the martyrs fail when with their precious +blood they sowed the seed of the Church?... +Did the three hundred Spartans fail when, in the +narrow pass, they did not fear to brave the innumerable +Persian hosts, whose very arrows darkened +the sun? No! Overborne by numbers, crushed to +earth, they have left an example which is greater +far than any victory. And this is the least we can +do. Our example shall be the source of triumph +hereafter."</p> + +<p>Millard Fillmore had signed the hated Fugitive +Slave Bill, and Webster had made his disastrous +speech of March 7, 1850, urging conformity to the +demands of the bill. Sumner's hour had come. +By a union of the Free-Soil and Democratic parties, +he was elected to the Senate of the United States +for six years, over the eloquent Robert C. Winthrop, +the Whig candidate. The contest was bitter. +Sumner would give no pledges, and said he +would not walk across the room to secure the election. +On Monday, December 1, 1851, he took his +seat. Devotion to principle had gained him an exalted +position.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span>Months went by before he could possibly obtain +a hearing on the slavery question, on which issue +he had been elected. Finally, the long sought +opportunity came by introducing an amendment +that the Fugitive Slave Bill should be repealed. +He spoke for four hours as only Charles Sumner +could speak. Despised by the slave-holders, they +listened to his burning words. In closing, he +said: "Be admonished by those words of oriental +piety,—'Beware of the groans of wounded souls. +Oppress not to the utmost a single heart; for a +solitary sigh has power to overset a whole world.'"</p> + +<p>Mr. Polk of Tennessee said to him: "If you +should make that speech in Tennessee, you would +compel me to emancipate my niggers."</p> + +<p>The vote on the repeal stood: Yeas, four; nays, +forty-seven. Alas! how many years he wrought +before the repeal came.</p> + +<p>Sumner had been heard not merely by Congress; +he had been heard by two continents. Henceforward, +for twenty-three years, he was to be in Congress +the great leader in the cause of human +freedom.</p> + +<p>In 1854 the advocates of slavery brought forward +the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, by which a large +territory, at the recommendation of Stephen A. +Douglas, was to be left open for slavery or no +slavery, as the dwellers therein should decide. On +the night of the passage of this bill, Sumner made +an eloquent protest. "Sir, the bill which you are +now about to pass is at once the worst and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span> +best bill on which Congress ever acted. Yes, sir, +<span class="smcap"><small>WORST</small></span> and <span class="smcap"><small>BEST</small></span> at the same time.</p> + +<p>"It is the worst bill, inasmuch as it is a present +victory of slavery.... It is the best, for it prepares +the way for that 'All hail hereafter,' when +slavery must disappear.... Thus, sir, now standing +at the very grave of freedom in Kansas and +Nebraska, I lift myself to the vision of that happy +resurrection by which freedom will be secured +hereafter, not only in these Territories but everywhere +under the national government. More +clearly than ever before, I now see 'the beginning +of the end' of slavery. Proudly I discern the flag +of my country as it ripples in every breeze, at last +become in reality, as in name, the flag of freedom,—undoubted, +pure, and irresistible. Am I not +right, then, in calling this bill the best on which +Congress ever acted?</p> + +<p>"Sorrowfully I bend before the wrong you are +about to enact. Joyfully I welcome all the promises +of the future."</p> + +<p>After the passage of the bill the excitement at +the North was intense. Public meetings were +held, denouncing the new scheme of the slave-power +to acquire more territory. So bitter grew +the feeling that Sumner was urged by his friends +to leave Washington, lest harm come to him; but +he walked the streets unarmed. "He was assailed," +said the noble Joshua R. Giddings of Ohio, +"by the whole slave-power in the Senate, and, for a +time, he was the constant theme of their vituperation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span> +The maddened waves rolled and dashed +against him for two or three days, until eventually +he obtained the floor himself; then he arose and +threw back the dashing surges with a power of +inimitable eloquence utterly indescribable."</p> + +<p>The Kansas-Nebraska Bill produced its legitimate +result,—civil war in the Territory. Slave-holders +rushed in from Missouri, bringing their +slaves with them; free men came from the East to +build homes, school-houses, and churches on these +fertile lands. The struggles at the ballot-box over +illegal elections were followed by struggles on the +battle-field. At the village of Ossawatomie twenty-eight +Free State men led by John Brown defeated +on the open prairie fifty-six Slave State +men. Houses were burned, and men murdered. +Two State constitutions were adopted: one at Lecompton, +representing the pro-slavery element; the +other at Lawrence, representing the anti-slavery +party. Finally, the President, in 1855, appointed a +military governor to restore Kansas to order. But, +while order might be restored there, the whole +country seemed on the verge of civil war.</p> + +<p>Meantime the Republican party had been formed +in 1854, the outgrowth of the "Liberty" and +"Free Soil" parties. A "Bill for the Admission +of Kansas into the Union" having been presented, +Sumner made his celebrated speech "The Crime +against Kansas," on the 19th and 20th of May, +1856. He spoke eloquently and fearlessly, arousing +more than ever the hot blood of the South.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span> +Two days later, as Mr. Sumner was sitting at his +desk in the Senate chamber, his head bent forward +in writing, the Senate having adjourned, +Preston S. Brooks, a nephew of Mr. Butler, a senator +of South Carolina, stood before him. "I have +read your speech twice over, carefully," he said. +"It is a libel on South Carolina and Mr. Butler, +who is a relative of mine." Instantly he struck +Mr. Sumner on the back of the head, with his hollow +gutta-percha cane, making a long and fearful +gash, repeating the blows in rapid succession. +Sumner wrenched the desk from the floor, to +which it was screwed, but, unable to defend himself, +fell forward bleeding and insensible. He was +carried by his friends to a sofa in the lobby, and +during the night lay pale and bewildered, scarcely +speaking to any one about him.</p> + +<p>The indignation and horror of the North beggar +description. That a man, in this age of free speech, +should be publicly beaten, and that by a member +of the House of Representatives, was, of course, a +disgrace to the nation. Said Joseph Quincy: +"Charles Sumner needs not our sympathy. If he +dies his name will be immortal—his name will be +enrolled with the names of Warren, Sidney, and +Russell; if he lives he is destined to be the light +of the nation." Wendell Phillips said: "The +world will yet cover every one of those scars with +laurels. He must not die! We need him yet, as +the van-guard leader of the hosts of Liberty. +Nay, he shall yet come forth from that sick-chamber,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span> +and every gallant heart in the commonwealth +be ready to kiss his very footsteps."</p> + +<p>Brooks was censured by the House of Representatives, +resigned his seat, and died the following +year. Sumner returned to Boston as soon as he +was able. Houses were decorated for his coming, +and banners flung to the breeze with the words, +"Welcome, Freedom's Defender," "Massachusetts +loves, honors, will sustain and defend her noble +<span class="smcap">Sumner</span>." The home on Hancock Street was surrounded +by a dense crowd. He appeared at the +window with his widowed mother, and bowed to +their cheers. For several months he enjoyed the +tender care of this mother, now almost alone. Her +son Horace had been lost in the ship Elizabeth, +July 16, 1850, when Margaret Fuller, her husband, +and child were drowned. Albert, a sea-captain, +had been lost with his wife and only +daughter on their way to France. And now, perhaps, +her distinguished son Charles was to give his +life to help bring freedom to four millions in +slavery.</p> + +<p>In 1857 Sumner was almost unanimously reëlected +to the Senate for six years, but Brooks had +done his dreadful work too well. Broken in +health, he sailed for Europe. Nearly twenty +years before he had gone to meet the honored and +famous, his future all unknown; now he went as +the stricken leader of a great cause, one of the +most able and eloquent men of the new world. +Twenty years before he was restless and unhappy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span> +because he did not see his life-work before him; +now he was happy in spite of physical agony, because +he knew he was helping humanity.</p> + +<p>After travelling in Switzerland, Germany, and +Great Britain, he returned and took his seat in +Congress, but, finding his health still impaired, he +sailed again to Europe. He regretted to leave the +country, but was, as he says, "often assured and +encouraged to feel that to every sincere lover of +civilization my vacant chair was a perpetual +speech." On this second visit he came under the +treatment of Dr. Brown-Séquard, who, when asked +by Mr. Sumner what would cure him, replied, +"Fire." At once the dreadful remedy was applied. +The physician says, when he first met the senator, +"He could not make use of his brain at all. He +could not read a newspaper, could not write a +letter. He was in a frightful state as regards the +activity of the mind, as every effort there was most +painful to him.... I told him the truth,—that +there would be more effect, as I thought, if he did +not take chloroform; and so I had to submit him +to the martyrdom of the greatest suffering that +can be inflicted on mortal man. I burned him with +the first moxa. I had the hope that after the first +application he would submit to the use of chloroform; +but for five times after that he was burned +in the same way, and refused to take chloroform. +I have never seen a patient who submitted to such +treatment in that way."</p> + +<p>Sumner wrote home: "It is with a pang unspeakable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span> +that I find myself thus arrested in the +labors of life and in the duties of my position. +This is harder to bear than the fire."</p> + +<p>Four years elapsed before he regained his health; +indeed his death finally resulted from the attack of +Brooks. No sooner had he returned to the Senate +than he made another great speech against slavery. +The country was agitated by the coming presidential +election. John Brown had captured, with a +force of twenty-two men, the United States arsenal +at Harper's Ferry, with the fallacious hope of setting +the slaves at liberty. He was of course overpowered, +his sons killed at his side, as others of +his sons had been on the Kansas battlefields, and +he led out to execution, December 2, 1859, with a +radiant face and an overflowing heart, because he +knew that his death would arouse the nation to +action.</p> + +<p>Mr. Sumner spoke to an immense audience at +Cooper Institute, urging the election of Abraham +Lincoln. By this election, he said, "we shall save +the Territories from the five-headed barbarism of +slavery; we shall save the country and the age +from that crying infamy, the slave-trade; we +shall help save the Declaration of Independence, +now dishonored and disowned in its essential, life-giving +truth,—<i>the equality of men</i>.... A new +order of things will begin; and our history will +proceed on a grander scale, in harmony with those +sublime principles in which it commenced. Let +the knell sound!—</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<span class="i0"> "'Ring out the old, ring in the new!</span><br /> +<span class="i1">Ring out the false, ring in the true!</span><br /> +<span class="i2">Ring out a slowly dying cause,</span><br /> +<span class="i1">And ancient forms of party strife!</span><br /> +<span class="i1">Ring in the nobler modes of life,</span><br /> +<span class="i2">With sweeter manners, purer laws.'"</span> +</div> + +<p>A "new order of things" was indeed begun. +South Carolina very soon seceded from the Union, +and other southern States followed her example. +Sumner now spoke and wrote constantly. He +urged Massachusetts to be "<i>firm</i>, <span class="smcap"><small>FIRM</small></span>, FIRM! +against every word or step of concession.... +More than the loss of forts, arsenals, or the national +capital, I fear the loss of our principles."</p> + +<p>In 1861, Mr. Sumner was made chairman of the +Committee on Foreign Relations. How different +his position from that day, ten years before, when +he stood almost alone in the Senate, a hated abolitionist!</p> + +<p>When the war began, he saw with prophetic eye +the necessity of emancipating the slaves. He +urged it in his public speeches. When Lincoln +hesitated and the country feared the result, he said +to a vast assembly at Cooper Institute, "There has +been the cry, 'On to Richmond!' and still another +worse cry, 'On to England!' Better than either +is the cry, 'On to freedom!'"</p> + +<p>As the war went forward he was ever at his post, +working for Henry Wilson's bill for the abolishing +of slavery in the District of Columbia, for the +recognition of the independence of Hayti and Liberia,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span> +for the final suppression of the coastwise +trade in slaves, for the employment of colored +troops in the army, and for a law that "no person +shall be excluded from the cars on account of color," +on various specified lines of railroad. He spoke +words of encouragement constantly to the North, +"This is no time to stop. <span class="smcap">Forward! Forward!</span> +Thus do I, who formerly pleaded so often for peace, +now sound to arms; but it is because, in this terrible +moment, there is no other way to that sincere +and solid peace without which there will be endless +war.... Now, at last, by the death of slavery, +will the republic begin to live; for what is +life without liberty?</p> + +<p>"Stretching from ocean to ocean, teeming with +population, bountiful in resources of all kinds, and +thrice happy in universal enfranchisement, it will +be more than conqueror, nothing too vast for its +power, nothing too minute for its care."</p> + +<p>He wrote for the magazines on the one great subject. +He helped organize the Freedman's Bureau, +which he called the "Bridge from Slavery to Freedom." +He urged equal pay to colored soldiers. +He was invaluable to President Lincoln. Though +they did not always think alike, Lincoln said to +Sumner, "There is no person with whom I have +more advised throughout my administration than +with yourself."</p> + +<p>When Lincoln was assassinated, Sumner wept by +his bedside. "The only time," said an intimate +friend, "I ever saw him weep." When he delivered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span> +his eloquent eulogy on Lincoln in Boston, he +said, "That speech, uttered on the field of Gettysburg, +and now sanctified by the martyrdom of its +author, is a monumental act. In the modesty of +his nature, he said, 'The world will little note, nor +long remember, what we say here; but it can never +forget what they did here.'</p> + +<p>"He was mistaken. The world noted at once +what he said, and will never cease to remember it. +The battle itself was less important than the +speech. Ideas are more than battles."</p> + +<p>And so the great slavery pioneer and the great +emancipator will go down in history together. +How the world worships heroic manhood! Those +who, with sweet and unselfish natures, seek not their +own happiness, but are ready to die if need be for +the right and the truth!</p> + +<p>Sumner aided in those three grand amendments +to the Constitution, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and +fifteenth. "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, +except as a punishment for crime, whereof +the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist +within the United States, or any place subject +to their jurisdiction.... All persons born or +naturalized in the United States, and subject to the +jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United +States and of the State wherein they reside. No +State shall make or enforce any law which shall +abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of +the United States; nor shall any State deprive any +person of life, liberty, or property, without due<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span> +process of law, nor deny to any person within its +jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.... +The right of citizens of the United States to vote +shall not be denied or abridged by the United +States, or by any State, on account of race, color, +or previous condition of servitude."</p> + +<p>In June, 1866, Mr. Sumner came home to say +good-bye to his dying mother. True to her noble +womanhood, she urged that he should not be sent +for, lest the country could not spare him from his +work. Beautiful self-sacrifice of woman! Heaven +can possess nothing more angelic. O mother, wife, +and loved one, know thine unlimited powers, and +hold them forever for the ennobling of men!</p> + +<p>When Mrs. Sumner was buried, her son turned +away sorrowfully, and exclaimed, "I have now no +home." He had a house in Washington, where he +had lived for many years, but it was only home to +him where a sweet-faced and sweet-voiced woman +loved him.</p> + +<p>In 1869, Mr. Sumner made his remarkable speech +on the "Alabama" claims, which for a time caused +some bitter feeling in England. This vessel, built +at Liverpool, and manned by a British crew, was +sent out by the Confederate government, and destroyed +sixty-six of our vessels, with a loss of ten +million dollars. In 1864, she was overtaken in the +harbor of Cherbourg, France, by Captain Winslow, +commander of the steamer Kearsarge, and sunk, +after an hour's desperate fighting. Her commander, +Captain Raphael Semmes, was picked up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span> +by the English Deerhound, and taken to Southampton. +In the summer of 1872, a board of arbitration +met at Geneva, Switzerland, and awarded the United +States over fifteen million dollars as damages, +which Great Britain paid.</p> + +<p>On May 12, 1870, Mr. Sumner introduced his +supplementary Civil-Rights Bill, declaring that all +persons, without regard to race or color, are entitled +to equal privileges afforded by railroads, steamboats, +hotels, places of amusement, institutions of +learning, religion, and courts of law. His maxim +was, "Equality of rights is the first of rights."</p> + +<p>He supported Horace Greeley for President, thus +separating himself from the Republican party, and +carrying out his life-long opinion that principle is +above party. After another visit to Europe, in +1872, when he was sixty-one years old, feeling that, +the war being over and slavery abolished, the two +portions of the country should forget all animosity +and live together in harmony, he introduced a resolution +in the Senate, "That the names of battles +with fellow-citizens shall not be continued in the +army register or placed on the regimental colors of +the United States."</p> + +<p>Massachusetts hastily passed a vote of censure +upon her idolized statesman, which she was wise +enough to rescind soon after. This latter action +gave Mr. Sumner great comfort. He said, "The +dear old commonwealth has spoken for me, and +that is enough."</p> + +<p>In his freestone house, full of pictures and books,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span> +overlooking Lafayette Square in Washington, on +March 11, 1874, Charles Sumner lay dying. The +day previous, in the Senate, he had complained to a +friend of pain in the left side. On the morning of +the eleventh he was cold and well nigh insensible. +At ten o'clock he said to Judge Hoar, "Don't forget +my Civil-Rights Bill." Later, he said, "My +book! my book is not finished.... I am so tired! +I am so tired!"</p> + +<p>He had worked long and hard. He passed into +the rest of the hereafter at three o'clock in the +afternoon. Grand, heroic soul! whose life will be +an inspiration for all coming time.</p> + +<p>The body, enclosed in a massive casket, upon +which rested a wreath of white azaleas and lilies, +was borne to the Capitol, followed by a company +of three hundred colored men and a long line of +carriages. The most noticeable among the floral +gifts, says Elias Nason, in his Life of Sumner, +"was a broken column of violets and white azaleas, +placed there by the hands of a colored girl. She +had been rendered lame by being thrust from the +cars of a railroad, whose charter Mr. Sumner, after +hearing the girl's story, by a resolution, caused to +be revoked." From there it was carried to the +State House in Boston, and visited by at least fifty +thousand people. In the midst of the beautiful +floral decorations was a large heart of flowers, from +the colored citizens of Boston, with the words, +"Charles Sumner, you gave us your life; we give +you our hearts."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span>Through a dense crowd the coffin was borne to +Mount Auburn cemetery, and placed in the open +grave just as the sun was setting, Longfellow, +Holmes, Emerson, and other dear friends standing +by. The grand old song of Luther was sung, +"Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott." Strange contrast! +the quiet, unknown Harvard law student;—the +great senator, doctor of laws, author, and +orator. Sumner had his share of sorrow. He +lived to see seven of his eight brothers and sisters +taken away by death. He who had longed for +domestic bliss did not find it. He married, when +he was fifty-five, Mrs. Alice Mason Hooper, but +the companionship did not prove congenial, and a +divorce resulted, by mutual consent.</p> + +<p>He forgot the heart-hunger of his early years in +living for the slaves and the down-trodden, whether +white or black. Through all his struggles he kept +a sublime hope. He used to say, "All defeats in a +good cause are but resting-places on the road to +victory at last." He had defeats, as do all, but he +won the victory.</p> + +<p>Well says Hon. James G. Blaine, in his "Twenty +Years of Congress," "Mr. Sumner must ever be regarded +as a scholar, an orator, a philanthropist, a +philosopher, a statesman, whose splendid and unsullied +fame will always form part of the true +glory of the nation."</p> + +<p>"He belongs to all of us, in the North and in the +South," said Hon. Carl Schurz, in his eulogy delivered +in Music Hall, Boston, "to the blacks he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span> +helped to make free, and to the whites he strove to +make brothers again. On the grave of him whom +so many thought to be their enemy, and found to +be their friend, let the hands be clasped which so +bitterly warred against each other. Upon that +grave let the youth of America be taught, by the +story of his life, that not only genius, power, and +success, but, more than these, patriotic devotion +and virtue, make the greatness of the citizen."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 406px;"> +<img src="images/illus-307.jpg" width="406" height="600" alt="U. S. Grant" title="U. S. Grant" /> + +</div> + +<h2>U. S. GRANT.</h2> + + +<p>What Longfellow wrote of Charles Sumner +may well be applied to Grant:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + +<span class="i0"> "Were a star quenched on high,</span><br /> +<span class="i2">For ages would its light,</span><br /> +<span class="i1">Still travelling downward from the sky,</span><br /> +<span class="i2">Shine on our mortal sight.</span> +</div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> "So when a great man dies,</span><br /> +<span class="i2">For years beyond our ken</span><br /> +<span class="i1">The light he leaves behind him lies</span><br /> +<span class="i2">Upon the paths of men."</span> +</div></div> + +<p>The light left by General Grant will not fade out +from American history. To be a great soldier is +of course to be immortal; but to be magnanimous +to enemies, heroic in affections, a master of self, +without vanity, honest, courageous, true, invincible,—such +greatness is far above the glory of +battlefields. Such greatness he possessed, who, +born in comparative obscurity, came to be numbered +in that famous trio, dear to every American +heart: Washington, Lincoln, Grant.</p> + +<p>Ulysses Simpson Grant was born April 27, 1822, +in a log house at Mount Pleasant, Ohio. The boy +seems to have had the blood of soldiers in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span> +veins, for his great-grandfather and great-uncle +held commissions in the English army in 1756, in +the war against the French and Indians, and both +were killed. His grandfather served through the +entire war of the Revolution.</p> + +<p>His father, Jesse R. Grant, left dependent upon +himself, learned the trade of a tanner, and by his +industry made a home for himself and family. +Unable to attend school more than six months in +his life, he was a constant reader, and through his +own privations became the more anxious that his +children should be educated.</p> + +<p>Ulysses was the first-born child of Jesse Grant +and Hannah Simpson, who were married in June, +1821. When their son was about a year old, they +moved to Georgetown, Ohio, and here the boy +passed a happy childhood, learning the very little +which the schools of the time were able to impart.</p> + +<p>He was not fond of study, and enjoyed the more +active life of the farm. He says in his personal +memoirs: "While my father carried on the manufacture +of leather and worked at the trade himself, +he owned and tilled considerable land. I detested +the trade, preferring almost any other labor; but +I was fond of agriculture, and of all employment in +which horses were used. We had, among other +lands, fifty acres of forest within a mile of the +village. In the fall of the year, choppers were +employed to cut enough wood to last a twelve-month. +When I was seven or eight years of age, +I began hauling all the wood used in the house<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span> +and shops. I could not load it on the wagons, of +course, at that time, but I could drive, and the +choppers would load, and some one at the house +unload. When about eleven years old, I was strong +enough to hold a plough. From that age until +seventeen I did all the work done with horses, +such as breaking up the land, furrowing, ploughing +corn and potatoes, bringing in the crops when +harvested, hauling all the wood, besides tending +two or three horses, a cow or two, and sawing +wood for stoves, etc., while still attending school. +For this I was compensated by the fact that there +never was any scolding or punishing by my parents; +no objection to rational enjoyments, such as fishing, +going to the creek a mile away to swim in +summer, taking a horse and visiting my grandparents +in the adjoining county, fifteen miles off, +skating on the ice in winter, or taking a horse and +sleigh when there was snow on the ground."</p> + +<p>The indulgent father allowed his son some unique +experiences. Ulysses, at fifteen, having made a +journey to Flat Rock, Kentucky, seventy miles +away, with a carriage and two horses, took a +fancy to a saddle-horse and offered to trade one +which he was driving, for this animal. The owner +hesitated about trading with a lad, but finally consented, +and the untried colt was hitched to the +carriage with his new mate. After proceeding a +short distance, the animal became frightened by a +dog, kicked, and started to run over an embankment. +Ulysses, nothing daunted, took from his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span> +pocket a large handkerchief, tied it over the horse's +eyes, and sure that the terrified creature would see +no more dogs, though he trembled like an aspen +leaf, drove peacefully homeward.</p> + +<p>Young Grant was as truthful as he was calm +and courageous. He tells this story of himself. +"There was a Mr. Ralston living within a few +miles of the village, who owned a colt which I +very much wanted. My father had offered twenty +dollars for it, but Ralston wanted twenty-five. I +was so anxious to have the colt that after the +owner left I begged to be allowed to take him at +the price demanded. My father yielded, but said +twenty dollars was all the horse was worth, and +told me to offer that price; if it was not accepted, +I was to offer twenty-two and a half, and if that +would not get him, to give the twenty-five. I at +once mounted a horse and went for the colt. When +I got to Mr. Ralston's house, I said to him: 'Papa +says I may offer you twenty dollars for the colt; +but if you won't take that, I am to offer twenty-two +and a half; and if you won't take that, to give you +twenty-five.' It would not require a Connecticut +man to guess the price finally agreed upon....</p> + +<p>"I could not have been over eight years at the +time. This transaction caused me great heart-burning. +The story got out among the boys of +the village, and it was a long time before I heard +the last of it. Boys enjoy the misery of their +companions, at least village boys in that day did, +and in later life I have found that all adults are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span> +not free from the peculiarity. I kept the horse +until he was four years old, when he went blind, +and I sold him for twenty dollars. When I went +to Maysville to school, in 1836, at the age of fourteen, +I recognized my colt as one of the blind +horses working on the tread-wheel of the ferry-boat."</p> + +<p>All this time the father was desirous of an education +for his child. The son of a neighbor had +been appointed to West Point, and had failed in +his examinations. Mr. Grant applied for his son. +"Ulysses," he said one day, "I believe you are +going to receive the appointment." "What appointment!" +was the response. "To West Point. +I have applied for it." "But I won't go," said the +impetuous boy. But the father's will was law, and +the son began to prepare himself. He bought an +algebra, but, having no teacher, he says, it was +Greek to him. He had no love for a military life, +and looked forward to the West Point experience +only as a new opportunity to travel East and see +the country.</p> + +<p>At seventeen he took passage on a steamer for +Pittsburg, in the middle of May, 1839. Fortunately +the accommodating boat remained for several days +at every port, for passengers or freight, and meantime +the curious boy used his eyes to learn all that +was possible. When he reached Harrisburg, he +rode to Philadelphia on the first railroad which he +had ever seen except the one on which he had just +crossed the summit of the Alleghany Mountains.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span> +"In travelling by the road from Harrisburg," he +says, "I thought the perfection of rapid transit had +been reached. We travelled at least eighteen miles +an hour, when at full speed, and made the whole +distance averaging probably as much as twelve +miles an hour. This seemed like annihilating +space. I stopped five days in Philadelphia; saw +about every street in the city, attended the theatre, +visited Girard College (which was then in course of +construction), and got reprimanded from home +afterwards, for dallying by the way so long....</p> + +<p>"I reported at West Point on the 30th or 31st +of May, and about two weeks later passed my +examinations for admission, without difficulty, very +much to my surprise. A military life had no +charms for me, and I had not the faintest idea +of staying in the army even if I should be graduated, +which I did not expect. The encampment +which preceded the commencement of academic +studies was very wearisome and uninteresting. +When the 28th of August came—the date for +breaking up camp and going into barracks—I felt +as though I had been at West Point always, and +that if I stayed to graduation I would have to +remain always. I did not take hold of my studies +with avidity, in fact I rarely ever read over a lesson +the second time during my entire cadetship. +I could not sit in my room doing nothing. There +is a fine library connected with the academy, from +which cadets can get books to read in their quarters. +I devoted more time to these than to books<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span> +relating to the course of studies. Much of the +time, I am sorry to say, was devoted to novels, but +not those of a trashy sort. I read all of Bulwer's +then published, Cooper's, Marryat's, Scott's, Washington +Irving's works, Lever's, and many others +that I do not now remember. Mathematics was +very easy to me, so that when January came I +passed the examination, taking a good standing in +that branch. In French, the only other study at +that time in the first year's course, my standing +was very low. In fact, if the class had been turned +the other end foremost, I should have been near +the head."</p> + +<p>The years at West Point did not go by quickly; +only the ten weeks of vacation which seemed shorter +than one week in school. Sometimes at the academy +a great general, like Winfield Scott, came to +review the cadets. "With his commanding figure," +says young Grant, "his quite colossal size, and +showy uniform, I thought him the finest specimen +of manhood my eyes had ever beheld, and the most +to be envied. I could never resemble him in appearance, +but I believe I did have a presentiment, +for a moment, that some day I should occupy his +place on review—although I had no intention then +of remaining in the army. My experience in a +horse trade ten years before, and the ridicule it +caused me, were too fresh in my mind for me to +communicate this presentiment to even my most +intimate chum." How often into lives there +comes a feeling that there is a specified work to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span> +be done by us that no other person can or will +ever do!</p> + +<p>When the years were over at West Point, each +"four times as long as Ohio years," young Grant +was anxious to enter the cavalry, especially as he +had suffered from a cough for six months, and his +family feared consumption. Having gone home, +he waited anxiously for his new uniform. "I was +impatient," he says, "to get on my uniform and +see how it looked, and probably wanted my old +school-mates, particularly the girls, to see me in +it. The conceit was knocked out of me by two +little circumstances that happened soon after the +arrival of the clothes, which gave me a distaste +for military uniform that I never recovered from. +Soon after the arrival of the suit I donned it, and +put off for Cincinnati on horseback. While I was +riding along a street of that city, imagining that +every one was looking at me with a feeling akin +to mine when I first saw General Scott, a little +urchin, bareheaded, barefooted, with dirty and +ragged pants held up by a single gallows—that's +what suspenders were called then—and a shirt that +had not seen a washtub for weeks, turned to me +and cried: 'Soldier, will you work? No sir-ee; +I'll sell my shirt first!' The horse trade and its +dire consequences were recalled to mind.</p> + +<p>"The other circumstance occurred at home. +Opposite our house in Bethel stood the old stage +tavern where 'man and beast' found accommodation. +The stable-man was rather dissipated, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span> +possessed of some humor. On my return, I found +him parading the streets, and attending in the +stable, barefooted, but in a pair of sky-blue nankeen +pantaloons—just the color of my uniform +trousers—with a strip of white cotton sheeting +sewed down the outside seams in imitation of mine. +The joke was a huge one in the minds of many of +the people, and was much enjoyed by them; but I +did not appreciate it so highly."</p> + +<p>In September, 1843, Grant reported for duty at +Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, the largest military +post in the United States at that time. His hope +was to become assistant professor of mathematics +at West Point, and he would have been appointed +had not the Mexican War begun soon after.</p> + +<p>A new page was now to be turned in the eventful +life of the young officer; when he was to have, +as Emerson beautifully says of love, "the visitation +of that power to his heart and brain which +created all things anew; which was the dawn in +him of music, poetry, and art; which made the +face of nature radiant with purple light; the morning +and the night varied enchantments; when a +single tone of one voice could make the heart bound, +and the most trivial circumstance associated with +one form is put in the amber of memory; when he +became all eye when one was present, and all memory +when one was gone; ... when the moonlight +was a pleasing fever, and the stars were letters, +and the flowers ciphers, and the air was coined +into song; when all business seemed an impertinence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span> +and all the men and women running to and +fro in the streets were pictures."</p> + +<p>At West Point, Grant's class-mate was F. T. +Dent, whose family resided five miles west of Jefferson +Barracks. "Two of his unmarried brothers," +says Grant, "were living at home at that +time, and, as I had taken with me from Ohio my +horse, saddle, and bridle, I soon found my way out +to White Haven, the name of the Dent estate. +As I found the family congenial, my visits became +frequent. There were at home, besides the young +men, two daughters, one a school miss of fifteen, +the other a girl of eight or nine. There was still +an older daughter, of seventeen, who had been +spending several years at boarding-school in St. +Louis, but who, though through school, had not +yet returned home.... In February she returned +to her country home. After that I do not know +but my visits became more frequent; they certainly +did become more enjoyable. We would often +take walks, or go on horseback together to +visit the neighbors, until I became quite well +acquainted in that vicinity.... If the fourth infantry +had remained at Jefferson Barracks it is +possible, even probable, that this life might have +continued for some years without my finding out +that there was anything serious the matter with +me; but in the following May a circumstance occurred +which developed my sentiment so palpably +that there was no mistaking it."</p> + +<p>This "circumstance" was the annexation of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span> +Texas, the probability of a war with Mexico, and +the necessity of leaving Jefferson Barracks for the +Texan frontier. Alas! now that days full of hope, +and the sweet realization of a divine companionship +had come, they must have sudden ending. +Grant took a brief furlough, went to say good-bye +to his father and mother, and then to White Haven +to see Julia Dent. In crossing a swollen stream, +his uniform was wet through, but he donned the +suit of a future brother-in-law, and appeared before +his beloved to ask her hand in marriage, to +receive her acceptance, and then to hasten to the +scene of action. He saw her but once in the next +four years and three months; four anxious years to +her, when death often stared her lover in the face.</p> + +<p>As soon as Texas was admitted to the Union, in +1845, the "army of occupation," as the three thousand +men under General Zachary Taylor were +called, advanced to the Rio Grande and built a fort. +When the first hostile gun was fired, Grant says, +"I felt sorry that I had enlisted. A great many +men, when they smell battle afar off, chafe to get +into the fray. When they say so themselves, they +generally fail to convince their hearers that they +are as anxious as they would like to make believe, +and as they approach danger they become more +subdued. This rule is not universal, for I have +known a few men who were always aching for a +fight when there was no enemy near, who were as +good as their word when the battle did come on. +But the number of such men is small."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span>The first battle was at Palo Alto, meaning "tall +trees or woods," six miles from the Rio Grande. +Early in the forenoon of May 8, Taylor's three +thousand men were drawn up in line of battle, +opposed by superior numbers. The infantry was +armed with flintlock muskets and paper cartridges +charged with powder, buckshot, and ball. "At +the distance of a few hundred yards," says Grant, +"a man might fire at you all day without your finding +it out." The artillery consisted of two batteries +and two eighteen-pounder iron guns, with three or +four twelve-pounder howitzers throwing shell. The +firing was brisk on both sides. One cannon-ball +passed near Grant, killing several of his companions. +After a hard day's fight, the enemy retreated +in the night. The war had now begun in earnest, +and the man who at the first hostile gun "felt +sorry that he had enlisted" was ready to brave +danger on any field.</p> + +<p>In the hard-fought battle of Monterey, between +sixty-five hundred men under Taylor and ten thousand +Mexicans, Grant's curiosity got the better of +his judgment, and, leaving the camp, where he had +been ordered to remain, he mounted a horse and +rode to the front. He made the charge with the +men, when about a third of their number were +killed. He loaned his horse to the adjutant of the +regiment, Lieutenant Hoskins, who was soon killed, +and Grant was designated to act in his place.</p> + +<p>The ammunition became low, and to return for it +was so dangerous that the general commanding did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span> +not like to order any one to fetch it, so called for a +volunteer. Grant modestly says, "I volunteered +to go back to the point we had started from.... +My ride back was an exposed one. Before starting, +I adjusted myself on the side of my horse furthest +from the enemy, and with only one foot holding to +the cantle of the saddle, and an arm over the neck +of the horse exposed, I started at full run. It was +only at street-crossings that my horse was under +fire, but these I crossed at such a flying rate that +generally I was past and under cover of the next +block of houses before the enemy fired. I got out +safely, without a scratch."</p> + +<p>When Monterey was conquered, and the garrison +marched out as prisoners, young Grant was moved +to pity, as he says in his Memoirs, thus showing a +gentle nature, which he bore years later when thousands +were falling around him, and he was still +obliged to say, "Forward."</p> + +<p>After the capture of Vera Cruz and the surprise +at Cerro Gordo, where three thousand Mexicans +were made prisoners, the army advanced toward the +City of Mexico. Between three and four miles +from the city stood Molino del Rey, the "mill of +the King," an old stone structure, one story high, +flat-roofed, and several hundred feet long. Sandbags +were laid along the roof, and good marksmen +fought behind them. Near by was Chepultepec, +three hundred feet high, fortified on the top and on +its rocky sides. From the front, guns swept the +approach to Molino. Yet, on the morning of September<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span> +8, the assault upon Molino was made, young +Grant being among the foremost. The loss was +severe, especially among commissioned officers.</p> + +<p>Grant says, "I was with the earliest of the +troops to enter the mills. In passing through to +the north side, looking toward Chepultepec, I happened +to notice that there were armed Mexicans +still on top of the building, only a few feet from +many of our men. Not seeing any stairway or ladder +reaching to the top of the building, I took a +few soldiers, and had a cart that happened to be +standing near brought up, and, placing the shafts +against the wall, and chocking the wheels so that +the cart could not back, used the shafts as a sort of +ladder, extending to within three or four feet of +the top. By this I climbed to the roof of the +building, followed by a few men, but found a private +soldier had preceded me by some other way. +There were still quite a number of Mexicans on +the roof, among them a major and five or six officers +of lower grades, who had not succeeded in +getting away before our troops occupied the building. +They still had their arms, while the soldier +before mentioned was walking as sentry, guarding +the prisoners he had <i>surrounded</i>, all by himself. I +halted the sentinel, received the swords from the +commissioned officers, and proceeded, with the +assistance of the soldiers now with me, to disable +the muskets by striking them against the edge +of the wall, and throwing them to the ground +below."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span>Five days after the fall of Molino, Chepultepec +was taken, with severe loss. Grant was mentioned +in the official report as having "behaved with distinguished +gallantry." Just before the City of +Mexico fell into our hands, Grant was made first +lieutenant. Promotion had not come rapidly. It +is sometimes better if success does not come to us +early in life. To learn how to work steadily, day +after day, with an unalterable purpose; to learn +how to concentrate thought and will-power, how to +conquer self through failure and hope deferred, is +often essential for him who is to govern either by +physical or moral power.</p> + +<p>After Mexico fell, and General Scott lived in the +halls of the Montezumas, he controlled the city as +a Havelock or a Gordon might have done; and +Grant learned by observation the best of all lessons +for a soldier, to be magnanimous to a fallen +foe. He learned other valuable lessons in this +war; made the acquaintance of the officers with +whom he was to measure his strength, in the +most stupendous war of modern times, twenty +years later.</p> + +<p>When the treaty of peace was signed between +our country and Mexico, February 2, 1848, whereby +we paid fifteen million dollars for the territory +ceded to us, Grant obtained leave of absence for +four months. One person must have been inexpressibly +thankful that his life had been spared. +Four years, and she had seen him but once! How +noble we often become by the mellowing power of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span> +circumstances which prevent our having our own +way! Discipline may be only another word for +achievement.</p> + +<p>U. S. Grant and Julia Dent were married August +22, 1848, when he was twenty-six, and began a life +of affection and helpfulness, which grew brighter till +the end came on Mt. McGregor. There was reason +why the affection lasted through all the years; in +the best sense they lived for each other. Those +who find their happiness outside the home are apt +to find little inside the home. Devotion begets devotion, +and men and women must expect to receive +only what they give. Affection scattered produces +a scanty harvest.</p> + +<p>The winter of 1848 was spent at the post at +Sackett's Harbor, New York; the next two years +at Detroit, Michigan. In 1852, Grant was ordered +to the Pacific coast. And now the young husband +and wife must be separated; she to go to her home +in St. Louis, and he to the then unsettled West. +When Aspinwall was reached the streets of the town +were a foot under water, in a blazing, tropical sun. +Cholera broke out among the troops, as it had +among the inhabitants, and a third of the people +died. The crossing of the Isthmus of Panama, on +the backs of mules, was tedious and trying. San +Francisco was reached early in September. The +gold-mining fever was at its height. Soon the +troops passed up to Fort Vancouver, on the Columbia +River, and a quiet and dull life began. Measles +and small-pox were killing the Indians so rapidly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span> +that the gun of the white man was superfluous as +an agent of destruction.</p> + +<p>In 1854, six years after Grant's marriage, despairing +of supporting his wife and two children on +the Pacific coast with his pay as an army officer, +he resigned. His prospects now were not bright. +Without a profession, save that of arms, he was to +begin, at thirty-two, a struggle for support, which +must have tested the affection of the woman who +married the young officer in her hopeful girlhood. +She owned a farm in St. Louis, and thither they +moved as their home. He says of the farm: "I +had no means to stock it. A house had to be +built also. I worked very hard, never losing a day +because of bad weather, and accomplished the +object in a moderate way. If nothing else could +be done, I would load a cord of wood on a wagon +and take it to the city for sale. I managed to +keep along very well until 1858, when I was +attacked by fever and ague. I had suffered very +severely and for a long time from this disease +while a boy in Ohio. It lasted now over a year, +and, while it did not keep me in the house, it did +interfere greatly with the amount of work I was +able to perform. In the fall of 1858 I sold out my +stock, crops, and farming utensils at auction, and +gave up farming."</p> + +<p>Four years of struggling had not paid pecuniarily. +Poverty is not a pleasant school in which +to be nurtured. Blessings upon those who do not +grow harsh or discontented with its bitter lessons.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span> +To keep sunshine in the face when want knocks at +the heart is to win the victory in a dreadful battle. +And yet many are able to accomplish this, and +brighten with their happy faces lives more prosperous +than their own.</p> + +<p>In the winter of 1858 Captain Grant established +a partnership with a cousin of his wife in the real +estate business. Again separation came. The +little family were left on the farm while the +father tried another method of earning a living for +them. "Our business," he says, "might have +become prosperous if I had been able to wait for +it to grow. As it was, there was no more than one +person could attend to, and not enough to support +two families. While a citizen of St. Louis, and +engaged in the real estate agency business, I was a +candidate for the office of county engineer, an +office of respectability and emolument which would +have been very acceptable to me at that time. +The incumbent was appointed by the county court, +which consisted of five members. My opponent +had the advantage of birth over me (he was a citizen +by adoption), and carried off the prize. I now +withdrew from the co-partnership with Boggs, and, +in May, 1860, removed to Galena, Illinois, and took +a clerkship in my father's store."</p> + +<p>He was once more in the tannery business, which +he had so hated when a boy. It is well that men +and women are spurred to duty because somebody +depends upon them for daily food, otherwise this +life of often uncongenial labor would be unbearable.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span> +We rarely do what we like to do in this +world;—we do what the merciless goad of circumstance +forces us to do. He is wise who goes to his +work with a smile.</p> + +<p>The year 1860 opened upon a new era in this +country. Slavery and anti-slavery had struggled +together till the election of Abraham Lincoln to +the presidency told that the decisive hour had +come. The nation could no longer exist "half +slave and half free."</p> + +<p>When Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated, March 4, +1861, the Southern States seceded, one after +another, until eleven had separated from the +Union. Most of the Southern forts were already +in the hands of the Confederates. Fort Sumter, in +the harbor of Charleston, still remained under the +control of the Union. While besieged by the +South, an effort was made to send supplies to our +starving garrison. The fort was fired upon April +11, 1861, and that shot, like the one at Concord, +was "heard round the world."</p> + +<p>From that hour slavery was doomed. The President +issued his first call for seventy-five thousand +volunteers for ninety days. The North and West +seemed to respond as one man. The intense excitement +reached the little town of Galena. The +citizens were at once called together. Business +was suspended. In the evening the court-house +was packed. Captain Grant was asked to conduct +the meeting. The people naturally turned to one +who understood battles, when they saw war close at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span> +hand. With much embarrassment Grant presided. +The leather business was finished for him from that +eventful night. The women of Galena were as +deeply interested as the men. They came to Grant +to obtain a description of the United States uniform +for infantry, subscribed and bought the material, +procured tailors to cut the garments, and +made them with their own willing hands. More +and more, with their superior education, women +are to play an important part in this country, both +in peace and war.</p> + +<p>Captain Grant was now asked by Governor Yates, +of Illinois, to go into the adjutant-general's office, +and render such assistance as he could, which position +he accepted, but he modestly says, "I was no +clerk, nor had I any capacity to become one. The +only place I ever found in my life to put a paper +so as to find it again was either a side coat-pocket +or the hands of a clerk or secretary more careful +than myself. But I had been quartermaster, commissary, +and adjutant in the field. The army forms +were familiar to me, and I could direct how they +should be made out."</p> + +<p>Though a man of few words, those few could be +effective if Grant chose to use them. Meeting in +St. Louis, in a street-car, a young braggart, who +said to him, "Where I came from, if a man dares +to say a word in favor of the Union we hang him +to a limb of the first tree we come to," Grant +replied, "We are not so intolerant in St. Louis as we +might be. I have not seen a single rebel hung yet,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span> +nor heard of one. There are plenty of them who +ought to be, however." The young man did not continue +the conversation. In May, 1861, Grant wrote +a letter to the adjutant-general of the army at +Washington, saying that, as he had been in the regular +army for fifteen years, and educated at government +expense, he tendered his services for the war. +No notice was ever taken of the letter, and, of +course, no answer was returned. Soon after he +spent a week with his parents, in Covington, Kentucky. +Twice he called upon Major-General McClellan, +at Cincinnati, just across the river, whom +he had known slightly in the Mexican War, with +the hope that he would be offered a position on his +staff. But he failed to see the general, and returned +to Illinois. He was not to serve under McClellan. +A different destiny awaited him.</p> + +<p>President Lincoln now called for three hundred +thousand men to enlist for three years or the war. +Governor Yates appointed Grant colonel of the +Twenty-First Illinois regiment. Another separation +from wife and children had come; the beginning +of a great career had come also. The regiment +repaired to Springfield, Illinois, and, after some time +spent in drill, was ordered to move against Colonel +Thomas Harris, encamped at the little town of +Florida. There was no bravado in the man who +had fought so bravely in all the battles of the Mexican +War. He says: "As we approached the brow +of the hill from which it was expected we could +see Harris' camp, and possibly find his men ready<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span> +formed to meet us, my heart kept getting higher +and higher until it felt to me as though it was in +my throat. I would have given anything then to +have been back in Illinois, but I had not the moral +courage to halt and consider what to do; I kept +right on. When we reached a point from which +the valley below was in full view, I halted. The +place where Harris had been encamped a few days +before was still there, and the marks of a recent +encampment were plainly visible, but the troops +were gone. My heart resumed its place. It occurred +to me at once that Harris had been as much +afraid of me as I had been of him. This was a +view of the question I had never taken before, but +it was one I never forgot afterwards. From that +event to the close of the war, I never experienced +trepidation upon confronting an enemy, though I +always felt more or less anxiety. I never forgot +that he had as much reason to fear my forces as I +had his. The lesson was valuable."</p> + +<p>Soon after this Lincoln asked the Illinois delegation +in Congress to recommend some citizens of +the State for the position of brigadier-general, and +Grant, to his great surprise, was recommended first +on a list of seven. After his appointment he spent +several weeks in Missouri, whither he had been +ordered. His first battle was at Belmont, where, +in a severe engagement of four hours, the loss on +our side was 485, and the Confederate loss 642. +Grant's horse was shot under him. After the battle +the Confederates received reënforcements, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span> +there was danger that our men could not return to +the transports on which they had come to Belmont. +"We are surrounded," they cried.</p> + +<p>"Well," said their cool leader, "if that be so, +we must cut our way out as we cut our way in;" +and so they did.</p> + +<p>Grant, meantime, rode out into a cornfield alone +to observe the enemy. While there, as he afterwards +learned, the Southern General Polk and one +of his staff saw the Union soldier, and said to their +men, "There is a Yankee; you may try your marksmanship +on him if you wish;" but, strangely +enough, nobody fired, and Grant's valuable life was +spared.</p> + +<p>He soon perceived that he was the only man +between the Confederates and the boats. His +horse seemed to realize the situation. Grant says: +"There was no path down the bank, and every one +acquainted with the Mississippi River knows that +its banks, in a natural state, do not vary at any +great angle from the perpendicular. My horse put +his fore feet over the bank without hesitation or +urging, and, with his hind feet well under him, +slid down the bank and trotted aboard the boat, +twelve or fifteen feet away, over a single gangplank. +I dismounted and went at once to the +upper deck.... When I first went on deck I +entered the captain's room, adjoining the pilot-house, +and threw myself on a sofa. I did not +keep that position a moment, but rose to go out on +the deck to observe what was going on. I had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span> +scarcely left when a musket-ball entered the room, +struck the head of the sofa, passed through it, and +lodged in the boat." Thus again was his life +saved.</p> + +<p>Until February of the following year, 1862, little +was done by the troops, except to become ready +for the great work before them. The enemy occupied +strong points on the Tennessee and Cumberland +rivers, at Forts Henry and Donelson, points +as essential to us as to them. These Grant determined +to take, if possible. Truly said President +Lincoln, "Wherever Grant is things move. I have +noticed that from the beginning."</p> + +<p>On February 2 the expedition started against +Fort Henry, with about seventeen thousand men. +Several gun-boats, under Commodore Foote, accompanied +the army. At a given hour the troops and +gun-boats moved together, the one to invest the +garrison, the other to attack the fort. After a severe +fight of an hour and a half every gun was silenced. +General Lloyd Tilghman surrendered, with his +seventeen heavy guns, ammunition, and stores.</p> + +<p>Fort Donelson must now be taken, strongly fortified +as it was. It stood on high ground, with +rifle-pits running back two miles from the river, +and was defended by fifteen heavy guns, two carronades, +and sixty-five pieces of artillery. Outside +the rifle-pits, trees had been felled, so that the tops +lay toward the attacking army. Our men had no +shelter from the snow and rain in this midwinter +siege. No campfires could be allowed where the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span> +enemy could see them. In the march from Fort +Henry to Fort Donelson numbers of the tired +troops had thrown away their blankets and overcoats, +and there was much real suffering. But +war means discomfort and woe as well as death +itself.</p> + +<p>At three o'clock, February 14, Commodore +Foote's gun-boats attacked the water batteries, and +after a severe encounter several of them were disabled. +The one upon which the commodore stood +was hit about sixty times, one shot killing the +pilot, carrying away the wheel, and wounding the +commander. The night came on intensely cold. +The next morning, the enemy, taking heart, came +against the national forces to cut their way out. +Then Grant rode among his men, saying, "Whichever +party first attacks now will whip, and the +rebels will have to be very quick if they beat me.... +Fill your cartridge-boxes quick, and get into +line; the enemy is trying to escape, and he must +not be permitted to do so."</p> + +<p>Our men worked their way through the abatis +of trees, took the outer line of rifle-pits, and +bivouacked within the enemy's lines. A driving +storm of snow and hail set in, and many soldiers +were frozen on that dismal night. There must +have been little sleep amid the firing of the Confederate +pickets and the groans of the wounded on +that frozen ground.</p> + +<p>During the night the Confederate Generals +Floyd and Pillow left the fort with three thousand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span> +men and Forrest with another thousand. On the +morning of February 16, Brigadier-General S. B. +Buckner sent a note to General Grant, suggesting +an armistice. The following reply was returned at +once:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Sir,—Yours of this date, proposing armistice +and appointment of commissioners to settle terms +of capitulation, is just received. No terms except +an unconditional and immediate surrender can be +accepted. I propose to move immediately upon +your works."</p></blockquote> + +<p>From that day U. S. Grant became to the people +of the North "Unconditional Surrender" Grant; +precious words, indeed, to the army as well as the +people, to whom decisive action meant peace at last.</p> + +<p>General Buckner considered the terms "ungenerous +and unchivalrous," but he surrendered his +sixty-five guns, seventeen thousand six hundred +small arms, and nearly fifteen thousand troops. +Our loss in killed, wounded, and missing was +about two thousand; the Confederate loss was believed +to be about twenty-five hundred.</p> + +<p>This victory, the first great victory of the war, +caused much rejoicing at the North, and Grant was +at once made major-general of volunteers. Two +weeks from this time he was virtually under arrest +for not conforming to orders which he never received, +but he was soon restored to his position. +The country was to learn later, what Lincoln +learned early in the war, that one head for an +army is better than several heads.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span>The next great battle under Grant was at Shiloh, +near Pittsburg Landing. On the morning of April +6, 1862, the Confederates, under General Albert +Sidney Johnston and Beauregard, rushed upon the +national lines. All day Sunday the battle raged, +and at night the Union forces had fallen back a +mile in the rear of their position in the morning. +Sherman, who commanded the ridge on which stood +the log meeting-house of Shiloh, was twice shot, +once in the hand and once in the shoulder, a third +ball passing through his hat. Grant could well say +of this brave officer, "I never deemed it important +to stay long with Sherman."</p> + +<p>During the night after the desperate battle the +rain fell in torrents upon the two armies, who slept +upon their arms. General Grant's headquarters +were under a tree, a few hundred yards back from +the river. "Some time after midnight," he says, +"growing restive under the storm and the continuous +rain, I moved back to the log house under the +bank. This had been taken as a hospital, and all +night wounded men were brought in, their wounds +dressed, a leg or an arm amputated, as the case +might require, and everything being done to save +life or alleviate suffering. The sight was more unendurable +than encountering the enemy's fire, and +I returned to my tree in the rain."</p> + +<p>In battle, the great general could look on men +falling about him apparently unmoved; when the +battle was over, he could not bear the sight of +pain. The men revered him, because, while he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span> +led them into death, he almost surely led them +into victory.</p> + +<p>On April 7 the battle raged all along the line, +and the enemy were everywhere driven back. At +three o'clock Grant gathered up a couple of regiments, +formed them into line of battle, and marched +them forward, going in front himself to prevent long-range +firing. The command "Charge" was given, +and it was executed with loud cheers and a run, +and the enemy broke. Grant came near losing +his life. A ball struck the metal scabbard of +his sword, just below the hilt, and broke it +nearly off. Night closed upon a victorious Union +army, but the victory had been gained at a fearful +cost.</p> + +<p>"Shiloh," says General Grant, "was the severest +battle fought at the West during the war, and but +few in the East equalled it for hard, determined +fighting. I saw an open field, in our possession on +the second day, over which the Confederates had +made repeated charges the day before, so covered +with dead that it would have been possible to walk +across the clearing, in any direction, stepping on +dead bodies, without a foot touching the ground. +On our side national and Confederate troops were +mingled together in about equal proportions; but on +the remainder of the field nearly all were Confederates. +On one part, which had evidently not been +ploughed for several years, probably because the +land was poor, bushes had grown up, some to the +height of eight or ten feet. There was not one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span> +these left standing unpierced by bullets. The +smaller ones were all cut down."</p> + +<p>During the first day the brave Albert Sidney +Johnston was wounded. He would not leave the +battle-field, but continued in the saddle, giving +commands, till, exhausted by loss of blood, he was +taken from his horse, and died soon after. The +Union loss was reported to be over thirteen thousand. +Some estimate the losses as not less than +fifteen thousand on each side. Up to this time, +Grant had hoped that a few such victories as Fort +Donelson would dishearten the South; now he saw +that conquest alone could compel peace, with a +brave and heroic people, of our own blood and +race. From this time the work of laying waste +the enemy's country began, with the hope that the +sooner supplies were exhausted the sooner peace +would be possible.</p> + +<p>On October 25, the battle of Corinth having been +fought October 3, General Grant was placed in +command of the Department of the Tennessee, +and began the Vicksburg campaign. The capture +of this place would afford free navigation of the +Mississippi. For three months plan after plan was +tried for the reduction of this almost impregnable +position. Sherman made a direct attack at the +only point where a landing was practicable, and +failed. Grant's army was stationed on the west +bank of the river, on marshy ground, full of malaria, +from recent rains. The troops were ill of +fever, measles, and small-pox, and many died.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span> +There could be found scarcely enough dry land on +which to pitch their tents.</p> + +<p>It was finally decided to cut a canal across the +peninsula in front of Vicksburg, that the gun-boats +might safely pass through to a point below the +city. Four thousand men began work on the canal, +but a sudden rise in the river broke the dam and +stopped the work. A second method was tried, by +breaking levees and widening and connecting +streams between Lake Providence, seventy miles +above Vicksburg, through the Red River, into the +Mississippi again four hundred miles below, but +this project was soon abandoned. Meantime, the +North had become restless, and many clamored for +Grant's removal, declaring him incompetent, but, +amid all the reproaches, he kept silent. When +Lincoln was urged to make a change, he said simply, +"I rather like the man; I think we'll try him +a little longer!"</p> + +<p>At length it was decided to attempt to run the +gun-boats past the batteries, march the troops down +the west bank of the river, cross over to the east +side, and attack the rear of Vicksburg. The +steamers were protected as far as possible with +bales of hay, cotton, and grain, for the boilers +could not bear the enemy's fire. On the 16th of +April, 1863, on a dark night, the fleet was ready for +the dangerous passage. As soon as the boats were +discovered, the batteries opened fire, piles of combustibles +being lighted along the shore that proper +aim might be taken against the fleet. Every transport<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span> +was struck. As fast as the shots made holes, +the men put cotton bags in the openings. For +nearly three hours the eight gun-boats and three +steamers were under a merciless fire. The Henry +Clay was disabled, and soon set on fire by the +bursting of a shell in the cotton packed about her +boilers. Grant watched the passage of the fleet +from a steamer in the river, and felt relieved as +though the victory were close at hand.</p> + +<p>Soon after, the whole force of thirty-three thousand +men were crossed below Vicksburg. Fifty +miles to the east, the Confederate General Joseph +E. Johnston had a large army, which must be crippled +before Vicksburg could be besieged. Port +Gibson, near the river, was first taken by our +troops; then Raymond, May 12; Jackson, May 18; +Champion Hill, May 16; and then Black River +Bridge. Grant had beaten Johnston in the rear; +now he must beat Pemberton with his nearly fifty +thousand men shut up in Vicksburg.</p> + +<p>On May 19, the city of Vicksburg was completely +invested by our troops. Says General Grant, +"Five distinct battles had been fought and won by +the Union forces; the capital of the State had +fallen, and its arsenals, military manufactories, and +everything useful for military purposes had been +destroyed; an average of about one hundred and +eighty miles had been marched by the troops engaged; +but five days' rations had been issued, and +no forage; over six thousand prisoners had been +captured, and as many more of the enemy had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span> +killed or wounded; twenty-seven heavy cannon, +and sixty-one field-pieces had fallen into our hands; +and four hundred miles of the river, from Vicksburg +to Port Hudson, had become ours."</p> + +<p>And now the siege began. By June 30, there +were two hundred and twenty guns in position, besides +a battery of heavy guns, manned and commanded +by the navy. The besiegers had no mortars, +save those of the navy in front of the city, +but they took tough logs, bored them out for six or +twelve-pound shells, bound them with strong iron +bands, and used them effectively in the trenches of +the enemy.</p> + +<p>The eyes of the whole country were centred on +Vicksburg. Mines were dug by both armies, and +exploded. Among the few men who reached the +ground alive after having been thrown up by the +explosions was a colored man, badly frightened. +Some one asked how high he had gone up. "Dunno, +massa; but tink 'bout t'ree mile," was the +reply.</p> + +<p>Meantime, the people in Vicksburg were living +in caves and cellars to escape the shot and shell. +Starvation began to stare them in the face. Flour +was sold at five dollars a pound; molasses at ten +and twelve dollars a gallon. Yet the brave people +held out against surrender. A Confederate woman, +says General Badeau, in his graphic "Military History +of U. S. Grant," asked Grant, tauntingly, as +he stopped at her house for water, if he ever expected +to get into Vicksburg.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span>"Certainly," he replied.</p> + +<p>"But when?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell exactly when I shall take the +town; but <i>I mean to stay here till I do, if it takes +me thirty years</i>."</p> + +<p>All through the siege, the men of both armies +talked to each other; the Confederates and Unionists +calling each other respectively "Yanks" and +"Johnnies." "Well, Yank, when are you coming +into town?"</p> + +<p>"We propose to celebrate the Fourth of July +there, Johnnie."</p> + +<p>The Vicksburg paper said, prior to the Fourth, in +speaking of the Yankee boast that they would take +dinner in Vicksburg that day, "The best receipt +for cooking a rabbit is, 'First ketch your rabbit!'" +The last number of the paper was issued on July +4, and said, "The Yankees have caught the rabbit."</p> + +<p>On July 3, at ten o'clock, white flags began to +appear on the enemy's works, and two men were +seen coming towards the Union lines, bearing a +white flag. They bore a message from General +Pemberton, asking that an armistice be granted, +and three commissioners appointed to confer with +a like number named by Grant. "I make this +proposition to save the further effusion of blood," +said General Pemberton, "which must otherwise +be shed to a frightful extent, feeling myself fully +able to maintain my position for a yet indefinite +period."</p> + +<p>To this Grant replied: "The useless effusion of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span> +blood you propose stopping by this course can be +ended at any time you choose, by the unconditional +surrender of the city and garrison. Men who have +shown so much endurance and courage as those +now in Vicksburg will always challenge the respect +of an adversary, and, I can assure you, will be +treated with all the respect due to prisoners of war."</p> + +<p>In the afternoon of July 3, Grant and Pemberton +met under a stunted oak-tree, a few hundred yards +from the Confederate lines. They had known each +other in the Mexican War. A kindly conference +was held, and honorable terms of surrender agreed +upon, the officers taking their side-arms and clothing, +and staff and cavalry officers one horse each. +When the men passed out of the works they had +so gallantly defended, not a cheer went up from +our men nor was a remark made that could cause +pain. The garrison surrendered at Vicksburg numbered +over thirty-one thousand men, with sixty +thousand muskets, and over one hundred and seventy +cannon. Five days later, Port Hudson, lower +on the river, surrendered, with six thousand prisoners +and fifty-one guns.</p> + +<p>There was great rejoicing at the North. Lincoln +wrote to Grant: "My dear general, I do not remember +that you and I have ever met personally. I +write this now as a grateful acknowledgment for +the almost inestimable service you have done the +country. I write to say a word further. When +you first reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I +thought you should do what you finally did, march<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span> +the troops across the neck, run the batteries with +the transports, and then go below; and I never +had any faith, except a general hope that you knew +better than I, that the Yazoo Pass expedition and +the like could succeed. When you got below and +took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf, and vicinity, I +thought you should go down the river and join +General Banks, and when you turned northward, +east of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. +I wish now to make the personal acknowledgment +that you were right and I was wrong."</p> + +<p>Rare is that soul which is able to see itself in the +wrong, and rarer still one which has the generosity +to acknowledge it.</p> + +<p>In October, Grant, who had now been made a +major-general in the regular army, as he had before +been appointed to the same rank in the volunteers, +was placed in command of the military division of +the Mississippi. Later he defeated Bragg at Chattanooga, +November 24 and 25, 1863, in the memorable +battles of Missionary Ridge and Lookout +Mountain. General Halleck said in his annual +report, "Considering the strength of the rebel +position and the difficulty of storming his intrenchments, +the battle of Chattanooga must be considered +the most remarkable in history. Not only did the +officers and men exhibit great skill and daring in +their operations on the field, but the highest praise +is due to the commanding general for his admirable +dispositions for dislodging the enemy from a position +apparently impregnable."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span>How our brave men fought at Missionary Ridge +and Lookout Mountain has never been more graphically +and touchingly told than by the late lamented +Benjamin F. Taylor: "They dash out a little way +and then slacken; they creep up hand over hand, +loading and firing, and wavering and halting, from +the first line of works to the second; they burst +into a charge, with a cheer, and go over it. Sheets +of flame baptize them; plunging shots tear away +comrades on left and right; it is no longer shoulder +to shoulder; it is God for us all! Under tree-trunks, +among rocks, stumbling over the dead, +struggling with the living, facing the steady fire of +eight thousand infantry poured down upon their +heads as if it were the old historic curse from +heaven, they wrestle with the Ridge. Ten, fifteen, +twenty minutes go by, like a reluctant century. +The batteries roll like a drum. Between +the second and last lines of rebel works is the torrid +zone of the battle. The hill sways up like a +wall before them at an angle of forty-five degrees, +but our brave mountaineers are clambering steadily +on—up—upward still!... They seem to be spurning +the dull earth under their feet, and going up to +do Homeric battle with the greater gods."</p> + +<p>When this costly victory had been gained, President +Lincoln appointed a day of national thanksgiving. +Congress passed a unanimous vote of +thanks to Grant and his officers and men, and ordered +a medal to be struck in his honor: his face +on one side, surrounded by a laurel wreath; on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span> +other side, Fame seated on the American eagle, +holding in her right hand a scroll with the words, +Corinth, Vicksburg, Mississippi River, and Chattanooga.</p> + +<p>Early in 1864, a distinguished honor was paid +him. Since the death of Washington, only one +man had been appointed a lieutenant-general in +the army of the United States,—Winfield Scott. +Congress now revived this grade, and on March 1, +1864, Lincoln appointed Grant to this position. +On March 9, before the President and his cabinet, +his commission was formally presented to him, +Lincoln saying, "As the country herein trusts you, +so, under God, it will sustain you." Grant now had +all the Union armies under his control—over seven +hundred thousand men. When he was in the +Galena leather store, men said his life was a failure! +Was it a failure now? And yet he was the +same modest, unostentatious man as when he +tried farming to support his beloved family.</p> + +<p>Immediately Grant planned two great campaigns: +one against Richmond, which was defended by +Lee; the other against Atlanta, under Sherman, +defended by Joseph E. Johnston. Sherman's march +to the sea immortalized him; Grant's march to +Richmond was the crowning success in the greatest +of modern wars. President Lincoln reposed the +utmost confidence in Grant. He wrote him: +"The particulars of your plans I neither know nor +seek to know. You are vigilant and self-reliant, +and, pleased with this, I wish not to obtrude any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span> +constraints or restraints upon you. While I am +very anxious that any great disaster or the capture +of our men in great numbers shall be avoided, I +know these points are less likely to escape your +attention than they would be mine. If there is +anything wanting which is within my power to +give, do not fail to let me know it. And now, with +a brave army and a just cause, may God sustain +you."</p> + +<p>The end was coming. On May 4, 1864, Grant +crossed the Rapidan with the Army of the Potomac, +about one hundred and twenty thousand men, +intending to put his forces between Lee and Richmond. +Lee, perceiving this design, met the army +at the Wilderness, a portion of country covered by +a dense forest. The undergrowth was so heavy +that it was scarcely possible to see more than one +hundred paces in any direction. All day long, +May 5, a bloody battle was waged in the woods.</p> + +<p>Says Private Frank Wilkeson, "I heard the +hum of bullets as they passed over the low trees. +Then I noticed that small limbs of trees were +falling in a feeble shower in advance of me. It was +as though an army of squirrels were at work cutting +off nut and pine-cone laden branches preparatory +to laying in their winter's store of food. +Then, partially obscured by a cloud of powder +smoke, I saw a straggling line of men clad in blue. +They were not standing as if on parade, but they +were taking advantage of the cover afforded by +trees, and they were firing rapidly. Their line<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span> +officers were standing behind them or in line with +them. The smoke drifted to and fro, and there +were many rifts in it.... We had charged, and +charged, and charged again, and had gone wild +with battle fever. We had gained about two +miles of ground. We were doing splendidly. I +cast my eyes upward to see the sun, so as to judge +of the time, as I was hungry, and wanted to eat, +and I saw that it was still low above the trees. +The Confederates seemed to be fighting more +stubbornly, fighting as though their battle-line was +being fed with more troops. They hung on to the +ground they occupied tenaciously, and resolutely +refused to fall back further. Then came a swish +of bullets and a fierce exultant yell, as of thousands +of infuriated tigers. Our men fell by scores. +Great gaps were struck in our lines. There was +a lull for an instant, and then Longstreet's men +sprang to the charge. It was swiftly and bravely +made, and was within an ace of being successful. +There was great confusion in our line. The men +wavered badly. They fired wildly. They hesitated.... +The regimental officers held their men +as well as they could. We could hear them close +behind us, or in line with us, saying, 'Steady, +men, steady, steady, steady!' as one speaks to +frightened and excited horses."</p> + +<p>Grant says, "More desperate fighting has not +been witnessed on this continent than that of May +5 and 6.... The ground fought over had varied +in width, but averaged three-quarters of a mile.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span> +The killed and many of the severely wounded of +both armies lay within this belt where it was impossible +to reach them. The woods were set on +fire by the bursting shells, and the conflagration +raged. The wounded who had not strength to +move themselves were either suffocated or burned +to death. Finally the fire communicated with our +breastworks in places. Being constructed of wood, +they burned with great fury. But the battle still +raged, our men firing through the flames until it +became too hot to remain longer."</p> + +<p>After a loss of from fourteen to fifteen thousand +men on each side, Lee remained in his intrenchments +and Grant still moved on toward +Richmond. The armies met at Spottsylvania Court-House, +and here was fought one of the bloodiest +battles of the war, with about the same loss as in +the Wilderness. Sometimes the conflict was hand +to hand, men using their guns as clubs, being too +close to fire. In one place a tree, eighteen inches +in diameter, was cut entirely down by musket +balls. Grant wrote to Washington, May 11: +"We have now ended the sixth day of very hard +fighting. The result up to this time is much in +our favor. But our losses have been heavy, as +well as those of the enemy. We have lost to +this time eleven general officers killed, wounded, +and missing, and probably twenty thousand men. +I think the loss of the enemy must be greater. +We have taken over four thousand prisoners in +battle, whilst he has taken from us but few except<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span> +a few stragglers. I am now sending back to +Belle Plain all my wagons for a fresh supply of +provisions and ammunition, and purpose <i>to fight it +out on this line if it takes all summer</i>."</p> + +<p>After this came the battles of Drury's Bluff, +North Anna, Totopotomoy, and Cold Harbor, with +its brilliant assault and deadly repulse, with a loss +of from ten to fourteen thousand men on the latter +field.</p> + +<p>Lee had now been driven so near to Richmond, +and the swamps of the Chickahominy were so +impassable, that Grant determined to move his +army, one hundred and fifteen thousand men, south +of the James River and attack Richmond in the +rear. The move was hazardous, but he reached +City Point safely. General Butler here joined +him, and the siege of Petersburg, twenty miles +below Richmond, began, and was continued through +the winter and spring.</p> + +<p>On July 30, 1864, a mine was exploded under +one of the enemy's forts. The gallery to the mine +was over five hundred feet long from where it +entered the ground to the point where it was under +the enemy's works. Eight chambers had been left, +requiring a ton of powder each to charge them. +It exploded at five o'clock in the morning, making +a crater twenty feet deep and about one hundred +feet in length. Instantly one hundred and ten +cannon and fifty mortars commenced work to cover +our troops as they entered the enemy's lines. "The +effort," says Grant, "was a stupendous failure. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span> +cost us about four thousand men, mostly, however, +captured, and all due to inefficiency on the part of +the corps commander and the incompetency of the +division commander who was sent to lead the assault."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Sheridan had destroyed the power of +the South in the Shenandoah valley. Again the +army began its march toward Richmond. On April +1, 1865, the battle of Five Forks was fought, nearly +six thousand Confederates being taken prisoners; +then Petersburg was captured, and on April 3 +General Weitzel took possession of Richmond, the +enemy having evacuated it, the city having been +set on fire before their departure.</p> + +<p>For five days Lee's army was pursued with more +or less fighting. On April 7, Grant wrote a letter +to Lee, saying: "The results of the last week must +convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance +on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia +in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it +as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility +of any further effusion of blood, by asking of you +the surrender of that portion of the Confederate +States Army known as the Army of Northern Virginia."</p> + +<p>Lee replied, "I reciprocate your desire to avoid +useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering +your proposition, ask the terms you will +offer on condition of its surrender."</p> + +<p>The answer came: "Peace being my great desire, +there is but one condition I would insist upon,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span> +namely: that the men and officers surrendered +shall be disqualified for taking up arms again +against the government of the United States, until +properly exchanged."</p> + +<p>A place of meeting was designated, and on April +9 Grant and Lee met at the house of a Mr. McLean, +at Appomattox Court-House. Grant says, +"When I had left camp that morning, I had not +expected so soon the result that was then taking +place, and consequently was in rough garb, and I was +without a sword, as I usually was when on horseback +on the field, and wore a soldier's blouse for a +coat, with the shoulder-straps of my rank to indicate +to the army who I was. When I went into +the house I found General Lee. We greeted each +other, and, after shaking hands, took our seats. I +had my staff with me, a good portion of whom +were in the room during the whole of the interview.</p> + +<p>"What General Lee's feelings were I do not know. +As he was a man of much dignity, with an impassible +face, it was impossible to say whether he felt +inwardly glad that the end had finally come, or felt +sad over the result, and was too manly to show it. +Whatever his feelings, they were entirely concealed +from my observation; but my own feelings, which +had been quite jubilant on the receipt of his letter, +were sad and depressed. I felt like anything rather +than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had +fought so long and valiantly, and had suffered so +much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, +one of the worst for which a people ever fought,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span> +and one for which there was the least excuse. I +do not question, however, the sincerity of the great +mass of those who were opposed to us.</p> + +<p>"General Lee was dressed in a full uniform +which was entirely new, and was wearing a sword +of considerable value, very likely the sword which +had been presented by the State of Virginia; at all +events, it was an entirely different sword from the +one that would ordinarily be worn in the field. In +my rough travelling suit, the uniform of a private, +with the straps of a lieutenant-general, I must have +contrasted very strangely with a man so handsomely +dressed, six feet high, and of faultless form. +But this was not a matter that I thought of until +afterwards."</p> + +<p>When the terms of surrender were completed, +Lee remarked that his men had been living for +some days on parched corn exclusively, and asked +for rations and forage, which were cordially granted. +"When news of the surrender first reached our +lines," says Grant, "our men commenced firing a +salute of a hundred guns in honor of the victory. +I at once sent word, however, to have it stopped. +The Confederates were now our prisoners, and we +did not want to exult over their downfall." True +and noble spirit! Twenty-seven thousand five hundred +and sixteen officers and men were paroled at +Appomattox. At the North, crowds came together +to pray and give thanks, in the churches, that the +war was over. Mourning garb seemed to be in +every house, and the joy was sanctified by tears.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span> +The Army of the Potomac marched to Washington, +and was disbanded June 30.</p> + +<p>The great war was ended. In July, 1866, Congress +created the rank of general for the heroic, +true-hearted, grand man, of quiet manner but indomitable +will, who had saved the Union. He +was now but forty-four years of age, and what +a record!</p> + +<p>Two years later, in 1868, at the Chicago Republican +national convention. Grant was unanimously +nominated to the presidency. After the assassination +of Lincoln, and the disagreement between +Congress and Andrew Johnson in the matter of +reconstruction, it was believed that Grant would +"settle things." To the committee from the convention +who announced his nomination to him, he +said, "I shall have no policy of my own to enforce +against the will of the people."</p> + +<p>During the eight years of Grant's presidency, +from 1869 to 1877, the country was prosperous, +save the financial depression of 1873. The Alabama +claims were settled, whereby our country +received from Great Britain fifteen million five +hundred thousand dollars damages. Grant favored +the annexation of the island of Santo Domingo, +but the measure was defeated by Congress. The +International Exposition was held in Philadelphia +in 1876, with an average daily attendance, for +five months, of over sixty-one thousand persons. +While a large number of the people advocated a +third term for General Grant, a nation loving freedom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span> +hesitated to establish such a precedent, and +Rutherford B. Hayes was chosen President. It +was well, in the exciting times preceding this election, +when the number of votes for Hayes and +Tilden was decided by an electoral commission, +that a strong hand was on the helm of State, to +keep the peace.</p> + +<p>After all these years of labor, General Grant +determined to make the tour of the world, and, +with his family and a few others, sailed for +Europe, May 17, 1877. From the moment they +arrived on the other side of the ocean to their +return, no American ever received such an ovation +as Grant. Thousands crowded the docks at Liverpool, +and the mayor gave an address of welcome. +At Manchester, ten thousand people listened to +his brief address. "As I have been aware," he +said, "for years of the great amount of your manufactures, +many of which find their ultimate destination +in my own country, so I am aware that the +sentiments of the great mass of the people of +Manchester went out in sympathy to that country +during the mighty struggle in which it fell to +my lot to take some humble part."</p> + +<p>In London, the present Duke of Wellington +gave him a grand banquet at Apsley House. At +Marlborough House, the Prince of Wales gave +him private audience. The freedom of the city +of London was presented to him in a gold casket, +supported by golden American eagles, standing on +a velvet plinth decorated with stars and stripes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span> +He and his family dined with the Queen, at Windsor +Castle.</p> + +<p>In Scotland, the freedom of the city of Edinburgh +was conferred upon him. At a grand ovation +at Newcastle, between forty and fifty thousand +people were gathered on the moor to see the +illustrious general. To the International Arbitration +Union in Birmingham he said, "Nothing +would afford me greater happiness than to know, +as I believe will be the case, that at some future +day the nations of the earth will agree upon some +sort of congress which shall take cognizance of +international questions of difficulty, and whose +decisions will be as binding as the decision of our +Supreme Court is binding upon us." In Belgium, +the king called upon him, and gave a royal banquet +in his honor. In Berlin, Bismarck called +twice to see him, shaking hands cordially, and +saying, "Glad to welcome General Grant to Germany." +In Turkey, he was presented with some +beautiful Arabian horses by the Sultan. King +Humbert of Italy and the Czar of Russia showed +him marked attentions. In Norway and Sweden, +Spain, China, Egypt, and India, he was everywhere +received as the most distinguished general of the age.</p> + +<p>On his return to America, at San Francisco and +Sacramento, thousands gathered to see him. At +Chicago, he said, in addressing the Army of the +Tennessee, "Let us be true to ourselves, avoid all +bitterness and ill-feeling, either on the part of +sections or parties toward each other, and we need<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span> +have no fear in future of maintaining the stand +we have taken among nations, so far as opposition +from foreign nations goes." In Philadelphia, +where he was royally entertained by his friend +Mr. George W. Childs, he said to the Grand Army +of the Republic, "What I want to impress upon +you is that you have a country to be proud of, and +a country to fight for, and a country to die for if +need be.... In no other country is the young +and energetic man given such a chance by industry +and frugality to acquire a competence for himself +and family as in America. Abroad it is difficult +for the poor man to make his way at all. All +that is necessary is to know this in order that we +may become better citizens." On his return to +New York, he was presented by his friends with a +home in that city, and also with the gift of two +hundred and fifty thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>He was soon prevailed upon to enter a banking +firm with Ferdinand Ward and James D. Fish. +The bank failed, Grant found himself financially +ruined, and the two partners were sent to prison. +He was now to struggle again for a living, as in the +early days in the Galena leather store. A timely +offer came from the <i>Century</i> magazine, to write +his experiences in the Civil War. Very simply, so +that an uneducated person could understand, Grant +modestly and fairly described the great battles in +which he was of necessity the central figure. Unused +to literary labor, he bent himself to the task, +working seven and eight hours a day.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span>On October 22, 1884, cancer developed in the +throat, and for nine months Grant fought with +death, till the two great volumes of his memoirs +could be completed and given to the world, that +his family might not be left dependent. Early in +June, 1885, as he was failing rapidly, he was taken +to Mt. McGregor, near Saratoga, where a cottage +had been offered him by Mr. Joseph W. Drexel. +He worked now more heroically than ever, till the +last page was written, with the words: "The war +has made us a nation of great power and intelligence. +We have but little to do to preserve peace, +happiness, and prosperity at home, and the respect +of other nations. Our experience ought to teach +us the necessity of the first; our power secures the +latter.</p> + +<p>"I feel that we are on the eve of a new era, +when there is to be great harmony between the +Federal and Confederate. I cannot stay to be a +living witness to the correctness of this prophecy; +but I feel it within me that it is to be so. The +universally kind feeling expressed for me at a time +when it was supposed that each day would prove +my last seemed to me the beginning of the answer +to 'Let us have peace.'"</p> + +<p>Night and day the nation watched for tidings +from the bedside of the dying hero. At last, in +July, when he knew that the end was near, he +wrote an affectionate letter to the Julia Dent whom +he had loved in his early manhood, and put it in +his pocket, that she might read it after all was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span> +over. "Look after our dear children, and direct +them in the paths of rectitude. It would distress +me far more to think that one of them could depart +from an honorable, upright, and virtuous life, +than it would to know that they were prostrated on +a bed of sickness from which they were never to +arise alive. They have never given us any cause +for alarm on their account, and I earnestly pray +they never will.</p> + +<p>"With these few injunctions and the knowledge +I have of your love and affection, and of the dutiful +affection of all our children, I bid you a final +farewell, until we meet in another, and, I trust, a +better world. You will find this on my person +after my demise." Blessed home affection, that +brightens all the journey, and makes human nature +well-nigh divine!</p> + +<p>On July 23, 1885, a few minutes before eight +o'clock in the morning, the end came. In the +midst of his children, Colonel Frederick, Ulysses, +Jesse, and Nellie Grant-Sartoris, and his grandchildren, +his wife bending over him, he sank to +rest. In every city and town in the land there +was genuine sorrow. Letters of sympathy came +from all parts of the world. Before the body was +put in its purple casket, the eldest son placed a +plain gold ring upon the little finger of the right +hand, the gift years before of his wife, but which +had grown too large for the emaciated finger in +life. In his pocket was placed a tiny package containing +a lock of Mrs. Grant's hair, in a good-bye<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span> +letter. Sweet and beautiful thought, to bury with +our dead something which belongs to a loved one, +that they may not sleep entirely alone!</p> + +<p>"We shall wake, and remember, and understand." +Let the world laugh at sentiment outwardly—the +hearts of those who laugh are often +hungering for affection!</p> + +<p>The body, dressed in citizen's clothes, without +military, was laid in the casket. Then, in the little +cottage on the mountain-top, Dr. Newman, his pastor, +gave a beautiful address, from the words, +"Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter +thou into the joy of thy Lord." "His was the +genius of common-sense, enabling him to contemplate +all things in their true relations, judging +what is true, useful, proper, expedient, and to +adopt the best means to accomplish the largest +ends. From this came his seriousness, thoughtfulness, +penetration, discernment, firmness, enthusiasm, +triumph.... Temperate without austerity; +cautious without fear; brave without rashness; +serious without melancholy, he was cheerful without +frivolity. His constancy was not obstinacy; +his adaptation was not fickleness. His hopefulness +was not utopian. His love of justice was equalled +only by his delight in compassion, and neither was +sacrificed to the other.... The keenest, closest, +broadest of all observers, he was the most silent of +men. He lived within himself. His thought-life +was most intense. His memory and his imagination +were picture galleries of the world and libraries<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span> +of treasured thought. He was a world to +himself. His most intimate friends knew him +only in part. He was fully and best known +only to the wife of his bosom and the children +of his loins. To them the man of iron will and +nerve of steel was gentle, tender, and confiding, +and to them he unfolded his beautiful religious +life."</p> + +<p>After the services, the body of the great soldier +was placed upon the funeral car, and conveyed to +Albany, where it lay in state at the Capitol. At +midnight dirges were sung, while eager multitudes +passed by looking upon the face of the dead. Arriving +in New York, the casket was laid in the +midst of exquisite flowers in the City Hall. On +this very day memorial services were held in Westminster +Abbey, Canon Farrar delivering an eloquent +address.</p> + +<p>During the first night at the City Hall, about +fifteen thousand persons passed the coffin, and the +next day ninety thousand; rich and poor, black +and white; men, women, and little children. A +man on crutches hobbled past the casket, bowed +with grief. "Move on," said one of the guards of +honor. "Yes," replied the old man, "as well as I +can I will. I left this leg in the Wilderness." An +aged woman wept as she said, "Oh! general, I gave +you my husband, my sons, and my son's beautiful +boys."</p> + +<p>On August 8, General Grant was laid in his tomb +at Riverside Park, on the Hudson River, a million<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span> +people joining in the sad funeral ceremonies. The +catafalque, with its black horses led by colored +grooms, moved up the street, followed by a procession +four miles long. When the tomb was reached, +the casket, placed in a cedar covering, leaden lined, +was again enclosed in a great steel casket, round +like an immense boiler, weighing thirty-eight hundred +pounds. The only touching memento left +upon the coffin was a wreath of oak-leaves wrought +together by his grandchild Julia, on his dying day, +with the words, "To Grandpa." Guns were fired, +and cannon reverberated through the valley, as +the pall-bearers, Confederate and Union generals, +turned their footsteps away from the resting-place +of their great leader. It was fitting that North +and South should unite in his burial. Here, too, +will sometime be laid his wife, for before his +death he exacted a promise from his oldest son: +"Wherever I am buried, promise me that your +mother shall be buried by my side." Already she +has received over three hundred thousand dollars +in royalty on the memoirs which he wrote in +those last months of agony. Beautifully wrote +Richard Watson Gilder:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> "All's over now; here let our captain rest,—</span><br /> +<span class="i1">The conflict ended, past men's praise and blame;</span><br /> +<span class="i1">Here let him rest, alone with his great fame,—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Here in the city's heart he loved the best,</span><br /> +<span class="i1">And where our sons his tomb may see</span><br /> +<span class="i1">To make them brave as he:—</span> +</div></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span></p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> "As brave as he,—he on whose iron arm</span><br /> +<span class="i1">Our Greatest leaned, our gentlest and most wise,—</span><br /> +<span class="i1">Leaned when all other help seemed mocking lies,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">While this one soldier checked the tide of harm,</span><br /> +<span class="i1">And they together saved the State,</span><br /> +<span class="i1">And made it free and great."</span> +</div></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 381px;"> +<img src="images/illus-361.jpg" width="381" height="600" alt="J. A. Garfield" title="J. A. Garfield" /> + +</div> + +<h2>JAMES A. GARFIELD.</h2> + + +<p>Not far from where I write is a tall gray +stone monument, in the form of a circular +tower, lined with various polished marbles, and exquisite +stained-glass windows. It stands on a hill-top +in the centre of three acres of green lawn, looking +out upon blue Lake Erie and the busy city of +Cleveland, Ohio.</p> + +<p>Within this tower rests the body of one whom +the nation honors, and will honor in all time to +come; one who was nurtured in the wilderness +that he might have a sweet, natural boyhood; who +studied in the school of poverty that he might sympathize +with the sons of toil; who grew to an +ideal manhood, that other American boys might +learn the lessons of a grand life, and profit by +them.</p> + +<p>In the little town of Orange, Ohio, James Abram +Garfield was born, November 19, 1831. The home +into which he came was a log cabin, twenty by +thirty feet, made of unhewn logs, laid one upon +another, to the height of twelve feet or more, the +space between the logs being filled with clay or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span> +mud. Three other children were in this home in +the forest already; Mehetabel, Thomas, and Mary.</p> + +<p>Abram, the father, descended from Revolutionary +ancestors, was a strong-bodied, strong-brained man, +who moved from Worcester, Otsego County, New +York, to test his fortune in the wilderness. In his +boyhood, he had played with Eliza Ballou, descended +from Maturin Ballou, a Huguenot, from +France. She also at fourteen moved with her +family from New Hampshire, into the Ohio wilderness. +Abram was more attracted to Ohio for that +reason. They renewed the affection of their childhood, +and were married February 3, 1821, settling +first in Newburg, near Cleveland, and later buying +eighty acres in Orange, at two dollars an acre. Here +their four children were born, seven miles from +any other cabin.</p> + +<p>When the boy James was eighteen months old, +a shadow settled over the home in the woods. A +fire broke out in the forest, threatening to sweep +away the Garfield cabin. For two hours one hot +July day the father fought the flames, took a +severe cold, and died suddenly, saying to his wife, +"I have planted four saplings in these woods; I +must now leave them to your care." He had kept +his precious ones from being homeless, only to +leave them fatherless. Who would have thought +then that one of these saplings would grow into a +mighty tree, admired by all the world?</p> + +<p>In a corner of the wheat-field, in a plain box, the +young husband was buried. What should the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span> +mother do with her helpless flock? "Give them +away," said some of the relatives, or "bind them +out in far-away homes."</p> + +<p>"No," said the brave mother, and put her +woman's hands to heavy work. She helped her +boy Thomas, then nine years old, to split rails and +fence in the wheat-field. She corded the wool of +her sheep, wove the cloth, and made garments for +her children. She sold enough land to pay off the +mortgage, because she could not bear to be in +debt, and then she and Mehetabel and Thomas +ploughed and planted, and waited in faith and +hope till the harvest came. When the food grew +meagre she sang to her helpful children, and +looked ever toward brighter days. And such +days usually come to those who look for them.</p> + +<p>It was not enough to widow Garfield that her +children were decently clothed and fed in this +isolated home. They must be educated; but how? +A log school-house was finally erected, she wisely +giving a corner of her farm for the site. The +scholars sat on split logs for benches, and learned +to read and write and spell as best they could from +their ordinary teaching. James was now nearly +three, and went and sat all day on the hard +benches with the rest.</p> + +<p>But a school-house was not sufficient for these +New England pioneers; they must have a church +building where they could worship. Mrs. Garfield +loved her Bible, and had taught her children +daily, so that James even knew its stories by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span> +heart, and many of its chapters. A church was +therefore organized in the log school-house, and +now they could work happily, year after year, +wondering perchance what the future would bring.</p> + +<p>James began to show great fondness for reading. +As he lay on the cabin floor, by the big fireplace, +he read by its light his "English Reader," +"Robinson Crusoe" again and again, and, later, +when he was twelve, "Josephus," and "Goodrich's +History of the United States." He had worked on +the farm for years; now he must earn some money +for his mother by work for the neighbors. He +had helped his brother Thomas in enlarging the +house, and was sure that he could be a carpenter.</p> + +<p>Going to a Mr. Trent, he asked for work.</p> + +<p>"There is a pile of boards that I want planed," +said the man, "and I will pay you one cent a +board for planing."</p> + +<p>James began at once, and at the end of a long +day, to the amazement of Mr. Trent, he had planed +one hundred boards, each over twelve feet long, +and proudly carried home one dollar to his mother. +After this he helped to build a barn and a shed +for a potashery establishment for leeching ashes. +The manufacturer of the "black-salts" seemed to +take a fancy to the lad, and offered him work at +nine dollars a month and his board, which James +accepted. In the evenings he studied arithmetic +and read books about the sea. This arrangement +might have continued for some time had not the +daughter of the salt-maker remarked one evening<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span> +to her beau, as they sat in the room where James +was reading, "I should think it was time for <i>hired +servants</i> to be abed."</p> + +<p>James had not realized how the presence of a +third party is apt to restrain the confidential conversation +of lovers. He was hurt and angered by the +words, and the next day gave up his work, and +went home to his mother, to receive her sympathy +and find employment elsewhere. Doubtless he was +more careful, all his life, from this circumstance, +lest he wound the feelings of others.</p> + +<p>Soon after this he heard that his uncle in Newburg +was hiring wood-choppers. He immediately +went to see him, and agreed to cut one hundred +cords of wood, at twenty-five cents a cord. It was +a man's work, but the boy of sixteen determined to +do as much as a man. Each day he cut two cords, +and at last carried twenty-five dollars to his mother; +a small fortune, it seemed to the earnest boy.</p> + +<p>While he chopped wood he looked out wistfully +upon Lake Erie, recalled the sea stories which he +had read, and longed more than ever to become a +sailor. The Orange woods were growing too +cramped for him. He was restless and eager for +a broader life. It was the unrest of ambition, +which voiced itself twenty years later in an address +at Washington, D. C., to young men. "Occasion +cannot make spurs, young men. If you expect to +wear spurs, you must win them. If you wish to +use them, you must buckle them to your own heels +before you go into the fight. Any success you may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span> +achieve is not worth the having unless you fight +for it. Whatever you win in life you must conquer +by your own efforts; and then it is yours—a part +of yourself.... Let not poverty stand as an obstacle +in your way. Poverty is uncomfortable, as I +can testify; but nine times out of ten the best +thing that can happen to a young man is to be tossed +overboard, and compelled to sink or swim for himself. +In all my acquaintance I have never known +one to be drowned who was worth saving.... To +a young man who has in himself the magnificent +possibilities of life, it is not fitting that he should +be permanently commanded; he should be a commander. +You must not continue to be employed; +you must be an <i>employer</i>. You must be promoted +from the ranks to a command. There is something, +young men, that you can command; go and find it, +and command it. You can at least command a +horse and dray, can be generalissimo of them and +may carve out a fortune with them."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Garfield, with her mother's heart, deprecated +a life at sea for her boy, and tried to dissuade him. +Through the summer he worked in the hay-field, +and then, the sea-fever returning, his mother wisely +suggested that he seek employment on Lake Erie +and see if he liked the life.</p> + +<p>With his clothing wrapped in a bundle, he walked +seventeen miles to Cleveland, with glowing visions +of being a sailor. Reaching the wharf, he went on +board a schooner, and asked for work. A drunken +captain met him with oaths, and ordered him off<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span> +the boat. The first phase of sea life had been different +from what he had read in the books, and he +turned away somewhat disheartened.</p> + +<p>However, he soon met a cousin, who gave him +the opportunity of driving mules for a canal boat. +To walk beside slow mules was somewhat prosaic, +as compared with climbing masts in a storm, but +he accepted the position, receiving ten dollars a +month and his board. Says William M. Thayer, +in his "From Log-Cabin to the White House": +"James appeared to possess a singular affinity for +the water. He fell into the water fourteen times +during the two or three months he served on the +canal boat. It was not because he was so clumsy +that he could not keep right side up, nor because +he did not understand the business; rather, we +think, it arose from his thorough devotion to his +work. He gave more attention to the labor in hand +than he did to his own safety. He was one who +never thought of himself when he was serving +another. He thought only of what he had in hand +to do. His application was intense, and his perseverance +royal."</p> + +<p>After a few weeks he contracted fever and ague, +and went home to be cared for by his mother, +through nearly five months of illness. The sea-fever +had somewhat abated. Could he not go to +school again? urged the mother. Thomas and she +could give him seventeen dollars; not much, to be +sure, for some people, but much for the widow and +her son.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span>At last he decided to go to Geauga Seminary, at +Chester; a decision which took him to the presidential +chair. March 5, 1849, when he was eighteen, +James and his cousins started on foot for +Chester, carrying their housekeeping utensils, plates, +knives and forks, kettle, and the like; for they +must board themselves. A small room was hired +for a pittance, four boys rooming together.</p> + +<p>The seventeen dollars soon melted away, and +James found work in a carpenter's shop, where he +labored nights and mornings, and every Saturday. +Though especially fond of athletic games, he had +no time for these. The school library contained +one hundred and fifty volumes; a perfect mine of +knowledge it seemed to the youth from Orange. +He read eagerly biography and history; joined the +debating society, where, despite his awkward manners +and poor clothes, his eloquence soon attracted +attention; went home to see his mother at the end +of the first term, happy and courageous, and returned +with ninepence in his pocket, to renew the +struggle for an education. The first Sunday, at +church, he put this ninepence into the contribution +box, probably feeling no poorer than before.</p> + +<p>While at Chester, the early teaching of his +mother bore fruit, in his becoming a Christian, +and joining the sect called "Disciples." "Of +course," said Garfield, years later, "that settled +canal, and lake, and sea, and everything." A new +life had begun—a life devoted to the highest +endeavor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span>Each winter, while at Chester, he taught a district +school, winning the love of the pupils by his +enthusiasm and warm heart, and inciting them to +study from his love of books. He played with +them as though a boy like themselves, as he was, +in reality, and yet demanded and received perfect +obedience. He "boarded around," as was the +custom, and thus learned more concerning both +parents and pupils than was always desirable, +probably; but in every house he tried to stimulate +all to increased intelligence.</p> + +<p>During his last term at the seminary, he met a +graduate of a New England college, who urged that +he also attend college; told how often men had +worked their way through successfully, and had +come to prominence. Young Garfield at once began +to study Latin and Greek, and at twenty years +of age presented himself at Hiram College, Ohio, +a small institution at that time, which had been +started by the "Disciples." He sought the principal, +and asked to ring the bell and sweep the floors +to help pay his expenses. He took a room with +four other students, not a wise plan, except for one +who has will enough to study whether his companions +work or play, and rose at five in the morning, +to ring his bell.</p> + +<p>A lady who attended the college thus writes of +him: "I can see him even now, standing in the +morning with his hand on the bell-rope, ready to +give the signal calling teachers and scholars to engage +in the duties of the day. As we passed by,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span> +entering the school-room, he had a cheerful word +for every one. He was probably the most popular +person in the institution. He was always good-natured, +fond of conversation, and very entertaining. +He was witty and quick at repartee, but his jokes, +though brilliant and sparkling, were always harmless, +and he never would willingly hurt another's +feelings.</p> + +<p>"Afterward, he became an assistant teacher, and +while pursuing his classical studies, preparatory to +his college course, he taught the English branches. +He was a most entertaining teacher,—ready with +illustrations, and possessing in a marked degree +the power of exciting the interest of the scholars, +and afterward making clear to them the lessons. +In the arithmetic class there were ninety pupils, +and I cannot remember a time when there was any +flagging in the interest. There were never any +cases of unruly conduct, or a disposition to shirk. +With scholars who were slow of comprehension, or +to whom recitations were a burden on account of +their modest or retiring dispositions, he was specially +attentive, and by encouraging words and +gentle assistance would manage to put all at their +ease, and awaken in them a confidence in themselves.... +He was a constant attendant at the regular +meetings for prayer, and his vigorous exhortations +and apt remarks upon the Bible-lessons were +impressive and interesting. There was a cordiality +in his disposition which won quickly the favor and +esteem of others. He had a happy habit of shaking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span> +hands, and would give a hearty grip which betokened +a kind-hearted feeling for all....</p> + +<p>"One of his gifts was that of mezzotint drawing, +and he gave instruction in this branch. I was one +of his pupils in this, and have now the picture of +a cross upon which he did some shading and put +on the finishing touches. Upon the margin is +written, in the hand of the noted teacher, his own +name and his pupil's. There are also two other +drawings, one of a large European bird on the +bough of a tree, and the other a church-yard scene +in winter, done by him at that time. In those days +the faculty and pupils were wont to call him 'the +second Webster,' and the remark was common, +'He will fill the White House yet.' In the Lyceum, +he early took rank far above the others as a +speaker and debater.</p> + +<p>"During the month of June the entire school +went in carriages to their annual grove meeting at +Randolph, some twenty-five miles away. On this +trip he was the life of the party, occasionally +bursting out in an eloquent strain at the sight of a +bird or a trailing vine, or a venerable giant of the +forest. He would repeat poetry by the hour, having +a very retentive memory."</p> + +<p>The college library contained about two thousand +volumes, and here Garfield read systematically +and topically, a habit which continued through +life, and made him master of every subject which +he touched. Tennyson's poetry became, like the +Bible, his daily study.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span>Mr. J. M. Bundy, in his Life of Garfield, said, +years later, "His house at Washington is a workshop, +in which the tools are always kept within +immediate reach. Although books overrun his +house from top to bottom, his library contains the +working material on which he mainly depends. +And the amount of material is enormous. Large +numbers of scrap-books that have been accumulating +for over twenty years in number and value—made +up with an eye to what either is or may +become useful, which would render the collection +of priceless value to the library of any first-class +newspaper establishment—are so perfectly arranged +and indexed that their owner, with his all-retentive +memory, can turn in a moment to the +facts that may be needed for almost any conceivable +emergency in debate. These are supplemented +by diaries that preserve Garfield's multifarious, +political, scientific, literary, and religious inquiries, +studies, and readings. And, to make the machinery +of rapid work complete, he has a large box, +containing sixty-three different drawers, each properly +labelled, in which he places newspaper cuttings, +documents, and slips of paper, and from +which he can pull out what he wants as easily as +an organist can play on the stops of his instrument."</p> + +<p>In Hiram College he formed an intellectual +friendship with a fellow-student to whose inspiring +help he testified gratefully to the end of his +life; Miss Almeda A. Booth, eight years his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span> +senior, a brilliant and noble woman, pledged to +"virgin widowhood" by the death of the young +man to whom she was promised in marriage. +Twenty years later, Garfield said, in a memorial +address at Hiram College, "On my own behalf I +take this occasion to say that for her generous and +powerful aid, so often and so efficiently rendered, +for her quick and never failing sympathy, and for +her intelligent, unselfish, and unswerving friendship, +I owe her a debt of gratitude and affection +for the payment of which the longest term of life +would have been too short.... I remember that +she and I were members of the class that began +Xenophon's 'Anabasis' in the fall of 1852. Near +the close of that term I also began to teach in the +Eclectic [College], and, thereafter, like her, could +keep up my studies only outside of my own class +hours. In mathematics and the physical sciences +I was far behind her; but we were nearly at the +same place in Greek and Latin, each having studied +them about three terms. She had made her home +at President Hayden's almost from the first; and I +became a member of his family at the beginning of +the winter term of 1852-53. Thereafter, for nearly +two years, she and I studied together, and recited +in the same classes (frequently without other +associates) till we had nearly completed the classical +course....</p> + +<p>"During the fall of 1853 she read one hundred +pages of Herodotus, and about the same of +Livy. During that term, also, Professors Dunshee<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span> +and Hull, Miss Booth, and I met at her room +two evenings of each week to make a joint translation +of the Book of Romans. Professor Dunshee +contributed his studies of the German commentators +De Wette and Tholuck; and each of the +translators made some special study for each +meeting. How nearly we completed the translation +I do not remember; but I do remember that +the contributions and criticisms of Miss Booth +were remarkable for suggestiveness and sound +judgment. Our work was more thorough than +rapid, for I find this entry in my diary for December +15, 1853: 'Translation Society sat three hours +at Miss Booth's room, and agreed upon the translation +of nine verses.'</p> + +<p>"During the winter term of 1853-54 she continued +to read Livy, and also the whole of +Demosthenes 'On the Crown.' During the spring +term of 1854 she read the 'Germania' and 'Agricola' +of Tacitus and a portion of Hesiod."</p> + +<p>To Garfield she was another Margaret Fuller. +"I venture to assert that in native powers of mind, +in thoroughness and breadth of scholarship, in +womanly sweetness of spirit, and in the quantity +and quality of effective, unselfish work done, she +has not been excelled by any American woman.... +I can name twenty or thirty books which will +forever be doubly precious to me because they +were read and discussed in company with her.... +She was always ready to aid any friend with her +best efforts. When I was in the hurry of preparing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span> +for a debate with Mr. Denton, in 1858, she +read not less than eight or ten volumes, and made +admirable notes for me on those points which +related to the topics of discussion. In the autumn +of 1859 she read a large portion of Blackstone's +'Commentaries,' and enjoyed with keenest relish +the strength of the author's thought and the beauty +of his style. From the rich stores of her knowledge +she gave with unselfish generosity. The foremost +students had no mannish pride that made +them hesitate to ask her assistance and counsel. +In preparing their orations and debates they +eagerly sought her suggestions and criticisms....</p> + +<p>"It is quite probable that John Stuart Mill has +exaggerated the extent to which his own mind and +works were influenced by Harriet Mill. I should +reject his opinion on that subject, as a delusion, +did I not know from my own experience, as well as +that of hundreds of Hiram students, how great a +power Miss Booth exercised over the culture and +opinions of her friends."</p> + +<p>The influence of such a woman upon an intellectual +young man can scarcely be estimated, or over-estimated. +The world is richer and nobler for +such women. Garfield never forgot her influence. +The year he died, he said at a Williams College +banquet held in Cleveland, January 10, 1881: "I +am glad to say, reverently, in the presence of the +many ladies here to-night, that I owe to a woman, +who has long since been asleep, perhaps a higher +debt intellectually than I owe to any one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[376]</a></span> +else. After that comes my debt to Williams College."</p> + +<p>He used to say, "Give me a log hut with only a +simple bench, Mark Hopkins on one end and I on +the other, and you may have all the buildings, apparatus, +and libraries without him."</p> + +<p>After two years at Hiram College, Garfield decided +to enter some eastern college, and wrote +to Yale, Brown, and Williams. Their replies are +shown in his letter to a friend at this time. "Their +answers are now before me. All tell me I can +graduate in two years. They are all brief business +notes; but President Hopkins concludes with this +sentence: 'If you come here, we shall be glad to +do what we can for you.' Other things being so +nearly equal, this sentence, which seems to be a +kind of friendly grasp of the hand, has settled the +question for me. I shall start for Williams next +week." A kind sentence gave to Williams a distinguished +honor for all coming years.</p> + +<p>Garfield had not only paid his way while at +Hiram, but he had saved three hundred and fifty +dollars for his course at Williams. Here he earned +money, as he had at Hiram, by teaching, and borrowed +a few hundreds from Dr. J. P. Robinson of +Cleveland, Ohio, offering a life insurance policy as +security.</p> + +<p>In college, says Dr. Hopkins, "as General Garfield +was broad in his scholarship, so was he in his +sympathies. No one thought of him as a recluse +or as bookish. Not <i>given</i> to athletic sports, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[377]</a></span> +was fond of them. His mind was open to the impression +of natural scenery, and, as his constitution +was vigorous, he knew well the fine points on the +mountains around us. He was also social in his +disposition, both giving and inspiring confidence. +So true is this of his intercourse with the officers of +the college, as well as with others, that he was never +even suspected of anything low or trickish.... +General Garfield gave himself to study with a zest +and delight wholly unknown to those who find in +it a routine. A religious man and a man of principle, +he pursued of his own accord the ends proposed +by the institution. He was prompt, frank, +manly, social, in his tendencies; combining active +exercise with habits of study, and thus did for +himself what it is the object of a college to enable +every young man to do,—he made himself +a <span class="smcap"><small>MAN</small></span>."</p> + +<p>When Garfield was at Williams, the slavery +question had become the exciting topic of the day. +Preston Brooks' attack on Charles Sumner had +aroused the indignation of the students, who called +a meeting, at which Garfield made an eloquent and +powerful speech. At his graduation in 1856, when +he was twenty-five, he delivered the metaphysical +oration, the highest honor awarded. He now returned +to Hiram College, having been appointed +professor of Greek and Latin. At once he began +his work with zest. He said later: "I have taken +more solid comfort in the thing itself, and received +more moral recompense and stimulus in after life<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[378]</a></span> +from capturing young men for an education than +from anything else in the world.</p> + +<p>"As I look back over my life thus far, I think +of nothing that so fills me with pleasure as the +planning of these sieges, the revolving in my mind +of plans for scaling the walls of the fortress; of +gaining access to the inner soul-life, and at last +seeing the besieged party won to a fuller appreciation +of himself, to a higher conception of life and +of the part he is to bear in it. The principal guards +which I have found it necessary to overcome in +gaining these victories are the parents or guardians +of the young men themselves. I particularly +remember two such instances of capturing young +men from their parents. Both of those boys are +to-day educators, of wide reputation,—one president +of a college, the other high in the ranks of +graded-school managers. Neither, in my opinion, +would to-day have been above the commonest walks +of life unless I, or some one else, had captured +him. There is a period in every young man's life +when a very small thing will turn him one way or +the other. He is distrustful of himself, and uncertain +as to what he should do. His parents are poor, +perhaps, and argue that he has more education +than they ever obtained, and that it is enough. +These parents are sometimes a little too anxious in +regard to what their boys are going to do when +they get through with their college course. They +talk to the young man too much, and I have noticed +that the boy who will make the best man is sometimes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[379]</a></span> +most ready to doubt himself. I always remember +the turning period in my own life, and +pity a young man at this stage from the bottom of +my heart. One of the young men I refer to came +to me on the closing day of the spring term, and +bade me good-by at my study. I noticed that he +awkwardly lingered after I expected him to go, and +had turned to my writing again.</p> + +<p>"'I suppose you will be back again in the fall, +Henry,' I said, to fill in the vacuum. He did not +answer, and, turning toward him, I noticed that his +eyes were filled with tears, and that his countenance +was undergoing contortions of pain. He at +length managed to stammer out, 'No, I am not +coming back to Hiram any more. Father says I +have got education enough, and that he needs me +to work on the farm; that education don't help +along a farmer any.'</p> + +<p>"'Is your father here?' I asked, almost as much +affected by the statement as the boy himself. He +was a peculiarly bright boy,—one of those strong, +awkward, bashful, blond, large-headed fellows, +such as make men. He was not a prodigy by any +means; but he knew what work meant, and, when +he had won a thing by true endeavor, he knew its +value.</p> + +<p>"'Yes; father is here, and is taking my things +home for good,' said the boy, more affected than +ever.</p> + +<p>"'Well, don't feel badly,' I said. 'Please tell +him Mr. Garfield would like to see him at his study,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[380]</a></span> +before he leaves the village. Don't tell him that it +is about you, but simply that I want to see him.' +In the course of half an hour the old gentleman, a +robust specimen of a Western Reserve Yankee, +came into the room and awkwardly sat down. I +knew something of the man before, and I thought +I knew how to begin. I shot right at the bull's-eye +immediately.</p> + +<p>"'So you have come up to take Henry home +with you, have you?' The old gentleman answered, +'Yes.' 'I sent for you because I wanted to have a +little talk with you about Henry's future. He is +coming back again in the fall, I hope?'</p> + +<p>"'Wal, I think not. I don't reckon I can afford +to send him any more. He's got eddication enough +for a farmer already, and I notice that when they +git too much they sorter git lazy. Yer eddicated +farmers are humbugs. Henry's got so far 'long +now that he'd rather hev his head in a book than +be workin'. He don't take no interest in the stock +nor in the farm improvements. Everybody else is +dependent in this world on the farmer, and I think +that we've got too many eddicated fellows setting +around now for the farmers to support.'</p> + +<p>"'I am sorry to hear you talk so,' I said; 'for +really I consider Henry one of the brightest and +most faithful students I have ever had. I have +taken a very deep interest in him. What I wanted +to say to you was, that the matter of educating +him has largely been a constant outgo thus far, but, +if he is permitted to come next fall term, he will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[381]</a></span> +be far enough advanced so that he can teach school +in the winter, and begin to help himself and you +along. He can earn very little on the farm in the +winter, and he can get very good wages teaching. +How does that strike you?'</p> + +<p>"The idea was a new and good one to him. He +simply remarked, 'Do you really think he can +teach next winter?'</p> + +<p>"'I should think so, certainly,' I replied. 'But, +if he cannot do so then, he can in a short time, +anyhow.'</p> + +<p>"'Wal, I will think on it. He wants to come +back bad enough, and I guess I'll have to let him. +I never thought of it that way afore.'</p> + +<p>"I knew I was safe. It was the financial question +that troubled the old gentleman, and I knew +that would be overcome when Henry got to teaching, +and could earn his money himself. He would +then be so far along, too, that he could fight his +own battles. He came all right the next fall, and, +after finishing at Hiram, graduated at an eastern +college."</p> + +<p>One secret of Garfield's success in teaching was +his deep interest in the young. He said, "I feel a +profounder reverence for a boy than for a man. I +never meet a ragged boy of the street without feeling +that I may owe him a salute, for I know not +what possibilities may be buttoned up under his +shabby coat. When I meet you in the full flush of +mature life, I see nearly all there is of you; but +among these boys are the great men of the future,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[382]</a></span> +the heroes of the next generation, the philosophers, +the statesmen, the philanthropists, the great reformers +and moulders of the next age. Therefore, +I say, there is a peculiar charm to me in the exhibitions +of young people engaged in the business of +an education."</p> + +<p>He made himself a student with his students. +He said: "I shall give you a series of lectures +upon history, beginning next week. I do this not +alone to assist you; the preparation for the lectures +will <i>compel</i> me to study history."</p> + +<p>He was always a worker. "When I get into a +place that I can easily fill, I always feel like shoving +out of it into one that requires of me more +exertion."</p> + +<p>His active mind was not content with teaching. +He delivered lectures in the neighboring towns on +geology, illustrated by charts of his own making; +upon "Walter Scott;" Carlyle's "Frederick the +Great;" the "Character of the German People;" +government, and the topics of the times. He +preached almost every Sabbath in some Disciple +church. A year after his return from Williams +he was promoted to the presidency of Hiram +College.</p> + +<p>In 1858, when he was twenty-seven, he married +Lucretia Rudolph, whom he had known at Geauga +Seminary, and who was his pupil in Latin and +Greek at Hiram. He had been engaged to her +four years previously, when he entered Williams, +she being a year his junior. She was his companion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[383]</a></span> +in study, as well as domestic life, and helped +him onward in his great career.</p> + +<p>This same year, 1858, he entered his name as a +student at law, with a Cleveland firm, carrying on +his studies at home, and fitted himself for the bar +in the usual time devoted by those who have no +other work in hand.</p> + +<p>The following year, having taken an active part +in the Republican campaign for John C. Fremont +for the presidency, Garfield was chosen State senator. +The same year Williams College invited him +to deliver the master's oration on Commencement +day. On the journey thither, he visited Quebec, +taking with his wife their first pleasure trip. +Only eight years before this he was ringing the +bell at Hiram. Promotion had come rapidly, but +deservedly.</p> + +<p>In the Legislature he naturally took a prominent +part. Lincoln had been elected and had issued his +call for seventy-five thousand men. Garfield, in an +eloquent speech, moved, "That Ohio contribute +twenty thousand men, and three million dollars, as +the quota of the State." The motion was enthusiastically +carried.</p> + +<p>Governor Dennison appointed Garfield colonel of +the Forty-second Ohio Regiment, and he left the +Senate for the battlefield, nearly one hundred +Hiram students enlisting under him. At once he +began to study military tactics in earnest. He +organized a school among the officers, and kept the +men at drill till they were efficient in the art of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[384]</a></span> +war. January 10, 1862, he fought the battle of +Middle Creek, with eleven hundred men, driving +General Marshall out of Eastern Kentucky, with +five thousand men. The battle raged for five hours, +sometimes a desperate hand-to-hand fight. General +Buell said in his official report of Garfield and his +regiment: "They have overcome formidable difficulties +in the character of the country, the condition +of the roads, and the inclemency of the season, +and, without artillery, have in several engagements, +terminating in the battle of Middle Creek, +driven the enemy from his intrenched positions +and forced him back into the mountains, with the +loss of a large amount of baggage and stores, and +many of his men killed and captured. These services +have called into action the highest qualities +of a soldier—fortitude, perseverance, and courage." +After this battle, President Lincoln made Garfield +a brigadier-general.</p> + +<p>Says Mr. Bundy: "Having cleared out Humphrey +Marshall's forces, Garfield moved his command +to Piketon, one hundred and twenty miles +above the mouth of the Big Sandy, from which +place he covered the whole region about with expeditions, +breaking up rebel camps and perfecting his +work. Finally, in that poor and wretched country, +his supplies gave out, and, as usual, taking care of +the most important matter himself, he went to the +Ohio River for supplies, got them, seized a steamer, +and loaded it. But there was an unprecedented +freshet, navigation was very perilous, and no captain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[385]</a></span> +or pilot could be induced to take charge of the +boat. Garfield at once availed himself of his +canal-boat experience, took charge of the boat, +stood at the helm for forty out of forty-eight hours, +piloted the steamer through an untried channel +full of dangerous eddies and wild currents, and +saved his command from starvation."</p> + +<p>Later, Garfield became chief of General Rosecrans' +staff, was in the dreadful battle of Chickamauga, +and was made major-general "for gallant +and meritorious services" in that battle. Rosecrans +said: "All my staff merited my warm approbation +for ability, zeal, and devotion to duty; but I am +sure they will not consider it invidious if I especially +mention Brigadier-General Garfield, ever +active, prudent, and sagacious. I feel much indebted +to him for both counsel and assistance in +the administration of this army. He possesses the +energy and the instinct of a great commander."</p> + +<p>In the summer of 1862 the Nineteenth Congressional +District of Ohio elected Garfield to Congress. +He hesitated about leaving the army, but, being +urged by his friends that it was his duty to serve +his country in the House of Representatives, he +took his seat December, 1863. Among such men +as Colfax, Washburn, Conkling, Allison, and +others, he at once took an honorable position. He +was made chairman of military affairs, then of +banking and currency, of appropriations, and other +committees.</p> + +<p>On the slavery question he had always been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[386]</a></span> +outspoken. He said, on the constitutional amendment +abolishing slavery: "All along the coast of +our political sea these victims of slavery lie like +stranded wrecks broken on the headlands of freedom. +How lately did its advocates, with impious +boldness, maintain it as God's own; to be venerated +and cherished as divine! It was another and +higher form of civilization. It was the holy +evangel of America dispensing its mercies to a +benighted race, and destined to bear countless +blessings to the wilderness of the West. In its +mad arrogance it lifted its hand to strike down +the fabric of the Union, and since that fatal day it +has been 'a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth.' +Like the spirit that Jesus cast out, it has, since +then, been 'seeking rest and finding none.' It has +sought in all the corners of the republic to find +some hiding-place in which to shelter itself from +the death it so richly deserves. It sought an +asylum in the untrodden territories of the West, +but with a whip of scorpions indignant freemen +drove it thence. I do not believe that a loyal man +can now be found who would consent that it should +again enter them. It has no hope of harbor there. +It found no protection or favor in the hearts or +consciences of the freemen of the republic, and has +fled for its last hope of safety behind the shield of +the Constitution. We propose to follow it there, +and drive it thence, as Satan was exiled from +heaven.... To me it is a matter of great surprise +that gentlemen on the other side should wish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[387]</a></span> +to delay the death of slavery. I can only account +for it on the ground of long continued familiarity +and friendship.... Has she not betrayed and +slain men enough? Are they not strewn over a +thousand battle-fields? Is not this Moloch already +gorged with the bloody feast? Its best friends +know that its final hour is fast approaching. The +avenging gods are on its track. Their feet are not +now, as of old, shod with wool, nor slow and +stately stepping, but winged like Mercury's to bear +the swift message of vengeance. No human power +can avert the final catastrophe."</p> + +<p>On the currency he spoke repeatedly and earnestly. +He carefully studied English financial +history, and mastered the French and German languages +that he might study their works on political +economy and finance. Says Captain F. H. Mason, +late of the Forty-second Ohio Regiment, in his +sketch of Garfield, "In May, 1868, when the +country was rapidly drifting into a hopeless confusion +of ideas on financial subjects, and when +several prominent statesmen had come forward +with specious plans for creating 'absolute money' +by putting the government stamp upon bank notes, +and for paying off with this false currency the +bonds which the nation had solemnly agreed to +pay in gold, General Garfield stood up almost +single-handed and faced the current with a speech +which any statesman of this century might be +proud to have written on his monument. It embraced +twenty-three distinct but concurrent topics,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[388]</a></span> +and occupied in delivering an entire day's session +of the House."</p> + +<p>"For my own part," he said, "my course is +taken. In view of all the facts of our situation, of +all the terrible experiences of the past, both at +home and abroad, and of the united testimony of +the wisest and bravest statesmen who have lived +and labored during the past century, it is my firm +conviction that any considerable increase of the +volume of our inconvertible paper money will +shatter public credit, will paralyze public industry, +and oppress the poor; and that the gradual restoration +of our ancient standard of value will lead +us by the safest and surest paths to national prosperity +and the steady pursuits of peace."</p> + +<p>Again he said: "I for one am not willing that +my name shall be linked to the fate of a paper +currency. I believe that any party which commits +itself to paper money will go down amid the general +disaster, covered with the curses of a ruined +people.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Speaker, I remember that on the monument +of Queen Elizabeth, where her glories were +recited and her honors summed up, among the last +and the highest recorded as the climax of her +honors was this: that she had restored the money +of her kingdom to its just value. And when this +House shall have done its work, when it shall have +brought back values to their proper standard, it will +deserve a monument."</p> + +<p>On the tariff question, General Garfield took the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[389]</a></span> +side of protection, yet was no extremist. His oft +reiterated belief was, "As an abstract theory, the +doctrine of free trade seems to be universally true, +but as a question of practicability, under a government +like ours, the protective system seems to be +indispensable."</p> + +<p>He said in Congress: "We have seen that one +extreme school of economists would place the price +of all manufactured articles in the hands of foreign +producers by rendering it impossible for our manufacturers +to compete with them; while the other +extreme school, by making it impossible for the +foreigner to sell his competing wares in our market, +would give the people no immediate check +upon the prices which our manufacturers might +fix for their products. I disagree with both these +extremes. I hold that a properly adjusted competition +between home and foreign products is the +best gauge by which to regulate international trade. +Duties should be so high that our manufacturers +can fairly compete with the foreign product, but +not so high as to enable them to drive out the foreign +article, enjoy a monopoly of the trade, and +regulate the price as they please. This is my doctrine +of protection. If Congress pursues this line +of policy steadily, we shall, year by year, approach +more nearly to the basis of free trade, because we +shall be more nearly able to compete with other +nations on equal terms. I am for a protection +which leads to ultimate free trade. I am for that +free trade which can only be achieved through a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[390]</a></span> +reasonable protection.... If all the kingdoms of +the world should become the kingdom of the Prince +of Peace, then I admit that universal free trade +ought to prevail. But that blessed era is yet too +remote to be made the basis of the practical legislation +of to-day. We are not yet members of 'the +parliament of man, the federation of the world.' +For the present, the world is divided into separate +nationalities; and that other divine command still +applies to our situation, 'He that provideth not for +his own household has denied the faith, and is +worse than an infidel,' and until that latter era +arrives patriotism must supply the place of universal +brotherhood."</p> + +<p>Again he said: "Those arts that enable our +nation to rise in the scale of civilization bring +their blessings to all, and patriotic citizens will +cheerfully bear a fair share of the burden necessary +to make their country great and self-sustaining. +I will defend a tariff that is national in its +aims, that protects and sustains those interests +without which the nation cannot become great +and self-sustaining.... So important, in my +view, is the ability of the nation to manufacture +all these articles necessary to arm, equip, and +clothe our people, that if it could not be secured +in any other way I would vote to pay money out +of the federal treasury to maintain government +iron and steel, woollen and cotton mills, at whatever +cost. Were we to neglect these great interests +and depend upon other nations, in what a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[391]</a></span> +condition of helplessness would we find ourselves +when we should be again involved in war with the +very nations on whom we were depending to furnish +us these supplies? The system adopted by +our fathers is wiser, for it so encourages the great +national industries as to make it possible at all +times for our people to equip themselves for war, +and at the same time increase their intelligence +and skill so as to make them better fitted for all +the duties of citizenship in war and in peace. <i>We +provide for the common defence by a system which +promotes the general welfare....</i> I believe that +we ought to seek that point of stable equilibrium +somewhere between a prohibitory tariff on the one +hand and a tariff that gives no protection on the +other. What is that point of stable equilibrium? +In my judgment, it is this; a rate so high that foreign +producers cannot flood our markets and break +down our home manufacturers, but not so high as +to keep them altogether out, enabling our manufacturers +to combine and raise the prices, nor so +high as to stimulate an unnatural and unhealthy +growth of manufactures.</p> + +<p>"In other words, I would have the duty so +adjusted that every great American industry can +fairly live and make fair profits, and yet so low +that, if our manufacturers attempted to put up +prices unreasonably, the competition from abroad +would come in and bring down prices to a fair +rate."</p> + +<p>On special occasions, such as his eulogies on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[392]</a></span> +Lincoln and General Thomas, and on Decoration +Day at Arlington Heights, Garfield was very eloquent. +At the latter place, he said: "If silence is +ever golden, it must be here, beside the graves of +fifteen thousand men, whose lives were more significant +than speech, and whose death was a poem +the music of which can never be sung. With +words, we make promises, plight faith, praise virtue. +Promises may not be kept; plighted faith +may be broken; and vaunted virtue may be only +the cunning mask of vice. We do not know one +promise these men made, one pledge they gave, +one word they spoke; but we do know they +summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, +the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love +of country they accepted death, and thus resolved +all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and +their virtue.</p> + +<p>"For the noblest man that lives there still remains +a conflict. He must still withstand the +assaults of time and fortune; must still be assailed +with temptations before which lofty natures +have fallen. But with <i>these</i>, the conflict ended, +the victory was won, when death stamped on them +the great seal of heroic character, and closed a +record which years can never blot."</p> + +<p>Professor B. A. Hinsdale, the intimate friend of +Garfield, says, in his "Hiram College Memorial," +"General Garfield's readiness on all occasions has +often been remarked. Probably some have attributed +this readiness to the inspiration of genius.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[393]</a></span> +The explanation lies partly in his genius, but much +more in his indefatigable work. He treasured up +knowledge of all kinds. 'You never know,' he +would say, 'how soon you will need it.' Then +he forecasted occasions, and got ready to meet +them. One hot day in July, 1876, he brought to +his Washington house an old copy of <i>The Congressional +Globe</i>. Questioned, he said, 'I have been +told, confidentially, that Mr. Lamar is going to +make a speech in the House on general politics, to +influence the presidential canvass. If he does, I +shall reply to him. Mr. Lamar was a member of +the House before the war; and I am going to read +some of his old speeches, and get into his mind.' +Mr. Lamar made his speech August 2, and Mr. +Garfield replied August 4. Men expressed surprise +at the fulness and completeness of the reply, +delivered on such short notice. But to one knowing +his habits of mind, especially to one who had +the aforesaid conversation with him, the whole +matter was as light as day. His genius was emphatically +the genius of preparation."</p> + +<p>Both in Congress and in the army Garfield gave +a portion of each day to the classics, especially to +his favorite, Horace. He was always an omnivorous +reader.</p> + +<p>In 1880, he was elected United States senator. +After the election he said, "During the twenty +years that I have been in public life, almost eighteen +of it in the Congress of the United States, I +have tried to do one thing. Whether I was mistaken<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[394]</a></span> +or otherwise, it has been the plan of my life +to follow my convictions, at whatever personal cost +to myself. I have represented for many years a +district in Congress whose approbation I greatly +desired; but, though it may seem, perhaps, a little +egotistical to say it, I yet desired still more the +approbation of one person, and his name was Garfield. +He is the only man that I am compelled to +sleep with, and eat with, and live with, and die +with; and if I could not have his approbation I +should have had bad companionship."</p> + +<p>All these years the home life had been helpful +and beautiful. Of his seven children, two were +sleeping in the Hiram church-yard. Five, Harry, +James, Mollie, Irvin, and Abram, made the Washington +home a place of cheer in winter, and +the summer home, at Mentor, Ohio, a few miles +from Hiram, a place of rest and pleasure. Here +Garfield, beloved by his neighbors, ploughed and +sewed and reaped, as when a boy. His mother +lived in his family, happy in his success.</p> + +<p>When the national Republican convention met +in June, 1880, at Chicago, the names of several +presidential candidates came before the people,—Grant, +Blaine, and others. Garfield nominated +John Sherman, of Ohio, in a chaste and eloquent +speech. He said: "I have witnessed the extraordinary +scenes of this convention with deep solicitude. +No emotion touches my heart more quickly +than a sentiment in honor of a great and noble +character; but, as I sat on these seats and witnessed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[395]</a></span> +these demonstrations, it seemed to me you +were a human ocean in a tempest.</p> + +<p>"I have seen the sea lashed into fury and tossed +into spray, and its grandeur moves the soul of the +dullest man; but I remember that it is not the billows +but the calm level of the sea from which all +heights and depths are measured. When the storm +has passed and the hour of calm settles on the +ocean, when the sunlight bathes its smooth surface, +then the astronomer and surveyor takes the level +from which he measures all terrestrial heights and +depths.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen of the convention, your present +temper may not mark the healthful pulse of our +people. When our enthusiasm has passed, when +the emotions of this hour have subsided, we shall +find that calm level of public opinion, below the +storm, from which the thoughts of a mighty people +are to be measured, and by which their final action +will be determined. Not here in this brilliant circle, +where fifteen thousand men and women are +assembled, is the destiny of the Republican party +to be decreed. Not here, where I see the enthusiastic +faces of seven hundred and fifty-six delegates, +waiting to cast their votes into the urn and determine +the choice of the republic, but by four million +Republican firesides, where the thoughtful voters, +with wives and children about them, with the calm +thoughts inspired by love of home and country, +with the history of the past, the hopes of the +future, and reverence for the great men who have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[396]</a></span> +adorned and blessed our nation in days gone by +burning in their hearts,—<i>there</i> God prepares the +verdict which will determine the wisdom of our +work to-night. Not in Chicago, in the heat of +June, but at the ballot-boxes of the republic, in +the quiet of November, after the silence of deliberate +judgment, will this question be settled."</p> + +<p>The thousands were at fever-heat hour after hour, +in their intense excitement. After thirty-four ineffectual +ballots, on the thirty-fifth, fifty votes were +given for Garfield. The tide had turned at last. +The delegates of State after State gathered around +the man from Ohio, holding their flags over him, +while the bands played, "Rally round the flag, +boys," and fifteen thousand people shouted their +thanksgiving for the happy choice. Outside the +great hall, cannons were fired, and the crowded +streets sent up their cheers. From that moment +Garfield belonged to the nation, and was its idol.</p> + +<p>On March 4, 1881, in the presence of a hundred +thousand people, the boy born in the Orange wilderness +was inaugurated President of the United +States. None of us who were present will ever +forget the beauty of his address from the steps of +the national Capitol, or the kiss given to white-haired +mother and devoted wife at the close. +Afterward, the great procession, three hours in +passing a given point, was reviewed by President +Garfield from a stand erected in front of the White +House.</p> + +<p>Four months after this scene, on July 2, 1881,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[397]</a></span> +the nation was thrilled with sorrow. As General +Garfield and his Secretary of State, James G. +Blaine, arm in arm, were entering the Baltimore +& Potomac Railroad depot, two pistol shots were +fired; one passing through Garfield's coat-sleeve, +the other into his body. He fell heavily to the +floor, and was borne to the White House. The +assassin was Charles Guiteau, a half-crazed aspirant +for office, entirely unknown to the President. The +man was hanged.</p> + +<p>Through four long months the nation prayed, +and hoped, and agonized for the life of its beloved +President. Gifts poured in from every part of the +Union, but gifts were of no avail. On September +5, Garfield was carried to Elberon, Long Branch, +New Jersey, where, in the Francklyn Cottage, he +seemed to revive as he looked out upon the sea, +the sea he had longed for in his boyhood. The +nation took heart. But two weeks later, at thirty-five +minutes past ten, on the evening of September +19, the anniversary of the battle of Chickamauga, +the President passed from an unconscious state to +the consciousness of immortality. At ten minutes +past ten he had said to General Swaim, who was +standing beside him, as he put his hand upon his +heart, "I have great pain here."</p> + +<p>The whole world sympathized with America in +her great sorrow. Queen Victoria telegraphed to +Mrs. Garfield: "Words cannot express the deep +sympathy I feel with you at this terrible moment. +May God support and comfort you, as he alone can."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[398]</a></span>On September 21, the body of the President was +taken to Washington. At the Princeton Station, +three hundred students from the college, with uncovered +heads, strewed the track and covered the +funeral car with flowers. At the Capitol, where he +had so recently listened to the cheers of the people +at his inauguration, one hundred thousand passed in +silence before his open coffin. The casket was covered +with flowers; one wreath bearing a card from +England's queen, with the words: "Queen Victoria, +to the memory of the late President Garfield, an +expression of her sorrow and sympathy with Mrs. +Garfield and the American nation."</p> + +<p>The body was borne to Cleveland, the whole +train of cars being draped in black. Fifty thousand +persons assembled at the station, and followed +the casket to a catafalque on the public square. +During the Sabbath, an almost countless throng +passed beside the beloved dead. On Monday, September +26, through beautiful Euclid Avenue, the +body was borne six miles, to its final resting-place. +Every house was draped in mourning. Streets +were arched with exquisite flowers on a background +of black. One city alone, Cincinnati, sent two carloads +of flowers. Among the many floral designs +was a ladder of white immortelles, with eleven +rounds, bearing the words: "Chester," "Hiram," +"Williams," "Ohio Senate," "Colonel," "General," +"Congress," "United States Senate," "President," +"Martyr."</p> + +<p>After appropriate exercises, the sermon being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[399]</a></span> +preached by Rev. Isaac Errett, D.D., of Cincinnati, +according to a promise made years before, +the casket, followed by a procession five miles long, +was carried to the cemetery. It was estimated +that a quarter of a million people were gathered +along the streets; not idle sight-seers, but men +and women who loved the boy, and revered the +man who had come to distinguished honor in their +midst.</p> + +<p>Not only in Cleveland were memorial services +held. The Archbishop of Canterbury spoke touching +words in London. In Liverpool, in Manchester, +in Glasgow, and hundreds of other cities, public +services were held. Messages of condolence were +sent from many of the crowned heads of Europe.</p> + +<p>Under the white stone monument in Lake View +Cemetery, the statesman has been laid to rest. +For centuries the tomb will tell to the thousands +upon thousands who visit it the story of struggle +and success; of work, of hope, of courage, of devotion +to duty. Like Abraham Lincoln, Garfield +was born in a log cabin, battled with poverty, was +honest, great-hearted, a lover of America, and, like +him, a martyr to the republic. To the world both +deaths seemed unbearable calamities, but nations, +like individuals, are chastened by sorrow, and learn +great lessons through great trials. "Now we know +in part; but then shall we know even as also we +are known."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p>"<i>The Best Book for Boys that has yet been written.</i> +We say this with Tom Brown's delightful School Days fresh +in our recollection."—<i>Portland Press.</i></p> + +<h2>CUORÉ.</h2> + +<p class="center"><i>AN ITALIAN SCHOOL-BOY'S JOURNAL.</i></p> + +<p>By EDMONDO DE AMICIS. Translated from the 39th +Italian Edition by Isabel F. Hapgood.</p> + +<p class="center">12mo. $1.25.</p> + + +<p>In this delightful volume, so unconventional in form, so fresh and +energetic in style, Signor de Amicis has given not only the heart history +of an Italian lad but also a very vivid and attractive picture of +modern life in Italy. He is a genuine boy who is supposed to write +the story, and all the events, incidents, and observations are seen +through a boy's bright young eyes. The descriptions of school experiences, +of festivals and public ceremonies, of scenes in city and +country, are all full of color and charm, and are inspired by a genuine +love for humanity.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"A charming and wholesome volume."—<i>Albany Journal.</i></p> + +<p>"Just the thing for school-boys."—<i>Beacon.</i></p> + +<p>"Its topics are such as boys take delight in. *** The moment a boy begins to +read it he decides to go through with it."—<i>Cleveland Leader.</i></p> + +<p>"Can not be spoken of in too high terms of praise."—<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p> + +<p>"Filled with incidents delightfully described."—<i>Albany Press.</i></p> + +<p>"No wonder the work has reached its thirty-ninth edition."—<i>Norwick Journal.</i></p> + +<p>"Deserves a place beside Tom Bailey and Tom Brown."—<i>Commercial Bulletin</i>, +Boston.</p> + +<p>"Written in just the style to please healthy boys."—<i>Ohio State Journal.</i></p> + +<p>"Lovers of literature will be delighted with it."—<i>Mail and Express</i>, New York.</p> + +<p>"A voyage into those wondrous regions, the heart, soul and pocket of a school-boy +*** Full of striking and beautiful passages."—<i>Critic</i>, New York.</p></blockquote> +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<h3>THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.</h3> + +<p class="center">13 ASTOR PLACE, NEW YORK.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>SIX BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE</h2> + +<p class="center">By J A K</p> + +<p class="center">12mo. Illustrated. $1.25 per Vol.</p> + + +<h4>BIRCHWOOD.</h4> + +<p>"A hearty, honest boys' book, which young people are sure to enjoy."—<i>N. Y. +Mail and Express.</i></p> + +<p>"An eminently wholesome and good book."—<i>Zion's Herald.</i></p> + +<p>"An excellent story for boys, inculcating the valuable truth that whether a boy be +rich or poor he should learn to work. There is also a good temperance lesson taught; +and it is all told in a simple way, that ought to interest young readers."—<i>Literary World.</i></p> + + +<h4>RIVERSIDE MUSEUM.</h4> + +<p>"Thoroughly healthy in tone."—<i>Nation.</i></p> + +<p>"A very charming story for young folks."—<i>Inter-Ocean.</i></p> + +<p>"In a pleasant, easy style, the writer shows how children aiming at improvement +can find around a village the objects in Nature which develop thought and knowledge."—<i>Christian +Intelligencer.</i></p> + + +<h4>THE FITCH CLUB.</h4> + +<p>"A very interesting and very profitable story."—<i>Hartford Post.</i></p> + +<p>"The author has a happy way of telling a story in just the style calculated to interest +boys."—<i>Christian Union.</i></p> + +<p>"A pure and interesting story for the boys and girls. Ways and means of doing +many useful things are so naturally and pleasantly told that the information does not +appear like teaching, but like story-telling."—<i>Kansas City Times.</i></p> + + +<h4>PROFESSOR JOHNNY.</h4> + +<p>"An admirable book for teaching boys the science of common things."—<i>Home +Journal.</i></p> + +<p>"Combines scientific information, wise moral instruction, and capital entertainment +in good proportions."—<i>The Congregationalist.</i></p> + +<p>"It is characterized by that uncommon thing—common sense."—<i>Christian Index.</i></p> + + +<h4>WHO SAVED THE SHIP.</h4> + +<p>"Good wholesome reading."—<i>Milwaukee Sentinel.</i></p> + +<p>"One of the brightest books of the season."—<i>Ohio State Journal.</i></p> + +<p>"Admirable in tone and full of interest."—<i>Boston Traveller.</i></p> + + +<h4>THE GIANT DWARF.</h4> + +<p>"Young and old will read the story with pleasure."—<i>Philadelphia Inquirer.</i></p> + +<p>"The author of 'Birchwood,' 'Prof. Johnny,' and other tales, will always be sure +of a welcome among young people, and 'The Giant Dwarf' will be found to rank +among his most fascinating work."—<i>Boston Traveller.</i></p> + + +<h3>THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.</h3> + +<p class="center">13 ASTOR PLACE, NEW YORK.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p class="center">$1500 PRIZE STORY.</p> + +<h2>THE BLIND BROTHER.</h2> + +<p class="center"><i>A STORY OF THE MINES.</i><br /><br /> + +By HOMER GREENE.<br /><br /> + +12mo, cloth. 230 pp. 14 illustrations. 90 cents.</p> + +<p>"The recent prize competition for stories, held by the publishers of +the <i>Youth's Companion</i>, called forth about 5000 aspirants for literary +honors, among that multitude, Mr. Homer Greene, of Honesdale, Pa., +whose story, the Blind Brother, took the first prize of $1500, probably +the largest sum ever paid for a story to a hitherto comparatively unknown +writer. The Blind Brother deals with life in the coal-mining +region of the Wyoming Valley, and is remarkable for its dramatic +intensity, power of characterization, humor and pathos."</p> + +<blockquote><p>"There are 4,000,000 boys in the United States from 10 to 16 years of age. This +story was written for them. We wish every one of the number to read it. A style of +writing more simple, clear, direct, forcible, and attractive could not be desired."—<i>National +Republican</i>, Washington, D. C.</p> + +<p>"This wonderfully pathetic and beautiful creation."—<i>Wilkesbarre Union-Leader.</i></p> + +<p>"It is a pleasure to think of anything at once so entertaining, so healthful, and so +artistic, falling into the hands of youthful readers."—<i>The Critic</i>, New York.</p> + +<p>"Well conceived, prettily told, and enlivened with effective touches of light and +shade."—<i>The Epoch</i>, New York.</p> + +<p>"A story of remarkable power and pathos."—<i>Chicago Advance.</i></p> + +<p>"Replete with thrilling incidents."—<i>N. Y. Journal.</i></p> + +<p>"Full of interest, full of information not usually stumbled upon, and full of lessons +of morality and true manliness."—<i>Christian Standard.</i></p> + +<p>"The plot natural and arousing deep interest, whilst the story has its humorous and +its touching passages."—<i>Presbyterian Banner</i>, Pittsburgh.</p> + +<p>"So sweet and touching that the moral is profound."—<i>New Haven Palladium.</i></p> + +<p>"A good strong story, told with simplicity and directness."—<i>Christian Intelligence</i>, +New York.</p></blockquote> + + +<h3>THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.</h3> + +<p class="center">13 ASTOR PLACE, NEW YORK.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>FAMOUS BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.</h2> + + +<h4>POOR BOYS WHO BECAME FAMOUS.</h4> + +<p>By <span class="smcap">Sarah K. Bolton</span>. Short biographical sketches of George Peabody, +Michael Faraday, Samuel Johnson, Admiral Farragut, Horace Greeley, William +Lloyd Garrison, Garibaldi, President Lincoln, and other noted persons who, +from humble circumstances, have risen to fame and distinction, and left behind +an imperishable record. Illustrated with 24 portraits. 12mo. $1.50.</p> + +<p>"It is seldom that a book passes under our notice which we feel impelled to +commend so highly to young readers, and especially to boys."—<i>N. Y. Observer.</i></p> + + +<h4>GIRLS WHO BECAME FAMOUS.</h4> + +<p>By <span class="smcap">Sarah K. Bolton</span>. A companion book to "Poor Boys Who Became +Famous." Biographical sketches of Harriet Beecher Stowe, George Eliot, +Helen Hunt Jackson, Harriet Hosmer, Rosa Bonheur, Florence Nightingale, +Maria Mitchell, and other eminent women. Illustrated with portraits. 12mo. +$1.50.</p> + +<p>"Give this book to your daughter; she may, perhaps, never become famous, +but it will help her to do well her life's work."—<i>American Baptist.</i></p> + + +<h4>FAMOUS AMERICAN AUTHORS.</h4> + +<p>By <span class="smcap">Sarah K. Bolton</span>. Short biographical sketches of Holmes, Longfellow, +Emerson, Lowell, Aldrich, Mark Twain, and other noted writers. Illustrated +with portraits. 12mo. $1.50.</p> + +<p>"Bright and chatty, giving glimpses into the heart and home life of some +whom the world delights to honor.... At once accurate, inviting, instructive."—<i>Chautauquan.</i></p> + + +<h4>FAMOUS AMERICAN STATESMEN.</h4> + +<p>By <span class="smcap">Sarah K. Bolton</span>. A companion book to "Famous American Authors." +Biographical sketches of Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton, Webster, +Sumner, Garfield, and others. Illustrated with portraits. 12mo. $1.50.</p> + +<p>Such lives as are sketched in this book are a constant inspiration, both to young +and old. They teach Garfield's oft-repeated maxim, that "the genius of success +is still the genius of labor." They teach patriotism, a deeper love for and +devotion to America. They teach that life, with some definite and noble purpose, +is worth living.</p> + + +<h4>BOYS' BOOK OF FAMOUS RULERS.</h4> + +<p>By <span class="smcap">Lydia Hoyt Farmer</span>. Lives of Agamemnon, Julius Cæsar, Charlemagne, +Frederick the Great, Richard Cœur de Lion, Robert Bruce, Napoleon, +and other heroes of historic fame. Fully illustrated with portraits and numerous +engravings. 12mo. $1.50.</p> + +<p>"A capital book for youth. Each subject has a portrait and illustrations of +eventful scenes."—<i>Boston Globe.</i></p> + + +<h4>GIRLS' BOOK OF FAMOUS QUEENS.</h4> + +<p>By <span class="smcap">Lydia Hoyt Farmer</span>. A companion book to "Boys' Book of Famous +Rulers." Lives of Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth, Catharine de Medici, Josephine, +Victoria, Eugénie, etc. 12mo, cloth. 85 illustrations. $1.50.</p> + +<p>"Such a book for young people is worth a score of 'blood and thunder' +fictions; it is worthy a place in the library of every boy and girl."—<i>Washington +Post.</i></p> + + +<h4>LIFE OF LAFAYETTE, the Knight of Liberty.</h4> + +<p>By <span class="smcap">Lydia Hoyt Farmer.</span> A glowing narrative of the life of this renowned +general, with 58 illustrations. 12mo. $1.50.</p> + +<p>As a large portion of the material presented in this volume has been gathered +from French works never before translated and which are now out of print, and +also from original files of newspapers, and various manuscripts written by members +of the La Fayette family, a more complete life of General La Fayette is here +offered than has before appeared, either in this country or in Europe.</p> + + +<h3>THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO., 13 Astor Place, NEW YORK.</h3> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="tn"><h3>Transcriber's Note:</h3> <p> Minor typographical errors +and inconsistencies have been corrected without comment.</p> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAMOUS AMERICAN STATESMEN***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 39012-h.txt or 39012-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/9/0/1/39012">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/0/1/39012</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>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. 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