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diff --git a/39012.txt b/39012.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5796fea --- /dev/null +++ b/39012.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10446 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Famous American Statesmen, by Sarah Knowles +Bolton + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Famous American Statesmen + + +Author: Sarah Knowles Bolton + + + +Release Date: February 29, 2012 [eBook #39012] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAMOUS AMERICAN STATESMEN*** + + +E-text prepared by Darleen Dove, Julia Neufeld, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made +available by Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 39012-h.htm or 39012-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39012/39012-h/39012-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39012/39012-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://www.archive.org/details/famousamericanst00bolt2 + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. + + + + + +FAMOUS AMERICAN STATESMEN + +by + +SARAH K. BOLTON + +Author of "Poor Boys Who Became Famous," "Girls Who +Became Famous," "Famous American Authors," +"Stories from Life," "From Heart and Nature," etc. + + +"A nation has no possessions so valuable as its great men, +living or dead."--HON. JOHN BIGELOW. + + + + + + + +New York +Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. +No. 13 Astor Place + +Copyright, 1888, By +Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. + +Electrotyped +By C. J. Peters and Son, Boston. + +Presswork by Berwick & Smith, Boston. + + + + + To + + THOMAS Y. CROWELL. + + RESPECTED AS A PUBLISHER + AND + ESTEEMED AS A FRIEND. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +"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. + +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. + + S. K. B. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + GEORGE WASHINGTON 1 + + BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 38 + + THOMAS JEFFERSON 67 + + ALEXANDER HAMILTON 99 + + ANDREW JACKSON 133 + + DANIEL WEBSTER 177 + + HENRY CLAY 230 + + CHARLES SUMNER 268 + + ULYSSES S. GRANT 307 + + JAMES A. GARFIELD 361 + +[Illustration: G. Washington signature] + + + + +GEORGE WASHINGTON. + + +The "purest figure in history," wrote William E. Gladstone of George +Washington. + +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." + +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." + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 +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. + +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. + +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 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." + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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?" + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 night they lit their camp-fire, but at two in the morning they +pursued their journey, guided by the north star. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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." + +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." + +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. + +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. + +The march was exceedingly difficult. Sometimes a whole day was spent in +cutting a passage of two miles over the mountains. Washington urged +that 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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." + +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. + +In May, 1758, the condition of the army was 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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:-- + + "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 + + "Ever affectionate friend, + "G. WASHINGTON." + +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 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 cortege, rode beside her carriage. + +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! + +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." + +For seventeen years he lived on his estate of eight thousand acres, +delighting in agriculture, and 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 is to yield; and the authority of the +mother country, if it is not now supported, will be relinquished +forever; _a total repeal cannot be thought of till America is prostrate +at our feet_." Mrs. Washington, like other lovers of liberty, at once +ceased to use tea at her table. + +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." + +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! Truly +said Schiller: "Honor to women! they twine and weave the roses of heaven +into the life of man." + +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." + +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. + +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 of +Charleston, South Carolina, are as mad as they are here." He was soon to +possess a more thorough knowledge of the American character. + +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." + +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. + +The British now marched to Concord, where, in the early morning, they +found four hundred and 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +He was now forty-three; the ideal of manly 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. + +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." + +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." + +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. + +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, which has cost this nation more than a million to +defend." + +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! + +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. + +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, from an eminence, watched the terrible conflict, +wringing his hands, and exclaiming, "What brave fellows I must this day +lose!" + +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. + +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! + +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, 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. + +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. + +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 the men. "Push on, and use the +bayonet," was the answer. + +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. + +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 of military stores. Two months +later, France made a treaty of alliance with the United States, to the +joy of the whole country. + +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. + +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 of brigadier-general in their army. On September 21, Sir Henry +Clinton sent Major John Andre, 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. + +Andre 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. Andre 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 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. + +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." + +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. + +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," 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. + +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!" + +The nearly seven long years of war were ended, and America had become a +free nation. + +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 +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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." + +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 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! + +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 Caesar, 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. + +The next four years were years of perplexity and care in the building of +the nation. The great war 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." + +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 himself First Consul, he wisely made +peace with the United States. + +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." + +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. + +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 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." + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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 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. + +[Illustration: Benj. Franklin with Signature] + + + + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. + + +"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. + +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. + +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. + +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, 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. + +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. + +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 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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _certainly_, _undoubtedly_, 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 should think it so or so_, for such and such reasons; or, _it is +so_, if _I am not mistaken_.... 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 I generally carried my points." A most +valuable lesson to be learned early in life. + +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. + +James Franklin was now printing the fifth newspaper in America. It was +intended to issue the first--_Publick Occurrences_--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 _Boston News-Letter_,--a +weekly, was published April 24, 1704; the third was the _Boston +Gazette_, which James was engaged to print, but, being disappointed, +started one of his own, August 17, 1721, called the _New England +Courant_. The _American Weekly Mercury_ was printed in Philadelphia six +months before the _Courant_. + +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. + +The _Courant_ 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. + +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. + +Finally he reached Philadelphia. + +"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 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. + +"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. + +"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 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." + +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. + +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 under +nineteen, should wait till the printer proved his ability to support a +wife. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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, 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. + +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. + +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 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 +_Pennsylvania Gazette_. 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." + +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. + +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 streets. Who supposed +then that he would some day be President of the Commonwealth of +Pennsylvania? + +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." + +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 she thought _her_ husband deserved +a silver spoon and china bowl as well as any of his neighbors." + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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." + +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 opportunity when it +comes," Franklin had prepared himself, by study, for his opportunity. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 in the new world, be +a man self-taught, and one so busy in public life. + +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. + +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! + +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 of all things is the motherhood that never lets go the hand of +the child, and always points Godward! + +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." + +"Then, Sir John, you had perhaps better resign," was the reply, and the +obstinate monarch put knobs on his conductors. + +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 _right_, truth +and experience will support them; if _wrong_, they ought to be refuted +and rejected. Disputes are apt to sour one's temper and disturb one's +quiet." + +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 +reelected every year for ten years, "without," as he says, "ever asking +any elector for his vote, or signifying, either directly or indirectly, +any 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. + +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 _Gazette_, 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, "JOIN or DIE." 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." + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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, "Caesar 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." + +Grenville saw, too late, the storm he had aroused. 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!" + +"What used to be the pride of the Americans?" + +"To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of Great Britain." + +"What is now their pride?" + +"To wear their old clothes over again, till they can make new ones," +said the fearless Franklin. + +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. + +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 Philadelphia they sent it home +again to Old England. + +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. + +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. + +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 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." + +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. + +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 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." + +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. + +"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, 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! + +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 eight diamonds. Thomas Jefferson +became minister in his stead. When asked if he had replaced Dr. +Franklin, he replied, "I _succeed_; no one can ever _replace_ him." + +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. + +At eighty-four, in reply to a letter to Washington, he received these +tender words:-- + + "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, + + "GEORGE WASHINGTON." + +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 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. + +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,-- + + Benjamin } Franklin. + and } 1790. + Deborah } + +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." + +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." + +[Illustration: Thomas Jefferson signature] + + + + +THOMAS JEFFERSON. + + +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. + +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. + +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. It was not strange that by and by he became a member of the +Virginia House of Burgesses. + +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. + +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! + +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! + +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 them and the estate left him +by his father, he would have greatly preferred poverty and education. + +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. + +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. + +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 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 _per interim;_ 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." + +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. + +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 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. + +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, a fox-hunter, an orator, or the honest +advocate of my country's rights?" + +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. + +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 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.'" + +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. + +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." + +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 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." + +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." + +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. + +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!" + +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. + +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 +land, his annual income was about five thousand dollars, from this and +his profession. + +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. + +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. + +The year after Jefferson's marriage, Dabney Carr, 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:-- + + "To his Virtue, Good-Sense, Learning, and Friendship, + this stone is dedicated by Thomas Jefferson, who, + of all men living, loved him most." + +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. + +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 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." + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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." + +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." + +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 +reelected to Congress, but declined to serve, as he wished to do +important work in his own State, in the changing of her laws. + +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 the long journey. She +was more to him than the French mission, and he stayed at home. + +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." + +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. + +Jefferson was averse to slavery, worked for the colonization of the +slaves, and in 1778 carried through a bill against their further +importation. 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! + +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. + +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 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. + +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." + +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; Caesar, 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 Caesar; the plank was immediately restored to its +place, and for nearly three days and nights the poor colored man +remained in the 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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." + +He longed now for a change of scene; Monticello was no more a place of +peace and rest. Being 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. + +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. 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?" + +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. + +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." + +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 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." + +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." + +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, _do what is right_, 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 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." + +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." + +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 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." + +Three years later, he was again called into public life. As Washington +declined a reelection, 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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! + +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 land, called the +Territory of Louisiana, for fifteen million dollars. + +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. + +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. + +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 being asked if he knew Mr. Jefferson +personally, he replied, "No, nor do I wish to." + +"But do you think it fair to repeat such stories about a man, and +condemn one whom you do not dare to face?" + +"I shall never shrink from meeting him if he ever comes in my way." + +"Will you, then, go to his house to-morrow, and be introduced to him, if +I promise to meet you there?" + +"Yes, I will." + +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. + +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. + +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 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." + +To his daughter Mary he wrote these lines, which well might be hung up +in every household:-- + +"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. + +"Other sources of discontent, very common indeed, 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." + +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. + +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, 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." + +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! + +The death of two Presidents at this memorable time has given an +additional sacredness to our national Independence Day. + +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 desired for his +monument, with these words to be inscribed upon it. + + Here was buried + THOMAS JEFFERSON, + Author of the Declaration of Independence, + Of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, + And Father of the University of Virginia. + +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. + +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. + +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 to all others." He compiled a little +book of the words of Christ, saying, "A more precious morsel of ethics +was never seen." + +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. + +[Illustration: Signature A. Hamilton] + + + + +ALEXANDER HAMILTON. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +The opportunities for education on the island 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. + +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. + +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." + +The "projector was constant," and the "schemes 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. + +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. + +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. + +Attracted to Princeton, he asked Dr. Witherspoon, the president of the +college, the privilege of taking the course in about half the usual +time. 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. + +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. + +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 for liberty. Accordingly, the "great +meeting" was called, to teach the people the lessons of the past and the +duties of the future. + +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!" + +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. + +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 preeminence over his fellow-creatures more than 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." + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 captain. He used the last money sent +him by his relatives in the West Indies, to equip his company. + +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. + +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. + +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. This was the beginning of a life-long and most devoted +friendship between the great commander and the boyish captain. + +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." + +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. + +When the skies looked darkest, as at Valley Forge, Hamilton was +habitually cheerful, seeing 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 _both_, from want and from scorn of +expression, I shall only tell you--Adieu!" + +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." + +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." + +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 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. + +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." + +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." + +For Major Andre he had the deepest sympathy, and admiration of his manly +qualities. He wrote to Miss Schuyler, afterward his wife, "Poor Andre +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 +Andre's request to be shot, and I do not think it would have had an ill +effect." + +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. + +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 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." + +Washington appreciated his heroism, and said, "Few cases have exhibited +greater proof of intrepidity, coolness, and firmness than were shown on +this occasion." + +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." + +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 +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. + +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. + +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. + +That his voice would be heard in Congress was a foregone conclusion. +General Schuyler wrote his 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." + +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." + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 _Federalist_ he contributed +fifty-one papers in defence of the Constitution, and did more than any +other man to secure its ultimate adoption. + +Henry Cabot Lodge, in his clear and admirable "Life of Hamilton," says: +"As an exposition of the meaning and purposes of the Constitution, the +_Federalist_ 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." + +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 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." + +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." + +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 federal frigate Hamilton was +fully manned, and received the plaudits of the crowds. + +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. + +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. + +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 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 _implied_ 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +Through all this matter, Hamilton had the complete love and confidence +of Washington. When it was deemed wise to send a special commissioner +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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." 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!" + +At ten years of age, she was studying Horace and Terence, learning the +Greek grammar, speaking French, and reading Gibbon. + +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." + +Burr's success in the law had been phenomenal. When he was studying for +admission to the bar, he often passed twenty hours out of the +twenty-four over his books. + +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. + +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 +_you_ ought to know, when I espouse the cause of innocence and of the +oppressed, that character and those powers will have their weight." + +The property was reconveyed to the farmer, who gratefully asked Hamilton +to name the compensation. "Nothing! nothing!" said he. "Hasten home and +make your family happy." + +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." + +"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." + +"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 Webster's superior.... +He, more than any man, did the thinking of the time." + +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." + +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." + +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, 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." + +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, "_Political_ +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. + +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. + +Before going to the fatal meeting, he wrote his feelings about duelling. +"My religious and moral 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 _relative_ 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." + +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 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. + +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. + +For thirty-one hours he lay in agony, talking, 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." + +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. + +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 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." + +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. + +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:-- + + "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 of the country have mainly owed their force + and acceptance to Hamilton, Jefferson, Webster, and Lincoln. + + "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." + +[Illustration: Signature Andrew Jackson] + + + + +ANDREW JACKSON. + + +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." + +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 man was worthy of it, +and had earned the love and honor of the people. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Her ambition seems to have centred in the slight, light-haired, +blue-eyed Andrew, who, she 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. + +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 _stay throwed_. He was dead game, even +then, and never _would_ give up." + +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 a most ferocious animal, insensible to moral duty and regardless +of the laws both of God and man." + +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. + +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 words like these, 'Oh, if I were a man, how I would sweep down +the British with my grass blade!'" + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 + + "A new and certain sunrise every day." + +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 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. + +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. + +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! + +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. 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." + +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. + +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, 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. + +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. + +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. 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. + +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." + +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 thirty years old! Rachel Jackson might well be proud of him. + +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. + +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. + +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 +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?" + +"Yes, but he is not worth a tenth as much as either of these men whose +names I offer you," was the response. + +"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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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, 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! + +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. + +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 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." + +Jackson was always the friend of _young_ 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. + +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. + +The second war with Great Britain had come upon the American people, +June 19, 1812. Our country had suffered in its commerce through the +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. + +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?" + +After a time the "orders" came, but what was 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +The provisions did not follow them as had 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, +FAMINE." 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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +Many of the men had enlisted for three months 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. + +"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. + +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. + +In seven months the Creeks had been utterly 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. + +"How dare you," said Jackson, "ride up to my tent, after having murdered +the women and children at Fort Mims?" + +"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." + +"Kill him! kill him!" shouted several voices. + +"Silence!" exclaimed Jackson. "Any man who would kill as brave a man as +this would rob the dead!" + +Weathersford's request was granted, and the women and children of the +war party were provided for. The chief died many years afterward, a +planter in Alabama, respected by the Americans for his bravery and his +honor. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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." + +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 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!" + +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. + +"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. + +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--FORWARD. + +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 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." + +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. + +"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." + +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 dinner in New +Orleans." General Jackson heard of it, and remarked, "Perhaps so; but I +shall have the honor of presiding at that dinner." + +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 _may_ go; but _ought_ you +to go?" The young man blushed, bowed, and returned to duty. + +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. + +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." + +And every shot did tell. The sharpshooters aimed at the officers, and +the batteries mowed down the British regulars. Seeing them falter, +Packenham 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. + +"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. + +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." + +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 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." + +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." + +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 of the +great soldier. Perhaps the busy public life was over--who could tell? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +In 1823, Jackson was elected to the United 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. + +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. + +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 son of John Adams, and long our representative +abroad. + +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." + +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 _now_, but I promise you that, when once more I am clear of +politics, I will join the church." + +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 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. + +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." + +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. + +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 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. + +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." + +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 complete and beautiful an affection; perchance the fault is +sometimes theirs. + +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 _her_ +picture ("her" always meant Rachel with General Jackson), for this +reason found a home also at the White House. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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: "OUR FEDERAL UNION: IT +MUST BE PRESERVED." 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." + +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 service of +volunteers. Medals were struck bearing the words, "John C. Calhoun, +First President of the Southern Confederacy." + +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. + +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 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. + +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, _their_ President, and he +had come home to live and die with them. + +He was now through with politics, and wanted to carry out _her_ 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. + +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. + +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." + +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 _she_ were +alive, she would wish him to have it all, and to me her wish is law." + +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 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. + +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! + +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." + +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." + +"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 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." + +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 _me_ before, +I see." + +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." + +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 +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 _manner_ of his, with which so many +have been struck, and which was of the highest available stamp as +regards both dignity and grace." + +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, +_she_ 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." + +[Illustration: DANIEL WEBSTER.] + + + + +DANIEL WEBSTER. + + +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. + +"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 back the corn +to be ground, which was to support his family." + +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 +_you_." + +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. + +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 surroundings. +Great mountains, great reaches of sea or plain, usually bring great +thoughts and plans to those who view them with a loving heart. + +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." + +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 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!" + +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 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." + +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. + +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 were in pursuit of light, but got +more than they wanted." + +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. + +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!" + +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 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.'" + +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 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. + +"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. + +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 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." + +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." + +All through life, Mr. Webster, greatest of American orators, was never +afraid nor ashamed to 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. + +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?'" + +In August, 1797, when Daniel was fifteen, he entered Dartmouth College; +there he proved a genial, affectionate friend, and a devoted student. +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." + +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; 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." + +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. + +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. + +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 +_Dartmouth Gazette_, 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. 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." + +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. + +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. + +On leaving college he entered the law office of Mr. 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. + +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." + +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." + +"In these days," says George Ticknor Curtis' delightful life of Webster, +"he was always dignified 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." + +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 _himself_ 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." + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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 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 +_trippingly_ on the tongue, though I suspect it was 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.'" + +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." + +Webster now read, in addition to books on the common and municipal law, +Ward's "Law of Nations," Lord Bacon's "Elements," Puffendorff's "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. + +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. + +"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." + +"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 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.'" + +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." + +"Yes, father," was the reply, "the gentlemen were very kind; I must go +and thank them." + +"They gave it to you without my saying a word about it." + +"I must go and see Judge Farrar, and tell him I am much obliged to him." + +"Daniel, Daniel," said he, at last, with a searching look, "don't you +mean to take that office?" + +"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." + +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. + +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 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." + +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. + +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." + +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 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. + +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. + +On July 4, 1812, Webster delivered an oration before the "Washington +Benevolent Society," in which he stoutly opposed the war then being +carried 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. + +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 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." + +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. + +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. + +During this session of Congress, Webster received 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." + +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. + +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. + +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. 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." + +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 the +Constitution of the United States the charter of an institution is a +contract which a State Legislature cannot annul. + +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! + +"It is, sir, as I have said, a small college. And yet there are those +who love it--" + +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 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." + +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. + +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 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!" + +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 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." + +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." + +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." + +From the day he delivered that oration, Mr. Webster was the leading +orator of America. From 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 in the name of the present generation, in the name of your +country, in the name of liberty, to thank you! + +"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." + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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 being, +to new adoration, new enjoyments, and new gratitude." + +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!" + +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. + +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 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!" + +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. + +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 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." + +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." + +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." + +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. + +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." + +Recently, at the home of Kate Sanborn in New 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. + +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. + +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 in which to prepare his speech. The notes filled +three pages of ordinary letter paper, while the speech, as reported, +filled twenty pages. + +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. + +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 +_is_." "Then," answered Webster, "by the blessing of Heaven they shall +learn, this day, before the sun goes down, what I understand it to be." + +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." + +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." + +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 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. + +"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 +_What is all this worth_? Nor those other words of delusion and folly, +_Liberty first_, and _Union_ 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!" + +Of course, this reply to Hayne electrified the country, and Webster +began to be mentioned for 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." + +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. + +In 1833, the famous statesman made an extended journey through the West, +and was everywhere honored and feted. Church-bells were rung, cannon +fired, and houses decorated at his coming. Great crowds gathered +everywhere to hear him speak. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +In 1844, the annexation of Texas was a leading presidential question. +Until 1836 she was a 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. + +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. + +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. 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. + +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." + +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 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. + +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 deg. 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. + +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 a territorial +government and for the exclusion of slavery. + +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. + +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. + +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 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." + +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. + +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." + +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 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!'" + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +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 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." + +Once, at a dinner party of gentlemen, he was asked by one present, "What +is the most important thought that ever occupied your mind?" + +The reply came slowly and solemnly, "My individual responsibility to +God!" + +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. + +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 _that_ bourne; no man +can comprehend the will or the works of God. That there _is_ a God all +must acknowledge. I see him in all these wondrous works--himself how +wondrous! + +"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 immortality to _light_, +_rescued_ it--brought it to _light_." He then began to repeat the Lord's +prayer, saying earnestly, "Hold me up, I do not wish to pray with a +fainting voice." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +[Illustration: Signature "Your friend & obe Serv H. Clay"] + + + + +HENRY CLAY. + + +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. + +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. + +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 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." + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +"There is no vacancy," said the clerk. + +"Never mind," said the colonel, "you _must_ take him;" and so he did. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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." + +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. + +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 a young man of brilliancy and power +had come within her borders. + +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 than +realized. I immediately rushed into a successful and lucrative +practice." + +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. + +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. + +Sometimes the ending of a case was ludicrous as well as pathetic. Two +Germans, father and son, 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! + +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. + +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. + +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 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." + +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 cooperated 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." + +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! + +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. + +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." + +As soon as Clay was home again, Kentucky sent him to her State +Legislature, where he was elected speaker. Already the conflicts between +England 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. + +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. + +"Henry Clay stands," says Carl Schurz, "in the traditions of the House +of Representatives as the greatest of its speakers. His perfect mastery +of 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." + +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 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 FREE TRADE AND SEAMEN'S RIGHTS." + +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." + +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 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. + +"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." + +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 him, saying, "What shall we do without +Clay in Congress?" + +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. + +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. + +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 Stael. "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 Duke of Wellington to lead their armies against you." + +"I am very sorry," replied Clay, "that they did not send the duke." + +"And why?" she asked. + +"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." + +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." + +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 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. + +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. + +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 +market. Clay's speeches were read the country over, and won him +thousands of followers. + +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! + +"My friend," said Clay, "have you a good rifle?" + +"Yes." + +"Did it ever flash?" + +"Yes; but only once." + +"What did you do with the rifle when it flashed?--throw it away?" + +"No; I picked the flint, tried again, and brought down the game." + +"Have I ever flashed, except upon the compensation bill?" + +"No." + +"Well, will you throw me away?" + +"No, Mr. Clay; I will pick the flint and try you again." + +Mr. Clay was returned to Congress, and voted for the repeal of the +fifteen hundred dollar salary. + +The subject which was to surpass all other subjects in interest, and +well-nigh destroy the Union, was coming into prominence--slavery. Henry +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. + + * * * * * + +"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 subjection only by the superior intelligence and superior power +of the predominant race." + +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. + +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." + +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 deg. 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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." + +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 preeminent talents, by his +splendid services, by his ardent patriotism, 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." + +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. + +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 +coalition of Blifil and Black George--by the combination, unheard of +till then, of the Puritan with the blackleg." + +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." + +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 have come to hear that voice._" + +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. But he was soon returned +to the Senate by his devoted State. + +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." + +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." + +Then the "great pacificator" came forward to heal the wounds between +North and South, and 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. + +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. + +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. + +Again in 1840, after the four years' term of Van Buren, the protege of +Jackson, all eyes turned toward Clay as the coming President. But +already he had been twice the nominee and been twice 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. + +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." + +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 known that Clay would make a +farewell address, the Senate chamber was crowded. + +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." + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +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 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." + +"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." + +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." + +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 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." + +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." + +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!" + +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 daughter had died. When Mr. Clay opened the letter and +read the sad news, he fainted, and remained in his room for days. + +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 would heartily have approved the act which +dedicated the great man to God." + +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. + +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 deg. 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. + +"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." + +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." + +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 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, _never_ will I engage with her +in such a cause!" + +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. + +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. + +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 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." + +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. + +[Illustration: CHARLES SUMNER.] + + + + +CHARLES SUMNER. + + +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." + +"The most eloquent and high-minded." Great praise, but worthily +bestowed! + +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 transmitting it to the next generation, and without adding to +it yourselves,--this is the height of imbecility." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 Caesar's conquest to 1801, which filled a manuscript book +of eighty-six pages. + +His first college room at Harvard was No. 17 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. + +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, 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!" + +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 THE BOOK, was found +open on the day of his death, with the words marked in Henry VI:-- + + "Would I were dead! if God's good will were so; + For what is in this world but grief and woe?" + +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 "Encyclopaedia 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. + +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." + +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 own age, became his +most devoted friend, and to the end of his life Sumner loved him as a +brother. + +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? + +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. + +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 _esprit_ 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 _savant_, 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 _savant_ as he mined every +one he met, in search of ore, and was thoroughly pleased with what he +got." + +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." + +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.... 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." + +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 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." + +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." + +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 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." + +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." + +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 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." + +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, +_time_ is more powerful than senses or memory. Keep little books for +addresses. Write down first impressions of men and countries." + +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." + +To his brother George, six years younger than himself, he wrote, "Do not +waste your time in driblets. Deem every moment precious,--far more so +than the costliest stones.... Keep some good book constantly on hand to +occupy every stray moment." + +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 +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?" + +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 _Edinburgh Review_, 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." + +Sumner wrote back to his friends in America: "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." + +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. + +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." + +Sumner spent three months in Rome, at first 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! + +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." + +In the spring of 1840 Sumner was home again, having been abroad for two +and one-half years. 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. + +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." + +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, 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. + +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. + +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 death, when asked if she +were in pain, she said, 'No; angels are taking care of me.'" + +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. + +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. + +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. _The true grandeur of humanity is in moral elevation, +sustained, enlightened, and decorated by the intellect of man...._ 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." + +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 _will_ do more." + +Chancellor Kent wrote him, "I am very strongly in favor of the +institution of a congress of nations 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.'" + +Seven thousand copies of this oration were distributed by the Peace +Societies of England, and it had a wide reading in our own country. + +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." + +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 the occasion. The +door had opened to fame and immortality, even though they came to him +through contumely and well-nigh martyrdom. + +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. + + "'There's a fount about to stream; + There's a light about to beam; + There's a warmth about to glow; + There's a flower about to blow; + There's a midnight blackness changing + Into gray: + Men of thought and men of action, + Clear the way!'" + +Theodore Parker wrote to the orator, "You have planted a seed, 'out of +which many and tall branches shall arise,' I hope. _The people are +always true to a good man who truly trusts them._ 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 _a man speaks_." + +And Charles Sumner became as noble as the words he had spoken. It makes +us stronger to commit ourselves before the world. We are compelled to +live up to the standard of our speech, or be adjudged hypocrites. + +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. + +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 +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." + +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. + +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.'" + +Mr. Polk of Tennessee said to him: "If you should make that speech in +Tennessee, you would compel me to emancipate my niggers." + +The vote on the repeal stood: Yeas, four; nays, forty-seven. Alas! how +many years he wrought before the repeal came. + +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. + +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 best bill on which Congress ever acted. +Yes, sir, WORST and BEST at the same time. + +"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? + +"Sorrowfully I bend before the wrong you are about to enact. Joyfully I +welcome all the promises of the future." + +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. 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." + +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. + +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. 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. + +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, and every gallant heart in the +commonwealth be ready to kiss his very footsteps." + +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 SUMNER." 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. + +In 1857 Sumner was almost unanimously reelected 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 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. + +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-Sequard, 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." + +Sumner wrote home: "It is with a pang unspeakable 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." + +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. + +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,--_the equality of men_.... +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!-- + + "'Ring out the old, ring in the new! + Ring out the false, ring in the true! + Ring out a slowly dying cause, + And ancient forms of party strife! + Ring in the nobler modes of life, + With sweeter manners, purer laws.'" + +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 +"_firm_, FIRM, 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." + +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! + +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!'" + +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, 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. FORWARD! FORWARD! 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? + +"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." + +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." + +When Lincoln was assassinated, Sumner wept by his bedside. "The only +time," said an intimate friend, "I ever saw him weep." When he +delivered 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.' + +"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." + +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! + +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 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." + +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! + +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. + +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 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. + +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." + +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." + +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." + +In his freestone house, full of pictures and books, 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!" + +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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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." + +"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 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." + +[Illustration: Signature U. S. Grant] + + + + +U. S. GRANT. + + +What Longfellow wrote of Charles Sumner may well be applied to Grant:-- + + "Were a star quenched on high, + For ages would its light, + Still travelling downward from the sky, + Shine on our mortal sight. + + "So when a great man dies, + For years beyond our ken + The light he leaves behind him lies + Upon the paths of men." + +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. + +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 +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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." + +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 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. + +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.... + +"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 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." + +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. + +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. "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.... + +"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 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." + +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 be done by us that no other person can or will ever +do! + +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. + +"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 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." + +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. + +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, +and all the men and women running to and fro in the streets were +pictures." + +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." + +This "circumstance" was the annexation of 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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +The ammunition became low, and to return for it was so dangerous that +the general commanding did 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." + +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." + +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 8, the assault upon Molino was made, young +Grant being among the foremost. The loss was severe, especially among +commissioned officers. + +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 +_surrounded_, 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." + +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. + +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. + +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 circumstances which prevent our having +our own way! Discipline may be only another word for achievement. + +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. + +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 that the gun +of the white man was superfluous as an agent of destruction. + +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." + +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. 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. + +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." + +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. 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. + +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." + +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." + +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 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. + +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." + +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, 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. + +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 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." + +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 reenforcements, and +there was danger that our men could not return to the transports on +which they had come to Belmont. "We are surrounded," they cried. + +"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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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." + +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. + +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 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. + +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." + +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. + +During the night the Confederate Generals Floyd and Pillow left the fort +with three thousand 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:-- + + "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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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." + +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 led them into +death, he almost surely led them into victory. + +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. + +"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 these left standing unpierced by bullets. +The smaller ones were all cut down." + +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. + +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. There could be found +scarcely enough dry land on which to pitch their tents. + +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!" + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"Certainly," he replied. + +"But when?" + +"I cannot tell exactly when I shall take the town; but _I mean to stay +here till I do, if it takes me thirty years_." + +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?" + +"We propose to celebrate the Fourth of July there, Johnnie." + +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." + +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." + +To this Grant replied: "The useless effusion of 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." + +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. + +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 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." + +Rare is that soul which is able to see itself in the wrong, and rarer +still one which has the generosity to acknowledge it. + +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." + +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." + +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 +other side, Fame seated on the American eagle, holding in her right hand +a scroll with the words, Corinth, Vicksburg, Mississippi River, and +Chattanooga. + +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. + +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 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." + +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. + +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 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." + +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. 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." + +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 a few stragglers. I am now sending +back to Belle Plain all my wagons for a fresh supply of provisions and +ammunition, and purpose _to fight it out on this line if it takes all +summer_." + +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. + +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. + +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 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." + +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. + +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." + +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." + +The answer came: "Peace being my great desire, there is but one +condition I would insist upon, 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." + +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. + +"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, 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. + +"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." + +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. The Army of the Potomac marched to Washington, and was disbanded +June 30. + +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! + +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." + +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 +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. + +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." + +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. He and his family dined with +the Queen, at Windsor Castle. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 _Century_ 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. + +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. + +"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.'" + +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 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. + +"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! + +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 letter. Sweet and +beautiful thought, to bury with our dead something which belongs to a +loved one, that they may not sleep entirely alone! + +"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! + +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 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." + +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. + +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." + +On August 8, General Grant was laid in his tomb at Riverside Park, on +the Hudson River, a million 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:-- + + "All's over now; here let our captain rest,-- + The conflict ended, past men's praise and blame; + Here let him rest, alone with his great fame,-- + Here in the city's heart he loved the best, + And where our sons his tomb may see + To make them brave as he:-- + + "As brave as he,--he on whose iron arm + Our Greatest leaned, our gentlest and most wise,-- + Leaned when all other help seemed mocking lies, + While this one soldier checked the tide of harm, + And they together saved the State, + And made it free and great." + +[Illustration: Signature J. A. Garfield] + + + + +JAMES A. GARFIELD. + + +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. + +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. + +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 mud. Three other children were in this home in the forest +already; Mehetabel, Thomas, and Mary. + +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. + +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? + +In a corner of the wheat-field, in a plain box, the young husband was +buried. What should the mother do with her helpless flock? "Give them +away," said some of the relatives, or "bind them out in far-away homes." + +"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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +Going to a Mr. Trent, he asked for work. + +"There is a pile of boards that I want planed," said the man, "and I +will pay you one cent a board for planing." + +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 to her +beau, as they sat in the room where James was reading, "I should think +it was time for _hired servants_ to be abed." + +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. + +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. + +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 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 _employer_. 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." + +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. + +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 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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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, 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. + +"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 hands, and would give a hearty grip which +betokened a kind-hearted feeling for all.... + +"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. + +"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." + +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. + +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." + +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 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.... + +"During the fall of 1853 she read one hundred pages of Herodotus, and +about the same of Livy. During that term, also, Professors Dunshee 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.' + +"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." + +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 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.... + +"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." + +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 else. After +that comes my debt to Williams College." + +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." + +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. + +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. + +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 _given_ to athletic sports, he 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 MAN." + +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 +from capturing young men for an education than from anything else in the +world. + +"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 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. + +"'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.' + +"'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. + +"'Yes; father is here, and is taking my things home for good,' said the +boy, more affected than ever. + +"'Well, don't feel badly,' I said. 'Please tell him Mr. Garfield would +like to see him at his study, 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. + +"'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?' + +"'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.' + +"'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 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?' + +"The idea was a new and good one to him. He simply remarked, 'Do you +really think he can teach next winter?' + +"'I should think so, certainly,' I replied. 'But, if he cannot do so +then, he can in a short time, anyhow.' + +"'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.' + +"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." + +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, 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." + +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 _compel_ me +to study history." + +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." + +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. + +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 in +study, as well as domestic life, and helped him onward in his great +career. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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." + +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." + +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. + +On the slavery question he had always been 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 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." + +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, and +occupied in delivering an entire day's session of the House." + +"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." + +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. + +"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." + +On the tariff question, General Garfield took the 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." + +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 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." + +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 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. _We provide for +the common defence by a system which promotes the general welfare...._ 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. + +"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." + +On special occasions, such as his eulogies on 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. + +"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 +_these_, 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." + +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. 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 _The +Congressional Globe_. 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." + +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. + +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 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." + +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. + +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 these +demonstrations, it seemed to me you were a human ocean in a tempest. + +"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. + +"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 adorned and blessed our nation in +days gone by burning in their hearts,--_there_ 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." + +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. + +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. + +Four months after this scene, on July 2, 1881, 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. + +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." + +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." + +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." + +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." + +After appropriate exercises, the sermon being 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. + +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. + +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." + + + + +"_The Best Book for Boys that has yet been written._ We say this with +Tom Brown's delightful School Days fresh in our recollection."--_Portland +Press._ + +CUORE. + +_AN ITALIAN SCHOOL-BOY'S JOURNAL._ + +By EDMONDO DE AMICIS. Translated from the 39th Italian Edition by Isabel +F. Hapgood. + +12mo. $1.25. + + +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. + + "A charming and wholesome volume."--_Albany Journal._ + + "Just the thing for school-boys."--_Beacon._ + + "Its topics are such as boys take delight in. *** The moment a boy + begins to read it he decides to go through with it."--_Cleveland + Leader._ + + "Can not be spoken of in too high terms of praise."--_Boston + Transcript._ + + "Filled with incidents delightfully described."--_Albany Press._ + + "No wonder the work has reached its thirty-ninth + edition."--_Norwick Journal._ + + "Deserves a place beside Tom Bailey and Tom Brown."--_Commercial + Bulletin_, Boston. + + "Written in just the style to please healthy boys."--_Ohio State + Journal._ + + "Lovers of literature will be delighted with it."--_Mail and + Express_, New York. + + "A voyage into those wondrous regions, the heart, soul and pocket + of a school-boy *** Full of striking and beautiful + passages."--_Critic_, New York. + + +THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO. + +13 ASTOR PLACE, NEW YORK. + + + + +SIX BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE + +By J A K + +12mo. Illustrated. $1.25 per Vol. + + +BIRCHWOOD. + +"A hearty, honest boys' book, which young people are sure to +enjoy."--_N. Y. Mail and Express._ + +"An eminently wholesome and good book."--_Zion's Herald._ + +"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."--_Literary World._ + + +RIVERSIDE MUSEUM. + +"Thoroughly healthy in tone."--_Nation._ + +"A very charming story for young folks."--_Inter-Ocean._ + +"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."--_Christian Intelligencer._ + + +THE FITCH CLUB. + +"A very interesting and very profitable story."--_Hartford Post._ + +"The author has a happy way of telling a story in just the style +calculated to interest boys."--_Christian Union._ + +"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." +--_Kansas City Times._ + + +PROFESSOR JOHNNY. + +"An admirable book for teaching boys the science of common +things."--_Home Journal._ + +"Combines scientific information, wise moral instruction, and capital +entertainment in good proportions."--_The Congregationalist._ + +"It is characterized by that uncommon thing--common sense."--_Christian +Index._ + + +WHO SAVED THE SHIP. + +"Good wholesome reading."--_Milwaukee Sentinel._ + +"One of the brightest books of the season."--_Ohio State Journal._ + +"Admirable in tone and full of interest."--_Boston Traveller._ + + +THE GIANT DWARF. + +"Young and old will read the story with pleasure."--_Philadelphia +Inquirer._ + +"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."--_Boston Traveller._ + + +THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO. + +13 ASTOR PLACE, NEW YORK. + + +$1500 PRIZE STORY. + +THE BLIND BROTHER. + +_A STORY OF THE MINES._ + +By HOMER GREENE. + +12mo, cloth. 230 pp. 14 illustrations. 90 cents. + +"The recent prize competition for stories, held by the publishers of the +_Youth's Companion_, 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." + + "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."--_National + Republican_, Washington, D. C. + + "This wonderfully pathetic and beautiful creation."--_Wilkesbarre + Union-Leader._ + + "It is a pleasure to think of anything at once so entertaining, so + healthful, and so artistic, falling into the hands of youthful + readers."--_The Critic_, New York. + + "Well conceived, prettily told, and enlivened with effective + touches of light and shade."--_The Epoch_, New York. + + "A story of remarkable power and pathos."--_Chicago Advance._ + + "Replete with thrilling incidents."--_N. Y. Journal._ + + "Full of interest, full of information not usually stumbled upon, + and full of lessons of morality and true manliness."--_Christian + Standard._ + + "The plot natural and arousing deep interest, whilst the story has + its humorous and its touching passages."--_Presbyterian Banner_, + Pittsburgh. + + "So sweet and touching that the moral is profound."--_New Haven + Palladium._ + + "A good strong story, told with simplicity and + directness."--_Christian Intelligence_, New York. + + +THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO. + +13 ASTOR PLACE, NEW YORK. + + + + +FAMOUS BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. + + +POOR BOYS WHO BECAME FAMOUS. + +By SARAH K. BOLTON. 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. + +"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."--_N. Y. +Observer._ + + +GIRLS WHO BECAME FAMOUS. + +By SARAH K. BOLTON. 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. + +"Give this book to your daughter; she may, perhaps, never become famous, +but it will help her to do well her life's work."--_American Baptist._ + + +FAMOUS AMERICAN AUTHORS. + +By SARAH K. BOLTON. Short biographical sketches of Holmes, Longfellow, +Emerson, Lowell, Aldrich, Mark Twain, and other noted writers. +Illustrated with portraits. 12mo. $1.50. + +"Bright and chatty, giving glimpses into the heart and home life of some +whom the world delights to honor.... At once accurate, inviting, +instructive."--_Chautauquan._ + + +FAMOUS AMERICAN STATESMEN. + +By SARAH K. BOLTON. 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. + +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. + + +BOYS' BOOK OF FAMOUS RULERS. + +By LYDIA HOYT FARMER. Lives of Agamemnon, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, +Frederick the Great, Richard Coeur de Lion, Robert Bruce, Napoleon, and +other heroes of historic fame. Fully illustrated with portraits and +numerous engravings. 12mo. $1.50. + +"A capital book for youth. Each subject has a portrait and illustrations +of eventful scenes."--_Boston Globe._ + + +GIRLS' BOOK OF FAMOUS QUEENS. + +By LYDIA HOYT FARMER. A companion book to "Boys' Book of Famous Rulers." +Lives of Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth, Catharine de Medici, Josephine, +Victoria, Eugenie, etc. 12mo, cloth. 85 illustrations. $1.50. + +"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."--_Washington Post._ + + +LIFE OF LAFAYETTE, the Knight of Liberty. + +By LYDIA HOYT FARMER. A glowing narrative of the life of this renowned +general, with 58 illustrations. 12mo. $1.50. + +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. + + +THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO., 13 Astor Place, NEW YORK. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber Note: + +Minor typographical errors and inconsistencies have been corrected +without comment. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAMOUS AMERICAN STATESMEN*** + + +******* This file should be named 39012.txt or 39012.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/9/0/1/39012 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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